Winds

A second later, D’s expression changed. In an instant everything around
him was black, as a hitherto unseen bird of prey with an enormous sixtyfive-foot wingspan swooped down on the bird that had the girl, sank its claws into the base of the other bird’s back, and started to rise again. The
monstrous bird flapped its wings, and a tremendous shock wave hit the
ground. Trees snapped, and the fountain’s geyser blew horizontally. One
after another, the window-panes of every house around the park shattered.
The hem of D’s coat shielded his face. Was that all it took to negate the
gale-force winds coming off the monstrous bird? Though the winds
buffeted him, D’s posture didn’t change in the least as he stood his ground.

When the avian monstrosity lifted its wings a second time, D kicked off the
ground with incredible force. Flying almost straight up, he rose over fifteen
feet. His extended left hand latched onto the ankle of the massive bird the
other was carrying. Having taken a deadly blow to a vital spot, the lower
bird was already dead. And the girl it had captured had fainted. Using his
left hand as a fulcrum, D swung his body like a pendulum. In midair his
coat opened and, adjusting for wind resistance, D sailed skillfully onto the
back of the larger bird. The avian monstrosity roared. The harsh cry was not
that of a bird, but of a vicious carnivore.

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