Superpowers (5 page)

of the edge. Fin was right. If he threw the disc hard enough and it hit its target…

He assessed the distance from the platform to the bird and adjusted his fingers on the metal disc. It would be just like throwing a frisbee – though admittedly a metal, chopping-your-head-off kind of frisbee.

The bird let out a savage screech.

Max glanced round and saw the other bird monsters still hunting through the maze. They had to get out of there, and tackling one bird was better than meeting eight!

‘OK,' he said determinedly. ‘I'll do it.'

He brought the disc up to his chest, turned sideways on and then threw it as hard as he could. The disc whizzed

through the air. Max caught his breath. It was going to hit the bird's neck dead on target…

‘Yes!' Fin started to say in triumph, but at the very last moment the bird
spotted the disc. With a furious screech, it jerked its head out of the way. The disc reached the point exactly where Max had been aiming but the bird was no longer there! Giving a terrible shrieking cry, the bird pushed open the gate and began to stalk down the pathway towards the centre.

‘It knows we're here now!' Finlay gasped. He shoved the other disc into Max's hand. ‘You've got one more chance! You've got to get it this time, Max, before it gets us!'

‘But what if it ducks again, Fin!' Max exclaimed.

Finlay muttered to himself. ‘Think. Think.' He turned to Max. ‘OK, we need to distract it, so it isn't looking at you or the disc, is that right?'

‘Yes! But how are we going to do that?' Max demanded. ‘We haven't got anything to distract it with!'

Finlay looked at him grimly. ‘Yes we have! Me!'

Max stared at Finlay. ‘We can't use you to distract the bird, Fin!'

‘Wanna bet?' Finlay said. He jumped down the steps. ‘Just don't miss with the disc this time, Max, or I'll be bird food!'

‘No, Fin. It's too dangerous!' Max protested. ‘If the bird moves again and I miss, the bird might get you! Wait …!'

But Finlay was already running towards the escape-gate pathway so that the bird could see him. ‘Hey, you big roast chicken!' he shouted at it. ‘Can't get me!' He jumped up and down, waving his arms and pulling a face. ‘Over here, bird-brain!'

With a screech the bird broke into a run. It raced into the centre of the maze, eyes blazing; hungry drool dripping from its savage beak. Finlay turned and raced across the gravel. The monster bird lowered its head and charged after him, its vicious beak opening wide.

Max didn't stop to think. The bird's neck was stretched out as it raced past him. Taking aim, he threw the disc as
hard as he could. It spun through the air in a silver blur.

Thunk!

Max's super-accurate judgement was perfect. The disc sliced straight through the monster bird's long neck. The bird's head catapulted upwards. As it spun around in the air it disappeared, and the

body suddenly collapsed to the ground. Max caught his breath, expecting to see blood or goo start pouring out, but nothing happened and then suddenly the end of the neck started to move. A much smaller beak popped out.

‘What …' the word died on Max's lips. He stared at the bird's body in horror. The neck twitched and then another head appeared. Oh no!

‘It's like the river monster we fought!' Finlay shouted in alarm, backing away from it. ‘It's growing new heads!'

‘No,' Max said quickly, his eyes on the emerging head. ‘Look! It's different!'

The whole of the bird's body shook and suddenly a different type of bird wriggled its way out through the neck. It still had long legs, a long neck and
short wings but apart from that everything about it was different. It had a small head, brown eyes, pale grey feathers and a delicate pointed beak. It gave a surprised squawk.

‘It's an emu!' Max said in astonishment.

‘So the monster birds didn't eat them! It must be part of Juno's magic,' Finlay gasped. ‘She's enchanted the emus to be the Man-Eating Birds.'

‘And if we chop the heads off the Man-Eating Birds, they turn back into their emu shape,' Max said, looking at the now very flat skin of the monster bird lying on the floor.

‘Guess we'd better get chopping, then,' Finlay said, going over to the skin. He poked it with his foot. ‘We'll need to take this back with us. It must
be what Juno meant about taking absolute proof that we've killed all the birds.'

Max climbed down from the platform and looked at the skin. It was slightly damp but drying out fast. ‘Let's leave it here,' he said, pushing it under the platform with his foot. ‘We can come back for it later. Right now we should get out of here and find some weapons before the other birds come looking for us!'

The disc that Max had used to chop off the bird's head had ended up in the top of one of the hedges. Max tried to shake it down, but it was stuck fast. In the distance there was the sound of a shriek.

‘Come on!' Finlay said quickly.

‘We can find some other weapons. There's that workshop in the courtyard. There's bound to be something in there that we can use.'

Listening to the distant shrieks of the birds in the rest of the maze, they ran thankfully down the path to the escape gate.

‘I hope no one else decides to go into the maze,' said Max.

Finlay nodded. ‘We'd better get some weapons quickly!'

They began to run towards the courtyard but as they did so, Zoë and Michelle came walking through the archway!

‘Oh no!' Max exclaimed to Finlay.

‘Where are you going?' Finlay demanded, running up to them.

‘To the maze,' Michelle answered.

‘Not that it's anything to do with you!' Zoë said.

‘You can't go in there!' Max told her.

Zoë raised her eyebrows. ‘Says who?'

‘You just can't,' Max insisted. He stepped in front of her.

‘Get out of my way, Max!' Zoë said, looking irritated.

Max looked at Finlay. Other people weren't supposed to know about their tasks, but this was an emergency. ‘There are Man-Eating Birds in there!' he said.

‘Oh, grow up,' Zoë told him witheringly. ‘Come on, Michelle. Just ignore them.'

The girls pushed past the boys.

‘This looks like a way in,' Zoë said, spotting the escape gate that the boys
had left open. ‘Come on!' She and Michelle set off through the gate.

‘No, Zoë!' Max yelled. He began to run towards the gate as the girls disappeared down the path. ‘Come back …'

His words were cut off by a piercing scream!

Max felt like a bucket of icy water had been tipped over his head.

Finlay turned pale. ‘They must have met the birds!' he gasped.

There was another loud scream and then to Max's astonishment and relief the two girls came running out of the maze as fast as they could.

‘A huge bird!' Zoë gasped. ‘It's after us!'

A bird came running out of the maze, its light-grey feathery wings flapping, its brown eyes confused.

Max and Finlay stared. It wasn't a Man-Eating Bird. It was the emu!

‘Argh!' the girls shrieked as the emu ran towards them.

Zoë dropped her rucksack in her panic and she and Michelle raced away into the courtyard.

Max and Finlay looked at each other and burst out laughing.

The emu stopped and looked round, then trotted back into its field, carefully picking its way over the broken fence. Once there it gave a relieved squawk.

Finlay grinned at Max. ‘Come on, we'd better get some weapons and try
to kill the real Man-Eating Birds before anyone else comes along!' he said.

To the boys' disappointment, although the workshop door was open, the tools were all locked away in a cabinet. Lying on the side was the suit of armour that Max had damaged earlier.

The double-headed axe was beside it. ‘We could use this,' Max said, grabbing it.

‘Yeah,' Finlay agreed. He looked around but the only other things in the workshop were a large empty paint pot, a plastic carrier bag and an old pair of pliers. He took them all just in case they came in useful.