by Rosie Scott
“A new beginning,” I replied.
Bhaskar laughed. “I should have known you'd have an answer for that. You have answers for everything.”
“What if you make it out of this? What then?”
“I won't.”
“Humor me.”
Bhaskar shrugged. “Maybe I'd come with you. See what it's like being as easily accepted like the rest of the rejects you call your friends.” He huffed in amusement. “No offense.”
“None taken. We're all self-identified rejects.” I took another bite of my biscuit as the god laughed.
“Cyrus.” Azazel's voice pulled my attention from the bow of the ship, and I turned to look over the deck. The archer's eyes were on the highlands, which our navy was now in proximity to. He must have hurried to the quarterdeck from below, because I hadn't seen him in a few hours, and Cerin was rushing up behind him as if alarmed.
“Yes, Azazel?” Cyrus was immediately receptive.
“These are the highlands that were infested with manticores, right?” Azazel's eyes remained on the land. “Do they screech?”
“Screech? No,” Cyrus replied before his blue eyes followed the archer's glare. “Manticores roar. What do you hear?”
“Screeching,” Azazel replied simply. “Like a bird. A really angry bird.”
“Uggh, gods,” Cyrus sighed heavily, looking over the rest of the navy which stretched between our own ships and the highlands. The Sentinel pulled the war horn from his belt, before lifting it to his lips.
HUUURRRNNNNN!
The soldiers on the ship closest to us from Zephyr's navy perked up, and within a few seconds, the warship was cutting through the waters toward our own. Once the men were within hearing distance, a soldier yelled, “Trouble?”
“Harpies!” Cyrus yelled back, pointing to the highlands.
The soldier turned to look over the land, but there was nothing but shadow in the depths of rock visible from beneath the early evening skies. “No?” He finally said, confused.
“Trust me, they are coming.” Cyrus jerked a thumb to Azazel. “We have early warning. Warn the others!”
The soldier decided to trust the order, and the ship maneuvered over to the next in line, where the message was passed on.
“Cyrus,” I called over. When he met my gaze, I asked, “Harpies?”
“Flying magical birds of death,” the Sentinel replied dryly.
“That explanation's good enough for me,” I said, building an absorb magic shield in my palms before thrusting it to the ship's charger.
Zwip. A swirling opalescent barrier surrounded the ship. Just feet away, Bhaskar pulled the bronze ax from his belt with a metallic ring. While my eyes remained on the highlands, dozens of shields bubbled over the ships at the bottom edge of my vision as our navy prepared to defend itself from the skies.
“Bhaskar,” Azazel said, walking up to my side. “Will you use your powers in this battle?”
The god chuckled in understanding. “No, friend. I have to admit, they'd make this fight so much easier, but using them in the presence of all these people would be foolish. Your eyes will be safe.”
“Good to know.” Azazel went to work stringing his bow to my right.
“Wrong side,” I teased him, referring to his unguarded blind spot.
“I'll be fine,” Azazel replied with a smile, finishing his task before standing up straight and shaking his long black bangs from his eyes so he could watch for the creatures.
“How far away do they sound?” I asked him. “How many?”
“Close, and lots,” the archer said, holding a loose arrow. After a few moments, he lifted his bow and nocked the ammunition. His eyes were unblinking as he waited another few seconds before pulling the string back with powerful muscles.
The arrow flew before we even saw any creatures in the distance, traveling so far that I lost sight of it. Just then, multiple shadows rose above the crest of the rocky cliffs in the shape of elongated bodies with enormous wingspans. I couldn't see much detail from such distance, but now that they were out of the confines of the cliffs I could hear the swirling winds from the flapping of their wings.
Skreee!
One of the shadows shrieked and jerked in mid-air, its wings beating faster with pain and panic. It stayed afloat, even as Azazel nocked another arrow.
“Hell!” Bhaskar cursed. “You hit it! From this distance! No wonder you nearly killed me that day in Tal.”
