My Own Fairy Tales

The Eagle Beast

The Eagle Beast

          Once upon a time in a faraway land, a king and queen lived in a shining castle next to a forest. Their son, the prince, was a kind soul and he loved the forest more than anyone else in the castle. The reason he loved the forest was because of all the birds that lived there. The birds were his best friends and everyday in his spare time he would play with the birds and talk to them. But his most favourite was their singing, the birds singing was so peaceful it always put a smile on his face, even when he was feeling down.                                                                                                                                                                        

           All was peaceful at the castle, but one day a terrible thing happened. A band of robbers attacked the castle to steal its treasures. The prince and servants escaped but the king and queen were killed by the robbers. The prince, who was hiding in the forest, was distraught by his parent's death and was angry with the robbers. He wanted to fight them but the robbers were too strong for him to handle on his own.                

           "I can help you" said a feminine voice behind him.     

          The prince turned round and saw a beautiful forest spirit.

          "I have seen how you take care of my forest and the birds. I will give you the power to destroy the ones who are attacking your home. But I'm afraid I will be placing a curse upon you. You will become a beast with the head, claws and wings of an eagle and the only way for this curse to be broken is for you to find someone who would love you as you are. Are you willing to go through this curse?"

          The prince hesitated after hearing what would happen to him, but he just couldn't let the robbers get away with their crime. He asked the forest spirit to transform him and to keep his castle hidden until that special person came into his life that would break the curse. With her powers she granted his wish. The prince became an eagle beast and destroyed the robbers. Then he hid away in the castle and the servants of the castle were turned into birds and became the eagle beast's pets. The forest spirit then placed a magic barrier around the castle, to make an illusion, so if someone went into the forest they would never find the castle hidden by more and more trees.         

          No one ever knew what had happened to the castle or its people. Neither did they know what became of the prince. Because of the attack and disappearance of the castle everyone believed that the castle had been destroyed and all who lived there were killed. Soon the castle and the people of the castle became forgotten.

          In a village outside the forest there lived a beautiful and kind young girl, but her life was not a happy one. Her mother and father died when she was a little girl and her adoptive mother was very unkind. She made the girl do all the housework without ever offering to help. The mean mother had a daughter of her own and unfortunately the sister was lazy and mean too, so the poor girl had to do everything she was told to do.

          Whenever she had free time and had finished her daily chores she would go into the forest and spend time with the birds. Their singing always made her smile and relaxed her after such a busy day. But her mother and sister laughed at her and named her Birdina because the birds were her only friends. Birdina didn't care because she loved the birds very much, but still she wished she had a happier life than she had now. There were some days that Birdina had tears of sadness running down her cheek because of the cruelty her adoptive family gave her.