Sorcha's Secret World, Part one.

Chapter 12, Screeching like a harpy.

Our first mission was a simple one. A flock of harpies had made a nest on the rooftops of a small city in Greece. Harpies have the body and face of a woman, but the wings and feathers of a bird. Their talons are scarp and their screech is so powerful it can stun you.

Normally harpies live hidden in the forest, but just like ordinary animals, they had lost their natural habitat when the city expanded and had made their way into the city instead. So far they had only been responsible for the disappearance of house pets, but it wasn't unlikely they'd move on to the homeless population next. It was our job to find them and clear them out.

I picked Loki up from Temple Hall. He was dressed in a black suit, white shirt and a black and grey tie. I had to admit it looked good on him. His guards removed his chains while I was given a bracelet. It was silver and engraved with runes. The runes allowed me to control the collar around Loki's neck that was now hidden by his shirt collar and tie, but as I had told him before, I had no intention of using it. Loki wasn't able to touch the bracelet or collar himself without getting tasered, I was reassured, so I didn't have to worry about him trying to remove it.

That first day was, well, it was something.

Loki stabbed me in the back. Five times. I was wearing a brand new shirt and it got completely ruined. After the fifth time making my way through the spirit world I was angrier than ever.

"That was a brand new top! Do you know how much it cost? It is ruined!" I was screeching at him as if I was a harpy myself. Loki, in the meantime, had been sitting casually next to my corpse while eating an apple he had found in my bag. Obviously, he had gone through my things while I was dead.

"It looked terrible on you anyway, it is ill-fitting and the colour makes you look sallow," he said.

Realising he wasn't doing much to help his case, he held up his hands. "I'm merely testing your remarkable abilities, is all. Is there a limit to how often you can pop back up like a Jack-in-a-box? Do you know?"

I didn't actually, I didn't think there was, but that wasn't the point.

"You can't just stab me in the middle of a case!"

Loki shrugged "It's not as if we were under attack or anything..."

That was true. We had not actually found the harpies yet.

"I have no idea where they are, we'll just have to search for them first, I had told Loki when we arrived.

I looked around. While the city was small, it was still a large area to search. The brief I had been given had not been very specific, this could take days.

Loki sighed. "Just use your brain for a minute. Harpies are birdlike creatures, where do you think they are most likely to be found?" His tone was condescending.

I ignored it and thought for a moment. Most birds like to perch.

"Up high?" I looked around. There were a lot of high buildings in this city, businesses, hotels and apartment blocks.

"Well done, you are smarter than you look!"

I glared at him.

"If there are reports of pets going missing then there is no use searching business campuses." Loki pointed out.

There were plenty of residential areas with tall apartment buildings, so while that narrowed things down, there was still a large area to search.

"Give me your phone." Loki held out his hand.

"No."

"Give me your phone!" Loki frowned and held out his hand again.

"No!" I looked at him for a moment, and then asked: "Why do you want my phone?"