by Noah Layton
Ariadne pulled her spear free, but the creature wasn’t done. While the battle raged chaotically around us in a mess of yells and sprays of blood, our present foe gave a lurch forward with its claws. I raised my shield just in time to protect my face, but the creature’s claws tore through the wood like it was nothing, sending shreds splintering in my direction.
Shit.
I acted instinctively, and it worked better than I could have even imagined. The creature’s claws had become stuck within the wood of my shield, and in wrenching my arm to the left it went stumbling down with it. Ariadne skirted around to its leg, smashing her spear down through its clawed foot and releasing a hellish, horrific scream from its lungs. It fought against it, blood spilling like a broken faucet from its foot as it yelped in pain.
I leaped to my feet, explosive energy bursting through my body. My hair was matted with sweat, my skin and armour stained with blood. I must have looked like a madman.
But I didn’t care. No mercy, only anger. I rounded hurriedly to the side of the creature, swinging my sword back over my shoulder and swinging it against its neck.
I was ready for the toughness of the scales this time, ready to own the moment, and with an uncontrollable war cry from my own lungs this time the blade cut clean through it. Its head went flying into the darkness of the forest as blood spurted from its neck, its body falling to the side.
But that wasn’t the only thing that happened. A surge of fury had briefly pushed through me, and the moment the blade met with the creature’s scales a shockwave seemed to explode outwards from my sword.
I could not only hear it – I could see it. It was a resonation through the air, a low bass sound that rang through my ears.
In the continuing, relentless chaos that proceeded to rage around me, everyone staggered back mid-fight, thrown off balance.
In the haze of figures striking each other I saw Evelina look in my direction, her eyes going wide with shock as she stared at me, murmuring something to herself before striking at another snatcher before her.
CLANG.
A pair of claws suddenly swept out of nowhere, hitting my breastplate. The force was so swift that the metal caved, knocking the wind out of my chest as I flew backwards to the ground.
Ariadne yanked her spear from the slain snatcher’s foot, hurling it at the one that had just attacked me, before one of the harpies from nearby came flying forwards and speared the beast in the centre of its forehead.
I regained myself, looking around in the brief moment available to me in which no immediate threats appeared. I may have had a procession of small victories but we were becoming overwhelmed, and fast. One of the snatchers struck at one of the three harpies that had come with us, her spear missing a defensive pose and its talons ripping through the skin around her forearm. She let out a shriek of pain, staggering to the ground as one of her allies took on the attacker from behind, but two more were encroaching in on her.
That same ringing as before when I had gone for the kill resonated through my mind, and that was when the feeling sank in.
I had rarely felt rage in my life, but in that moment I knew exactly the feeling that was bubbling up inside of me. It was unmistakable, the brutal, relentless feeling of maddening anger that could go nowhere but outwards.
If I kept it in any longer I would explode.
‘Argghhh…’ I groaned loudly. I wanted to scream, to bellow my lungs out, but this was more than that. My hands were shaking so brutally, so fiercely, that I struggled just to keep a hold on my sword, which was…
The blade wasn’t reflecting off the sun – there were no rays making it down here.
And even if there were it wouldn’t explain the red glow that my sword was giving off.
I blinked, and the same shade of red filled my vision. The greens and browns of the forest, the white wings of the harpies, were gone. Everything had turned a dark shade of sepia, like I was looking into an old photograph.
I let out another groan, or what I thought was one – it escaped me as a guttural, roaring growl, the way a bear yells out in intimidation, and in the haze of the combat around me I saw Evelina turn in my direction.
‘Everybody up!’ She yelled. ‘NOW!’
All five of the harpies, even the one who had been injured, suddenly unleashed their wings and leaped into the air, taking off.
Which left only me – some of the snatchers ascended in pursuit, but the dozen or so that remained all turned in my direction.
And for some reason, I didn’t care.
All I could comprehend was the seething, impossible fury that flowed through my body, an anger that could go nowhere but into the world around me. I raised my sword, ready to take a swipe at the first creature that tried to attack. I was ready.
Then it hit me.
A compulsive, sharp explosion of energy coursed through every part of my body. My arms and legs threw out, my head rolled back, and another sonic boom burst from me. This one was beyond the limitations of rustling feathers and shaking branches, though.
Every one of the Snatchers closing imminently upon me fell back. Blood and entrails erupted from them as their remains smashed into trees. The trunks splintered, the weaker of them breaking entirely from their roots and falling away from me, smashing down into the forest floor.
The redness drained away from my vision sharply as I drew in a generous helping of air, but just as I did, the rest of the world began to seep away from me. My head suddenly felt like it weighed a tonne and was begging to hit the floor – before it did, I chanced a look down at the sword that was still clasped in my grip.
All that remained was the bound handle. The blade had shattered, the gleaming, sharpened steel pieces lying in the forest floor beneath me.
I staggered to the right, my legs quickly giving up any attempt to hold my body upright, and I toppled onto my back, casting the handle aside.
