Beneath broken stone and warped metal, a solitary raven panics as it senses imminent danger. It escapes certain death mere seconds before the structure finally crashes to the ground. On soaring above the devastation, the bird spies a wet-eyed woman...
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I ruffled my feathers and carried out a quick spot check of my plumage. Now, I needed sustenance.
I hopped over the wooden planks that served as the beaten quay and noticed some small crabs on the adjacent shore.
The prospect of killing one of these little guys did not sit well with me, but at this moment in time, it was them, or putrid, bloated creatures which had fallen ill of the befouled township.
No debate needed there!
I skipped a couple of steps then glided over to the neighbouring shore. My feet sank into the soft sand. It was warm and strangely comforting. Small dunes, shaped by the ebbing waters of the azure sea, provided an obstacle course for the tiny crabs which scuttled up the shore. I eyed them carefully.
As I contemplated battering one of the crustaceans, it suddenly dawned on me that I had never actually done such a thing. Ever! Whether as a raven or a man - I assumed.
I knew this was not going to be an easy task, but I was hungry: I had failed to obtain breakfast before I left Thorium Point.
I tilted my head, watching the crabs sidle their way around the dunes and ripples in the sand. Surely it couldn't be that hard? They were small. One quick peck and that should do it.
Pulling my feet out from the shifting sand, I moved closer. One had stopped as my shadow covered it. It stood, pincers drawn, forelegs off the ground, ready for the fight. I felt I was about to engage in a fencing bout for my dinner - en garde! I stabbed at it.
It pinged a few centimetres away. It was still moving, so I hopped forward to try again.
To my surprise, it came at me, maniacally snipping at my legs. I was so startled it had the nerve to challenge something four times its size that I stood there - frozen in disbelief; until I felt the nip of pincers!
I flapped my wings as a deterrent and jumped to the side. The crab scuttled towards me again, and this time I pecked harder - and missed.
To my dismay, I noticed some of its companions were watching the duel from the sidelines, creeping nearer, pincers at the ready. Again, I stabbed at the sand-crawler.
This time my beak came down hard on its shell resulting in the crab being half-buried in the sand. The others advanced, but I was trying to determine whether I had been successful or not in pursuit of my lunch.
The shell army suddenly scurried away en masse, towards the greenery of the nearby reeds.
I froze yet again as an enormous shadow stretched out over the sand, covering both myself and my buried meal.
A loud, long-drawn-out hiss sounded from behind me. I stared at the shadow; my eyes grew larger - of that, I am sure - for this was no man nor beast from the nearby meadows.
Another hiss, closer, and slowly I turned to meet what had terrified the little crustaceans.
There, rising at least eight feet was a creature I never had - to my knowledge - had a close encounter with before. Its reptilian form glistened from the water which ran in rivulets down its body.
Mainly azure and sea green, the creature's scales had an iridescent quality like the great conches of the deep waters. It had four arms, adorned with shell armour and trinkets, its taloned hands - weapons in themselves. From the full breasts showing between fronds of seaweed, it was not hard to deduce it was female.
The face which loomed above me was terrifying yet strangely beautiful, hypnotic. A snake-like snout protruded from its ophidian face, rows of sharp teeth glistening from between its scaled lips.
Red eyes with vertical pupils stared at me with something akin to distaste. Its head writhed with serpent-like tendrils which tasted the air in a constant, exotic dance. A large fin, armed with sharp spikes rippled and ran down from its crown to the centre of its back.
An even greater sense of pending doom washed over me as from behind this creature came two more. These were male; their bodies were rippling not only in scales, fins and tendrils, but also pure muscle. They too, carried enormous spears.
These were Naga.
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