The sinking feeling persisted in Lenoria’s gut. Whatever killed this couple did so with murderous intent. The wounds were too precise; the spines were struck to shut down the victims’ mobility and the nape areas were struck to finish them off. There was no saving them.

Lenoria gently stroked the back of the woman and felt something in the way. No, several somethings, all invisible. She plucked one out of the woman’s back to get a feel of it. Long and pointy, like a dart. Soft barbs along the shaft.

Feathers.

Lenoria slowly and softly touched the quill of the invisible feather, yet that was enough to prick the tip of her finger. Blood rushed to drip out of the wound. Lenoria licked her fingertip and hoped it would clot soon. Assuming the other invisible feathers were the same, and the couple died from similar injuries, which were preceded by the eagle flapping its wings, there was only one logical conclusion: The eagle was no ordinary bird and was the main suspect for the murders.

“This…is a problem.” Lenoria then looked back at the dead couple. An object gleamed a few feet away from the corpse of the man. “A gun!” Eyes on the eagle, she moved away from the couple and carefully picked up the gun by the grip. She kept it behind her back while using her free hand to wave at the eagle. Its head followed the movements of the hand, confirming its sights were on her and her only.

“I can’t let it see this. Whatever it is, it can definitely think.” Next order of business was to get closer to the boy. “Hey, kid! Just do what I say and you’ll be fine!”

The eagle screeched in response. It hopped off the boulder and spread its wings in a threatening manner. Lenoria fought the urge to run away.

“It looks like it understands human speech. Good. Huh?” It took longer than she had anticipated, but she made it to the boy’s location and stood between him and the eagle. The dogs were happy to see Lenoria, so much that they ignored the immediate danger to stand on their hind legs and leaned on her playfully. Muddy paw prints were left on her overcoat, something that displeased her greatly. “Cut it out! That’s my coat! Aw, there’s mud on it and…wait, is that PEE?”

“S-sorry…” The hobgoblin child whispered meekly, too embarrassed to look at his would-be savior.

“Can’t be helped.” Lenoria took off her coat and placed it on the small child. The dogs sniffed the coat and proceeded to lick the child’s face. This gave the girl an idea. “Listen, kid. I’m gonna need you to run when I tell you to, okay?”

“M-mommy said I’m not supposed to talk to strangers.”

“Did mommy also tell you to throw stones at dangerous animals?” Lenoria wanted to say more, but she stopped herself. “What am I doing? It’s not his fault.” The last thing the child needed, Lenoria thought, was to be blamed for the current situation. As deliberate as his actions were, they weren’t entirely his fault. Telling him that people died because he provoked a predatory bird would only leave him with trauma, not a lesson learned.

He needed support. He needed a hero.

“I need you to be brave for me. Don’t worry about the bird,” she said as she cracked her knuckles, “you leave it to me. Go and find your parents, okay?”

“N-now?”

Lenoria raised her hands just above shoulder level, spreading her fingers as if they were claws. Her gaze remained on the eagle, who inched itself forward. “Yes, now! Run as far away as you can! I promise I won’t let it hurt you!”

Still frightened, the boy slowly backed away. Steps became strides, which quickly became a dash. The boy turned around and ran away and did not dare to look behind him. The dogs followed him, barking as they did so.

The eagle was ready to take off. Lenoria was not ready for a potential fine for even interacting with a park animal, but in her heart she already made the decision to keep the predator away from the boy for as long as possible.

The dice were rolled for initiative.

***

Clara’s legs took her back to the Guild’s courtyard. She frantically looked around for someone - anyone - who could help her out. But there was no sign of students or teachers. She stopped to take a few short breaths but didn’t recover her energy as fast as she wished.

“Is there anyone here? Please, I need your help!”

Clara turned her attention in the direction of the park at the sound of a screech. It was faint, but definitely avian in nature. What surprised her even more was when the raven’s eyes glowed with a jade green light and glided its way to the ground in front of the elven girl. When it opened its beak to speak, the voice of a woman escaped it.

