Gotcha!

In the early morning before.."Hand me those steel clamps, will you Victor?" Marcus said, grunting as he finished anchoring the heavy netting to the floorboards. Early dawn light filtered through the shattered windows of the decaying house, illuminating dusty furniture in shambles after the harpies' last visit."Aye, coming right up!" Victor called from the far corner where he was unfurling coils of razor-thin wire. "Just picturing how I'll spend my share of those royal crowns once we snare one of those wretched bird women." He passed Victor the curved steel vise grips specially fashioned not to break the harpy's bone."So you're still planning to buy that vineyard on the Sungold Hills?" Victor latched the vises onto the netting's edges and pressure plates. Enough force would snap them tightly around any harpy limbs ensnared in the mesh, immobilizing the creature without causing permanent damage."Of course! Can't you just see it?" Marcus spread his hands wide, framing the mental picture. "Row after row of lush vines basking under the summer sun... An estate with its own wine cellar and tasting gazebo where I'll host only the finest nobility..."Victor chuckled as he concealed pressure trigger lines beneath the rotted floorboards. "Don't forget us little people when you become the countryside's most famous vintner."To set up the trap, Marcus chose a ransacked house on the southern side of the village near the courthouse. That was the direction the harpies most likely appeared first every time they attacked the village, thanks to the knowledge shared by Gilbert and their new friend with the ridiculous bowl cut.Marcus clutched his heart in faux indignation. "Scrap that thought! I'm buying this for us. We can leave the smuggling business for good. We— me, you, and Ethan— can run the vineyard and winery together. You have no need to worry about your daughter's needs anymore. We can admit Oliver to any knights academy we want in all the Wessen continent."Both men laughed as they worked, a former actor and sailor turned smuggler, and today, volunteers of the Empire. The four of them – Marcus, Victor, Ethan, and Oliver – had been through thick and thin, their bond forged in the crucible of illicit activities. Smuggling, heists, swindling, human trafficking – they had delved into nearly every cross-border crime imaginable, all in the pursuit of their dreams, the ultimate goal being to own a legitimate business that could provide them with a comfortable life.Their last job had been to break into a magister's vault and steal a valuable object kept in a small box. They had meticulously planned the heist, each member of the crew carrying out their part with utmost diligence.But when they finally acquired the box, curiosity got the better of them, and they opened it, only to discover that it contained no ordinary treasure.Instead, they found themselves in possession of a piece of a crown, a fragment of the last Valueldor king's crown, believed to be a clue to the location of the legendary Valuel Gate – a gateway rumored to guard the main treasury of the wealthy Valueldor's treasures.Marcus, driven by ambition and opportunity, hatched a plan to keep the crown piece for themselves. He discussed the idea with the rest of the crew – Ethan, Victor, and Oliver – and they agreed, their eyes glittering with visions of untold riches and power.With a Valuel Piece in their possession, they could raise an army or even claim lordship over the former Valueldor's territory.Seizing the opportunity, they double-crossed their employer and attempted to flee to Efron, a free city-state on the Neck south of Arumia, where Marcus's family and Victor's daughter resided.Efron was a haven for lowlifes, scumbags, swindlers, smugglers, and any other miscreants who had run afoul of the Wessen authorities. A city of contrasts, where the wealthy were wealthier than any kings or emirs, yet the poor languished in misery more wretched than the bottom-dwellers of Lyondyn.Alas, their grand plan was cut short before it could come to fruition. Their employer was no ordinary wealthy or powerful individual – they had unwittingly crossed paths with the Monarch of Emer Thalassia himself. The crew was swiftly hunted down and captured by the Merlyon Naval Army before they could reach the safety of Efron.As they found themselves in the custody of the Regalyon Empire, facing an uncertain future, the weight of their actions bore down upon them. The allure of the Valueldor's legendary treasures had blinded them to the consequences of their ambition, and now they found themselves at the mercy of forces far beyond their reckoning.Stripped of their freedom and their dreams, the four former smugglers were given a choice: face the full wrath of the law, or volunteer their services to the Empire in the ongoing conflict against the harpies that threatened the very existence of the village they now found themselves in.With little choice but to accept, they found themselves embroiled in a battle unlike any they had ever faced before."Don't forget to make him pretty for our lovely birds," Marcus told Victor who was working on something with ragged clothes, cushions, wooden sticks, and poles."and all set," Victor made a human-like scarecrow inside the destroyed house to lure the harpies in, the actor set the scarecrow in the middle of the trap carefully."All we need is to wait until sunset and see if we get something," said Marcus as he concealed the trap on the floor with dust, dirt, and leaves.If this perilous new trade earned them the fortunes promised, perhaps their outlandish dreams might come true after all. With the concealed trap now set, they gathered their gear and slipped quietly out the rear door into the rose-gold glow of dawn. Tonight, the harpies would get a shocking surprise from the smugglers. And the smuggler friends might finally claim the grand destinies that had eluded them all these years.