The Dawn of Light

(18)The Canyon's Emerald Edge (Part 2)

The Canyon's Emerald Edge (Part 2)

Their shrieks were shrill and made the hair on my forearms jump up with a jolt.

"Harpies." I hissed and grabbed Simos' hand, tugging him into the tomb where Waldonius' staff was perfectly hidden away. We pushed our bodies flat against the rock wall and inhaled a sharp breath.

Our eyes met with worry, but as I parted my mouth to whisper a plan, my eye caught the eagle-like wings of a harpy ascending into the cave's entrance.

I pressed a hand onto Simos' chest and nudged my head towards the entrance. He turned his chin to where I was pointing and I saw his eyes widen with fear. Simos grabbed my hand and squeezed. He was warm; his hand large and rough from the climb. I let him hold it as I moved closer to him and slowly swung my body around; directing my front to his and peering around the corner at the harpy.

She was scavenging around the cave for a morsel to eat. She obviously knew we were in here- I'm fairly sure we'd made quite a great deal of noise while we'd descended down to the cave.

Normally, a harpy would be easy for me to kill. They were quick, but by no means the smartest creature, and they loved shiny things. Although, now, things would be a bit more complicated. For one, I couldn't use magic, which was fine, but solely using combat would mean I'd be putting Simos' live in more danger than it had to be.

Secondly, I had no weapons. Fighting one of these creatures was going to be rather difficult without a sharp blade, but by no means impossible. I just had to take it by surprise.

Simos whispered and his hot breath tickled my ear; "What's the plan?"

"How many harpies are there?"

Simos frowned and eyed me with a silly look; "One. It's in front of you."

"No, you idiot." I hissed; "How many of them are there in the canyon?"

"Countless of them, Theia. Do you want me to perform a census?"

"Yeah, that be great. Why don't you start with her." I pointed to where the harpy was picking at an old human skull.

Simos snarled back and pressed his face closer to mine. We were packed like two sardines- tightly against each other; "You know, you're sarcasm isn't helping."

"My sarcasm?" I scoffed softly. The harpies ears perked but Simos and I were too busy arguing to notice. "You're the one who's constantly trying to avoid answering my questions with dry remarks! I'm trying my best to keep us alive."

"By making me jump to my death?"

"Oh, you made it, didn't you? Stop being so dramatic."

"Dramatic?" Simos said with annoyance, but before I could reply, Simos' eyes widened with shock and fear. He grabbed me and shoved me to the ground with a loud grunt.

We fell onto the dirty floor and rolled to the side to doge the harpy's furious attack. She was hungry and she was very impatient.

My hand clasped over a rock on the floor and with one swift motion, I jumped up and smacked the stone across the side of her head with a cry of anger. The harpy screeched out in pain and fury, but my plan had worked. She was now very focused on killing me and had completely forgotten about Simos.

Simos didn't look too happy about this, but there was nothing he could do when I sprinted out of the tomb and into the cave, the harpy hot on my heels.

"Here, bird-brain!" I shouted and ducked behind one of the tall statues. The werewolf watched in silent precision as the harpy flew down onto it's base, latched it's hooks into the old marble and shrieked loudly.