Snippet #943785

Wings beat heavily in the sky, just above the cover of the raging storm. The turbulence of the wind swept heavily to one side and then the next, constantly changing its speed and direction without a clear purpose behind it all. Huge splotches of moisture and rain hung in clusters across the sky that were as threatening as a minefield to the unprepared. Pushing hard across one area, riddled with moisture and the ever changing winds, was a lone group of Harpies as they pressed themselves against it all to make it to the Akaldai Pass. At the lead was a fearsome Male, his silver and black feathers shuffling and pushing left right and in blossoming and falling circles as the wind battered him. His one indigo eye stabbing through it all with a steely gaze. Behind him followed the other 30 in his "murder" as they rushed to the planned battle, late as usual.

"If this keeps up we won't make it in time for the fight!" Raven, the nickname of the Harpy behind and to the right of the lead, screamed over the wind. His wings fluttered in a half push and he suddenly rolled as the current dragged him awkwardly away, his wings spreading out to catch and slow his person before spinning around and under it before beating heavily to regain his position, "The wind is just too strong here!"

The lead didn't look back but his strong voice was ripped from his mouth and dragged back for all to hear, "If you keep talking like that Raven, I might just give you to the females after all!" The other males laughed as Raven looked away and pushed harder to match the pace of Visar.

"And if the battle is over by then? What should we do, fly back with not another kill in almost a week!"

Visar's arm reached out and grabbed his shoulder, only looking forwards as they flew though any of them knew he was focused on them at times like this, "No Raven! Should we make it there late! I'm going to promote myself a better Navigator, and then we will chase those Civilized Mud Kissers back to their pathetic camp! We will rain our arrows on their turned back and, hopefully, skewer one of those pathetic officers with their tail between their legs!" Cheers arose behind the pair and raven clasped his leader's shoulder before falling back to his own position.

"You heard our leader! Let's rain death down on those below us, come on men!"

With Raven dipping below cloud cover every so often, it wasn't long until the group found themselves hovering above the pass. Granted it was a very struggled hover where their wings flapped hard or soft, bodies turning to face and assaulting gust of wind to correct their position, but in position they were. From high up they watched the clashing battle as occasionally a female could be seen swooping down into the fray or trying to use their arrows or bardic magic from above. They also watched with disgust as some kind of catapult monstrosity hurled massive spear-like trunks into the air, running through those hapless females that flew too low. Just beyond that was a swirling mass that reaped lives wherever it went and Visar frowned.

"Raven! Just what the hell is that!"

He pointed as his Navigator and second in command pushed harder, sliding into a current rushing the opposite direction as he glided over the mass and rolled around pushing to return to his position and correct his hover. "Some kind of chains sir! Enchantment! It looks to be taking out our forces with little trouble!"

Visar frowned and looked between the catapult and the chains before his left wing dipped low he could slide his longbow from his back. He lifted it up and ran a talon down the string and the wood before glancing back to another of his gang, "Hawk! Hawk we need a quick protection enchantment for our bows and projectiles! It seems they are starting to catch the slight dampness of the air!" The collection of chuckles was few, though the wind drown out most and carried most of them far far away.

The second harpy flew forwards, his brown feathers ruffled by the wind as he grinned. Unlike most of the others, his bow wasn't the Harpy Longbow but a short, which was clutched between his feet as he flew up, closing his hand into a fist before raising his first two talons and touching his forehead while a strong and flowing incantation was uttered, causing their bows, quivers and arrows to shimmer for a split second before fading away. "All ready Visar! Just call the target and we will follow!"

Examining the two strange devices he fluttered in the wind feeling the push and pull of the currents as the feathers on his head shifted one way and then the next. Feeling the bow in his taloned hand he tested the string without an arrow and took aim, first at the larger device then the chin monstrosity before slowly moving the string back to the resting position. "Two arrows! Full draw! Take aim at the chain creature first! Read the air currents and loose at my call only! If anything gets in our arrow's way, Savaged or Civilized, it is their fault for being exposed in these terrible conditions!" His left hand took the bow as his right slow grasped two barbed arrows from his quiver, sliding the unused arrow onto a talon, with the use of a small loop just barely inside the fletching, curling the talon to his palm to keep it in place. "Nock first arrow!" His hand slid the first arrow out and into position before drawing it back till the fletching was well past his ear, hand shaking steadily before he adjusted, wings beating harder to keep his position, letting the feeling of the wind flowing across his feathers to understand the current's motions.

"Hawk, loose first arrow!" The twang stuttered in the air for a moment before being torn away as the short bow fired out towards the target, the arrow being pushed, lifted and dragged as it sank, well short of the intended target, sailing into the pass where it took an unsuspecting goblin through his left eye, dropping the pathetic Mud Kisser where he fought. All the other harpies adjusted their aim as Visar figured out where he needed to fire the shot, breathing slowly as his wings began to fall into a motion that balanced him in the wind at the current moment. Wait for it... The wind suddenly shifted and rocked them all far to the left, wings beating harder to regain position. He could feel it coming.

For a split moment the wind vanished from their position. "Loose!" The twangs of 29 strings sounded off as the cloud of arrows sailed down through the sky, some clattering into each other as others were dragged too far off course, though a good number, less than half, fell on target. "Nock second!" As one they flipped the next arrow into their waiting hand and drew back steadily, taking aim as the wind closed about them once more. He felt the strength of the wind and closed his good eye for a moment before looking back down, "Aim as you will and Loose!" Releasing the second arrow his sharp eyes followed its path as it wavered and sailed with the others, flying down for a would-be arm of the creature before a final gust of air forced it off target and cutting through the mud.

Clenching his hands into fists and setting his jaw he looked away from the monstrosity and looked for the other as something streaked underneath him. His reaction was purely instinct as he rolled over and to his right, wing fluttering out as one of the massive logs cut through the tip of his feathers, flying up and taking one unfortunate male who didn't see it coming, the large projectile punching clean through his torso to a point before its weight dragged it, and him, back down to the unforgiving ground below. With a shriek of frustration he reached for his next arrow, "Barbed arrows, half draw, loose as you will! Take that damn contraption down!"

Even as he snatched at his first arrow and took sights at the thing. A strange mist was starting to filter across the ground, slowly cutting off their sight. "Forget adjusting to the wind and loose your arrows!" His arm pulled the string back halfway as he let the first shaft fly, ignoring where it cut across the air as he snatched for another arrow, drawing it back to loose again, clearly watching this one fly off with the wind, rather than down for the target. He cried out in furry as he and his gang loosed four more arrows upon the device before their vision was lost.

Replacing his next arrow in the quiver he quickly dipped a wing to slide the bow back onto it's resting position, his indigo eye glaring furiously at the ground as his wings beat harder. "Climb above cloud cover and wait for the mists to clear! If anyone else dies on me, their corpses go to the females!" He looked up into the sky to follow where his wings carried him, his furious gaze stabbing at the mists once more before the storm clouds above enveloped them.