Chapter 3: Encounter

Azriel heard a sudden noise behind her and all her thoughts of her future suddenly fled from her mind. Instead, she hid behind the bulwark wall, near a part of the ledge which overlooked the deep ravine over which the ruined castle was built. She looked at the ramparts ahead of her, and soon enough her eyes alit on a large bird on the wall of the rampart straight ahead of her. Azriel was startled to see the creature. In her rather uneventful life till yet, she had never even heard of anything very magical or strange in Andora. Apart from the mines and the whisperers, which were way of life for them anyway. In her past few visits to the ruined castle, she had never seen anything remotely odd or scary. In fact, the ruined castle was the one place, where she had always felt the most peaceful.

Currently, the bird appeared to be looking for something. It seemed to be sniffing the air rather intently, leading Azriel to wonder if it had somehow caught her scent. The creature was larger than any bird or animal she had ever seen in her life. It would have spanned her in human form in height and was as wide as two of her standing side by side. Its body was deep inky black with a beak and crown of deep russet gold. Its large wings were also as black as midnight, and flecked with gold.

Yet, it was it's piercing eyes that held Azriel's gaze. They were unlike any bird's eyes she had seen before. In fact, they looked almost human with deep dark pupils, again with bits of gold in them, and long lashes. Lashes, since when did a bird have lashes? She felt a strange pull towards the creature. It was surely not from Andora, where magic and all magical creatures were forbidden. She was sure that the bird had flown in from the Kush mountains that bordered the Northern territory of the Kingdom. The mountain range were inhabitable and unhospitable since the days of the Ruin. The Ruin which has laid a curse on the land, and killed all those who might have lived here in the mighty ruined castle. She shivered in fear, as she wondered what this creature was doing on their land. Was it a precursor for more dark things to come?

Just then she felt the bird's gaze on her. It cocked it's head towards her, and looked ready to take flight towards her. She was startled. In her rush to save herself, her own wings extended out of her back and she winced with the pain of it as she always did. It seemed that the bird had triggered a response within her to change to her form. Yet, she was unable to move beyond the wings extended and remained in the same off hybrid state that she always ended up in. The bird was now advancing towards her and Azriel felt a rising panic. As it neared her she was convinced that it was planning to attack her. She realized that with her wings still spread out, her own image was no less monstrous than the bird. It could mistake her for another magical beast and try to attack her. She stepped back in fear as it took flight, and lost her balance, as loose stones on the edge of the bulwark ledge gave way. She desperately fanned her wings and clawed the air as she felt the ground give way beneath her, but she was still learning to use her wings and her flights were usually short. She felt panicked and shut her eyes, readying for imminent death, tears squeezing at the corners, when she felt herself lifted off and into the air.

To her utter shock, she realized that the magical bird had held her dress in it's large beak and was carrying her away from certain death to safety. Her heart was thudding in her chest and her wings were fluttering uselessly in the wind. She felt a nudge in the corners of her mind. She resisted it and yet, almost like someone breaking a fragile eggshell, she felt an alien thought enter her own mind. A thought and a voice which were definitely not her own.

"Name yourself!", there was a voice in her head, nudging her, pushing into her mind even as she could see her own feet dangling over pine trees hundreds of feet below. She felt nauseous and sick from the heights as well as the situation. Her early morning escape from home had become an adventure that she was not enjoying.

She was terrified to respond, wondering if this would mean some repercussions for herself and her family if she were caught. She kept silent, but the thought nudging at her became more insistent like a dull pounding in her head. It felt like a strange choice to make, and she wondered what would happen if she didn't respond. Would the bird drop her to her death hundreds of feet below? Or would it then punish her for her strange monstrous appearance? Or would it kill her? She had no idea but the insistent voice was surely, getting the better of her.

"Azriel", was the last thing she heard herself scream in her mind before she fainted.

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