The Warrior

Your eyes warily dart between the helmeted man and his two winged assailants.

3 potential targets. One arrow nocked at this time.

Your father was always the best judge of character, but it would now seem the gods had appointed you judge over this bloody altercation.

And as the adjudicating third party, you were **** to render a judgment in little time at all.

You had to pick a side: the male, with his face bloody and his posture obviously wounded, or these two feathered monstrosities with ladylike features.

If what they said was true, if he did indeed perform impure acts upon their queen while stealing what belonged to them, why is he only being pursued by two of them?

Surely such a heinous act upon their entire nest would warrant dozens, if not hundreds of harpies to exact their vengeance upon him.

A reckoning by a multitude of these malevolent beasts, surely!

If he had done what they claimed, if he had invaded their nest, then this young man would already be digested thoroughly in the stomachs of their younglings by now, unless of course they had other ungodly, more unthinkable uses for his body.

But here he was, still standing, still drawing breath out miles away from whatever nest that housed them.

So then, that leads you to a very simple, very logical conclusion.

“The only liar I see….is you!” Adjusting your trajectory slightly more to the right, you let the arrow fly, watching it whistle right into the unsuspecting chest of one of the harpies.

Wailing out as the metallic arrowhead penetrates her feathery torso, she instinctively retreats into the skies with a frantic flap of her wings, prompting the other one to follow suit as you reach for another arrow in your quiver.

The young man’s relief is apparent through his helmet as the two winged creatures lift themselves off the ground with a vengeful hiss.

It was two against one, but now….

“Your children will not feast on man’s flesh and blood tonight. They will writhe and whine with empty stomachs while you….” Releasing another arrow that just barely missed the harpy you had initially struck, a determined smile took to your face. “You will never see their ugly, devil-made faces ever again.”

“How dare you, human scum!” Her partner attempted to swoop in to take your blindside, but it is now time for the man to return the favor.

“Away from him!” Swinging his sword in a swift blur of metallic motion, he manages to clip the harpy on her side, forcing a wailing cry from her human mouth as his sword pierced her feathered flesh.

He went for another swing, but she flew out of range.

Nodding in appreciation, you nock another arrow at-

“RAWWRRR!” A loud roar nearly catches you by surprise as the other harpy suddenly goes to intercept you with a focused aerial dive.

Her howling war cry proves more advantageous than intimidating, though.

Aborting your aimed shot, instincts kick in and you throw yourself to the ground just as she barrels right through the exact spot your torso was a second or two ago.

Rolling on your shoulder, you let loose another arrow once you had assumed a stable position to aim.

This time, your aim proves true to your intent, and the projectile hits the harpy right in her back.

Shrieking out, her wings flap incessantly as she seemingly loses her stability in mid-air.

Unable to rise further up, the direct hit to her spine causes the winged creature to suffer a sputtering nosedive towards the bare earth below.

The abomination sharing both womanly and bird-like features lands right on her left wing, severely damaging that aerial limb while the rest of her body rolls through the dirt with nothing to stop the crash.

Her subsequent wailing fails to stir much sympathy within your beating heart.

Drawing another arrow and lining it up against the bow, you calmly take steps towards the writhing, suffering creature.

Your stance remains steadfast, your eyes never leaving it for a second.

A sharp arrowhead begins to level with her naked torso.

“You will not terrorize travelers a day longer on this earth, monster,” you proclaim confidently, finalizing your target.

Snarling up at the sound of your voice, the harpy instinctively uses its free wing to try and batter you back with a sweeping motion.

Also relying upon your own instincts, you jerk back out of range and let loose the arrow instead at that offending limb!

She screeches out in inhuman agony as the sharp point pierces her feathered extension, wracking its mostly female frame in even more visible agony.

Out of pure desperation, the bird-woman lets out a distressful wail, nearly giving your eardrums a bit of **** in the process.

For that alone, you drew back your bow with another arrow nocked, ready to plunge it into her heart to end her suffering once and for all.

Judge, jury….and executioner?