“Hit it, didn't kill it,” Azazel replied nonchalantly, loosing another arrow. “I wasn't aware of this creature's anatomy. Its eyes are not on the sides of its head like most birds. Their faces are like people.”
I recoiled back from that information, Cyrus's memory of the manticores running through my head. Turning to the Sentinel, I commented, “What is Eteri's obsession with creepy creatures?”
Cyrus was in the midst of building his water jet spell. He'd taught it to me over our trip, which I was thankful for. It's usefulness transcended many other spells. Having heard my question, he looked at me and shrugged. “You're asking the wrong guy, Kai.”
“Bulls-eye,” Azazel murmured beside me. In the distance, the shadow's wings slowed their flapping, and the harpy plummeted from the skies, landing in the ocean with a splash.
It was only one out of dozens. The creatures swarmed out over the ships, screeching into the evening skies with voices so grating they vibrated painfully through my eardrums. The harpies swooped through the air so quickly that it was hard to keep track of them. I held a charged lightning bolt spell in my palms, but I found it hard to target them with. Even worse, the air spell harshly reminded me of the last time I'd used something similar. With a wave of fear and regret, I finally dispelled it, deciding to generate ice shards instead. I shot both shards toward separate harpies, and neither of them hit. The creatures were too fast and sporadic in movement.
Skreee!
The scream came just before the ship rocked violently below our feet. One of the harpies landed on the railing of the quarterdeck, allowing me to get a good look at it. It was about twelve feet in length from its head to the tip of its black and gray tail feathers, but its wingspan was far more impressive at nearly twice that before it pulled its wings back in toward its shoulders. It had no arms, and its legs were long and thin with black scales which were covered in knobs from age and past conflict. The rest of its body mirrored an abnormally large bird of prey, covered in long dark feathers which masked the outline of a feminine figure. Its face was just human-looking enough to cause an unsettling feeling in the depths of my gut. Its eyes were black like an Alderi's but skewed in toward its nose as if to give a look of pointed disapproval. Its nose mirrored my own and led down to normal lips which were just curved enough to give off a feminine aura. The skin of its face was otherwise putrid and wrinkled, cracked flesh piling over flesh. When it opened its mouth, the resulting screech was pure audible torture.
“Dear gods!” Maggie hefted her war hammer back, preparing to swing. “You are one ugly son of a bitch!”
The harpy lifted off of the railing, and Maggie's war hammer crashed through just its feet, crushing the relatively delicate scaled toes. They hung loosely from broken feet as it hovered in the air beside the ship. At first, it seemed like it was stalling, but then the bird lurched backward, its vast wings rushing forward past its chest. A gust of wind was forced into the side of our ship and into Maggie. The engineer stumbled back a step but was otherwise unharmed due to her immense stature. The harpy had been able to use magic against us because it was within the ship's protection. I rushed to Maggie, giving her an individual shield. She thanked me, though she was distracted as she followed the creature as it flew away, determined to come up with a new plan of attack.
Splash! Water flew up in tendrils of foam in multiple places between ships as harpies and carried victims alike were shot down and thrown into the ocean. The skies were dotted with the flying creatures, and one even shook in mid-air before lightning spewed fort
h from its chest, fanning over the alteration shield of one of Uriel's ships. The purple-white energy crackled out over the buffer before it was quickly absorbed, and the harpy that had summoned the spell was soon brought down with a javelin through the chest.
One of the harpies near a ship in Zephyr's navy swooped down from the skies, coasting through the alteration shield surrounding the boat and grasping the shoulders of a mage with the razor-sharp talons of scaled feet. With an ear-piercing screech, the creature hefted the woman up from the deck as arrows and magic alike were thrown in its direction. A fireball trailed toward the harpy from a friendly, only to explode outward once it hit its feathers, flames licking out to the soldier and sizzling over her flesh. As the woman screamed, the harpy carried her further up into the skies, letting her dangle from its talons as two of its companions darted past its feet, taking turns biting and tearing at their victim's armor. It wasn't long before the woman was shredded in mid-air, her corpse leaking its organs before the harpy released its hold of it, dropping it into bloody waters below.
