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Brun and his bowmen watched the net go up at the fish and fold around the school, then fall down and the harpies appear out of nowhere behind them. 'Harpies!' he shouted and the bowmen around the second net aimed at once. 'Two, one, fire!'

The net shot up in the air but before it reached the intended prey, two harpies slashed the air with their wings and the net fell apart in several pieces.

Brun held his breath in surprise at the unexpected defence. 'Fire at will!' he shouted, then heard the flapping of wings surrounding him and his crew.

'Where'd they come from!?' shouted one of the women and shot her arrow at the harpies coming from one side.

'Shoot! Shoot!' said another as he shot at the first harpy he saw.

'Next net!' shouted Brun and four bowmen loaded their crossbows with the launch bolts. As soon as they aimed at the harpies in front of them he shouted 'Fire!'.

The net deployed in front of the group but this time three of them slashed with their wings and the net went down in pieces.

'Shoot them! Damned!' he shouted but the harpies evaded the arrows and even cut some of them as they flew towards them.

'Demon!' cried another and Brun spun around to see a snarling bloodwolf pounce one of his men hard to the ground. The next moment the first harpies came down, and knocked their opponents back or slashed at them with their talons. A black one was especially fierce at stabbing at one of the women who tried to fend her off with her sword.

'Hide!' he yelled and wrapped his cloak around him. The others did the same as soon as they could and vanished one by one, and he thought they could get away with minimal damage. Until three women appeared from all sides and threw jars around.

Clouds of white dust exploded and the invisible men and women became visible as faint ghostly images. The next moment a blonde pig orc rushed onto the scene flanked by another smaller bloodwolf, and threw green leaf balls at the exposed thieves. The balls burst open, a blue liquid splashed all over the targets, and within several steps of the fleeing men and women, their cloaks began to dissolve and their invisibility properties faltered.

Brun froze for a moment at the utter annihilation of their perfect strategy of hunting the flying fish and getting away. He gnashed his teeth. 'Shit!' he grunted and dodged harpies and humans fighting as he fled to the side and into the trees.

Several others fled the scene and rushed through the trees. "I got away!" thought one of the women but her attention was suddenly drawn to a pale creature in front of her. She stopped as soon as she recognised it as a ghostly squirrel, took off to the side, then shrieked when a horde of animal skeletons and spirits rushed at her.

Valdys grinned a little deviously at the cries of fear coming from the trees in different directions. 'I almost feel sorry for them.' she said.

Ulric chuckled while he caught the sword of his opponent in his armoured paw. 'I can imagine how they must feel.' he said and spun the woman in front of him around and slapped her so hard on her rear that her knees gave out and she cried out loud as she held her bruised behind.

Valdys chuckled. 'I, on the other hand, feel very sorry for her.'

'Yeah, but it's the only way I can fight a woman.' Ulric said and hoped Kaui had enough salve to avoid leaving a lasting impression on her.

The rest of the thieves surrendered to the overwhelming force of the harpies and the unexpected fighters, and Ulric looked around. 'Where's the leader? I don't see him.'

Conchim came up to him. 'Did he get away?'

'Hang on.' he said and sniffed the air while passing the men and women sitting on the ground, then went around in a circle until he smelled the missing scent. 'He went this way! I'll catch him!'

Conchim ran after him. 'I'm coming with you!'

Ulric tracked the scent as it led them through the trees and stopped when it spread out in an area thick with undergrowth. 'He did something to throw me off of his scent.' Ulric whispered. 'Be careful.'

They moved cautiously through the trees and the bushes until Ulric saw a tunic on the ground. "He took off his clothes to spread his scent." he thought and spun around when Conchim cried out.

Brun gripped a handful of her head feathers in one hand and held a long dagger at her throat. 'I don't know what you are, but you're going to release my men or this little birdy gets it.'

Ulric noticed Conchim lifting one foot. 'Yeah, I don't think so.' he growled low.

'I'll ki-' Brun began loudly but cried out in pain when Conchim's heel talon pierced his foot. Ulric bolted forward and pierced his lower arm near the elbow with a spine on his fist, and Conchim spun free and punched him hard in the face.

Brun fell back and groaned. Ulric gave Conchim a smile. 'Well done.' he said and moved close in front of her to examine the damaged feathers on her head. 'Does it hurt?'

