STOP FLOCKING AROUND

Harpies. It all made sense now. Or actually… No, it didn’t. Iris had no clue where they had come from, how they had come about, or really anything about them. She had a hard time believing that an entire… flock… of harpies had gone unnoticed in this forest, but it appeared that they had.

Iris and Mocha rode next to the wagon as Sera urged Tanith to drive faster. The harpies were gaining on them, their sharp talons and piercing screams causing panic in the horses pulling the wagon. Iris turned her head to look back and saw the harpies swooping down, their brown and grey feathers ruffling in the wind. Others wore an array of colors, but those looked similar to the ones from earlier.

Her eyes widened. That’s it! The colorful ones are males!

The revelation was proven a few moments later as the harpies flew close enough to discern their… figures. She could see the harpies' faces clearly now–they looked like telv women, with short pointed ears and soft features. The females actually had sort of hands at the end of some really long and spindly winged arms. However, it was the sight of their large breasts bouncing with every flap of those wings that made Iris roll her eyes in annoyance.

Really? Even they have bigger ones?

As she watched the winged thirst traps, the creatures seemed to gather into a formation as they dove toward the wagon. Iris could see the fear in Sera’s eyes as the woman cowered on the bench, trying to make herself as small as possible.

Tanith, on the other hand, was focused on getting the wagon out of harm’s way. He urged the horses to go faster, whipping the reins with a sense of urgency.

Iris let loose two arrows as they descended toward the wagon, but these harpies were quick and agile, unlike what she now figured were their male counterparts. Both of her arrows were dodged, but with the third one she used her [Unerring Shot], which still almost missed completely. Instead, the ability clipped through one of their wings, causing the female harpy to roll and plummet in a cry of pain and a shower of feathers.

As she shot a few more arrows, she felt herself draining with every ability used, so she quickly put her bow down and drew in a deep breath, letting mana flow through her.

“Okay, Mocha. Let’s get serious,” she said.

Her horse let out a series of neighs as she pounded down the road.

“Look, I didn’t want to exhaust myself, okay?”

Mocha snorted, her nostrils flaring as Iris [Focused] on the creatures attacking. The harpies were diving in and out as they tried to attack the wagon. She had to act.

She launched a [Spark] at the nearest harpy.

The bolt hit its target, causing a bright flash and a deafening crack that made Iris wince. The harpy screeched in agony and spiraled out of control, crashing into a tree. Two more harpies swooped in to take its place, but Iris was ready for them.

She channeled [Arcane Capability] through her and felt herself strengthen both physically and magically.

She continued firing [Sparks] at the dive-bombing sky harlots, but only managed to hit one more. The harpies kept a close eye on her and were quick to move away. It was almost as if their speed was—

Her eyes widened.

“Shit, Mocha! They have abilities!”

Her faithful steed seemed to focus as well as she put her head down and slow down, moving behind the wagon. She let out a series of neighs that had Iris groan.

“Fine! I’ll stop flocking around!”

Iris activated her [Rushing Wind] and jumped up, landing on the saddle as she stood on her horse’s back. Her reflexes quickened and she snap-fired a [Spark] at another harpy, altering the spell midflight to twist and hit it right in the chest.

A morbid sense of satisfaction surged through her right alongside the rush of a level-up, even as the female harpy crashed to the ground in a heap of smoking feathers.

Mocha let out a loud warning cry, and Iris instinctively ducked, barely avoiding the talons of one of the beaked males.

She started windmilling as she felt herself start to fall over, but then a white sheen pulsed over Mocha’s back and Iris felt her balance steady as if she were standing on the ground.

“Thanks, girl! Let’s get these mother flockers.”

Mocha did not respond.

“Come on! That was a good one!”

A derisive snort was the only reply as Iris channeled more mana and let a [Chain Lightning] loose, hitting a male before the spell zigzagged between three others.

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She launched spell after spell at the aerial savages with steadily diminishing success. As Iris continued to fight off the harpies, she realized that they were becoming more organized and coordinated in their attacks. They seemed to be communicating with each other, using their abilities and tactics to try to overwhelm the group. Iris could feel herself becoming drained as she used more and more mana to keep up with their attacks.

Sera and Tanith were doing their best to keep the wagon moving, but the harpies were relentless in their pursuit. Iris knew that they needed to come up with a new plan, or they would be overrun.

She quickly scanned the area around them, searching for any possible advantage they could use against the harpies.

That was when she saw her. The queen naked bird bitch, with a crown of feathers so cliche, she would have laughed if it wasn’t for the circumstances.

There were so many flying around by now, that Iris was starting to doubt their chances of surviving. Well, mainly just poor Sera. That girl had nothing on these harpies, and if she was right, the unfortunate high elf woman would be quickly killed off. Of course, the feathered floozies were likely to keep Tanith as prime breeding material, the high elf man may even like it before his usefulness ran dry and flayed by talons as large as her hands. Meanwhile, Iris was sure to get away. Mocha was too badass, her horse likely out-leveled the harpies and could outrun them if needed.

