Twenty

"I assume you got here through the Hell Gate near Poysin, correct?" Kyllgorr question.

The four of them had only walked for an hour in silence before Kyllgorr asked his question to Shade. Shade was growing irritated of the long haired woman gazing at her. She sighed and gave her answer, "Yes."

"Who is the lieutenant there?"

"Some pushover," Shade waved her hand, "the whole camp is full of 'em. I will eliminate them."

"More power to you!" Amy chimed.

Above the quartette, three harpies soared in the crimson mire. Scouts for Lieutenant Maokhan, they would report back to him their findings. Of the three harpies, one stayed behind, Nicolëth. Nicolëth had her eyes set on Kyllgorr, the only man to every slip out of her talons and evade her advances. As with many avid hunters, Nicolëth loved a challenge; but she hated competition, especially if that competition was an elf attached to her quarry’s arm. Ignoring her sisters’ warnings she continued to watch and follow the four trespassers from on high.

Night soon descended on the group and they decided to rest, much to Shade’s annoyance. She did not want to let that man live any longer than he should. Bound by her word and the prospect of the only way to kill him, she helped set up camp. Throughout the day, though and even now, she could not shake off the feeling that they were being followed.

Of course with the land in complete ruin and drought, no trees or kindling of any kind would normally be found. Luckily, Kyllgorr thought ahead and packed a portable campfire. He dropped the metal contraption on the ground and forced open the case springs, the next step, he arranged the four panels in the center to maximize the radiating heat, and lastly, he turned on the gas and ignited it with a match.

Nicolëth roosted nearby on a stony outcrop. Her binocular vision fixed on her prize. Sleep pulled on her leaden eyelids but she fought with all her might, she did not want to succumb and have him slip away or worse: get caught. With four restless days accumulating on her weary bones, sleep found victory over her.

With the cool of night cloaking the land, Shade could see the white speck of heat radiating on the horizon with her night vision. She went prone on the ground and stealthily crawled her way to the dot. As she drew closer to the dot, she could make out the shape of a harpy and smell it on the wind. She pounced on her prey, clamping a hand on its windpipe and pressing her blade against its throat which made it stop struggling. Her weight and size crushed the wind out of the frail harpy which was only half the size of Shade.

“Why are you following us?” Shade demanded. Her only answer from the harpy was a strangled and muffled gurgle. She lessened her hold on its neck, “Who are you working for, harpy?”

“Myself!” Nicolëth choked out.

Shade smirked, “I don’t mind plucking your feathers out one by one until you tell me.”

Nicolëth gulped, and then after a moment of hesitation finally spoke, “I am just admiring Kyllgorr from afar.”

Shade had an incredulous look, “What?”

“I love him but he has never returned my affections,” Nicolëth admitted sadly.

Shade glanced over the half-woman-half-bird creature. Her eyesight, in addition to the darkness, failed to reveal the harpies full physical attributes, but from what she knew of them, she could understand why her uncle would not pursue such a monstrosity.

“Could I perchance travel with you?” Nicolëth dared to question.

“Your fate lies with my uncle,” Shade answered after a second of contemplation. She began to drag the harpy behind her.

“I can walk!” Nicolëth protested.

“I can pretend like I care,” Shade replied coldly.

A sigh escaped from Nicolëth’s exhausted lungs. What and how will Kyllgorr say and act?

Kyllgorr stared at the small, brown feathered, hawk-like, leather clad, short brunette harpy before him. She gazed up at him with goldenrod eyes. “And I know you… how?” he inquired.

She sighed, “I am Nicolëth—we met when you were in Hell? I slipped food and water to you when you were imprisoned. I even made Grey free you.”

“You made Grey free me?”

“Yes! I kinda, maybe, steered him the long way to rescue Valkyrie,” Nicolëth chuckled; “I know you never actually saw me but…” she trailed off.

Kyllgorr rubbed his stubbled jaw, “Your voice does sound familiar…”

“I don’t trust her,” Amy huffed with her arms crossed. She glared daggers at the harpy.

Fluttershy was crouched at their side, sketching the harpy on a notepad gifted to her from Darqlon, since it was her first time ever seeing such a creature. She wrote down questions to ask the harpy, not wanting to interrupt the interrogation.

He cast a glance at Shade who just shrugged her shoulders. “I do not see any harm with you traveling with us.”

“What?!” Amy interjected in disbelief, “She’s a stalker! She probably wants to take you back to her lair and kill the rest of us in our sleep!”

“Not a bad idea…” Nicolëth mused while rubbing her chin on a wing.

Amy sneered at the harpy and stomped back to her tent.

Fluttershy ran up to the harpy with a wide grin, “Hello! I’m Fluttershy, nice to meet you! What’s your name?”

“Nicolëth,” she replied, withdrawing slightly from the energetic, pink haired woman.

“What is your favorite food?”

Nicolëth eyed the woman curiously, “Meat.”

“Oh, so you’re a carnivore! Do you hunt or scavenge your food?” Fluttershy held the notepad up to her face, waiting for an answer. Her turquoise eyes gleamed over the top of the pad.

“Scavenge, mostly. But I’m not afraid to get my talons bloody for something that I really want,” she glanced over at Kyllgorr, who was crouched by the tent and talking to Amy through the thin, dark green fabric.

“How did you make that armor? How did you put it on? Do you wear different types of clothes? Can you fly well?”

“No, with a struggle, yes, and yes,” the harpy answered in order.

“You are very beautiful,” Fluttershy admitted, “how do you take care of yourself? Do you preen yourself with your mouth or can you use your wings to grip things?”

“Why thank you,” Nicolëth puffed out her chest, “Many have stated that I am the most beautiful out of my two other sisters. Yes, to both preening and using my wings. Your wings are immaculate.”

“Thank you,” Fluttershy replied bashfully, “I have actually only had these wings for a couple of days.”

“‘These wings’? What do you mean?”

“Oh…” Fluttershy brushed her hair behind her ear, “Um…well…”

Shade’s ears perked up to their conversation. She continued to sharpen her arsenal on the other side of the camp.

Nicolëth hopped closer to Fluttershy and smiled up at her, “You can tell me. We are friends, aren’t we?”

Fluttershy smiled back at her, “Yes! Well, I am from a different universe. I didn’t use to look like this. In fact, there are others from the same universe as me, Amy, the elf, for one. My friends and the rulers of the land were teleported here with Grey, Darqlon, Kyllgorr, and Onyx. From what Darqlon has told us, we were brought here because our universe’s problem originated here, and in order to fix both universes, we have to stop Mystin.”

“Hmm…” the harpy thought, “You still haven’t told me what you used to look like.”

“Of course, Mystin couldn’t kill him so he banished him to her world…” Shade deduced.

“Well…” Fluttershy hesitated.

Just then, Amy stomped between the harpy and the angel, scowling at the harpy, “Where we came from is none of your business.” She picked up Fluttershy by her arm and pulled her away. “You don’t need to tell her anything! You can’t trust her,” she warned in a hushed voice.

“But—”

“No ‘buts’! She is a demon and you can’t trust demons.”

“Kyllgorr is a demon…” Fluttershy input.

Amy stared icily at the woman standing a head taller than her, “Kyllgorr is a reaper,” she gritted slowly, “Do not call him that again.” She started to walk away and took a second to glare at the harpy before ducking into the tent with Kyllgorr.