She blushed at the sudden closeness and his careful stroking of her feathers. 'Not much.' she said. 'It'll pass soon enough.'

He grumbled as he pulled a loose and broken feather away and tried to fix the rest. 'I'm glad it's not more than this. You have a beautiful plumage and I'd hate to see it messed up.' he said as he held out the feather to her.

She took it and glanced up at him. 'Thank you.'

He gripped Brun hard by his hair. 'We're going to have a little talk.' he said and walked while Brun groaned in pain as he stumbled along and clutched at Ulric's paw.

One of the captured men looked around at the harpies and their friends, and grumbled when he saw Brun half dragged along by the strangest demonic bloodwolf he'd ever heard of. 'I knew we shouldn't have taken the money.'

Elzbieta leaned a little closer to him. 'What money?'

He shot back startled at the sudden closeness of the elf with cold wrath in her eyes. 'I.., the money we got for hunting near the harpies instead of our usual spot!'

'Interesting.' Elzbieta said and the man felt her gaze piercing him with ice daggers. 'You should tell us more about it.'

He pointed quickly towards his leader. 'Brun! Brun made the deal! He knows everything!'

Elzbieta stood up and smiled at Ulric. 'Darling, it seems that man Brun has a lot to tell.'

Ulric grinned maliciously at the whimpering man at his side. 'I'm all ears. Queen Sawea will be eager to hear what you have to say as well.'

***

Sawea stood with the harpies eagerly awaiting the return of their loved ones and they whistled and sang cheerfully when the hunters came escorting the thieves who were tied together in a line. Brun was separated and brought before Sawea on his knees. 'Start talking.' growled Ulric.

Brun glanced up at him, then at the queen standing tall and proud before him with her eyes gazing coldly down on him. 'I received an offer for quite some money a while ago to fish in this territory instead of the farther regions.' he grumbled.

'Who was it?' she said without any melody in her voice. Ulric thought it showed just how angry she was.

'I don't know his name and had never seen him before. When I asked why he wanted us to fish here, he said it was his business.'

'And you didn't think we'd try to stop you?'

Brun frowned. 'I did, which is why we received our cloaks.'

The aura of her sky blue plumage grew from a normal day to a freezing mid-winter day. 'So, for some money you endangered our food supply and threatened our lives, risked attacks on your comrades, and if we hadn't stopped you now, an attack on the town.'

Brun looked away and gritted his teeth.

Ulric looked back at the line of men and women on their knees. 'What will we do with them, your Majesty?'

Her cold gaze passed the line and some of them felt the chill crawling down their spines or their chest tighten in fear of what they expected to happen. 'They were after our peaceful lives.' she said calmly. 'It would only be fair for them to suffer the consequences of their choices.'

'Please!' said one man and crawled forward on his knees. 'Spare me! I have a wife and kids at home!'

He shrank under her freezing glare. 'Did you even think once about our children?' she said and the man's eyes nearly glazed over at the imminent end he saw before them, The others refrained from their futile attempts for mercy and a few wept silently.

'Maybe we can come to an agreement that will at least avoid taking any lives.' said a bearded man in a long blue jacket and wearing a red scarf. as he walked up to Sawea.

'Mayor Dennily!?' gasped Brun, as surprised as Ulric and the girls were.

'Her Majesty was so gracious and benevolent to send a messenger telling us they were going to capture you and invited me to witness it.'

Ulric raised an eyebrow at Sawea, and she smiled slightly. 'I was certain you would succeed.'

'Then help us!' said Brun to the mayor.

Dennily nodded. 'I'll help you get what you deserve for putting many lives in danger through risking a bloody fight between our town and the harpies. Even if we had won, the town would have probably been burned down and lost.' He turned to Sawea. 'I'd like to ask you to hand them over to me so that I can put them to work as the town serfs and have them earn the rest of their lives by working hard. We have especially need of hands to expand our fields and orchards and I'd rather use them for that than let them idle uselessly in prison.' He gestured back at Brun. 'Brun will still be locked up outside of work as his punishment for starting this. In exchange, we'll offer you part of every harvest as their lifelong payment to you.'