In times of peril, one must rise up against the odds.

Men and women, powered by the stars.

Child of Apus, listen well, for I shall only explain this once.

Your destiny lies in Thule, as does the Raven’s.

I must aid her now lest she dies, and should you find doubt in my words

Turn around that corner over yonder and aid you shall find.

“Y-you can talk?”

The little raven left Clara’s question unanswered and instead darted off in the direction of the park.

“Wait! I have so many questions! Come back!”

The raven did not come back.

“It’s so cliche. Like that book Lenoria gave me, ‘The Chosen Kobold.’” She paused. “That one had a bad ending too, huh?”

Clara definitely noticed a pattern in Lenoria’s tastes.

“‘Turn around that corner’ she said. Lenoria did say the Constable was in the area.” Clara took a deep breath. “Here goes nothing!”

***

The eagle took off, but Lenoria was ready. Her heart raced when the eagle screeched yet her legs did not falter. She swiped at the eagle’s talon as it flew above her.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

But she was off by an inch.

“So fast!” Lenoria’s hair flowed with the wind from the speeding avian. It screeched again, which made the boy scream. Everyone present shut their eyes to avoid witnessing what was about to ensue. Guilt quickly settled in her for having underestimated the eagle’s agility.

Its beak caught something.

Lenoria winced.

The crowd cheered.

The eagle grabbed the white coat and hovered in place a few feet in the air. Perhaps in frustration, perhaps as a way to threaten anyone watching, it shredded the overcoat with ease using its sharp talons.

“Oh, come on!” All of her efforts to keep her coat intact amounted to nothing. Lenoria kicked the dirt in a tantrum, dirt flying out ahead of her. She spotted the boy quaking in his feet under a tree looking up at the eagle. “What are you waiting for? Keep going!”

“Waaah!” The boy dashed for a nearby bush and dove in it.

The eagle finished tearing Lenoria’s graduation coat. Countless pieces of cloth scattered in the wind, landing on trees, a nearby pond, feces-stained grass.

And the eagle did so with a smile.

“This thing is not normal. No animal would do this.” A vial landed right by Lenoria’s feet. “Of all the things that made it out…” She picked up the love potion and inserted it in a slot on her belt where the healing potion previously was. She shook her head and continued staring at the predator. If it could think, then it would attack at a moment she lowered her guard.

The eagle flapped its wings and hovered in place. It scanned the area around it; the boy was nowhere in sight and the dogs had scampered off out of the park.

“Good. Now I can focus on saving my skin.” Feeling determined, she waved her arms at the eagle. “Hey, you big bully! Why don’t you try picking on someone your own size?!”

The taunt worked. The eagle wasted no time and immediately charged at high speed. There was no time to dodge; having no experience fighting birds, Lenoria let her instincts take over and she prepared to punch the eagle as it flew above her.

Just as she reeled her arm to attack, a gash was made across her shoulder. The eagle’s beak tore off a chunk of flesh as well as the strap from the right side of Lenoria’s sleeveless green top. Just as the top started falling off, it suddenly changed into a torn shirt made of iron chains. Blood quickly seeped through the chains to color them red and the silver lining is that the shirt, thanks to its true appearance, stayed on Lenoria.

The girl shrieked and retaliated with a punch, but the eagle barrel rolled out of the way and speared its way back to the boulder. “That bite could have taken anyone else out! I’m lucky it missed the neck.”

“What do we do?” Someone in the crowd asked.

“Blondie there’s looking pretty bad.”

“I’ll get the guards!”

“Guards won’t be enough for this thing.” Lenoria directed her attention to the crowd. “You should all run away! This bird can hurt you all!”

“What, and miss this?”

“This will make a fine bedtime story for my lil’ uns!”

A man in an explorer’s outfit moved to the front of the crowd. “This is a fine specimen! No member of the Harpia harpyja has shown this level of cunning before!” He raised his weapon - a hunting rifle - and took aim. “Just leave it to me.”

