The landscape Hawk overlooked now was empty. Snow covered everything and caused the horizon to fade blurrily into the grey sky. There was a driveway that ran down to a road, both of them noticeable only as grey shadows beneath the snow. A low fence bordered the property, and on the other side of the road, more low fences divided up the land, but there was nothing much else--no houses, no cars.

Hawk looked for a moment, breathing hard. He hesitated, throwing a look back over his shoulder, and then sighed.

"Oh, fuck me," he whispered, and sank his talons into the plywood, which splintered off easily into his hand, either because it was old or his grip was that much stronger. "I'm a dumbass."

He turned and glimpsed Kei mid-leap, jaws open wide to allow for his huge fangs, aiming to snatch Hawk from the windowsill. Hawk turned fully, ripping away the wood in his hand from the rest covering the window, and fell forward, letting his own weight carry him straight into Kei.

Hawk swung the chunk of wood into Kei's jaws, and automatically Kei bit down on it with a loud crunch. Hawk yanked upward, using the wood to pull himself forward, and planted his bare feet on Kei's chest. The wood forced Kei's head back and Hawk dropped his weight fully, flipping Kei onto his back midair, and they fell. Kei slammed down back-first into the cab of Aries's truck, crushing it beneath him, Hawk standing on his chest with his wings open.