Prince Edrik The Fifth's Story

Prince Edrick really had no intention to wake up anytime soon but the sun seemed to have other ideas, the bright shining rays falling on his groggy face almost perfectly through his large bedroom window. Groggily he rolled upwards in bed trying to get his wits about him through the piercing headache he'd acquired from the previous night of heavy drinking. As his room came into focus he noticed the two still sleeping women on both sides of him-he honestly couldn’t remember their names. Doing his best to get out of bed without waking the pair he was somewhat surprised when he succeeded.

Having escaped the clutches of bed he quickly surveyed his somewhat large room, his eyes greeted with the familiar site of various types of lavish furniture and paintings. He was particularly fond of the large bearskin rug that he now stood on, most mornings he would take a moment and let his toes simply play across the fine fur-that was what he had been in the process of doing when the large beautifully carved oaken door that led to the outside world opened slowly.

The large portly woman who opened the door was obviously doing her best to be quite as she entered the room, that was until she saw Edrik standing half naked in the room. “Good morning Prince.” The old woman said with a bow, quickly closing the distance between the two of them she presented him a bundle of freshly cleaned clothes that was clearly meant for royalty.

“Thank you Juanice, and if you could could you have breakfast brought up for those two?” He nodded to the two sleeping woman in his bed which quickly brought a frown to Juanice's face. “Really Edrick, you’re to be married within the week. Don't you think its time to start, you know, settling down?”

The comment made the young rather handsome looking prince laugh out loud, the kind of young hearty laugh that was only ushered from those who were truly care free. “If anything that means I should squeeze as much trouble in as I can BEFORE the wedding. Oh...and...Don't tell my father.” The way he talked about his father was clearly slightly pleading, but the look on Juanices face was that of someone who truly cared about Edrick. “Of course I wont Prince, but you really should think about what I said. Now go on and get dressed you! Sir Ivan is on the warpath looking for you yet again, you’d think at least one of these days you'd attend his sword tutoring on time?”

Edrick let out another laugh as he began wrapping a bright orange scarf around his neck only to tuck it unerdneath his tunic, he then pulled on his fine looking green leather vest to complete his look-and it was a rather gaudy look at that “Come now Juanice, If I start being on time people might get the wrong idea and think I’ve become responsible or something. And besides, why in the world would I need sword training? I mean, honestly?” And with that he left his room, leaving Juanice alone in his room to tend to his 'guests' and clean his room. The main thought on his mind was finding something to drink for his splitting headache and do his best to avoid Sir Ivan.

Edrick had just finished raiding the constantly busy kitchen for a large mug of juice when he heard shouts coming from outside. Thinking nothing of it he simply shrugged as he left his now empty cup on some random counter in the kitchen before he began making his way to leave. However he made sure to grab a freshly baked muffin of some kind along the way out. “Thanks Aldin. Next time make apple juice though, ok?” Edrick said almost without thinking to the extremely large and sweaty head cook who simply nodded back with an obviously forced smile-yet Edrick was so oblivious to those beneath him he actually thought it was genuine.

Making his way down the hallway he greedily ate his muffin with one hand, not caring where the crumbs of his breakfast landed, all the while he absent mindidly spun his crown around his index finger. Halfway through his muffin bells began ringing loudly within the palace. “Church bells?” his mind stupidly thought before realizing it was in fact the middle of the week. He quickly realized it must be alarm bells, a thief in the castle perhaps? “SIREN!” He heard a frantic shout come from outside, only to be cut off by a strange gargling like scream. Dropping his muffin to the floor Edrick ran to the nearest door, curiosity getting the better of him as he flung the heavy wooden doors open to the upper courtyards. He really wanted to catch a glimpse of one of the famed harpies he'd heard so much about, the possibility of danger not even registering within his over protected mind.

The scene he was greeted with was pure chaos, guards running two and fro as they tried to get better vantage points and shots at the winged creature. His eyes quickly darted to a few bodies that riddled the ground, victims of the Siren atack who had seemingly had their chainmail chest pieces ripped apart in a way that looked almost effortless. With a large gulp Edrick took a tentative step backwards towards the door, fear and common sense slowly invading his mind as he returned his crown to his head without thinking. Little did he know he might as well be putting a bullseye atop his head.

