Starling Rise

Chapter 2 Part 3: First Encounter

"Hi. My name's Eris. And this is Willet."

Partially hovering behind Eris, Willet gave them a small awkward hand wave.

The only boy among them waved back, but the others just stared. The biggest girl was looking at them with a not-so-nice expression. "My mother told me never to speak to farm kids," she sniffed, tossing her long black braid over her shoulder.

Another girl with brown pigtails piped in with a giggle, "You guys smell funny!"

"Don't you ever take baths?" a small third girl asked, wrinkling her freckled nose. "And where are your shoes?"

The fourth girl chirped in a sing-song voice, "Smelly farmers! Smelly farmers!"

Eris could feel Willet slinking further behind her, his hands clutching the back of her jumper. Something fierce rose up inside Eris, and she struck a defiant pose.

"Oh yeah? Without us smelly farmers, you wouldn't have any food, you good for nothing jackasses!"

The black-haired big girl stood up. "You're the one who's good for nothing. By the way, bad mouthing someone around here could get your tongue cut out."

Willet whimpered, clutching at his sister's arm to try and tug her back toward the cart.

Eris jerked away and stood toe to toe with the black-haired girl, scowling into her face. "They gotta get my mouth open first." Her jaw clenched tightly.

"You think you're so tough," the black-haired girl scoffed. "But you're nothing but a turd looking for a place to go splat."

"And you're a skunk!" Eris shot back. "Always making a big stink because nobody likes you!"

The other children began to giggle. The black-haired girl grew red with fury. "Excuse me?!"

"Gladly!"

Without thinking Eris reached up and slapped her hard across the face. The other girls sprang to their feet in alarm as the black-haired girl stumbled back, hand pressed to her cheek. She stared at Eris in disbelief.

Eris was stunned by her own action as well. She'd never hit anyone in her life, at least not with the direct intention to hurt. She watched the big girl's eyes fill with tears as she turned and ran into the store sobbing for her mother. The other children remained standing there, gawking at her.

"That was awesome," the town boy remarked with a grin.

At that moment a sudden commotion caused them all to turn. Everyone was rushing to get out of the center of the dirt street, whipping their horses into a gallop or clambering for nearby buildings. Eris was confused until she saw everyone looking up. So she looked up too.

Slowly descending toward the center of the street was a group of powerful-looking armored beings, their giant wings kicking up clouds of dust as they swooped down for a landing. It was like time stood still. All humans froze, staring out at the Celestulus.

A teenage boy on horseback near Eris murmured, "What are they doing here?! They never come before harvest!"

Eris watched as the angelic beings began to make their way down the street, armor gleaming in the sunlight. She'd never seen their kind up close, even on the rare occasion one came to the farm. One thing she was sure of; these were not the tax-collecting kind of Celestulus. These were the warrior kind. They were huge, with rippling muscles and long flowing white hair.

Eris counted seven; four men and three women. The women carried spears while the men had elaborately crafted swords, axes, or double bladed scythes. They all strode over to one of the street vendors not thirty yards away from the children. The street vendor was trembling as she bowed.