Raptors dodge bullets

Something leapt through the air at them, visible in the snatched flashes of lightning. They caught a glimpse of a snapping, beak-like head, and then it landed right in the midst of the party, scattering them like skittles. It reached out with a sinewed forelimb and slashed left and right. Brice was caught along his back, and he went down with a cry.
Doody opened fire, the muzzle-flash yellow and blinding at close range. The creature squawked and bounced to its feet as though built of steel springs. It leapt at Doody and bowled him over, the rifle going off again as they rolled in the wet ferns and mud.
Another cam tearing in at them, and then another. Cutter saw one blur past him and fired four rounds in quick succession. Then the pistol clicked in his hand with the slide jammed backwards. It was empty.
When the creature came snapping at his face, he snarled like an animal himself, and smashed the barrel of the pistol into its snout. It broke away, hopping like a monstrous magpie.

Chapter 21, Page 214