The screams and the arrows fired did nothing to deter the siren princess, rage in her eyes as she took down any human that got in her way one by one. She'd bestow upon them the same carnage they brought to her kind. It mattered not who they were, they would fall before her!

As she dodged yet another arrow shot at her, the siren caught a glance of something shinier than the chain mail she tore from the guards. Shinier than the weapons and shields. Spinning so her golden eyes met the source of whatever shone and glinted in the sunlight, Liluye let out a shrill cry upon seeing a crown adorning the head of a human. Although gaudy in dress, his attire and the attention paid to him by any who noticed him among the chaos clearly marked him as a noble. Royalty, a ruler of the land.

Ignoring the guards entirely now, Liluye flapped her wings and dove towards the prince with talons outstretched, ready to rip open his very chest for all to see. IT was only then that a brilliant idea occurred to her. She could kill him, but what if she merely...snatched him away? How marvelous would it be to inflict the agony of loss on these humans in such a manner? To see what was precious to them carried off, when they knew what she could do to him. Knowing they were all there to save him, but could not? How deeply regretful and devastated would they become at such a loss, before their very eyes?

Smirking in triumph and satisfaction at her own brilliance, Liluye seized the prince's upper arms in her powerful feet, careful not to pierce him unnecessarily with her talons. Pumping her wings and pushing herself as high into the air as fast as possible, she faltered once as a crossbow bolt grazed her shoulder. However, despite the wound, she merely shrieked and sped up in order to get away, grateful the crossbow was a slow weapon to reload. Finally, she heard the delightful shouts of the people exclaiming that the prince was being carried off.

Edrick had been busy staring at the carnage before him when unknown to him Liluye was flying right at him. Looking up at the last moment he finally saw the beast flying straight for him, her wings spread wide blocked out the sun and her razor sharp talons were obviously poised to strike. He stood there for what seemed like eternity watching this creature fall from the heavens like some renegade angel of death. Quickly without thinking he turned on his heel to run back inside, only in his panicked state of mind he forgot the door required being pulled open-so when he tried to push his way through all he practically accomplished was running himself into an extremely thick wooden door. The sight would have almost been comical had impending death not been soaring straight for him.

Before he knew it he was quickly being lifted up higher and higher into the air, he could literally feel the deadly metallic bolts whizzing past him as the guards continued to try and take down Liluye. Fighting back tears he tried to squirm his way out of his captors grasp to no avail, she was much stronger then he was he quickly realized. “Hey! Do you know who I am?! Do you know what your doing?!” He shouted upwards as he continued struggling, his crown falling off his head in the scuffle quickly dropped back to the courtyard below with a loud metallic clank.

“The prince!” He heard panicked shouts from below. “She's takein the prince!”

The frantic shouts below only made the siren smirk, pleased with how well her plan was working out. She marveled at how they still sought to shoot at her when she had such precious cargo. If she dropped him, he'd surely die.

"Hold it! Hold your fire! She's got the prince!" Came the captain of the guard's urgent shout, waving his arms to signal his men to stop shooting.

"But sir-"
"You want to get him killed?! You shoot him, it's your head on the chopping block! Pray she doesn't drop his highness!"

'Ah, that's better. Smart move, human. Wouldn't want to hurt your precious prince now would you?' Liluye thought smugly, by now out of range even had the guards wanted to continue their assault. Their indignant and frantic cries died out, growing quieter by the second as the siren flew further and further away. Ignoring the squirming prince in her grasp, she merely glared at him once and squeezed just a tad tighter, again being careful not to gash him. He was upsetting her would, the graze on her shoulder painful and trickling blood.

Slowing her speed only as they were safely over the forest and almost to the edge of the mountains, Liluye felt secretly relieved at her success, and glad her home was within view. IT wasn't much longer before she reached a cliff, swooping down towards a cave opening among the rocky cliffside.
With a sudden release of her claws, she allowed the human to drop two feet to the cliff just outside the cave entrance. She landed gracefully behind her prey, holding her injured shoulder as the feathers began to recede, leaving slightly discolored human arms in their place.

