Flight of The Harpy's Heart

Chapter xx: Witnessing Moon

Aden went to the garden in the courthouse's backyard with a mug of cotton milk—to enjoy the chilling breeze of the cloudy night in Serendale.

He found a spot by the fallen trunk situated along the outskirts of the garden, close to the Silent forest. The pale moon shone brightly through the winter cloud cover, and he decided that was the perfect place to enjoy his cotton milk.

It was an eerily quiet night. Not a single sound could be heard, not even the haunting melody of a harpy's lullaby. Aden was thinking about what the Knights had said about —wildlings, diplomatic, leadership, orcs, and more.

"Orcs, huh?" hummed Aden. suddenly he remember how he got stranded on the shore of the Regalyon empire. He recalled what happened two months ago as if it was a long time ago—vast arid land battlefield, scorching sun, soldiers, orcs, and flamecrest wyverns.

Aden gazed at the sky, wondering whether his chedaim friend survived or not. He barely escaped by a hairbreadth from the scorching battlefield not knowing what happened to the army he was with. Not Merlyon marine nor the guards in the outpost talk about the battle of Al-Ard. All they talked about was the battle on the sea, Merlyon's naval army against the Braidbeard pirate armada—where Hjalmar was one of the crew.

Both sides duke it out for two days straight at the gulf north of The Land the same time Aden fought in battle. Braidbeard retreated with great loss and Merlyon's naval fleet suffered a handful of ships but managed to keep the gulf under their authority.

Aden relished the rare moments of solitude, a chance to recharge his energy and contemplate the events that had unfolded. In the stillness, he sought patterns, discerning the larger picture that often eluded those caught up in the chaos of the moment. It was in these quiet moments that he could evaluate, and weigh the temporary and permanent solutions to the issues at hand.

As he sat in contemplative silence, a flickering light in the distance caught his eye, a dim glow emerging from the depths of the Silent Forest. The woods, usually shrouded in an impenetrable darkness, now seemed to beckon with an enigmatic allure.

Aden's brow furrowed as he studied the faint illumination, his curiosity piqued. What could be the source of such a light in the heart of those foreboding trees? A campfire, perhaps, or something more sinister?

Aden followed the flickering light. He vaguely heard a moaning sound—a woman.

Harpy? Aden thought. They must've been scouting the courthouse for their captured friend.

he proceeded with caution, he unsheathed his longsword, ready in his hand—and went to see to it. Walked carefully, he sneaked to the source of the commotion. Aden hunched, His steps half dragged and careful not to break any twigs or rustle any leaves. It was dark, with the pale moon as the only source of light. Sneaking in the middle of the forest at night was never a good idea.

Jinns were trained in stealth and sneaking art, but not in the forest.

Only a handful of assassins such as the shinobis from Maeda's home region were able to do it. This was the reason why the assassin service was very expensive in the underground market—high demand yet very low supply.

The other people who could fight well in the forest were the rabbit folks and the Yewa people from the Naga-ri archipelago.

The forest was so quiet, that Aden could hear the moaning more clearly. He noticed there were no critters or any other animals in this forest.

He walked over a fallen trunk and rocks, his visibility was very limited, and the dragging steps technique was very helpful. but it made him slow.

the moaning was close but felt so far—like the wailing of a banshee.