Fire... so much fire...
Irikia thought as she ran through the forest, ravaged and engulfed in flame.
The area around her was hot and scorching, the flames in the surroundings emitting cruel waves of heat as she ran through the scorched ground.
She remembered that day well, the day everything in the forest was decimated and razed to the ground, and the invaders that were responsible for it.
She could remember the men, cruel-looking men who wielded torches and brandished weapons, who set the forests aflame with smiles in their faces and cackles in their throats. With them were titans of metal, giant machines that shot out magnitudes of flame from the barrels on their hands, engines of destruction humming cold steel as they trampled on the trees and set everything ablaze.
She remembered her people, harpies just like her, running, before swarms of men pounced on them with nets and tripped them with bolas, gathering them like fresh prey, capturing them in the dozens, all while their screams echoed through the forest. Their huts that were nested atop the trees all fell, with harpies still in them.
Flesh golems patrolled the woods, undead amalgamations of flesh, unfeeling beings grunting and growling with false breath as they collected all of the captured harpies.
And Irikira ran through it all, her surroundings bathing in an orange hue, radiating a scorching heat as abominations ravaged everything.
She remembered despair filling her heart, witnessing what was happening to her once lush and lively home, what was happening to the forest, but she could do nothing against the battalions. There was only one of her, and many of them.
She remembered the fear, she remembered the terror she felt, she remembered the faces of the people as they were hunted, and she could remember the overwhelming smog and the rain of ash.
Everywhere she turned, it was a nightmare, and to her dismay, she remembered it all.
Simultaneously, all her surroundings suddenly morphed. From her vision, the darkness swirled, colliding into impossible shapes, all of the forms of the machines, beasts, and men that terrorized the forest combining into a world of pure terror.
She plopped to the ground, on her knees, as her eyes were fixed on the horror-filled sky.
Her eyes widened, her mouth agape, her chest heaving desperate breaths, and her heart booming like explosions out of her chest. It was too much, all of it was too much to handle, and all she could do was cry.
Irikia shot awake, her eyes wide and her body slick with sweat, her breath spewing mist as she breathed in and out.
She frantically looked around her surroundings.
A small clearing, green grass, and normal trees.
Her hands gripped something soft, a sleeping bag that was stuffed with cotton, and the talons from her fingers tore out the stuffing from clutching so tightly. Her breath relaxed somewhat.
Her breath relaxed somewhat, and for the first time in forever, she felt calm, seeing those familiar sights.
W-what... happened?
She thought, her hand placed on her forehead. Memories came back from the blur of her mind, and she grimaced, remembering what had happened.
I-I escaped... I ran, but... they caught me.
She remembered the men chasing her and how they caught her, but everything after that, she didn't know.
How am I still alive? She wondered.
"Ah! You've finally awakened! Splendid!"
A voice suddenly blurted out.
Irikia turned around, her head almost launching off from her shoulders by how fast she swung her head.
There, sitting on a large log, beside a really needlessly large campfire, was a guy.
Irikia hurriedly stood up, but her legs gave out, a sharp pain striking through her legs as she hissed at the sensation, and she plopped back down on the sleeping bag.
"Oh, please be careful, it seems like you are still not fully healed yet," the man said.
Irikia spread her wing and spread a dull grey aura through it, sharpening the feathers and pointing them toward him, like how you would hold a dagger.
"An aura user, I see," the figure spoke.
"Who are you?" Irikia asked, her fanged teeth bared.
The man held his hands up in a languid pose.
"Calm down, girl, or else you might burst a seam."
"I said, who the hell are you?" Her blade shimmered, and she growled at him, her brow tensing.
"Alright, alright," the man said, placing a hand to his chest.
"My name's Ada, now, I suggest you put your... feathers down."
"No way I'm doing that. Who the hell are you?"
"Well, in the current circumstance, you could call me your savior, but I guess that doesn't quite describe what I am, so let's go with a humble traveler."
"My savior? What are you talking about?"
"You don't remember?"
She tensed her brow, wondering what he was talking about, until a flashback to her memories made her remember.
"T-those... men. D-did... you?"
The guy, whose name was Ada, nodded.
Irikia paused, looking at him intensely.
"What did you do with them?"
Ada gestured with his thumb and slid it around his throat.
"I-I see...," she said, looking away to the grass and shaking her head. "Those bastards deserved it."
"Hm," Ada hummed, "I agree."
She turned to look at her body and realized it was bandaged.
"Was this you, too?" She said, pointing at them.
"Yes, and by the way, those need to be changed for fresh ones."
"Shut it."
"Alright then," he said, slumping his arms back to his thighs.
Both of them stood on a standstill, Irikia staring daggers into him while Ada sat tending to the fire, until something rustled in the forest.
Irikia turned to the sound, her ears perking up and her keen senses picking up the quiet rustle.
"What's that?" Irikia said toward where the sound came from.
"That, my dear girl, is breakfast."
After Ada said it, the woods shuffled, and a beast of black came out.
It prowled into the clearing, its body a black abyss of jagged, menacing armor, its walk wolf-like as its claws dug into the earth, carrying in its mouth a killed deer.
Irikia's eyes widened, and her mouth agape.
"What the hell is that!?"
She screamed, pointing her sharpened feathers at the approaching creature.
"Calm down, girl, like I said your going to open up a wound," Ada interjected.
"How in the world am I supposed to stay calm when this thing is coming, matter of fact, how are you not terrified right now?!"
Ada only chuckled and stood from his log.
Just then, she could see Ada walking calmly toward it, and Irikia looked at him like he was insane, but a moment later, an even bigger surprise came, as she saw him patting the creature like a docile animal, taking the deer from its mouth.