Edrick had to admit that even though he was absolutely terrified of everything that was happening the whole time he was being flown away from his home he couldn’t help but slightly marvel at the view. The massive forest they’d flown over and simply seeing the entirety of his kingdom from a birds eye view was breathtaking. His awe and appreciation for the scenery was short lived however as they neared a rocky cliff side riddled with various caves, he quickly assumed this was the home of the Sirens, or perhaps it was just a place his captor felt comfortable stopping to rest.

For some reason Edrick had been expecting a gentle landing or something along those lines, instead he was caught off guard as he was dropped about two feet in the air. A normal man or woman probably would have braced for the fall or slightly prepared themselves for the impact for some way, but Edrick was far from normal. Instead of simply falling and hitting the ground his body seemed to go rag doll and roll forward a few feet before a loud thud sounded out as his head collided with a rather mean looking stone. Screaming in a mix of anger, fear, and rage Edrick immediatley scrambled to his feet, pressing himself against the cave wall as far away from Liluye as possible. Clutching at the now bleeding gash on his forehead it took every bit of strength for him to not start crying-tears were still however visible in the corner of his eyes.

“What the hell's wrong with you!?” He shouted at Liluye angrily. “You cant just go around kidnapping princes like that!” Making some more sounds that could only be described as moans of pain and anger he continued talking “Why am I even bothering asking?! Its not like you things can talk! So what now, I get fed to hatchlings or something as barbaric!?”

Looking almost incredulously over at her captive, Liluye wondered if she was imagining it or if the human really was feeble. She hadn't dropped him that hard or far! She had expected a mighty prince to be able to handle himself and at least try to land properly. Were humans really so clumsy and pathetic? No, surely nothing so fragile could kill her kind with such speed and skill...

To her annoyance, the prince soon began shouting and screaming in pain, then turning his words upon her. It would have been laughable had he not dared to insult her intelligence. While many of her kind did not in fact know the human tongue (at least not well), she was one of quite a few who had learned to speak the language of humans fluently. Her gaze hardened as she looked at the man in disgust. He looked about ready to cry as well as shout. What a loud, obnoxious thing!

"Silence!" Liluye snapped, stepping towards the man even as he backed himself against the rocks. "You dare to squabble at me?! I will not have you insult my people or myself, ignorant human!" Once in front of the prince, she gripped him roughly by the wrist, glaring into his eyes. "Now stop your shouting! I'm not feeding you to anything, but I will not have you waking hatchlings either!"

Edrick was shocked when the bird woman spoke to him, he was even more shocked when she roughly grabbed his wrist in some attempt to make him shut up. The harsh angry glares he was receiving also terrified him. She did finally say she wasn't going to feed him to anything, which was a plus in some ways. "So....then your going to be the one to eat me aren't you?" He asked in a more hushed tone, although panic was still clear in his voice and seemed to only be getting worse the more he began to realize this was infact really happening.

Violently jerking his arm in an attempt to break free of Liluye's grasp his attempt failed yet again. "And why are you so damned strong?!" He asked as his voice raised slightly yet again. His mind which was going a mile a minute began to try and formulate plans to escape, most of which were extremely over the top and ridiculous. Instead he decided on scanning the cave floor for a loose rock or something he could use to bash the Sirens head in with the first moment she gave him a chance to.

Wincing as the male raised his voice once more, Liluye pushed him firmly against the rock to get him to stay still. The rocks were probably sore and poking into his back, but she couldn't quite bring herself to care at the moment. Squeezing his wrist tighter for a moment to show him she was not about to release him, the siren scoffed at his absurd ramblings.

"Why would I eat you? Stupid human..you probably taste bad anyway." She retorted, only to roll her eyes at his shrill tone. "I'm not a human, of course your strength is inferior to mine. Now, will you kindly shut up?" Liluye hissed at the prince, releasing his wrists, only to grab onto his shirt collar, ready to drag him inside the cave. "Keep struggling, and I'll knock you unconscious."

Being drug deeper into some unknown cavern by one of the sworn enemies of his father somehow still wasn't enough to make Edrick shut up. The whole time he was being drug by the collar he kept talking as if on auto pilot "Wait. You honestly expect me to believe that ALL the stories about Sirens kidnapping children to devour them is a lie? Like, really? I find that hard to believe. And anyways-" He was cut off by a particularly rough (and probably intentional) tug on his collar which wound up slightly choking him for a moment.

