Steel Wolf

Comeuppance

Make Mistress happy. Food good. Mistress want pinkman in hardshell. Mistress be happy. Give more food. Eyes feel funny. Clear. See things not see before. Find hardplace. It not look like mountain. Easy find. There it is. Mistress saysay four hardshell. I see more. Four going into hole in highplace. Easier to see four. Tall one stink like flower. All look sideways and down. Not up. They dumb. There is pinkman in hardshell. Make Mistress happy. Give more food. Mistress saysay not dead, did not saysay not hurt. Tall hardshell going to small hardshell. Want mate, I guess. Mistress want hardshell with baby inside? Wait til mating's over. But, Mistress saysay go fast. Make Mistress happy. I go fast. Get food.

The harpy curved around, folded her wings to lay them flat against her back and went into a nosedive, her velocity increasing by the moment. The wind whistled in her ears, eyes fixed on Ergnok. She rapidly scanned her surroundings, seeing that all of the guards were oblivious to her aerial attack. She spread her wings a little to get some directional control, twitching one wing or the other to keep her target centered. This was going to be tight; the tall one's back was to her, her target facing her, his face eclipsed by the tall one's head, but his shoulders were in view. The other two were fixed on the mating ritual and didn't see her, either. Her angle of attack was perfect. She dove in at a steep angle, extending her feet at the last second, one on either side of the tall one's head. She began to pull up just before her contact, her talons barely brushing Tanaya's armor then slamming in to penetrate and seat firmly in Ergnok's armor. Perfect catch. She flew away with her struggling prize.

The hardshell pinkman flailed about, throwing off her flight and making travel more difficult. She tightened her grip, which only served to make the hardshell pinkman struggle even more. She turned left to hug the cliff face, the updraft giving a little relief. Spying an outcropping she increased her speed and released him, at the same time stopping in mid-air. His momentum carried him into the outcropping and knocked him cold. She caught his inert form and flew the rest of the trip without incident.

A screeching cry made Mynletta turn to see the harpy descending with her burden. The figure looked...dammit...if he was dead...

The harpy hovered with her prize's feet a few meters off the ground. She squawked happily and dropped the inert form before her mistress, then landed on top of it, smiling proudly. Mynletta looked down and flicked her fingers, the helmet rolling from Ergnok's head. The vapory breath from his nostrils in the chill air confirmed that he was still alive. The harpy chirped and stepped off the armored figure, backing up a step or two, and waited patiently for her reward. The Mistress was happy, judging from the way her mouth bent.

"Oh, my dear," said Mynletta, a huge smile on her face, "You did extraordinarily well, indeed. It will be a while, but you shall have the finest meal you have ever eaten...all for you." Mynletta pointed to a random soldier. "You. Guard this harpy with every fiber of your being, else I will be disappointed. Take her and make her comfortable. Begone."

Mynletta turned to the unconscious man on the ground at her feet and kicked his armored side, jolting him awake. Ergnok's eyes focused on her as she smiled down at him.

"Hello, Mynletta." He coughed, then spat out a tooth. "I hope this eve finds you in good health?"

"Ergnok," she replied, cheerily. "So good of you to stop by."

Ergnok tried to stand up, then sat back down heavily, wincing. His shin had been broken when the harpy dropped him from several meters up. He shed the armor plating on that leg and used his dagger to cut away the cloth. Legs really weren't supposed to bend that way.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?" he asked, gesturing to an undead soldier to grab his foot. "Soldier, when I tell you, snap the leg toward you. I need to set the bone."

The undead took hold of Ergnok's foot, looking at Mynletta questioningly. Ergnok dug his other heel into the ground and wrapped his arms around a sapling. Mynletta gently nodded and winked at the undead soldier. Ergnok screamed in agony as the soldier twisted the foot, grinding it a bit. The soldier twisted the foot in the opposite direction, further ruining the leg. He kept twisting it in the same direction, the foot describing a full circle as Ergnok laid back and emptied his lungs into the night. Mynletta held up a hand to the soldier who stopped twisting. The witch knelt beside the barely coherent guard and continued to speak cheerily.

"You know, you've been most helpful to me and I certainly appreciate it. I just need a wee bit more information, then I'll release you from my service. I imagine that you have quite a bankroll hidden away somewhere. You can retire most handily, never to be seen or heard from again, right?"

"Any information you want, Mynletta," he gasped, his senses threatening to overload. "Then, you'll never hear from me again."

"Good boy. How many are they?"

"They have just under seventy guards. Then..." he winced as the soldier holding his foot sneezed, shaking it a little. "Then, there's the princess. That's all. They're cut off. They can't call for reinforcements."

"I see. And their defenses? How are they laid out?" Mynletta asked, stroking Ergnok's sweaty brow. He inhaled sharply, clenching his eyes tightly shut.

"Five two-man patrols outside at all times. Four archers on the tower," he said, his head starting to clear. "There's a door on each side, the front door, and one that goes right into the stables. None on the back, because about fifty feet behind the tower is a cliff. Straight down, three or four hundred feet." He lay on his back and looked up at her. "And it's a safe bet that they know you're coming."

Mynletta leaned forward and kissed his forehead.

"Oh, that's all right," she said, standing and straightening. "I hereby release you from my service." Ergnok grunted as the soldier dropped his foot, the unsupported limb slamming to the ground.

She turned to look at the general. "Would you please send that lovely harpy to me?"

Ergnok Jurcin, Royal Guardsman, and traitor died screaming in terror and agony as he was torn apart and eaten alive by a witch's minion.