Another harpy swooped down low beside our ship and hovered just above the ocean, before shaking as if preparing a spell. Cyrus rushed up to the side of the deck, thrusting both arms toward the water below the creature's feet.
“Generat le geyser!” The Sentinel yelled. A geyser of water exploded upward, surrounding and coating the harpy as it released its lightning. Drawn to moisture, the hot energy only succeeded in webbing out from where it was summoned, crawling over the creature and sinking into the weak points of its flesh. It rattled in electrocution from its own spell before it fell into the waters below, leaving only a trail of wispy smoke and the stench of burnt flesh.
The hissing of necromantic tendrils raced across the deck of our ship before the black energy skidded beneath the waves. Seconds later, the recent dead began to rise out of the ocean, heeding Cerin's call. The soldier casualties were useless to us, but the few harpies that rose from the waves with wings intact took off into the skies after only a slight struggle to get out of the water. The harpy corpses flew slightly slower than the living creatures, but they were an excellent distraction. Our feathered foes became flustered and confused at sensing kin turn against them, and their screeches gained the tinge of anxiety. Two of the harpies clashed in mid-air, frantically biting and clawing at each other before hurtling toward the ocean, crashing through the railing of a nearby ship on the way down.
I looked up to the swarm of harpies in the sky and prepared a combination spell of water and air I'd never used before. My magic could not discriminate between foe and Cerin's corpses, but it didn't need to. We could always re-raise the dead. Above both palms came the rushing sound of a contained blizzard, and the bluish-white of snow and ice glistened between rapid winds. I thrust both arms forward, forcing the freezing winds into the group of harpies above. The winds blew easily into the evening sky and between the foes, swirling around feathers and bringing ice and snow along for the ride. The harpies became weighted as the frigid magic slowed their movements, feathers glistening with forming icicles. Now that the creatures were slowed, magic and bows were wielded more accurately, and harpies fell from the skies in more significant numbers. Shooting ice shards at them was now working, and foes were forced into the ocean with broken bodies.
Slowly, the skies were clearing. Few harpies were left now. I leaned against the railing with more ice shards in my hands, shooting the magic into the last of the creatures to finish them off.
A rush of wind swirled around my body just as I felt biting pain in both shoulders. I barely had time to think before my boots left the deck of the ship. Only when my body weight hung heavily from the stab wounds of multiple talons through my upper torso did I realize I'd been snatched off of the deck and was being carried by one of the harpies through the air like a prized snack. The intense pain of flesh and muscle ripping as my weight further opened up the fresh wounds brought tears to my eyes. I tried to clear my mind despite the rush of winds roaring in my ears. I summoned the plague in a hand before I realized the disease would only spread to me since I was being carried.
Enflic le plague del agua. I forced the combination spell of water and death up toward the bird with a hand, my arm fighting me every inch of the way from the pain movement put on my fresh wounds. The harpy gurgled above me, but it didn't yet fall. It was possible water poisoning wasn't strong enough to thoroughly kill such a large creature, but I could hope it would be injured enough to fall into ocean. Looking down, I saw my feet dangling far above the waters. Up here, all of the ships looked the same. I couldn't be sure which one had been mine. If I ended up falling, I prayed I wouldn't be above a hardwood deck when it happened.
Skreee!
I jerked my head to the left. Swooping in toward me was yet another harpy, its humanoid lips spread to reveal yellowed fangs. Panic rose in my chest as I thought back to the previous gutted victim and I squirmed in the harpy's grasp, desperate to escape. It was futile. My spell was taking too long to work, and I wasn't physically strong enough to jerk away from the creature. After all, its talons were inches deep in my flesh, one of them scraping harshly against my right collarbone. I did all I had left to do and raised my arms up defensively before my torso in a last-second attempt to protect my internal organs as the creature flew past.