A new challenger had entered the battlefield. Was it really okay if the bird died? "I kinda feel bad for it, though. It was just eating a meal before it got out of control…” Lenoria looked away. Enemy or not, she could not bear to see an animal get shot.

A high-powered KAPOW! echoed throughout the park. The smaller birds perched on the trees fled the scene as well as some of the critters such as rabbits and squirrels. The boulder was splashed with a blot of blood, dripping from top to bottom.

“Bulls-eye,” the gunman boasted. Smoke came out of his rifle, which the gunman immediately blew away.

“Is it over?”

It wasn’t.

Lenoria and the gunman’s jaws remained agape as the eagle bit into its wound, dug out the bullet, and spit it out. There was blood on the wound, but it wasn't fatal; in fact, it had simply made the predator angry.

The bird’s screech was sudden and loud. A blue light shined on its neck. Lenoria covered her ears and right when she did so, she felt something rush above her and past her sides. The sound of gurgling behind her grabbed her attention.

Her irises shrank at the sight of the gunman bleeding in four different points: his stomach, both of his knees, and the jugular. Puncture wounds just like the ones found on the raven and the dog couple. He collapsed and remained stiff on the ground.

The crowd’s screams filled the air.

“I should have just grabbed the boy and ran…” She gave the crowd a wild stare and shouted even louder, crossing her arms in front of her head as she did so. “If you don’t run away, this thing is going to kill all of you! Get to safety while you still can!”

Between Lenoria and the now-scary-looking bird, the crowd didn’t argue further and this time they ran away without questioning the girl. This was no mere eagle; it was sapient and a murderer. Lenoria wanted to run but couldn’t. She took a deep breath, but her arms and legs suddenly felt heavy. She felt pulse after pulse spreading throughout her body. The eagle was focused on her now. It didn’t bother looking at the crowds at this point.

“Am I next? Am I…going to die?”

The eagle prepared the next volley, the blue light shining on its neck again. Lenoria raised the gun she grabbed earlier and tried to fire, but the eagle beat her to the punch. It flapped its wings, and when it did so the light faded away to reveal a sky-blue gemstone. The shock from this revelation lasted for only a moment when intense pain began to assault her.

Two feathers on her elbow joints.

One on her stomach.

And the last one on her neck.

She felt the same kind of pain that pricked her fingertip, except it increased to exponential amounts and felt it across her body. Blood leaked out of her wounds, and she immediately collapsed on the ground. Her eyes quickly lost their vibrant color, and her upper body was now soaked completely with blood.

“Why…is it…so cold…?” Tears streamed from her eyes. Images of her life flashed before her eyes, and soon she saw the most important people in her life.

Her elven friend. “Clara…stay away from the park.”

A balding man in a navy-blue hakama and kimono, working on smithing some horseshoes. “Pop...”

A woman in a jockey’s outfit, feeding the horses. “Mom...”

A tall, slender blonde woman with a gentle smile. Her older sister. “Ami…”

Twins playing in the dirt. Her younger sisters. “Dolly…Kana…”

And a pale, sickly boy, not older than ten. The youngest sibling. “Arthur…”

Lenoria learned a harsh lesson at the cost of her life. Not every enemy will be evenly matched with her and things aren’t always as they appeared. If she had the time for regrets, she’d be kicking herself for not coming up with a better plan. The young child had no one to help him, so was trading her life for his the only way to save him?

I don't want to die.

Lenoria wanted to scream, but she was choking on her own blood. The pain became numbness, though she could still feel the world around her. Her consciousness would soon fade, so she thought it would be best to close her eyes. The last thing she saw was the little raven which now stood on her sternum.

“I’m sorry, little guy. You should fly away while you still can…” Total numbness took over. “So this is it. Will I fade to nothingness? Will I dream?”

The girl could no longer feel the world around her; eternal sleep had taken over by the time three new arrivals came to her rescue.