Sawea looked along the line and the hopeful and pleading looks in their faces, then gave Dennily a nod. 'Very well, I will take you up on your offer. We never had need for hostilities between us and I will not see it happen because of the faults of a few.

Dennily smiled and bowed his head. 'Thank you, your Majesty.' he said as several harpies whistled cheerfully and the captives sagged in relief. He looked back at Brun. 'You should be very, very grateful to her Majesty that you get away with your life.'

Brun clenched his jaw and glared at the ground but kept silent.

Dennily extended his hand to Ulric. 'I want to thank you and your party for helping out with this as well. You saved our town a great deal of trouble.'

Ulric shook his hand. 'We'd hate for good people like Nina at the inn to be the victims of selfish criminals.'

Dennily nodded. 'Indeed.' he said. 'Come by the town hall, there's a guild member who will add a reward to your card as a small token of thanks.'

Ulric smiled. 'Thank you, we will certainly come by later.

***

A group of harpies escorted Dennily with the prisoners towards town until they'd meet up with town guards who were on their way, and others prepared for a small feast with the caught fish that they'd brought along on the way back home. Ulric and the girls were seated at the base of the main tree where they received water to freshen up, and fruits, nuts, and seeds from the local forest amidst crowns of brightly coloured flowers and feathers, before receiving finely cut slices of fish and the meat of small game as the meal they all shared to celebrate. Ulric had eaten sushi before but was a little hesitant about the raw meat. Seeing the girls eat and enjoy the selected cuts with edible leaves and specially made pastes lessened his worries, and he took a bite. The mixed flavour of the ingredients tickled his tastebuds and he hummed in satisfaction. 'This is good!' he said. 'And we only ate roasted meat up till now.'

Sawea, who sat next to him, smiled, and Iphigenia giggled. 'We do need to have the correct ingredients to make something like this.' she said and licked a blot of paste from her finger. 'We just haven't come across any so far.'

'I know some recipes, Master.' said Kaui. 'I can make us some when we get the opportunity.'

He smiled at her. 'I'd love to taste that, cutie.' A soft voice began to sing and Ulric was pleasantly surprised to see it came from Conchim, sitting on the other side of Sawea.

On breeze we glide, high up brushing clouds

Watching over our lands of green, blue, and grey

With our mothers and fathers, our sisters and brothers

our daughters and sons, our blood burns to fly

On winds we soar, swiftly along the silver clouds

strike as lightning to return home once more

our talons full and our hearts with joy

A safe nesting place as days go by

Storms we weather high and low

We fly and flutter, take on any gale

No rain, light or hard will bring us down

We rise above towards the soothing sun

The harpies sang and whistled and Ulric and the girls applauded. 'You have a beautiful voice.' said Valdys.

'Thank you.' said Conchim.

'It's even better than hearing birds sing when I wake up.' said Ulric and a warm glow flowed through her.

She stroked her wings resting on her lap. 'Thank you.' she said while ignoring the question of why his praise affected her.

'It's our traditional celebration song.' Sawea said. 'Conchim has been the one to sing it since she came of age.'

Another harpy began singing, with a second one joining quickly in a duet about a couple falling in love and their first flight together, and more singing followed until drowsiness from eating and the calming effect of gentle voices had Sawea begin the closing melody, and the harpies left for their nests while singing softly along. Ulric and the girls hummed as they retired to their sheltered resting place and fell asleep quickly.

***

Sawea and Conchim visited Ulric and the girls a little later after their rest. 'You're going to search for the artefact again?' the queen asked.

'Yes.' Ulric said as they were packing their belongings. 'I guess we'll have to do some digging since you said there are no markers or buildings here.'

'You think that would be the only place to hide it?'

He looked up at the top of the mountain cliff that the artefact piece pointed to. 'Nina told us of a legend about a country on top of the cliffs here and a large treasure, but I think if that were true they'd know about it. A large treasure would only bring trouble so it's better it doesn't exist, although Nina loves the romance of such stories and such a dream is a treasure on its own.'

Sawea nodded. 'I'd like to give you a reward for what you did for us.'

He smiled at her. 'It's all right, we were glad to help.'

She chuckled. 'I think you'll appreciate it.' she said. 'Are you afraid of heights?'

He looked puzzled at her. 'I'm mostly bothered by the last stretch towards the ground.'

