Chapter 3: Carnivorous Birdmen

“Oh, why hello there! Fancy meeting you fellows here on this fine, fine day.” A shaky chuckle escaped my lips as I raised my voice above the blizzard that howled through the arch. Snapping the folding camera shut, I shakily strapped it to my rope belt and shoved it so it hung behind me: out of sight. I went to put my hand on my hip and stiffened when metal brushed against my coat. I was gripping my rapier. Cripes. I must’ve whipped it out without conscious thought the second I felt something was off. My reflexes are just too good! I tried to casually sheathe my rapier, but the tip kept glancing off the scabbard as my sword arm trembled with the rest of me. “You know how dangerous it is traveling alone these days. A girl needs her protection, no? Anyway, I was just passing through when I thought to myself ‘hey, the Floating Isles has its… rustic charm, but it could really do with a bed and breakfast or two. I for one was ready to trade my right foot to rest the other before a roaring fire. A barbaric thing to consider, I know, but I was on the brink of freezing alive. It seemed like a good deal at the time.” My cheeks ached as I held a strained smile and waited for a reaction from my acquaintances.

The pinprick eyes didn't stir.

I broke into a cold sweat knowing the birdmen were studying my every movement. Of course, I didn’t expect these creatures to be capable of laughter, but was I seriously not going to get any reaction? Words tumbled from my mouth to fill the silence. “Then, lo and behold, what should I find but this monumental work of art? Unable to help but admire the masterful craftsmanship of this palace’s soaring minarets and archways carved with expert precision, here I throw myself upon the doorstep of your gracious abode.” I turned incrementally toward the marble egg while still facing the birdmen. “As for this little marble wonder, I’m afraid that I’ve traveled so far and wide that my mind has become a bit cluttered. I’ve probably encountered this kind of relic before, you understand, but the finer details seem to have escaped my memory: details like ‘do you always use eggs to keep your palace operational,’ ‘is this the source of your fabled magic I am beholding,’ and ‘would you mind if I borrowed it?’ Perhaps you ladies and or gentlemen can help refresh my memory—” My mouth snapped shut, and I pursed my lips as the birdmen inched closer.

This crowd of stooped figures, pressed tight between both walls, became illuminated in the hazy light. The clicking of talons against tile came from behind, and I strained my eyes to peer over my shoulder without moving an inch. Dark blue robes swept through the mist. The few birdmen who weren’t staring at me faced each other with yard-long beaks that jutted from within their deep hoods. They bowed their heads and chattered in undertones.

“Now, there’s no need for trouble.” The familiar shiver of being held under a wild animal’s gaze coursed up my spine. Still, I had to admit that these creatures had a gleam of conscious thought in their eyes as they chattered with their companions. However, if birdmen are capable of having their own little conversations, surely they have enough brain capacity for manners. Why aren’t they bothering to say anything to me: their guest?

Something tapped my shoulder.

I yelped before leveling my shaking rapier at another birdman that had emerged from a circular frame of violet light in the ceiling. Shaking my head, I blinked stupidly while trying to comprehend how not a sliver of the hallway’s ice-blue light seeped into the room where the birdman stood on its side of the sparking ring. I was about to open my mouth, but the creature clamped a talon over its beak and shook its head.

This newcomer peeked over the edges of its portal to glance at the advancing birdmen at both ends of the hallway. The birdman raised the beak it had tapped me with as if to strike only to nudge my sword aside and gesture into its... I suppose “portal” would be the best word for it.

“Now you lot are deciding to give me a tour?” I peered through the portal and narrowed my eyes at what appeared to be a room with polished hardwood that reflected the orange glow from a crackling fireplace. “Going to keep me comfortable to score that big promotion once you hand me over to your king? Well, I’d say it’s a pleasure to meet you, but—” As the creature hunched low to hide its face from my glare, my eyes widened. I recognized that posture from what had otherwise been a dark figure amid the blizzard. It must be that skittish birdman from the edge of the plateau.

The creature didn’t bother introducing itself as it continued to beckon: seemingly oblivious to the rapier I aimed between its eyes.

Well, whatever this thing’s intentions are, you know there’s only one thing to do, Alice. You might have found the fabled birdmen’s palace, but plenty of people are rumored to have done that. What does a discovery matter if I don’t leave the University with anything aside from my frozen remains? They won't even get that if one of those pits was dug especially for me. If I am going to call myself an archaeologist worthy of the University, I can’t start trembling in front of some birdman half my size.

One glance at the birdman swarm was enough to return my mind to putting my feet up before a fire. I sheathed my rapier and hastily shook the skittish birdman’s talon. After all, manners only mean anything when upheld in life-and-death situations. “A pleasure to meet you, sir or madame.”

Spotting the talon I was shaking, the birdmen’s gazes rose to the portal in the ceiling. The hallway became filled with beating wings as birdmen lunged toward me. They clambered over each other and snapped their beaks at whatever of me they could grab. Though, the birdmen cringed under my gaze and slunk back into the mist before I even flicked my rapier at them. Only their pinprick eyes burned through the mist as they shrieked. A web of sparks erupted from within the floor.

I yelped and pranced away from the flying sparks before leaping to grip both of the skittish birdman’s talons. Hoisting myself from the floor, I encouraged the creature profusely with phrases like "well done" while its tiny body quaked with the load.

The sparking currents finally formed rings of light, pushed the ivory tiles that bordered them aside, and revealed the howling blizzard below.

I screwed my eyes shut and hauled myself into its portal.

Every inch of me that passed through the portal lost feeling. Not as if I had been dropped back into the blizzard. Instead, everything down to the tiniest nerve ending disappeared as if becoming unwound while passing through a stream of… something lighter than wind… before emerging on the other side: becoming rewoven inch by inch. What was once up became down. I plummeted through the other side.

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