Regardless though it only took a few more seconds for him to start ranting again. "And where are we going anyways? The cauldron, right!? You're gonna put me in a stew aren't you?!" The deeper they went into the mountain the darker it became, a bright burning torch mounted to the wall up ahead illuminated the path forward. Upon seeing the torch an idea popped into Edricks head-if he could grab the torch off the wall as they passed by it he just might have a chance to bash Liluye's head into a flaming pulp. Apparently though she was one step ahead of him, for as he went to grab for the torch he was met with another violent collar pull, this time causing him to smack his head on the jagged cave wall. Emitting another tirade of curses he decided it might be best for now if he cooperated.

Eyes narrowed and twitching in irritation, Liluye let out an annoyed hiss as his constant rambling and squirming. Were all humans like this?! If so, she would be stunned they could kill her kind at all. No, maybe this one was defective in some way? But that wouldn't make sense either; why would a defective human be a ruler and dominate over the other ones? Not once releasing her hold or her pace, the siren didn't answer until he decided to momentarily shut up- -which he only seemed to do after being knocked in the head.

"We can eat humans. But unlike your kind tend to believe, humans are usually a delicacy as opposed to a staple. Hunting humans is not ideal for survival." she snapped, rolling her eyes at the absurdity of the captive she was dragging along. Sparing him a glance, she had half a mind to shake him for his infuriating stupidity, especially considering she had already answered him. "No I'm not putting you into a stew! I said I didn't want to eat your foul flesh. Now silence!"

Returning her gaze from her captive to in front where she was going, Liluye shook her head in disgust, dragging him further down until finally reaching a cavern with two chests and a small horde littering the floor. Shoving the prince so he landed backwards onto the stash of valuables and bones, Liluye folded her arms over her chest and glared at the prince.

King Oren sat upon his splendid golden throne, a vast banquet of some of the most desirable looking foods stretched out before him. The gigantic oak table that sat almost the entire length of his throne room was packed shoulder to shoulder with his most trusted guards and fellow noblemen, all of whom were doing their best to put on a show of merriment and distraction.

King Oren was a rather old man, he was the type of person however who even in his old age was a slightly intimidating figure. His once huge solid frame had slightly shrunken due to the passage of time, and his long ago fair handsome face had begun to whither. A large bejeweled crown sat upon his well kept wispy white hair and his robes were a deep rich black with golden trimming-he was the definition of royalty.

And yet here he sat among such opulence and grandeur as the single most powerful man in the kingdom and yet all he felt was a cold overwhelming emptiness. In his old hands sat the crown of the prince, his son, who had been stolen from him not more then a few hours ago. His wife and Queen had been to distraught over the loss to attend a public banquet and in all honesty so had King Oren, but long ago the wise king had learned that putting on a fake smile and going about ones business even in the darkest of times was often the best course of action-especially when all the eyes of rivaling kingdoms were constantly fixated upon his crown-always looking for a sign of weakness.

As King Oren sat there doing his best to ignore the cheery band of minstrels to his right the two large wooden banquet doors practically exploded open, at least that’s what it sounded like as both large sturdy doors were thrust open from the outside and violently collided with the stone walls of the banquet hall. Immediately King Orens gaze snapped to the now opens doors-he honestly expected a group of attackers or angry peasants-the thought of harpies even crossed his mind. But what stood there was far more terrifying then all of the above.

It was a lone woman.

The large and noisy hall immediately went silent, the annoying minstrels next to the king even stopped mid strum-making a rather annoying twanging sound that filled the hall. The woman that stood boldy before the huge group of men would have been described as beautiful except for the fact the almost her entire body was covered in what appeared to be extremely well taken care of plate mail armor-the only skin exposed was a few small segments of her rather muscular but slim arms. She wore more weapons then any man in the room: a ridiculously large iron ax and two handed blade both rested against her back and a smaller sword was clasped at the rather fine looking leather belt around her waist-it even looked like her armor had a built in shield type device on her left armored glove. The very distinguishable hawk face shaped helmet she wore upon her head made King Oren immediately recognized who she was, another feature that stood out plain as day were the two huge braids of bright red hair that trailed from inside the helmet to about the middle of her waist. She wore the same helmet and hair as her father, the Warchief of Vall-the most feared Kingdom in Orens land. It was Saria Stoneheart.

