A Fight For Survival!

Pain literally grabbed onto Avic's shoulders, hoisting him up into the air. He immediately let out a small yelp in agony, frightened by the sudden occurrence. The little girl he was holding onto was also pulled up with him high into the air due to how fast it happened. She screamed like a bomb siren, terrified by what was happening. She kicked, cried, and fought, certain that she was going to die.

Avic then quickly shifted his gaze upward. This was when he saw the horrific sight of a strange monster. It had a wingspan of 10ft decorated with strange feathers. Its body and head were like that of a woman's and it had massive razor-sharp talons like that of an eagle.

"This thing's a Harpy! How did it get into Initium?!" Exclaimed Avic.

Avic knew he had to be careful. He held the little girl's hand as tightly as he could, trying to prevent her from falling. They were now hundreds of feet into the air. Some buildings were beginning to look more like small boulders and people like that of small ants, scurrying to find shelter.

"Hey, you need to calm down!" Shouted Avic to the panicking girl. "You're making it difficult for me to keep hold of you! You'll fall if you keep struggling like that!"

"I don't wanna die! I want my mommy back!! ...Gasp... Please!! Someone help me!!"

Avic gritted his teeth in frustration as he did his best to hold onto the little girl. The pain in his shoulders felt as if someone was hammering spikes through his skin. The weight and constant struggle of the little girl only made things a lot worse. If they didn't find a way to get back down to solid ground soon, then he was certain he would lose his grip, causing her to fall.

With a strange shriek like that of an eagle's, the pain in Avic's shoulders suddenly dissipated. Gravity immediately grabbed onto him and the little girl, pulling them down at incredible speeds. The harpy had done the unexpected, releasing them from its grasp.

Avic and the little girl screamed as they fell. The wind pushed against their faces and bodies, pushing their hair above their heads, fluttering like the leaves of a tree in a powerful hurricane. Their clothes also flapped wildly as if they could be torn from their bodies at any moment.

Avic then quickly wrapped his arms around the little girl, before throwing his body underneath her like a shield. With a painful thud, they fell to the ground, bounced, and rolled before coming to a stop.

"Ow... Ow... Ow..." Moaned Avic as he looked down at the little girl to ensure that she was safe. "Oh, we're alive..? Are you okay, little girl?"

The little girl sobbed softly, wiping away her tears.

"I am... Thank you for saving me..!"

"Yeah, it was a pain but no problem. That fall was a lot less painful than I thought it would be though..."

Just then, the little girl released a terrified scream as if something was about to kill her. Avic immediately noticed the look of fright that was written all over her face. It was as if she had seen a ghost.

"Hey, what's wrong?!"

The girl didn't answer. Instead, she remained still, frozen by fear. This was when Avic traced her gaze a few feet before them. The nightmarish sight of over a dozen human skeletons immediately flushed his eyes. Skulls, ribcages, and many other broken bones were scattered around them. There was even an awful scent of rotten flesh.

However, this wasn't all. The ground that they had landed on was strangely made of sticks, dried grass, and feathers. There were even a few broken eggs the size of a newborn child, scattered all around.

"Shit... Don't tell me we're in its nest... Anything but that!"

Avic then felt a slightly painful scratch against his back. He quickly grabbed the little girl and jumped into the pile of skeletons. He then swung his head around to see three smaller harpies that were around half his size. His fear had been confirmed. He and the little girl were both in the harpy's nest.

"No... I don't want to die! Please tell me you can defeat them, Mister!" Pleaded the little girl.

"Man, this is such a pain in the ass... If only that Old Geezer didn't send me outside! Sigh... Fine. Just stay back, okay? I'll handle them!"

The little girl immediately nodded before hiding behind Avic. Carefully, Avic then picked up one of the bones that were scattered below his feet. He arched his back slightly and slowly moved around the three small harpies, trying to anticipate their next move.

One of the harpies then lunged at him. With a swing of the bone, Avic smashed it into the small harpy's head, knocking it unconscious. Seeing this, the other two small harpies dived toward him as well. They scratched, bit, and flapped their wings at him but Avic still managed to stay strong. He swung the bone at the small harpies, snapping it in both their heads with a crack.

"Well, that was easy..."

"Mister, look out!"

Just then, the adult harpy from before swooped down at Avic, bearing its razor-sharp talons. Fortunately, Avic managed to duck just in time, thanks to the little girl's warning. He then hurriedly scurried back onto his feet, still grasping the broken bone firmly in his hand.

The harpy then looked down at its young that Avic had knocked unconscious. It nudged at them with its talons, trying to get a response from them to no avail.

Seeing this, Avic knew they were in trouble. Fighting a bunch of chicks was easy but fighting a mother harpy was like fighting a rhino with a pocket knife. Quickly, Avic grabbed onto the little girl and stooped down, trying to cover himself with feathers.

"W-what are you doing?!" Asked the little girl.

"Shh! Don't talk! Cover yourself with feathers! Maybe it will think we're baby chicks or something..!"

"That will never work, Mister!"

"You have to at least try!"

Tears surfaced in the little girl's eyes, "No... I'm stuck with an idiot..! I'm going to die!"

"No! No! You won't die! I promise! Just try!"

By this time, the mother harpy was standing above them, enraged by what Avic had done to its chicks. Avic slowly looked up, making himself as small as possible while flapping two tiny feathers between his fingers with a look of exaggerated hopefulness on his face.

"Chirp... Chirp..?"

This enraged the harpy significantly. It released an aggressive shriek that sent shivers running through Avic's spine. However, Avic couldn't allow himself to be intimidated. It was a life or death predicament.

"Damn it! You asked for it then!"

Not wasting a second to hesitation, he picked himself up and dashed towards the mother harpy with a powerful swing of the broken bone. However, this quickly came to be of no effect as the harpy extended its wing, blocking the attack. The bone was even shattered to pieces upon impact, proving just how hard the harpy's wings were.

Seeing this, Avic looked down at the shattered bone before looking back up at the harpy with an awkward laugh.

"So, I understand you're upset that I hurt your chicks but to be fair, they were attacking us! I just want you to know that I sincerely apologize for what I've done. I'm sure you have it in your heart to forgive me, right? I mean, you have a beautiful- Well, an interesting womanly face and I'm a guy that loves women. I'm sure we can make this work..?"

Answering with a slap of its wing to Avic's face, Avic was sent spiraling into the pile of human skeletons once more.

"Mister!" Screamed the little girl in worry.

Avic hissed in frustration. There was no way he could win the fight without a proper weapon. However, this was when his wish was granted. He noticed that there were three different weapons mixed in with the pile of skeletons. The first was a sword, the second was a small ax, and the third was a small dagger.

"Weapons..?" He muttered to himself. "That's it! The people who were killed here probably had them!"

Avic then grabbed onto the small dagger before throwing himself back up on his feet. He then turned to face the harpy once more, this time with a grin across his lips.

"Sorry for hurting your chicks but you can't throw us in here and expect us to simply be your food! Sorry, you dumb harpy, but we're the food that fights back!"