The last thing I saw in the quiet of the forest were the wings of the harpies, outstretched, riding on the air as they descended towards me, angelic silhouettes in the stealing light that seeped through the leaves high above.
Chapter Five
Audience with Royalty
When I had first awoken in the citadel on Aries Island my back ached like crazy. The stone slab that I had been offered as a bed hadn’t exactly done wonders, and I had felt it for a short while after. The following morning I had been afforded the opportunity of the various cushions that Ariadne had brought for me, which I had to admit was a little better than waking up on a literal slab of flattened rock, but the hardness of said rock had still managed to make its way through to my spine.
When I woke up for the third time on the island, and from the second occasion on which I had passed out due to forces out of my control, I felt like I was floating on a freaking marshmallow. Granted I felt like I had been hit by a truck, but the softness of whatever I was lying on compensated easily for that.
My eyes flickering steadily open to adjust to the light, I found that there was none; I was indoors, but not back in my cell. Pushing myself up groggily and looking around, I found myself in an underground sauna. Past my feet was a large, steaming pool that had been built into the rocks that surrounded it. The water was a luscious, indulgent blue and on the walls surrounding it were a series of flaming torches that lit the room ambiently. On the opposite end of the pool, which was at least ten yards in diameter, was a meticulously carved archway that framed a series of steps leading upwards and into unseen territory.
I was lain upon a large bed drenched in silk sheets and hefty cushions and pillows. My body had been stripped of my armour, and I was wearing nothing but a pair of men’s shorts that I couldn’t call my own.
‘Kit… You’re awake.’
My head spun like an owl’s, in time with the sound of a bone snapping somewhere around my neck. I groaned in pain, running my hand to the back of my hairline as I locked eyes not with Ariadne, but with-
‘Evelina?’ I said, looking h
er up and down as she rounded the bed to stand before me. She was wearing the same blue gown that she had adorned earlier before our departure from the citadel, her hair tied up behind her head, exposing her beautiful face. ‘What the fuck happened? Where am I?’
‘We’re back in the citadel,’ she replied, ‘which means it’s Princess Evelina now.’ She shot me a genuine smile, but I could tell that she meant it. The title was important in their world. Context was everything to the harpies, that I could already tell.
‘Sorry, princess,’ I said, feeling a little better as I moved head from side to side, stretching out my neck.
‘It’s quite all right. What do you remember?’
‘I remember…’ I started searching my memory desperately, ‘I remember the battle, getting overwhelmed and… It felt like my body exploded. Where’s Ariadne? Is she all right? And the other harpies?’
‘All alive. One was a little cut up after taking a swipe from a snatcher. If it hadn’t been for you, though, things would have probably been a lot worse.’
‘Me? All I did was take out a few of them with Ariadne’s help. If it hadn’t been for her and the rest of you…’
‘What happened out there was your doing.’
I stared back at her, tilting my head to the side.
‘My doing… Your highness?’
She shifted atop the bed without another word, her movements unbelievably graceful. It was like watching someone move in slow motion. The princess crawled towards where I lay, looking me in the eye and biting her lip with a smile.
‘We have a lot to talk about,’ she said, her face no more than a few inches from mine.
Holy shit…
I instantly thought back to what Ariadne had said.
We have sex with whoever we should so desire. Whoever we are attracted to.
Was Princess Evelina seriously hitting on me?
I had never been told that I had a big ego in my life, but I was at serious risk of such a thing becoming true if this carried on any longer.
Then, just like that, she withdrew from the bed and leaped back, her wings outstretching and halting her instantaneously at the foot of the bed, back where she had been standing mere seconds ago.
‘Come,’ she commanded, turning to go, ‘we have somewhere we must be.’
‘For what, your highness?’
‘For a meeting. We have much to discuss.’
‘With who?’
She slowed her pace, turning to look at me.
‘Why, the old vulture, of course.’
I felt my cheeks run red at the thought of having accidentally insulted Queen Athina – and I had been invited to meet her right now.
Okay, maybe I insulted her on purpose.
‘Shouldn’t I get dressed before meeting the queen?’ I said, scrambling to the end of the bed and stepping off it.
‘Quickly,’ Princess Evelina said.
I did as I was told, but failed to find my clothes. The closest thing was a tunic lying at the edge of the bed, which I wrapped around myself messily.
I hurried after the princess, walking by the poolside and admiring the steaming water. I could feel the heat rising from it, beads of moisture settling on my skin as we crossed by.
‘The citadel was built upon hot springs a thousand years ago, and we don’t take the opportunity that our ancestors provided us with for granted. Right now we are beneath the palace, but there are many bath houses throughout that take advantage of the warmth that the springs provide…’
Bath houses, I thought, shaking my head in disbelief. Just like ancient Rome… And I can only imagine the debauchery that went on inside those places, even with it being just female harpies that occupied this place now.
I cast the thought aside, trying to focus on something else, anything else. Having an audience with the queen of the harpies wouldn’t be ideal if my dick was standing on end beneath my garments the moment I walked through the door.