“Where is he?!” The hawk helmeted woman practically screamed in the direction of King Oren, completely ignoring the two well armored men approaching her.

“Hey now lady, no one talks to the king like that. Not even some girl playing warri-” The guard who had been approaching Saria obviously had no clue who she was, a fact proven as her well armored fist shot out quick as lightning catching the poor unsuspecting fool off guard. A loud 'crack!' sounded out as the man dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes, through the whole engagement Sarias eye's hadnt once broken with the kings.

At the brazen and rather impressive attack many swords were pulled from their sheaths, countless guards shooting from their seats at the banquet table. The King himself quickly stood up, throwing his right arm in the air in a sign of authority he quickly shouted with his old raspy voice. “Stand down men! This is a guest to our kingdom, the bride to be to our lost prince.” His voice dropped an octave or two at the mention of the Prince, as if he was just now realizing the fact was reality.

“So then what my men have told me is true?” Saria quipped from the opposite side of the banquet table, already pacing back and forth lost in thought, all the while she walked back and forth she kept her arms folded together behind her back-a nervous habit she'd picked up over the years from her father. She spoke with such authority that she didn’t seemed threatened at all by the large number of men who still clutched their weapons in hand. As quickly as she had begun pacing she stopped, her piercing eyes catching the kings gaze yet again. “I will need your two best men, your three fastest horses, crossbows, climbing equipment, and a weeks worth of provisions. I expect all of requested at the front gates within the hour-the sooner the better.” The way she spoke was clear that she was neither asking nor requesting these things, they were demands she expected to be met.

In all honesty the King was caught slightly off guard, he himself not being used to be spoken to so bluntly. “But-well, where are you going? What are you doing?” He asked, concern and curiosity clear in his voice.

Already walking away with her back to the King Saria didn’t even bother to turn to respond to the question, instead she simply spat back rather loudly and angrily “To retrieve what is mine.”

__

Now, literally sitting on a pile of gold, Edrick seemed a little more come-maybe it was the fact he was once again surrounded by wealth. Letting his hands trail back and forth over the gold coins as he stared at his captor he began rambling again. “Delicacy eh?” He asked, a little less afraid. “I get it now, your gonna fatten me up for some fancy bird party, wana try the royal meat?” Not even waiting for a response Edrick began speaking yet again, as if he was just merely talking to talk “So whats with all this gold anyways?” He literally rolled around in the shiny metal after asking “I mean, what, you people actually use a form of currency? And while were talking about worthless things that are worth and awful lot, do you even know who I REALLY am? Do you even know the shitstorm your bringing down on your head?” His last question was a little more sharp and harsh, like he was a poker player holding an unbeatable hand.

As soon as her captor began to speak loudly and incessantly once more, the siren's eye began to twitch in annoyance. Did this human ever shut up? He reminded her of a newborn: loud and defenseless. He certainly acted like it. Surely this wasn't one of their young? No, he was a full sized human male for sure. Perhaps it was a trick? Wary now, Liluye hissed in warning, grabbing her prisoner by the hair. She shook the fist full of hair- and, by proxy, his head, roughly. Golden eyes narrowed in annoyance as she looked down at him.

"Silence! Do you not know how to hold your tongue?! You're louder than an infant!" She snapped, throwing him back with a forceful shove. "You must be empty in the head to not understand: I said you aren't food. Now stop rolling in my things- you're messing up my pile!" the last part was practically a screech, the siren pacing in front of him. Had her arms been in wing form, her feathers would be ruffled in agitation.

His question would have earned a scoff, but she knew what humans used it for, and to look foolish in front of a human was not ideal. Despite this, she folded her arms over her chest, puffing herself up before answering with a curt snap. "I like shiny things. These coins are pretty. Besides, human hierarchy and power seems to be somewhat based on your money. Therefore, more shiny for me, more power for me!" she reasoned, cheeks ever so slightly flushed in embarrassment. Furthermore, she chose not to answer his shit storm comment- not yet familiar with the term and unwilling to admit it.

