A Monster Life Ch. 31-33

* Writing motivation has been good, and with a little luck I can keep a steady release thanks to the buffer of chapters that I've written and everyone's support.

In this episode the party comes into contact with the harpies and gets to the bottom of why they've become hostile. No, not that kind of bottom.

*

31 - Fight and Flight

Conchim cursed herself for letting intruders come into their territory and worse, get so close to her while she was taking a relaxing swim. There was no sign of the intruders after two of her sisters arrived and cleared the smoke with their wind magic, which meant everyone scattered and hoped the intruders would betray themselves through accidental noise. They still hadn't found a trace after the moons had crossed nearly a quarter of the sky and the sun came up though, and she clenched her fists and stamped her feet on the soft ground. "They even managed to bring a wolf or large black dog!" she thought. "We should have noticed that!" She flew up and continued her search in frustration amidst the morning songs of the birds.

***

Ulric looked up and around at the nearly menacing stone cliffs looming towards them and disappearing up into the clouds lit up by the early sun. 'Geologists in my world would go nuts over these.' he said over the familiar link.

'Geologists, Master?' asked Kaui.

'People who study the planet, trying to find out everything on what it's made of and how it became that way. I wonder what explanation they'd have for a landscape like this.' He examined the stone with colours ranging from light grey to dark grey-blue and strands of black. 'It doesn't look like canyons carved out by a river like I learned in school.'

'There's an ancient legend about a mighty sorcerer that battled a powerful earth demon and they tore up the landscape by raising mountainous rock walls and blasting them with huge stone projectiles.' said Valdys. 'Looking at this I could imagine there's some truth behind it.'

Ulric chuckled. 'I wouldn't be surprised if that was indeed the truth in this world.' He sighed. 'I still can't believe magic actually exists despite witnessing it every day.'

Iphigenia ruffled his neck fur. 'I'd have the same reaction if I were in your world, Wolfie. It's so hard to imagine some of those things you told us about.'

'I miss some of the conveniences.' he said. 'Like pizza delivery. It's quite fun to hunt but sometimes I'd like to feel lazy and just get some pizza delivered to my door.'

Iphigenia chuckled. 'I'm really curious to try that pizza.'

'Maybe I'll get a chance to try and make one if we come across someone with a large stone oven.' he said. 'Then-.' A distant screech stopped them in their tracks. 'Time to reveal our power and hopefully get them to talk to us.'

***

'Surround them and rain down everything you can get your talons on over them!' Conchim shouted at the harpies flocking over the enemy and dove down into one of the smaller clearings between the trees to snatch a large branch. When she flew up again she smirked down at the group. 'They're not even armed with bows! We can take them on easily!'

She swept down and let go of the branch along with the others who carried more wood and rocks. The intruders spread out, twirled something around, and slung balls of leaves up at them. 'You'll have to aim better than that!' she laughed when the projectiles missed them all by a wide margin. The blasts above their heads turned their laughter to screams and battered them with acorns.

The harpies screeched at the barrage hurting them and let go of their ammunition to fly away as fast as they could. 'All right! It's working!' said Ulric when their winged opponents fled. 'That should keep them out of the sky overhead!'

Conchim clenched her teeth at the lingering pain on her wings and back. 'What was that!?' shouted one of the others. 'We can't counter such magic!'

'We can still attack with our speed and wind magic!' Conchim shouted. 'Sweep down low and cut them with your talons!'

'They're coming from the side!' said Elzbieta and drew her sword. 'Kaui, Valdys, Susi, get between us!'

The three moved quickly into the middle of the triangle formed by Elzbieta, Iphigenia, and Ulric, and Kaui put a grenade in her sling. 'I'll take out any that still try to attack from above!'

Valdys muttered and smiled while Trixy peeked over her shoulder from the hood. 'I also have a surprise for them.'

'Good!' said Iphigenia and took her defensive stance as she eyed a harpy swooping down along a clear path between the trees. 'Here they come!'

'Try not to hurt them too much!' said Ulric while he prepared for the harpy heading his way.

Conchim smirked in satisfaction as she watched her brothers and sisters diving at full speed towards the intruders. 'We'll take you down either way.' she said.

The harpy aiming for Elzbieta extended her deadly talons towards her but before she could slash, Elzbieta spun around, kicked the harpy's feet aside, and slammed the broad side of her sword against her assailant's back.