But Princess Evelina hadn’t exactly done a lot to help me out on that front after crawling across the bed like some sex-crazed creature… But that was besides the evidence that had literally crawled right up to me: was she really like that, considering she had a royal reputation to uphold? Or was she just playing on my mind because, even after having been without a man for so many years, she knew how easy it was to entice a man.
Either way, she had me; I thanked my lucky freaking stars for the blessing that was the darkened hallway beyond the archway, leaving me unable to see the princess’s round behind shaking back and forth.
I shook my head of the thought and focused on my footsteps, my bare feet against the warm marble of the steps.
Get a hold of yourself, man.
Even if I had spent time among my captors and fought alongside them, I now had even more questions. What the hell had happened in the forest? How had we gotten out alive?
And how, after fighting off against a horde of evil humanoid creatures, did I not have a scratch on me?
The stairs levelled out, and I followed the princess out onto a brightly lit hallway. Closed wooden doorways were intermittently dotted to the right of us, while the left gave onto a series of squat marble columns, providing a waist-high guardrail against the stark, steep hundred foot drop that the view gave out onto. From here I could see more of the islands of the archipelago, scattered throughout the ocean as if whatever God was lurking above had cast them down like marbles.
We continued onwards, ascending a spiral staircase before finally arriving at a final door guarded by two armoured harpies standing perfectly still. They stepped aside as Princess Evelina approached, they nodding to her and she to them, before she opened the door and I followed sheepishly.
My muscular body had undoubtedly helped with the confidence that I felt – during our journey to this final room I couldn’t help looking down at my toned, bulging muscles – but as we entered the room and I came face to face with Queen Athina, who was seated at a table on the other side of the large room. Surveying its roughly circular shape, I realised that I was standing in the tower that had overlooked the grand hall that I had seen upon entering the plaza for the first time.
‘Thank you, Evelina,’ she said from her seat at a small a table in the centre of the room. ‘You can leave us now.’
‘Are you sure, your highness?’
‘Unquestionably.’
‘The guards will be outside the door.’
‘I’m well aware of that, my dear. You don’t need to keep such a watchful eye over me. Even if this young man decides to try anything I won’t have any inhibitions about throwing him from one of the windows.’
I laughed from the open doorway, but a quick, sharp look from the queen told me that she was deathly serious about her comment.
That stopped my laughter in its tracks.
Evelina gave me a look before rounding me and heading out the door, closing it behind her.
‘Take a seat.’
Queen Athina indicated the chair across from her, and I headed slowly over to it. Looking around, I saw the room to be furnished with a large bed, a sitting area and a desk, all of which were shades of grey and white, and well-lit by the stained glass windows that were spaced out along the walls.
I sat across from the queen, watching as she poured herself a dark-coloured liquid from a pot into a cup on her side of the table, as well as taking a pastry from a selection stacked on a silver tray between us.
‘Help yourself,’ she started. ‘Would you care for a drink?’
‘I guess so, your highness… What exactly is it?’
‘Tea and honey.’
I couldn’t exactly go wrong with it, so I conceded.
‘It’s delicious,’ I remarked honestly, taking down a few gulps from the cup she had offered me.
‘Good. I have something of a sweet tooth myself, but I can’t really be blamed considering these isles are famous for such offerings.’
‘Can I ask…?’ I cut in. ‘Is there a reason why you brou
ght me up here?’
‘Straight to the point,’ she remarked. ‘I like that. First of all, I must begin with an apology.’
‘… An apology?’
‘That’s right. I sent you out into the wilds of the island with no prior training to fight off against those godforsaken creatures that these lands have been blighted by for centuries. They are loyal only to violence… It was a brave thing you did, going out there like that. Most people would have taken their chances in making a run for it.’
‘I thought about it,’ I admitted, ‘but I’d already seen first-hand what you can do. I didn’t really feel like getting sliced in the back, so fighting alongside the harpies seemed like much less of a risk than most other options.’
‘A calculated risk,’ she smiled back at me. ‘Very wise. That said, I must confess to taking something of a calculated risk myself in sending you off with the scouting group in the first place.’
‘Calculated? What about it was calculated? I thought you said you needed as many bodies as possible.’
‘I do. But you’re not just another wanderer washed up on our shores trying to keep himself alive, are you?’
‘… Aren’t I?’
‘Ever since Princess Evelina told me your story, I have been running the details over in my head. Like I said, we get stragglers out here every so often, ne’er do wells and crazies claiming all sorts of things, but you… Your story was different. And that’s because the object that you picked up, the one that you claim brought you here in the first place, was a Harpy Core.’
‘I’m gonna be real with you, your highness – I have no idea what that is.’
‘I didn’t expect you to,’ she smirked, ‘this all must seem very strange to you, being plucked from one world and dropped into another. Harpy Cores are ancient, legendary artefacts. The legend goes that before the archipelago was created, before even a single blade of grass grew on the sloping fields or a single sprout stemmed from a strewn seed, there existed a group of beings whom we call the Ancients.