Edrick let out a loud strange noise that was somewhere between a cry for help and and agonizing yell, the whole thing looked and sounded slightly humorous the way Liluye was effortlessly shaking him by the hair with one hand. Finally fed up with being treated like a ragdoll Edrick swatted at Liluye's arm with both hands in what might be considered an unskilled effort. Nonetheless it was enough to break free from her grasp, or maybe she'd just let him go, he honestly wasn't sure. It hadn't been an attack really, more like a child's desperate attempt to stop a bully.

“Well I'd like to see how loud your infants are after they've been kidnapped smacked around and then thrown on a pile of metal!” Edrick snapped back as he did his best to dust his expensive looking clothes off. Mid rant however a thought seemed to click in his mind, the way Liluye had been talking about gold had gave him what he thought was a brilliant idea.

“Oh, so you like shiny?” He asked, pointing at the pile of gold as he said 'shiny', his voice had taken a sudden strange change and was now much slower-as if he was dragging out each word so Liluye could understand him even though moments before they were clearly conversing just fine. “Me worth much shiny, understand?” When he said 'much' he brought his hands upwards, as if to imitate a pile of gold. “Take me home, get more shiny, understand? My father, the king, would be verrrry greatful.” he stretched out the words very in an attempt to make it clear that his father would be happy to pay for his life, all the while he was speaking however he was still using the long drawn out speech with pauses inbetween each word, as if Liluye had somehow just lost fifty IQ points. All the while though he was completely oblivious that he had blatantly just revealed that he was, in fact, the Prince.

Thinking she had gotten him to listen and somehow understand his situation, the siren found herself very much mistaken and no longer embarrassed, but insulted.

His sudden switch in tone earned a puzzled frown, only for her eyes to narrow into dangerous slits even as the fool continued on unaware of his captor's intelligence and rising fury. He was mocking her with his childish slow talk, a vein beginning to throb in Liluye's temple as he spoke. His gestures were just as demeaning to her pride, a low hiss in the back of her throat as the human attempted to bargain with her.

The only good thing she could see from his obnoxious and infuriating chatter was his blind stupidity working to give her more information on him without even having to try. So he was the ruler's offspring. The knowledge was met with mixed feelings. She was relieved and triumphant with snagging such a prize. But she found herself disgusted and dismayed. THIS was the child of the human ruler? How could such an heir be so dimwitted and utterly useless?! Unless this was some clever trap, she couldn't fathom how her kind were being eradicated by his people if he was the leader. Such foolish things shouldn't be so deadly to her kind. It didn't make sense! Was this a ploy? But he seemed genuinely stupid. Was he defective? A rejected offspring? He was still alive into adulthood, so that must mean his parents saw him as healthy and not so damaged as to be abandoned to his own devices.

Now further angered by her utter bafflement of this being the leader of the humans on top of his insulting insinuations that she was a dimwitted child, Liluye snapped. She slapped him across the face, towering over him as he fell back down to her feet. Pointing a finger at him, she let out what sounded like a cross between a shrill yell and a squawk. "You DARE to insult me! Treat me like a child?! Imbecile! Useless human! I am not so dim-witted as to fall for your tricks! I don't need your worthless shiny! No amount of shiny will undo what your kind has done!" Liluye bared her teeth at him, eyes practically glowing she was so livid.

"Your words are empty do you understand...empty! Just like your feeble head!"

“Yes, yes, I'm stupid, I get it!” Edrick said after falling to the ground in what could only be described as his signature accident prone way-somehow cutting his forehead on a pile of gold coins. “I'm sorry mam, er, lady, er...bird!? Harpie!?” Edrick was shouting again, practically hysterical and on the verge of tears. “I don't even know what to call you!” He finally shouted, all the while covering his head with both arms as he curled into a ball to avoid what he thought were more inevitable beatings. He was truly a pathetic royal site.

–

Saria was slightly impressed in the speed she had received all of the items she requested, in what seemed like a mere fifteen minutes she had set out from the large city walls into the vast wilderness. She sat upon a large white steed, various supplies strapped to her saddle. Spurring the steed on as quickly as it could run she was flanked by two of the largest men from King Orens hall, if she had been listening to their long winded introductions she would have been aware that their names were Sir Trask and Sir Vale, knights of the kingdom of Swyndell. For all their titles and fancy armors the “skilled warriors” were having trouble merely keeping up with her.