The harpy struck the ground, rolled over and hit a tree, and sagged unconsciously at the base.

Iphigenia skilfully evaded her attacker and hit one of her legs and wing with her cane. The harpy cried out, lost balance, and fell down further away where she limped to the side while nursing her painful wing.

Ulric simply ducked and slapped his harpy upward as she passed over him. The feathered woman yelped as she hurried away while stroking her sore behind with a flustered face.

One brave harpy covered her sister from above when Kaui launched a grenade up in the air. The flak hit her hard but protected the other one, who dove down towards Kaui and Valdys and clapped her wings together, hitting them with a strong gust of wind that nearly knocked them from their feet.

'Shit!' said Kaui while she loaded her sling fast.

'Don't worry!' said Valdys and raised her arm. The next moment the attacking harpy screamed in shock when she flew through spirits blocking her way and view. She veered off course and into a flock of bird skeletons. The birds pecked at her and she fled as fast as she could while crying out for help.

Conchim gazed in anger and shock at the ease with which the intruders repelled the attack and clenched her fists and talons. 'Don't think you can win that easily from me!' she shouted and swooped down towards the bloodwolf. 'I'll start with you!'

Ulric noticed the black skinned and feathered harpy racing down low above the ground towards him. She came in too low for him to duck and suspected she intended to hit him hard and pierce him with her sharp claws. While the rest were deflected, he'd have to capture this one and use her to stop the attack.

Conchim screeched her hatred towards the bloodwolf standing up straight in defiance. She stabbed her talons at him when she reached him at high speed but he jumped back. For a fleeting moment she wondered why the wolf was covered in scales, then crashed hard into him and rolled over several times with him along the ground.

She recovered quickly and kicked at the wolf between her legs, trying to claw his abdomen, and punched at his face while hitting his sides with her wings. 'Die, you thief!' she screeched. 'I'll beat you into a pulp!'

Ulric warded off her flurry of blows, grabbed her wrists, and pinned them down against her wings with a loud snarl while pressing her body down with his hips between her struggling legs. Conchim wriggled with all her might in futility. 'Kill me but my family will take you down!' she screeched.

Ulric snarled her into a stunned silence. 'I don't want to kill you!' he growled sharply. 'We're not here to kill or hurt you in any way!'

Conchim stared with deep hatred in her grass green eyes at him. 'Lies! You came here to steal our fish! Filthy thieves!'

'We have no interest in your fish! Why would we!?'

'You've been stealing ours since two moon crossings ago! Don't deny it!'

Ulric looked up Iphigenia, who stood by while the harpies held back their attack. 'Moon crossings?'

'That's when two of the three moons pass each other.' said Iphigenia and looked up at the light grey circle in the sky. 'In this case it's about eighty-three days ago.'

'Sounds like we learned the reason for their aggression towards the town.' said Elzbieta.

'Seems so.' said Ulric and looked down at the furious face of his captive. 'We're not here for fish, we're looking for a piece of an artefact.'

'Lies!' hissed Conchim.

Ulric sighed. 'Look, either I can let you go if you promise to stop attacking us, or we sit here for a long time until it becomes awkward for both of us. I prefer this kind of position with my lovers.'

Conchim's eyes went wide at the implication and wrestled to get free. 'Beast! Fiend! Fishguts! Let me go!'

''Then stop the attack!' growled Ulric.

She stopped her struggling and glared at him. 'How would I know you're telling the truth!?'

'Val, can you show her the piece?'

Valdys knelt down next to the two and presented the ring piece to Conchim. 'This is what we're looking for.'

She looked at it for a moment. 'Never seen something like that.' she said and frowned at Ulric. 'That doesn't mean anything.'

He sighed. 'Then what would convince you? Do you want to keep a knife to my throat?'

She scoffed. 'That might be a start.'

'Fine.' he said. 'Iphi, can you hand over a knife?'

'Are you sure?' she asked.

He nodded. 'Don't worry.'

She came closer and the surrounding harpies screeched when Ulric let go of one of Conchim's wrists and took a knife from Iphigenia. 'They're getting ready to attack!' said Kaui as she looked at the restless opponents surrounding them.

'They should see this and stop.' Ulric said, and placed the knife in Conchim's free hand. 'There, will this satisfy you now?'