⁕⁕⁕When the sun dipped below the horizon, casting the sky in a fiery orange glow, the harpies began their retreat routine, collecting their dead and wounded.However, today's plan to execute a low-flying maneuver had been foiled. The harpies were not able to disable any single hwacha. And tonight, they would come to realize that their failure ran deeper than a mere tactical misstep.Inside the ransacked house where Marcus and Victor set up a trap, a harpy sprang up and caught in it clean. The clamp gripped her left leg perfectly and the net wrapped her body like a semi-invisible blanket of doom.Her piercing screeches filled the air as she frantically flapped her wings, desperately trying to break free from the unforgiving grasp of the nets. The other harpies immediately focused on releasing their trapped comrade, but their efforts proved futile.The dusk had already broken, and the harpies' urgency grew as they realized time was running out.Meanwhile, Marcus and Victor, the two humans who had set the trap, returned to check on their handiwork in the ransacked house. As they approached, they heard the noise of distressed harpies. They sneak around the rear exit of the ransacked house.They peeked through the hole in the rear door and their eyes were met with a chaotic scene. Several harpies were attempting to release their captured friend, their frantic movements and distressed cries filling the night air.Marcus and Victor looked at each other, a smirk painted on their face.They were too focused on releasing their trapped friend they didn't hear Marcus and Victor coming close to them. Marcus and Victor light up their torches and bust through the rear door brandishing their torches toward the harpies, "Hey, fuck off!""Yeah! fuck off! get out of here!" The two former smugglers shouted as loud as they could over and over.Without hesitation, Marcus and Victor repelled the harpies with their torches, the flames casting an eerie glow in the darkness.The harpies, known for their aversion to fire, recoiled and screeched in protest, but the humans stood their ground, determined to protect their catch. Marcus and Victor prodded their torches. Reluctantly, the harpies were forced to abandon their efforts, and their captured friend was left at the mercy of the two humans."Hahaha, yeah..! go back to your nest you filthy bitches!" Victor cursed at the fleeing harpies who abandoned their sister.As they took to the skies, their haunting cries echoed in the night, a mournful lament for their fallen comrade. The captured harpy, her struggles now subdued, gazed at the humans with a mix of fear and resignation, her wild eyes reflecting the flickering light of the torches.At that moment, a profound silence settled over the clearing, broken only by the crackling of the flames and the distant calls of the harpies, a poignant reminder of the delicate balance between predator and prey in the heart of the untamed wilderness.Marcus and Victor's eyes were fixed on their prized catch, a beautiful, unblemished, golden-feathered harpy with dark brown skin and hair, ensnared by their special trap. Despite her struggles, hissing and snarling, she was wrapped and tangled in the netting, her leg shackled, leaving her helpless to resist, even her sisters unable to aid her."Dark skin and hair. Blue eyes. Unharmed," Marcus murmured, approaching the harpy and crouching in front of her. "Aren't you one of a kind?"The dark-skinned smuggler reached out, grabbing the harpy's face and inspecting her exotic beauty. Too exhausted to resist, she let him invade her personal space, his hands roaming her features without restraint."Well? How do you think?" Victor asked, his voice tinged with anticipation. "How much would wealthy people pay for this one?"Marcus closed his eyes, his mind racing as he tried to estimate the price for their captive bounty. "Young, healthy, exotic, unblemished, and her dark skin makes her one of a kind..." he mused. "Hmm, let me think..."After a moment's pause, he opened his eyes, a glint of greed shining through. "With today's market demand, she would be no less than fifteen thousand regal gold in the Serapha market.""Fifteen thousand?" Victor whistled, his eyes widening at the prospect of such a windfall. "It's not just a vineyard and winery. We could even buy the entire hill.""You god damn right, my friend," Marcus grinned, his excitement palpable. "We are rich! No more heists and no more smuggling for us. We are going to be patricians among the elite of the Arumis."Together, the two former smuggler volunteers secured the exhausted dark-skinned harpy, who resisted with every last ounce of her diminishing strength. They secured the captured harpy with the special shackle they found in the smuggler's hideout, strapped her onto a pole, wrapped her tightly in the netting, and hoisted her up, carrying her like a captured deer slung across their shoulders.As they began to move, the harpy's mind raced, unable to fathom what the humans intended to do with her. All she had ever heard were the stories of what they had done to her queen before she had joined their harpiries decades ago.⁕⁕⁕