They had been riding nonstop for what she guessed was about an hour, and they had been making good time in her mind. Before she knew it they had entered into a large, almost meadow looking, area. The huge blades of grass extended up to the top of the horses legs, and almost randomly Saria slowed her large war horse to a slow trot-Trask and Vale almost running right past her before they finally managed to bring their horses to a slower pace.

“What is it, Princess Saria?” Sir Trask asked curiously as he reigned his horse under control and followed after her.

“Look at your surroundings, and be alert. This is the perfect spot for something, or someone, to be hiding.” Almost as if on cue a large figure shot up from halfway across the meadow, the human sized figure quickly soaring into the sky.

“Harpie!” Sir Vale shouted, as both he and Trask readied their bows, within moments countless arrows began to fill the sky, all of which were missing their marks as the bird man easily dodged the incoming objects.

“Fools! Quit your shooting!” Saria barked as she pulled out a rather dangerous looking crossbow that had been tied to the left side of her horse. “The key to shooting-” She spoke, as she followed the figure back and forth for what seemed like ages “-Is not shooting, until you know you have a shot.” As she finished her sentence she pulled the trigger on her crossbow, a loud 'fwip!' sounding out as the bolt soared through the air.

The flying creature was so far away that for a moment or two it seemed like she had completely missed, that was until, almost randomly, a large burst of feathers exploded in the sky. It seemed like her shot had been perfect, shooting directly through the right wing with an explosion of blood and feathers. It was clear that the harpie was making a desperate attempt to flee with his one good wing, but all he was truly accomplishing was cushioning his fall to earth, which came with a loud 'thud' as he collided with the earth at the very edge of the meadow.

Getting to his feet in a dazed state the harpie hadn't noticed the three large horses bearing down on him, all three riders dismounting their steeds on arrival. “Grab him by the arms, and stretch them out to their full length-it will keep him from hiding his feathers.” Saria barked as her two goons did as she demanded.

“What now, Princess?” Trask asked between a loud grunt, clearly he and Vale were having trouble keeping the panicked Harpie in place.

Completely calm and taking her time as she rustled through a large pack on the back of her saddle Saria found what she was looking for, pulling a large ominous two handed looking pair of pliers from her pack she began walking towards Vale, Trask, and The harpie. “Now? Now, we send a message.”

The sudden cowering was pathetic, but oddly enough, it worked to stop the siren princess' rage. Arching her brows at the protective positioning of the prince's arms over his head, Liluye sighed at his frantic cries. He really was a feeble thing. It was almost tragic to think about. Waiting a few seconds before answering, the woman's voice was calm and no longer full of fury when she next spoke.

"Liluye. I'm called Liluye. And technically speaking, I'm what your kind calls a siren." she answered him, taking a step closer, but stopping before she could freak him out more and elicit another round of wailing. She went silent once more, watching the human like a hawk for a few long moments while deep in thought. "Will you behave if I give you food?" she finally asked, wondering if perhaps he was simply hungry. "I have fresh caught hare from this morning..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hissing in pain, the male siren let out a shrill cry, a piercing wail in attempt to discourage the attackers from accosting him further, but to no avail. The human males followed their orders regardless of the difficulty, straining against the siren as he struggled fiercely. Kicking and shaking his head, the male kept twisting in any way to try and bite the brutes holding him down. He was panting in pain, trying to ignore it in favor of the more important need for survival. "Humans!!!!" He spat, knowing very little of their tongue. "Vile! Vile! Vile! bad...humans!" he finished with a loud screech.

Edrick was honestly surprised when the beating he expected never came, instead his captor actually gave him her name. 'Liluye' the word bounced around in his head for a moment before he finally decided it did in fact sound like a pretty name, especially for a bird. Even more surprising however was when she asked if he was hungry, saying she had freshly caught some hare. With a loud sniffle Edrick sat up slightly, his arms now folded around his chest instead of his head. He looked pathetic, like a child scolded to the point where his parents felt bad. “Well...Is it...Is it seasoned with garlic, salt, pepper, and covered in gravy?” Edrick as in between sniffles, asked if the only way to eat hare was with garlic, salt, pepper, and gravy.

