“What is it?” Elara asked, glancing upward. “Oh, no! That’s the bird man again!”
Lubic took a quick look around them. Judging from the speed the Raven was travelling, it would reach them before they got to the library. They could make it back to the car, but the doors were locked. At best they could get into the car before the Raven was on them. But there were other pedestrians around that the Raven could easily grab instead of them.
“Elara, the car!” he yelled, tossing the keys to her. He’d have to stand his ground, and hope that she knew how to unlock the door. At least then there would be one less person to worry about in the coming encounter.
A quick survey revealed nine other people in the vicinity. A woman was trying to pack her two children and all of their newly acquired books into her station wagon a few spaces away from Lubic’s Protégé. The kids should be okay, but the woman was in danger. Four teenagers were just entering the library, so they should be safe. A couple strolled about a block away, heading towards the library, but Lubic hoped they were far enough away that they should be safe.
And then three things happened simultaneously that completely changed everything.
The library doors opened revealing a familiar looking young man helping a wizened old man with a walker leave the building. Lubic immediately realized that the pair would be an easier target for the Raven, and that there was no way he could get to them before the Raven did. “Shit!”
At the same time, Elara screamed, desperately trying to unlock the car door. “Uncle! I can’t get it open!”
And that was when there was a deafening bang as the Raven exploded in a shower of jet black feathers.
*
What Lubic didn’t see was the large virile man in the distance. He shouldered the rocket launcher he had just fired, chuckling. “I told you I was having barbeque.”