She thrust the knife towards his throat and held it there. 'What kind of foolish creature are you!?'

He grinned. 'Just a dumb guy trying to gain the trust of yet another girl.'

Elzbieta slapped his head. 'This is no time to start flirting.'

He chuckled. 'I wasn't!' he said and looked up at her. 'I just told the truth, just like I did when I said you were pretty the first time.'

She blushed and pulled on the tip of his ear. 'You have a bad habit of doing this all the time when it comes to women.'

Valdys chuckled. 'I don't mind that bad habit as long as he includes me.'

Iphigenia giggled. 'He'd grow miserable if he couldn't flirt often with all of us.'

Ulric cleared his throat. 'I really mean what I say about all of you.'

Elzbieta rubbed his cheek. 'We know, it's just, try not to give the wrong impression to women you just met.'

He grinned a little. 'I'll try with your help.'

Conchim groaned loud and pulled back the knife. 'All right! All right! I believe you! Will you please stop that now and remember that I'm here and let go of me!?'

Ulric sat up straight at once. 'Sorry!' he said and stood up. He held out a hand to her. 'Let me help you up.'

She huffed as she took his hand because she felt unsteady from the pinned down position, and stood up on her feet. She pushed the knife against his chest. 'You can have this back. We won't attack any longer but you will have to come with us to our queen.'

Ulric smiled. 'Gladly. Lead the way.'

***

Conchim glanced sideways at the party that called themselves Quaint. After she called off the attack and her brothers and sisters stood down, the pig orc girl and the short haired human girl had used their healing skills to treat the wounded. The others were hesitant at first but it seemed the party gained a little trust from the relief they gave. She couldn't afford to trust them yet but she did hope these strangers were sincere. She sighed as she had to admit her family might not be strong enough to fight them off if they fought seriously. That powerful bloodwolf alone could probably take them all on on his own, since she was the strongest in her family but no match at all for him.

Ulric looked curiously around while they walked to where the harpies lived. As with real birds, their appearance differed in the colours of their wings, tails, and feathered legs, and their skin colour matched those. Most were variations of brownish colours with patches of red, black, green, grey, or dark blue. The one he caught introduced herself as Conchim and she stood out as one that was completely black. He'd thought she'd originally came from a tropical island if he'd seen her face in his own world, with her full lips and nearly black skin tone, and if instead of feathers she had hair on her head. Her eyes the colour of young grass were a beautiful contrast in his opinion.

Although he didn't want to pay attention to it, he couldn't avoid seeing her small breasts and black nipples since all harpies were bare chested, but their whole front was bare and what covered her down under looked like very soft and fluffy black down instead of hair. As curious as he was about touching her wings and legs, he wished he could find out how soft that part was and if it really felt like a newborn chick. He sighed as it was another reason why he missed having bare skin, he had no cheeks to sense things like that with.

'We're here.' said Conchim when they entered a fairly circular, wide clearing around a tree three to four times as tall as the trees surrounding it in the middle, and with wide branches growing up from its base. From inside the thick cover of leaves several voices joined into a gentle song and from the trees around the clearing came a counter song. The words were lost on Ulric but he wouldn't be surprised to hear birds at home singing like that.

'Wait here.' said Conchim when they neared the tree, and she flew up and into a narrow gap in the thick covering of leaves.

The songs faded and some low and high whistling replaced them. Branches creaked and leaves rustled, and everyone looked up at a section of the leaf covering spreading apart. The exposed birds wore brightly coloured feathers but the one who grabbed most of the attention was fair skinned and her feathers were light blue and more impressive than the brightest summer day Ulric had ever seen. It was as if he was looking at the sky surrounding her.

Her equally bright blue eyes scanned the visitors with an inviting, yet authoritative look. She smiled softly and her voice came out half singing, half speaking. 'My daughter informs me you claim to come here without ill intention.'

Ulric stepped forward and bowed a little once. 'That is correct, your Majesty.' he said. 'We were told of the hostile attitude towards the town folk lately but we're searching for pieces of an artefact.' The queen's eyes seemed to pierce through any lie and Ulric knew telling as much of the truth would be best.

'Is it that important?'

He nodded. The harpies didn't seem to be on the demon lord's side from what he understood from Nina's tale, but he could't be sure of it. 'It may help us out on our quest.'

