Legend of the Magibird

Waking Up

The darkness parted away like a curtain, revealing a long wooden room, filled with tables and chairs. The image flickered and took a while to form.

I had just woken up and could not remember where I was or what I was doing there. However, the glass bottles beside me on the round table indicated that this was a tavern. I could barely see through the blur. Beside me sat a tall man wearing blue, snoring like a pig, his voice joining the chorus of the other snoring men. Something in my stomach rose. I panted and tried to hold it back in vain before leaning over and vomiting in a flurry below my chair.

I then knew. My name is Bratko. At least I could remember this. I tried to make out the features of the person beside me. Despite the darkness, I remembered his appearance by looking at his face. He had long dark blond hair, blue eyes with prominent thick eyebrows and a round strong jaw. This was my brother, Boyan. Meanwhile, I was shorter with close-cropped blond hair, and green eyes. I still did not know why I was here.

The air was stifling hot. I needed to leave for some fresh air. I stood and tried to navigate the room, relying on outlines, but accidentally kicked down a chair.

Soon I saw the door, with a metal ring as a handle, which I pushed open. I walked out into the night.

I heard a chirp, and a light shone beside me. I turned, and my eye caught perhaps the most beautiful bird I had ever seen in my life. It had a golden torso with a skinny, long head of the same colour, with feathers of many colours like green, red, yellow, and blue. But the feathers which crowned its head were purple. It had an eagle's head with a gray beak. All its colours shone bright in the darkness of the night, as the bird chirped and warbled in a low pitch and looked at me with its innocent, wide pink eyes.

It mesmerized me and drew me over completely. I stood still for a few seconds, before extending my hand, intending to pet the creature. But as soon as my fingers touched a yellow feather on its side, the bird's black pupil narrowed into the thinnest and sharpest oval, its feathers spread up and gave me a long squawk before biting my hand.

I howled in pain and pulled my hand back, noticing a bloody red triangle on it. I panted and the bird flew at me. I grabbed its feathers with both my hands, but the bird squawked again even louder, grabbing my shoulders. We struggled for a second, before it let go of me and hit my forehead with its talons. Immediately, dizziness entered my body, dark spots flickered before my eyes, and then I fell on my bottom. The bird gave another screech and hit me one final time. I collapsed, and everything went dark.

The light brought me back. My view flickered for a few moments, before the rising sun formed, burning my eyes. I raised my arm over them. A golden feather sat beside me, which I grabbed. It had a smooth touch, almost like gold, gleaming and shining from the rays of the rising sun.

I recalled the events of last night and became attracted to the bird. All I wanted was to follow it. I looked up at the sign above the door of the tavern. It had a circle with the colours of the rainbow and an eye in the centre. Above the sign stood "Iris Inn" in metal letters.

I re-entered the tavern and found my brother still asleep and snoring at his spot in the table. I now saw the tavern better due to brighter lighting: the circular tables and the chairs were made of pine wood, and there were colourful tapestries on the wooden horizontally logged wall of the inn. Most of the tables were filled.

At the far end of the room was a rectangular oakwood table, and behind it a shelf stocked with different types of liquor. Many of those drinks stood on my wooden table, and I realized that I had gotten a hangover from the night before. My brother wore a blue doublet, while I wore a brown fur coat. I shook my brother awake. He yawned and raised his arms before opening his eyes. But his eyes were barely open, and his brows were down and constricted.