You search and find stairs going up, and make your way to the top floor of one of the towers of the building. The tower isn’t a defensive structure, it merely provides workers access to the roof. The door is still closed, but the wood has gotten so rotten with time that you are easily able to push it open, breaking it out of its hinges. Because you don’t want to make too much noise, you carefully set the piece of wood down next to the doorway.

The roof is covered in debris, as expected, and many roof tiles are missing or displaced. Immense trees grow everywhere around the building, and many plants and vines can be found on it, too. But the canopy above is much less dense and has several large openings, allowing you to see the bright blue sky.
There are walkways along the edges of the roof, which look slightly sturdier than the roof itself. From there, you can look down at the ground. It looks like most of the survivors have found shelter by now, in buildings near this one. A big statue of a man holding up a spear, riding a rearing horse stands in the center of the plaza, covered in vines as though they are trying to steal the spear, and the man is trying to hold it out of their reach. Small colorful birds flit around the statue, briefly distracting you from the dangers of this place. Large flytrap plants – much larger than the ones you saw earlier – can be seen in the distance, lying in wait for what you can only presume are house-sized flies.

There is a sweet smell coming from somewhere on the roof, something very fruity and perhaps even fermented. It isn’t unpleasant but you don’t see anything that might be emitting it. You go around the small service tower and see a mass of plants growing near one of the walkways. Something is stuck in it!
You see a thin woman’s leg and knee in the bushes, and there is a pained sound coming from probably where her head must be. One of the other survivors must have got here before you and got herself stuck in there somehow.

You call out to her softly as you approach the bush cautiously, asking if she needs help. There is another pained grunt from inside the bush, clearly a female voice, but she sounds fearful now, too. You don’t want to be surprised by any giant ants or whatever else is probably giant around here and slowly approach with your rusty sword in front of you. When you finally see who is in the bushes, you are in for a surprise. In the bushes, stuck to a mass of sticky plants, lies something halfway between a bird of prey and a young woman. She has the body of an almost painfully slim woman, but her legs end in talons. She is completely naked. You make sure not to step near those, even though the skin of her legs is painfully stuck to the bushes. At first you wonder where her arms are, but then you realize that the large feathery things to her side are wings. Her wings are quite a mess; she has lost a large number of white feathers, and many of the remaining ones are still stuck to the plants. Now that you realize she has feathers, you notice she has a tail, which is similarly damaged. Some of the largest feathers appear to be bleeding. And finally, you get a view of her face. Her head is that of an eagle, or some other bird of prey. She has a feathery crest, and her eyes are able to move in their socket like a human’s would.

It’s hard to read the expression on her beak, but the corner of her ‘mouth’ appears flexible, and her eyes are as expressive as a human’s. She seems to be afraid, but also defiant, angry even. “Great. Get it over with!” she spits at you. Her voice is high-pitched and trembling.

You pause a moment, wondering if you’re missing something. You apologize and ask what she means. The woman continues to glare at you, still tense. “You’re here to kill me aren’t you?” You can imagine some of the other passengers being quick to kill a creature such as this, but she couldn’t have met any of them yet. …Which suggests there are other people in this jungle. Other humans, at least.

You shake your head and hold out a hand, palm forward. You explain that you’re not there to hurt her, but heard something and figured someone needed help. She remains skeptical, but being helpless doesn’t really have a choice. “Oh, really? Well… yeah, I need help.” You take a step closer, trying to avoid both the beak and the claws. You tell her you’re going to try to cut her loose with your sword. She is visible nervous, not taking her eyes off the rusty weapon. You start by cutting through the thicker strands, and it is not easy going. The sword itself is dull as a butter knife, and the edges are so weak with rust you’re worried the sword will give out before the plants do. Fortunately, the sword holds out, though by the time you’re done it is jagged and almost useless except as a stabbing implement. When the plants are cleared, you help her to her feet. She is unsteady at first, and you help her remain upright.

With her wings and tail in such terrible shape, there is no way she can fly away, and she realizes it. You help her sit down by the small tower. You explain to her that there are more people downstairs, and that maybe one of them is a doctor, but most of them probably will be afraid of her. She rolls her eyes at that. “They’re afraid of me huh. Well whatever. Is there anything to eat? I need to grow my feathers back.” It seems odd that she would connect these two things, but it’s understandable that she needs something to eat. You tell her you will go get her something. There isn’t anything growing on the roof, but there is no shortage of fruit growing near the main entrance on the ground. You ask her, and she says she can eat fruit, though she prefers meat. It is a minor task to go downstairs and retrieve some purple oranges (purples?) and other assorted fruits. You are briefly worried some giant insect will attack you outside, but the angry and frightened men walking around with rusty weapons are more intimdating. You return to the roof and sit down beside the bird woman, handing her the fruit, one at a time. You ask her for her name. “Velara” she says between bites. She swallows the fruit whole, peel and all, except for the melons, which she awkwardly takes bites out of. It is not a small amount of fruit, probably ten pounds or so, but she eats most of it in the space of a minute, except for a pair of purples she puts in a simple pouch. You now notice she has three clawed fingers on each wing, which she is able to use as hands. Amazingly, her wings and tail start to recover instantly, new feathers growing as you watch. Not only that, her body expands slightly as well, leaving her slightly less skinny than she was before.

She stands up, with confidence and strength this time. You get up as well. Despite her large talons, she is still shorter than you, though she isn’t lacking in confidence. She puts a wing-hand on her hip and smiles. “You’re alright… er…” You tell her your name and offer to shake a hand. She takes your hand a bit awkwardly, mildly surprised. Velara even stares at your hand for a moment, and then makes an offer. “Hey, if you’re interested, you could help me break into a place I found. There may be valuable stuff in there we can sell. I’ll split it with you…”

Next part:
https://aryion.com/g4/view/427665

back to previous chapter:
https://aryion.com/g4/view/427656
back to start:
https://aryion.com/g4/view/427656
If you want to support this and other works, join my Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/Meanybeany

Please login to post a comment.

No comments yet, make a comment please