As Iris watched, the queen’s eyes started glowing green. Shit!

“Tanith! Quick, move left!” she shouted.

The wagon instantly jerked to the opposite side of the small road, with one of its wheels even leaving the ground as the momentum threatened to tip it over. Several bags and boxes of supplies spilled out of the wagon as it slammed hard back onto the ground.

Mocha leaped just in time to avoid colliding with a bounding bag of apples, and Iris could have sworn she heard the horse cry out in disappointment.

The wagon’s movement wasn’t a moment too soon, and Iris stared in disbelief as a stone spike crashed into the ground where it would have been. She looked back up, still glued in a crouched position on Mocha’s back, and into the eyes of the angry harpy caster. The creature was focusing on her and started casting another spell.

Iris fired three [Sparks] at the thing and watched as it had to stop its magic to dodge the spells.

It screeched and harpies flew in close, protectively circling the queen.

What followed was an exchange of spells that had Mocha dodging left and right as stone spikes as large as Iris’s torso slammed into the ground. Mocha’s own ability kept Iris’s footing firmly planted to the saddle. It was a bit awkward, as the sudden jerking movements her horse had to perform to dodge the spells caused Iris to bend at the waist from the momentum, but her legs never moved.

I'm not nearly flexible enough for this shit. Add yoga to the list of adventuring prep.

“Iris! We’re almost to the edge of the forest!” Tanith called out.

That was her cue. The adventurer extraordinaire needed to get the harpies to back off. She [Focused] and cast her [Arcane Torrent] spell at the attacking creatures. A purple and white cloud of energy formed around her and a barrage of purple projectiles streamed from within to hurl themselves at the harpies. Shimmering splinters homed in on the closest attackers in a constant stream of power, each hit bursting in a small surge of arcane energy.

Screeches from the falling harpies filled the sky around them.

The harpy queen's wings flapped fiercely as she soared through the air, her eyes fixed on Iris and Mocha below.

She raised her talons and focused her magic, conjuring a powerful gust of wind that swept across the ground, pulling up stones and debris in its wake.

The stones and debris spun around the harpy queen, forming a deadly vortex that hurtled the projectiles toward Iris and Mocha with incredible speed and force. The queen immediately cast a series of stone spikes to fill any gaps in her other spell.

Iris glanced back at Mocha, seeing her horse also trying to look behind herself. “Mocha! Do your thing!” she called out.

With a sudden burst of speed, Mocha spun and raced towards the harpy queen, weaving in and out of the earthen missiles as Iris focused her magic and summoned her [Storm Armor]. Arcs of lightning shot out to deflect the incoming stones and debris, pulverizing stone and wood as the smell of ozone and charred wood filled the air. With every jolt of the spell that deflected or destroyed something barreling toward them, she felt her stamina noticeably dip.

She grunted as she got an idea. Iris drew as much mana as she could without passing out, and channeled her [Static Discharge] into an overcharged [Spark] before twisting the spell enough to be used by her [Unerring Shot] ability. She let the combo spell fly, ignoring the massive wave of exhaustion that threatened to overcome her, and watched as it curved and tracked the diving queen, but at the last moment, a male harpy dove and sacrificed itself. Iris cried out in dismay, as the crackling bolt slammed into the harpy in a surge of energy that launched two projectiles, which also unerringly shot at the queen. Her luck returned as the royal hussy attempted to dodge the two crackling balls of energy. The harpy managed to avoid the first one, but not the second, as a fist-sized electrical orb detonated next to its outstretched wing.

A screeching cry of pain sounded as the paralyzing effect of the spell hit the wing causing the queen to topple and start a descending roll as she fell from the sky. Mocha didn’t even wait as she turned and rushed to catch up to the merchant wagon while Iris slammed back into the saddle with a thud, a pervading soreness in her back and groin. She glanced back even as Mocha sped up, and watched as several other harpies dove, managing to stop their leader’s fall, but not before the wagon sped into the plains with a magical horse right behind it.

Then in an act that surprised her, almost every harpy screeched and flew to a halt. It was as if the edge of the forest had an invisible wall, a barrier that they did not want to cross. A few kept coming but the rest remained at that imaginary line, the creatures hovered, glaring daggers at the fleeing wagon and horse. The ones that continued their pursuit appeared to have come to a realization because they shrieked in panic before forcing themselves to turn and rush back toward the forest with extreme haste. As they rejoined the group, the harpies turned as one and flocked off.

“Wait! Tanith, stop the wagon!” She called out.

The wagon came to a sliding stop, the two horses huffing in exhaustion.

She directed Mocha to move alongside the wagon. “Let the horses rest a bit, the harpies are flying off. We will be right back. There’s something I need to get.”

Tanith narrowed his eyes and started to open his mouth, but she didn’t get a chance to hear his objection before she and Mocha rushed off.

She did hear Mocha complaining the entire way.