The queen looked at the others again. 'And what might this quest be?'

Ulric took a breath at the moment that would likely reveal the harpies' stance towards the demon lord. 'We're looking for the demon lord.'

Excited whistles and squeaks surrounded the clearing until the queen lifted one of her magnificent wings. Ulric didn't need to be told that she could blend in perfectly with the sky and disappear from sight if she wanted to. She gave him the slightest of knowledgable smiles. 'You did not say as friend or foe.'

Ulric looked straight at her. 'I'd prefer to meet others as friend.'

Her smile grew. 'So have your actions shown after our attack.' she said and looked at Conchim a little further at her side. 'We have been troubled as of late and are very wary of anyone entering our domain.'

'Nina, the one who told us, is worried you might attack the town. Conchim accused us of stealing your fish as well. Is that the reason?'

The queen nodded. 'If our source of food keeps on getting stolen, we have no other choice but to drive away all humans.'

Ulric looked back at the girls while he told them his proposal over the familiar link. They all nodded in agreement and Ulric looked up at the queen. 'If we can, we'd like to offer our help.'

The queen bowed her head. 'We'd be grateful.' she said. 'We'll discuss it later, Conchim will show you where you can rest for now.'

Ulric bowed his head in return while the cover of leaves closed with more creaking and rustling, and Conchim returned to the group a little while later. 'Follow me.' she said and led them towards the back of the clearing.

32 - Know thy Enemy

Conchim offered a natural shelter under a couple of trees at the edge of the clearing where tough bushes formed a green cave underneath them, and Ulric and the girls made themselves comfortable with blankets and hides to sit on. They'd just eaten a bite when Conchim returned with the queen.

'Let me get you a blanket.' said Iphigenia and pulled two from her pack.

'Thank you.' said the queen and Conchim as they sat down on them, their wings elegantly draped across their lap and the two long, slender tips of her tail curled gracefully behind her. 'I hope you're comfortable enough here.'

Ulric nodded while focussing hard on the situation at hand and not the fine curves of the two harpy's chests. 'Sheltered from wind and rain, it's good.' he said and sat up straight. 'So, what's the problem you're facing, your Majesty?'

The queen cleared her throat. 'Please, call me Sawea. 'Human hunters have been catching the fish flying from one lake to the other in our territory. Before, they never came close and stuck to the further routes the flying fish took and didn't disturb our own supply. Now though, they catch a lot of the fish that would pass our hunting grounds and leave us with too little to survive on over time.'

Ulric hummed. 'Did you make contact with them?'

'They attacked us when we approached them and they used their nets to take down the ones that came near.' Conchim said.

'So, it's a deliberate action.' Elzbieta said.

Sawea nodded. 'That was our conclusion as well.' she said and entwined her fingers on her lap. 'I can only think that this is a malicious act.'

Conchim hit her wings on her thighs with her fists. 'We'll make them pay!'

'What do they usually do?' asked Ulric. 'How do they escape from you?'

Sawea looked at Conchim, who sighed. 'They shoot nets at the fish to catch most of them, and use those same nets against us. We get entangled in them and receive a shock, and they escape with the nets full of fish in the meantime. They're with enough people to have a net at the ready all the time and they're armed with bows. They also vanish every time without a trace.'

'How many people?'

'Sixteen to twenty, I think.'

Ulric looked at the others. 'I think we'd better take a look first and find out more about them.' he said and pondered. He looked at Kaui and Valdys. 'To be on the safe side, I'd like you two to stay here while Iphi and Elz come with me.'

Trixy chittered and he smiled. 'All right, you come along while Val asks the spirits here for more information.'

Susi nudged him with her nose. 'Susi come too.'

He stroked her head. 'I think it's too dangerous for you this time. I'd be less worried when you stay here.'

Susi's ears drooped. 'Okay, daddy.'

Kaui stroked her back. 'I could use your help in sniffing out useful herbs and materials to replenish our stock.' she said. 'With your nose we should find what we need much quicker.'

Susi's ears pricked up again and she wagged her tail. 'I'll help!'

Ulric gave Kaui a grateful smile and turned to Conchim. 'Can you take us to where they usually hunt?'

She nodded. 'They're not always at the same spot but I can lead you along the route that the fish normally fly.'