–

“Shut up!” Saria roared fiercely as she kicked the Siren square in the back, sending the creature plummeting to the dirt. She was pleased that despite her atack Vale and Trask still held the monsters arms in place. Holding the huge pair of pliers in both hands she spat down at the creature. “I'm going to teach you why your kind stays clear of the skys of Vall. And then I'll teach the rest of your kind.” Taking the pliers she carefully lowered the tool to the Sirens wings, and with great care clamped down on a single large feather, the mouth of the pliers itself being the perfect size for what she intended to do-as if this was the sole creation for the tool. With a quick brutal yank of both her arms she literally ripped the feather from his wings, causing the creature to let loose a blood curdling scream as she wasted no time clamping onto another feather and repeating the process.

The reaction was not unwelcome, though the human looked utterly pathetic. Letting him sniffle and bumble about like a defenseless babe, his question threw Liluye off. He wanted to know if it had....seasonings? Garlic, salt, pepper, and gravy? The words seemed vaguely familiar, yet it didn't seem to describe anything she had. At least, not with her food. Her fierce expression now perplexed, the siren hesitated before shaking her head. She was fairly certain it wasn't how he asked.

"Er.....no, I don't think so....why? Are those toxic to your kind?" she asked warily, pausing just loud enough to let out a short whistle.

A ruffling of feathers and movement were heard in a mere minute, a younger siren with similar coloring to Liluye appearing, light gold eyes peering at the princess in a question. "Sis?" she asked, one of the few human words she had learned properly.

Liluye let out a soft series of chirps and whistles, along with a slight trill and gestures of her hands. The fellow siren nodded, skipping off with a contented smile and a purposeful stride.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fear evident in the siren's eyes, the male creature struggled even more, ignoring the searing pain in his arm as he fought to escape the hands of his captors. It was to no avail, the female human speaking to him in words he was unfamiliar with. "Human!" he tried, only to try and bite Saria as she drew close.
The struggles increased as she drew closer, but in an instant his blood curdling shriek could be heard echoing in the valley, arm all but forgotten as his feathers were cruelly ripped from his body. Fear and pain coalesced into piercing, ear drum traumatizing scream.

Nearby sirens shrieked and let out high pitched wails, speeding off in all direction as quick as they could fly, vanishing in mere seconds from the surrounding territories as they heard the shrieking. A scout or two would fly to the top rock and alert Liluye and her family.

Edrick scratched his head slightly confused, although he had gained his composure slightly in the process. “Poisonous?” He asked in slight confusion and curiosity. “No, no....its not poisonous, I mean, who eats a rabbit without seasoning. That's just barbaric.” Immediatley Edrick threw his hands up in the air, not so much covering his face this time but more of a pleading effort-he was clearly expecting another beating. “I'm sorry! I didn't mean that your people are barbarians!” He said franticly as he closed his eyes tight, expecting another burst of pain across his head.

–

Saria smirked as she looked at the crippled mess of a creature that laid beneath her, blood and feathers littered the ground all around her. At this point the thing wasnt even fighting back anymore, as if the pain was so intense it had simply given up, or maybe it's mind had gone to a safe place? Saria wasn't entirely sure, nor did she care.

“Would you like us to kill the beast?” Sir Trask asked as he pulled his shining blade from its sheath, raising it in the air to strike Saria quickly grabbed his arm. “Why on earth would I want that? I said I was sending a message, and this monster shall be my messenger. Get him on his feet.” She ordered sharply as she turned and returned to her horse, putting her torture tool away before she remounted her horse.

“But Princess, he can no longer fly.” Sir Vale said stupidly, as if he didnt comprehend entirly what was happening.

“He can still climb though, cant he?” She spat back, her eyes narrowing in the slits of her helmet as she eyed Vale angrily-she clearly did not like being questioned.

“Ye-Yes m'lady, whatever you command.” Vale said as he and his comrade thrust the bloodied and beaten Siren into the treeline, the poor creature doing his best to stagger away as quickly as he could.

“Your orders, Princess?” Trask asked as both he and Vale found their way back to their steeds.

“Simple boys, now we just follow the prey.” She said, her sickening smirk returning to her mouth as all three horses began a slow trot in the direction of the tortured Siren.