From beyond the edge of the enchanted little realm the fey had set in celebration of the victory of the allied forces against the create res of the Void, Icarus established a battle line. There were those that had brought news of giant turkeys looking to invade the meal, grown large and driven mad by their hunger. In response, he had gone on a grand hunt to search for a series of horns, capable of calling forth an army of turkeys to service. Over the course if several days, he acquired nine in total, granting him a sizable army with which to repel the invaders.

As he stood among them, he affixed rudimentary blades to their wings, almost granting the appearance of short spears with which to face the threat. Perhaps it was part of the enchantment of the horns, but the turkeys he summoned seemed to understand his orders and follow them. With eight of the horns, he summoned a host of four hundred total, the horns growing dimmed as the summoning magic was inactive until the last of them died. With the last, of them, he summoned 5 giant turkeys the size of large men, the commanders of his army. 

It took three full days and some assistance from the fey before he finished arming his army, painting them with swathes of blue warpaint, and crafting light wooden armor to protect their chests. The commanders, simply labeled “Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon”, were assigned their tasks, with Alpha designated his personal guard. For the others, he carved simple wooden helmets for them with large fans of grass crested over the top. Icarus labeled them the “Centurkeyons”, each in charge of one hundred turkeys, their “centurkey”. Now, Icarus merely awaited more adventurers to heed the call to arms before he would march them forth into the fray.

Attie would have said hello to her friend from the war, and perhaps even admired his army of turkeys. However, the smell of the turkeys and the sight of them…did something to make Attie change. It had caused her to react with a deep hunger and a predator's senses. Her teeth were sharp and her nails had turned into long claws. She no longer moved like a human but like a predator, itching to get a taste of its prey. But she did not act without caution as even the greatest of predators knew that prey could kill the predator if you weren't too careful. 

The turkey was larger than a house and one wrong move could send her to her death. Attie began running towards the giant turkey, her speed greatly increased. Her eyes were wide with hunger and desire as she prepared for her first strike. She avoided getting squashed by its feet then leaped into the air, towards the bottom of its chest. Digging her claws deep into its flesh, she began to climb her way up the turkey. But the turkey, having noticed something causing it pain started trying to catch Attie with its beak. Having managed to avoid the first peck, she started to bury herself in its feathers, making it harder for the bird to catch her. 

"Keep the turkey occupied!" She shouted to Icarus with a growling voice, "I can take out its delicious eyes."

Memories of her time in the forest were flooding back to her. Many tried to take her away from the beast world but that natural instinct clung with her throughout her life, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Attie missed this. Missed the thrill of the hunt and the excitement of not knowing whether or not she would be able to capture her prey. Deer and bulls were becoming too easy for her. This was a real challenge that she could die from. She continued climbing up the winged beast, trying to get to the top of it so she could reach the neck. 

Attie wasn't exactly in her right mind….

"HAH!" A man's voice rang out as he slapped the reins, driving the hardy horse towards the incoming giant birds. Once the horse knew which way to go, he dropped them and swiftly notched an arrow to his longbow. The arrow became a blur and struck the leg of the nearest turkey, the magic within the enchanted projectile taking effect immediately. He send a second into its other leg to quicken its growing stupor. Switching to his szabla, Naram rode alongside his mark and slashed at its legs before steering away. There had been a mention of a prize for those who hunted the most birds in the flock but he was just here for the practice. The tribesmen back home would never believe this! Felling large beasts of prey were nothing new to the nomad, though these massive fowl were a whole other thing entirely. Because their bodies were so large, it would be difficult to strike them down in one move. However that didn't discourage the man from trying. He was a son of the Dalsaetai–taking down any beast in a single blow was what all hunters sought to achieve. If he couldn't do it at close range, then he would need to shoot from afar.

As a strange human-like beast began to crawl its way up the body of one of the injured birds, the hardy mount galloped away to gain distance as its rider pulled back his bowstring. Time seemed to slow as his hazel-green eyes locked onto the turkey's throat. His gaze then traveled upward until he could see its eye. The arrow was loosed and it flew up to pierce a place between those two points. It was a critical hit, though not deep enough to break through its skull. Had it been smaller, the bird would have fallen dead once the arrow punctured through its head. The stunning magic of the arrow acted upon it immediately, causing the bird's eyes to roll. With the seat of its perception now numbed, the giant fowl was completely vulnerable to any attacks.

Even as he watched as the adventurers join the fray, Icarus maintained the discipline of his summoned army. He would not approve of his soldiers charging headlong into the fray, impetuous to slay their foes. This was not the first army that Icarus took command of, and given how history had a way of repeating itself, it would not be the last either. In this instance, he simply led an army that he had total control over, though he would be certain to input a series of quick orders for the Centurkeyons to relay to their Centurkeys. Standing before them, he commanded in the booming voice none could ever mistake when they heard it. It was perhaps the only time he ever spoke with a degree of emotion and authority.

"These turkeys, though they be great in number and of massive size, hold nary a candle to our conviction and our might! You are the hand of my will, a will of iron, clad in the colors of our battle standard! Our moral right! Our dinner!" he began, pacing in front of them from a platform erected at the front of their formation. "They have come here to take that which is rightly ours, granted to us by those that offer us alms and goodness after the war which plagued the lands. For that good cause, we stand prepared to make that sacrifice, to commit to war in the sake of peace and pecan pie. Look to your Centurkeyons, for they shall lead you to victory in this war for the enemy may take our homes, but they'll never take our potatoes!" he cried out to a cacophony of gobbling turkeys.

The Centurkeyons began immediately marching in cadence, bringing a steady thump of clawed feet on grass en masse unison. The rhythmic sounds of "gob, gob, gobl, gawwwwb" echoed across the battlefield as this force of highly disciplined warriors formed their ranks, establishing a wedge and multiple linear flanks. They would take this day, even without Icarus commanding them in simplistic formations. He hadn't had the time to alter the terrain to his benefit, but even as he called upon his golden cloud to rise above the battlefield, he knew he could lay waste to swathes of the land below, much to the chagrin of the creatures that he was protecting with his action. 

Rising somewhat above the skirmish, he already saw Attie out in the middle of the fray, behaving like a crazed predator surrounded by prey and starved for weeks. It wasn't quite unsettling given the nature of the people of this world, even if it wasn't exactly common behavior. In his realm of experience, all the adventurers, gods, goddesses, and even a handful of merchants had some inhuman nature about them. It was more unifying than it was divisive. After all, if everyone was a monster, no one was alone in that realization. 

Even the newcomer he had never met before seemed to be getting very enthused in the war effort. Icarus chuckled at the affair below. Such vigor in youth was something he had lost a long time ago, to know that victory would come but throwing all effort into the fight anyway. It was a sympathy he no longer shared as time had taken its toll on him and war would never truly end so long as someone had something someone else wanted. Yet, if that were not the case, even peace would be a lie, just a slow, creeping death as there was no reason for anyone to make an effort to improve their station or circumstances.