➵ 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐉𝐄𝐂𝐓: 𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐒 [𝐊.𝐓𝐇]

"Time to do something stupid."

But it was just waiting for the trigger.

The woman in front of you gaped for another moment, mouth opening and closing as she stared, black eyes travelling along your stumbling form. Then her face hardened, twisted into a snarl.

"No use hiding it now," her voice turned dark, high, raspy and squawky at the same time, "girls? We're getting a meal and a prize."

And then the black feathers that cloaked her body began to fall the f*ck off.

You fought the urge to scream at the sight that looked an awful like a grotesque form of molting before you realized what was really happening (not that it was much better). No, the feathered outfit wasn't falling off. It wasn't even an outfit at all.

Those disgusting, bristly black feathers were actually wings.

Panic surged in you as you took in the new appearance of the lady in front of you. Her torso was human (bony and tinted greenish from malnutrition, though), clothed in ratty brown linen that was soaked in deep stains that looked suspiciously like blood. Her previously shielded legs were scaled and her feet were wide, three-toed, and clawed with vicious talons- the legs of a bird. Her impossibly wide and heavy wings spread out behind her, their thickness and length make it clear that they could snap your neck with a single, well-placed swing.

WHAT THE ACTUAL F*CK IS THAT???

The small lady no longer seemed so small. And what was worse was that she wasn't alone. From the shadows, around corners, over roofs, even from RIGHT BESIDE YOU, more of them materialized, each of them armed with filed teeth and too-big, powerful wings and razor-sharp talons that looked like they could rip you to shreds and each of them snarling and snipping at you- you and your strange, dysfunctional sword. And yet... they eyed you with a wariness, prowling around you but never drawing nearer. Every time you even jabbed the sword in their direction, they would scramble back.

At this point you actually considered screaming and hoping that would help, but instead you managed to form coherent words so you could perhaps talk them out of it.

"Listen," you began, faking bravado even through your intense terror, "I highly doubt I'd make a great meal-"

"Shut up!" the original woman finally summoned up all her bravery, clearly setting aside her fear, "Girls, rip her to shreds. And bring that sword to me."

There was a moment of silence as none of the bird-ladies moved. Finally, one spoke up meekly. "M'lady... are you sure she doesn't have the blessing of Ares?"

More silence, as if the lead bird-lady had doubts herself. On the other hand, your brain was short-circuiting. Blessing of ARES? What in the name of starfish was THAT?

Maybe you would understand later, when you were out of this mess (well, IF you got out of this mess). But right now? The only think you were worried about was kind of NOT getting shredded to bits. On the other hand, the bird-people-lady-things seemed to know exactly what it was, and each of them had issues with it. Clearly.

"You fools!" the first one snarled, throwing her matted, tangled hair back. On further inspection, you could see little gnarled bones interwoven in her locks, some truly small and some clearly snapped from other, bigger ones. You fought the urge to retch. "She can't even hold the sword up! She can't hurt you!"

It was true- the diddly darned sword had grown so heavy that you had to let the swordtip rest on the ground, the red glow lighting up your face eerily, and now YOU were supporting your weight on it. The vibrating in your fingers was now utterly shaking your arm, rattling your bones so much you felt pain. Your eyes turned hazy and you gasped with effort. At this