or it had just been left to ruin. Its walls almost looked so deteriorated it gave it a sense from up here as if pieces of it had simply melted away. Grey stone matched that of both the soul weed below and the dead landscape I could barely see past the fog. And like this, I could also see arched doorways to nowhere and windows that had long been without glass. Few features remained of what it once was, but one thing I was certain, before its ruin it would have been spectacular and beautiful.
Of course, that was minus all the Harpies that now occupied its space below, with a few of them I could see perched at the different levels of broken stone walls. The main group, however, seemed to be circling something below, snapping out at it making me wonder if I had just been about to interrupt their evening meal? Well, whatever it was, something was obviously keeping their attention and with their large bat like wings stretched out, it was something I couldn’t yet see.
What I could see, however, was the lack of Harpies at this level, which gave me an advantage and time to make a plan. It also awarded me a view of the two larger Harpies, who admittedly stood out from the rest, not just for their size but for their difference in features also. Their hair for example was different shades, although styles were obviously a thing of the past and long gone. No now, each of them wore it long and hanging down in knotted waves.
One had larger, more pointed ears than the other, and one had black spots mottled on its skin. This one also had a red tinge to her hair making me wonder if she used to be a redhead before being cursed and sent down here? Either way, she was an ugly creature now, and her overly large jaw was one filled with rows of long, thin, pointed teeth. It also made her narrow chin jut out further than it needed to be, which was made more prominent with the superior way she kept lifting and nodding her head as she clicked her jaw.
It was an unnerving sound, even from way up here. The two were currently sat in the largest empty arch that looked as if it once belonged to some broken church window or something. Underneath it was another arch that was made dark by the remaining part of the building behind it. One that had me wondering if this was the main part of their lair?
It was obvious that they had stolen this place, being known as the scavengers of the sky and well, the two fuglies, as Aunty Pip would say, looked to be the leaders of these hairless rodents with wings. Now all I needed to do was figure out a way to tap back into the power that had come out before, and I knew it would give me the edge in this fight I was looking for. Oh, who was I kidding, it was one I needed, well past the point of borderline desperation, I was just plain desperate! Because I knew I wasn’t getting out of here without it…whatever it was.
Keeping low, I emerged from the tower and made my way along the battlements, being careful of both where I stood and where the broken stone was. However, my foot slipped, and the stone crumbled beneath me enough that it went rolling down the side. This meant that I had to save myself quickly from going down with it and drop to my belly so they wouldn’t see me.
I heard one of the two Harpies snarl up at my direction, but when I heard nothing more, I lifted my head to have a sneaky peek. They had turned back to the swarm at the centre, making me realise that having parts of the castle crumbling around them was most likely a regular occurrence.
But then movement overhead quickly had me reacting once more as I suddenly found myself ducking again. I also had to roll this time so the half wall around the battlements could hide me from above. This was so I couldn’t be seen by the largest Harpy of them all, who was flying over the edge of the castle walls. Thankfully, a big enough crack in the wall I was curled up against allowed me a good view of below.