Take Me With You: Chapter 1

After a tense conversation about the nature of the town Hulda and Velveteen found themselves in, the pair had gleaned enough information to begin forming a hypothesis about what happened here. The town was unnamed… or perhaps it was simply that whatever name it had was lost to time. There had been many generations who had never stepped foot outside the town. They hadn’t had visitors in what Salmon estimated to be centuries. As he’d previously stated, the remaining Stryx were descendants of only a select few who survived the attack upon the town, which caused many birds to die or be killed after suffering from the effects of Corruption.

“From what I understand, the spell cast upon your city was one to protect it,” Hulda observed. “But it also may have caused it to become prone to attack. If someone broke into the spell’s invisible walls but left them intact for some time after they entered… this place would have been a fish bowl.” She gestured about with her wings, though they were still inside the loft they’d been invited into. “I’m not sure how to break the curse for longer than a very temporary time period. In fact, we should probably be going soon if we intend not to get trapped here.”

Velveteen nodded. “I’d rather leave sooner, myself. Just in case.” Without looking for confirmation from the horned hawk, the younger bird turned around and began to make his way towards the loft’s door.

“Wait!” Salmon quickly extended a wing, his singular clawed digit hooking lightly upon Hulda’s shoulder. “I want to go with you. This city has been trapped and stagnant for ages. We’ve barely had enough room to farm the food needed to keep our population fed. Every generation, this place becomes more and more crowded… sickness spreads faster… starvation is a real threat… we need to free this place before desperate measures are taken to keep the people here healthy.” His bright blue eyes gazed at the hawk, anguish and fear flashing through them like a storm brewing in the distance.

The tyto who had turned to leave stopped, twisting his head around in the unnatural way owls do to look at the pair. “Are you insane?” he asked. “You… well, no offense, but you don’t have the slightest idea what it’s like outside this place. I mean… can you even really fly? The ceiling of that spell was pretty low to the ground.”

Salmon pulled his wing back, squeezing his eyes shut. The pain on his face said it all. “I can fly,” he said softly. “But I’ve never flown far. I don’t know what it’s like out there… but I know that I need to leave. I need to find a way to save this town. I am one of its security guards… and things are growing more and more devastating each day. I’ve seen some things, Velveteen - was it? - and I’ve been around long enough to know that things won’t get any better unless we break this curse. If you won’t help me break it, then I would at least like to request I go with you.”

Velveteen gave Hulda a very long, discouraging gaze, but Hulda just allowed herself to smile. The hawk dipped her head, her tufts of feathers bobbing as she did. “I couldn’t say no to a request like that. I don’t know about my associate here,” she gestured with one talon towards Velveteen, “but I’d be more than happy to assist. Come on, then, let’s get going. We don’t have much time, so I’d suggest you gather anything you’d like to bring with you… and let anyone who might miss you know where you’re going.”

“Oh nobody will miss me,” Salmon said with a heavy sigh. “I may be this place’s security, but there are other Stryx who are better than I am… and my family… well, they’ve all died a long time ago. If anyone is the least likely to be missed, it’s me… but I’ll gather my things. There are only a few. Give me two minutes.”

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683 Words

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