Ada turned to her, deer in hand.
"Say, how about we eat?" He said, in a normal, undisturbed tone.
Irikia sat there dumbfounded.
# # # # # # #
Ada watched as the girl beside him gorged herself on the cooked meat, picking the stick clean, leaving barely anything left. He had prepared the deer and stuck its meat onto sticks, placing them in the ground and leaving them to cook over an open fire.
"You must've been hungry, huh?"
The girl glanced at him, eyeing him with caution and gnawing at the stick for whatever flavor was left.
"Ah, here," Ada handed another stick of meat, freshly cooked from the fire.
The girl, without hesitation, yanked it away from him and began eating at it. She had inched ever so close to him, close enough that Ada could hand her something when he fully extended his arm.
Ada himself took a stick of meat, removed a chunk before lifting up his mask, and placed his fingers to his mask, being careful to let his face be seen.
He couldn't really chew, seeing as he has no lips, so he just swallowed it directly. Even after all these years, he couldn't make sense of why he had to eat, but he felt hunger, so eat he shall.
Ada turned to the girl, who was nearly done with the meat stick.
"Girl, seeing as though you know my name, how about you tell me yours?" He asked, trying to make his tone inviting.
The girl looked at him, chomping down on the meat before turning her gaze away.
Ada sighed, picking a piece of meat and opening up his mask again to eat.
"...Irikia, my name is Irikia...," the girl suddenly chimed in.
Ada perked up.
"Irikia...," Ada said with a chuckle. "Nice to meet you," and he gave her another stick of meat.
The girl looked at him, and her expression softened, grabbing the stick with a more confident hand.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but are you a beastperson? Those wings don't seem to be traits I'm familiar with."
"I'm a harpy."
"I see, can your kind eat meat? I know there are dietary restrictions some races have so forgive me if I forced your hand eating meat."
"No, I-I like meat..."
"Very well then," he said, digging into his mask to put a piece of meat into his mouth.
"Are your wounds getting better?"
Irikia nodded.
"Good, now, Irikia," Ada said, rubbing his arms together. "Why don't you tell me what happened?"
Irikia turned her head to the side.
"Umm... what happened... for those men to come after you?"
She turned her head down, and her face turned sullen.
"Is that a sensitive question?"
"No... It's fine, you can ask."
She paused.
"They were Advecathos."
Advecathos, the words felt familiar to Ada.
"Advecathos... hmmm," Ada whispered, trying to scour what that word meant. "What are they again?"
Irikia looked at his face in befuddlement.
"You don't know Advecathos?"
Ada jogged his memory again, and something came up from his mind. The man from years ago, he said he was a part of that organization; he couldn't recall the name, though.
"The... cultist group?" Ada said, flickers of memory returning to him.
"You mean... You really don't know?"
"I know they are a group that practices dark magics," he said, recalling what that man told him. "But more than that, I don't know. This is my first time out in the world, so please bear with me."
"Okay, then."
Irikia said, squinting her eyes at him.
"Well, they are cultists, daemon worshipers that are basically responsible for daemons to be roaming around the world."
Ada perked up at the response.
"They're the enemies of the world, is what my grandfather told me."
"Enemies of an entire world? That's quite severe for just a cultist group."
"Yeah, it's what my grandfather called them, daeomn worshipping, dark magic-wielding people, and... a band of them burned down my village, the village of Floy. They captured harpies, and they destroyed everything."
Ada saw as Irikia frowned, probably some unwanted memories resurfacing from her mind.
"A lot of us were captured and put into cages, and we were taken somewhere. I managed to escape by running to the woods, but they caught up with me. And, well, you know what happened after that."
"Why were they capturing harpies?" Ada asked.
"I don't know, but for whatever reason, it couldn't have been good. I'm sorry, I know you wanted to know more, but I'm not the most knowledgeable about this, only the simple stuff. My grandfather could have told you more, but..." She trailed off.
"Its no worries, any information is helpful, thank you."
Irikia nodded.
"May I ask what happened to your grandfather?"
"Captured, along with my sister, I don't know where they are."
"Ah, right, sorry."
Irikia fell silent, her eyes focusing on the surroundings.
"Anyways!" Ada said with a clap of his hands, feeling bad about asking, and trying to alleviate the situation.
"You are quite fortunate that I ran into you."
"Yeah, and, thanks by the way, for helping me, and... for patching me up."
"It was the right thing to do, happy I could help."
Irikia's eyes widened, turning her face to the corner to hide her reddening face.
"But... this does put us in a predicament."
"What kind of predicament?"
"Well... I actually had plans heading toward the city of Das-Ahid, but the problem is, where do you go? I can't just leave you behind. Hmmm."
Ada hummed, placing his fingers to his cheek.
"Would you like to come with me to the city of Das-Ahid?"
Irikia tensed her eyes, before gently releasing her tight face and began gradually becoming calmer.
"I don't really have much of a choice, do I?"
"Suppose not, I'm afraid," Ada said, holding out his hand. She looked at him, and for the first time ever, without anger in her eyes.
Irikia grabbed it, her talons clasping his gauntlets as Ada gently pulled her up. She hissed in pain, clutching at her stomach. Ada held her, giving her some help, before finally she stood upright.
"Oof, still bad, huh?"
"Yeah, but I can manage."
"Are you sure? The city is about 1 day away. Are you good to walk?"
Irikia's face slumped, her face in a deep thought as if debating whether or not she could, and Ada chuckled at her response.
"Hahaha, don't worry, were not walking."
Ada then gestured behind Irikia, pointing to the black wolf beast.
"Lets get ready."