Hot blood sprayed up against my face before I felt the pain of the wound that had caused it. I stared at my right arm in shock, my eyes looking straight through where the muscles of my exterior forearm should have been. An entire chunk of flesh and muscle alike had been torn straight from my body, and blood audibly drained from the wound and into the sea. The jagged tissue of the wound glistened with thick phlegm. Distantly, I watched the second harpy toss the chunk of flesh into the air, before catching it and swallowing it whole.
I was overwhelmed with lightheadedness. Perhaps because of the quickening loss of blood, or maybe still from the idea that these creatures planned to eat me alive. My mind wandered back to the Blades of Meir and how Jakan's parents had died, their meat feeding their murderers.
Shik!
As if I were at the mercy of the violent waves of the tsunami all over again, my body was now rushing toward the waters in an abrupt change of direction. If it weren't for my dizziness, I would have regurgitated the biscuit Bhaskar had been so kind to offer me earlier. I fell deep into the ocean while listening to a multitude of bubbles rising past my ears, and new panic rose in my chest as I realized I was unable to swim to the surface. The harpy's talons were still buried in my shoulders, keeping us locked together and sinking in a deathly embrace. Remembering that this creature was a bird, I found myself confused as to why its body was sinking this quickly at all. With a thought of regret, I remembered weighing it down not only with freezing winds before it had grabbed me but also by poisoning it with excess water.
I've killed myself. The thought was negative and desperate, but I was running so low on energy I found I couldn't care. With what little power I had left I cast the water-breathing spell and grabbed at the harpy's thick scaled feet, jerking at them to free myself. It was of little use. It wasn't like I'd suddenly gained enough muscle to aid my efforts, and I didn't have the extra strength of a leeching high.
The rumbling sound of bubbles echoed distantly overhead, but when I looked up into the water, I could see nothing but blackness. The evening had darkened into night over the course of the battle, and the deeper I sank, the blacker it became. The water was thick and warm against my face as I slowly bled out, thick blood rising from my arm and shoulders and somehow bringing me comfort with its heat. I was facing death, but it felt so peaceful. I only wished this was how Jakan had felt since I knew Anto's last moments had been in panic. With my mind on my lost friends, I found myself wishing I believed in an afterlife. Perhaps I could then find comfort in thinking I would soon see them again.
A hand grabbed my arm, warm and comforting. I opened my eyes, but I could still see little but the far away reflections of light
above me. I felt a hand over my face, and when my water-breathing spell refreshed, I knew it was Azazel who had come to save me.
The muted metallic scrape of a karambit from its sheath traveled to my ears. Azazel held me as best as he could with his left arm while slicing desperately through the toes of the harpy's corpse. With each separation of a toe, the creature's grip on me loosened. Azazel only stopped to refresh my water-breathing spell again, and I assumed he did the same for himself. Then he was back to cutting, over and over again until we floated lightly in the depths, the harpy's corpse sinking by us to the ocean floor.
Another spell flowed through my veins, and my body quickly floated past Azazel until he used the spell on himself. He'd used alleviate on both of us, ensuring our body weight was lightened so we could make it to the surface faster. I smiled despite my predicament as I floated to the surface in his arms. Azazel's intelligence in dire situations never ceased to amaze me. I was so lucky to have him.
We broke the surface moments later, and the voices of worried friends reached my ears. I felt weak and light-headed with the loss of blood, though hanging on the edge of unconsciousness tore my mind off of the pain of various wounds.
“Azazel!” Cerin called it from somewhere ahead, though my eyes were closed with weakness. My lover's voice was full of turmoil as if he was under the impression he'd already lost me. “Is she...?”
“She's breathing. Barely,” Azazel added reluctantly. Though his voice was normally calm and reserved, I found it vibrated harshly against his throat. It was only then that I realized much of my body hung over his shoulder, allowing me to feel his trembling. The hair just behind his ear brushed against my right cheek, draining droplets of seawater over my skin.