He held his breath when she embraced him tight and smiled at the girls. 'I'm going to borrow him for a moment.' she said to the surprised girls, and looked at Ulric again. 'You might want to hold on to me.'

She spread her wings wide and Ulric felt a pressure of air underneath him. 'Wha!?' He quickly wrapped his arm around Sawea's neck when they lifted up in the air at the thrust of her wings. 'We're flying!?'

Sawea giggled in a cheerfully melodic way which made Ulric think she was in a playful mood which she usually didn't show. He also couldn't avoid the thought of her chest feeling nice against him. 'I can use my wind magic to lift heavier things n the air, or in this case, a full grown bloodwolf.'

That explained the sense he had of being pushed upwards by wind while being pulled by her strong wings. 'I hope that includes setting them down gently.'

Her laugh rang like clear bells and she spoke of competing in her youth with her father for who could carry a rock or a short log the farthest, only to have to give up later when she became of age and she'd have to behave more like a ruler. They had reached the top of the cliff when she was done with her tale, and Ulric waited with looking down until he had his feet planted firmly onto solid ground. 'Yikes!' he said at the tiny trees and the lakes that were no more than splotches of water. He stepped back and took a deep breath. 'If I watch this any longer I'll try to fly myself.'

Sawea giggled. 'I'll fly along with you then.'

'All the way to the bottom?'

She giggled again. 'I'll make sure to slow you down first.'

He looked around at the barren, flat stretch of moss with a few patches of tough grass in between, and the stone ruins of what might have been a tall house or a tower once. 'What's this?'

'This is our ancestor's country.' said Sawea, and strode towards the ruin. 'It used to be full of green and rich colours, until the soil became poor and few plants could grow here.'

Ulric looked down at the layer of moss they walked on. 'It'll be a long time before it gets better.'

'Maybe one day our descendants will live up here again, but we have a good life down below.' Sawea said and led Ulric into the ruin and gestured at a doorway of a barely intact chamber. 'Take a look.'

He stepped inside and stared silently at the hoard of gold and silver pieces, chalices, plates, cutlery, gemstones, and jewellery scattered around the chamber. 'Girls, you're not going to believe what I see here.' he said over the link.

Iphigenia chuckled. 'I think I can. Conchim just explained to us why Sawea took you for a flight.'

'Even if she was the one who started it, you'd better behave, darling.' said Elzbieta.

'Of course I will.' he said and immediately blocked a certain memory. 'I'm in the presence of royalty.'

Sawea stepped up next to him. 'You'll find what you're looking for in that box.' she said and gestured with a nod to a small, dark wood box covered in dust on top of a large wooden chest.

He picked it up and lifted the lid. 'The artefact!'

'What we collect here are things we found in the lands between the mountains. Some were lost, others had been stolen by thieves we caught, and others simply lay beside their dead owners. You are welcome to take with you what you like.'

Ulric looked back at her. 'Really?'

She smiled at him and puffed up her chest a little as she clasped her hand behind her. 'Unless something else caught your fancy on the way here.'

He looked away in rising embarrassment. 'I, we couldn't accept such a gracious offer.' he said and looked at the stone in the box. 'We only came here looking for this.'

Sawea giggled and put her hand on his back. 'I'm not going to drop you on the way back, if that worries you.'

He chuckled and looked at the heaps of valuables glittering lightly in the light from the doorway and a small window at the side, and something caught his eye. 'Then, a handful of gold coins will tide us over for a while, and something as a gift.'

When the two returned to the others, Conchim looked a little suspiciously at her mother, but she only gave a dignified smile. 'I wish you good luck on your quest.' she said in her royal manner. 'You're always welcome here.'

Ulric bowed his head to her. 'Thank you.' he said and held up the box. 'Also for this.'

Valdys took the piece and let it tremble in the palm of her hand until it rotated and lay still again. 'We're heading back the way we came.'

'Good, then we have no detour when we stop by the town.' said Iphigenia.

The harpies gathered to wave their new friends goodbye and they watched

them until they left their sight between the trees. One of the young women leaned closer to Conchim. 'I thought you said you'd only want someone stronger as a mate, are you sure about letting him go?'

Conchim huffed flustered. 'Who could keep up with that demon!?'