Chapter 12
The red sun rising in the morning was not a sight Leo was ready to see. Granted he could only see part of it peaking through the canopy of the forest but that did not change the main problem. It was morning and he was still in the forest.
After his encounter with the guard harpy, he had crawled through the foliage for around an hour before he truly believed himself to be safe at the moment. So he took the opportunity to make up some ground and began to walk through the forest.
Every now and then, his dress would get caught on something, whether a branch or a small tree. Leo started to get tears in his clothes and cuts on his skin, thankfully none of them were deep cuts but they still stung and left several red marks.
Leo missed the cold night yesterday, it was around the middle of spring so some of the nights were still cold before the morning sun warmed everything up. The problem now was that forest was exceptionally humid. It felt like Leo was walking through a swamp with how high the humidity was this morning.
So not only was he tired from not getting any sleep, but he was exhausted from walking, and hot from the humidity. It was miserable. The worst part was, no matter how far Leo had walked it felt like he was never going to come across the road.
Time and time again he went back into his head to picture the map that Queen Sybil had shown him. He had memorized most of the roads while trying to think of where bandit encampments were. Leo had to thank Queen Sybil for that, it helped him figure out where he needed to run.
The road he was walking toward was not the main one that lead to Illiasburg but it was a diverging path. It sacrificed the protection of a well-traveled road for a shorter and less maintained path. Leo had to guess that nobody took this route because of the thick forest and the potential for ambushes, while the main road was still forested just not as thick as the one he was currently in.
Despite the size of the road Leo knew he would eventually come across it, he just hoped that he would find it before exhaustion set in. Or the significantly worse option, a monster showing up. The species did not matter, if a monster showed up any chance of freedom would be taken away never to be seen again.
Leo looked up into the canopy, "If I can find the road by mid-day, I'll take it."
Now he might not be able to tell which direction Happiness Village would be once he found the road, but he knew that one way or another he would end up at either Illiasburg or Happiness Village. A human settlement, somewhere away from the monsters.
After what felt like two hours Leo looked back into the sky to find the canopy slightly opening up. He walked until the opening was right in front of him, looking down there was a small drop-off from the base of the trees. Slowly making his way down to the path below him he simply stared at the sky, now partially cleared of all the tree leaves.
Leo opened his mouth and it felt severely dry, enough for his lips to stick together, "Finally." He felt his throat grip tightly as he spoke.
He didn't bother with speaking after that, he needed to find water or safety before he could reliably celebrate. But this was one win for him, finding a road. It allowed him to get closer to Happiness Village, closer to home.
He decided to walk to his right, following the path that led wherever it led. He had to make a choice and nothing he could think of could guarantee it would lead him back to Happiness Village. From what he remembered from the maps he needed to follow the road northeast.
Finding east was easy, he just had to look at where the sun was and guess from there. It rose over to his right so he went right, after all the sun rose in the east. However, north and south were a complete guess and he just had to hope that the eastern path would lead him home.
Leo started walking the second he made his decision. There was no time to waste, no time to rest, despite how much he wanted it. If he waited for one second then the harpies would find him. Considering that the path had an open sky the harpies would be able to see it clearly, and that was dangerous.
If even one of the scouts decided to fly along the road she would see him and he would be done for, trapped back in the village. So he decided to hug the side of the road closest to the canopy as best he could. Any extra chance at hiding, he would take it, every little advantage was needed right now.
Leo just hoped he would find home before he passed out. Exhaustion was creeping in faster than he would like and the village seemed so much farther away than it should have. But despite all this, he had to press on.
He knew for a fact that Queen Sybil would have harpies on the hunt for him. Each second their range would be expanding and closing in on his location. They may not know exactly where he was but looking down from above made searching a lot easier, especially if you knew what you were looking for.
A short, thin, boy with brown hair alone in the forest. Wearing a brown dress that is likely damaged from traveling in the wilderness. He could already hear the description given to the guards and scouts. Broad enough so they would check most people they saw, but specific enough so that they would know who to bring back and who to leave alone.
Some of the scout harpies would know him, most would not. But even if they did not know him personally they likely heard of him, the boy under Queen Sybil's tutelage. It was common gossip among the harpies, they were constantly wondering why he was chosen and not someone who she could actively mate with.
Leo knew the answer but that did not stop the harpies from talking. The only question he had was if word got out to the villages under Queen Sybil's control. Elves were known for their knowledge of the forest, both what's inside and how to traverse it. If elves were on the hunt for him then getting back to Happiness Village fast was even more pressing.
While he kept walking every now and then he would feel a breeze and immediately look to the sky. He knew harpies could be silent so every time there was something that might indicate a wing flapping his paranoia took hold. Leo never knew if a harpy was above him or behind him but he tried to be prepared. Even if he could not effectively fight back he still would give it an attempt.
Time passed and he heard more rustling in the woods. Quickly, he ducked down behind a tree and scanned the forest. Nothing, not even an animal. No harpies in sight, no elves in sight. So he waited for around a minute before moving on again.
He had a feeling that if a monster thought they saw him they would not wait for him to drop his guard, they would go for him regardless. Leo looked tired, anyone who saw him would say that. His mouth was slightly open and one could hear panting if they listened close enough.
The traveling was getting to him, more and more each time he stopped. It eventually got to the point where his legs and feet stopped hurting, but the second he stopped moving and searched for elves and harpies the pain came back.
Soon enough he could see the sun starting to make its way into late afternoon. His skin burned, he needed water, and he needed rest. Leo had been awake for more than a day at this point, it honestly might have been longer but now, he just wanted to sleep. Dear Illias, he wanted to sleep and just keep walking through the night.
However, he knew he could not do that. If he slept then he would wake up in the arms of a harpy, he was almost certain of that.
Looking back up into the sky he could see the canopy refolding over the road. Like he was walking deeper into the forest.
No… He had not been going the wrong way. He thought for sure he was traveling in the right direction toward some civilization, some human civilization. The easternmost road would have taken him to Happiness Village, at least some village nearby. Some place he could ask a human for directions.
It just looked like he was walking further and further into the forest. He felt his knees grow weak and once he was under the cover of the canopy he felt his legs give out from under him.
He fell to the ground and only managed to keep his torso off the ground with his elbows, his forehead leaning against his hands.
The pain in his legs was unimaginable, he could feel blisters forming on his heels from rubbing against his small boots. His calves were on fire and it had only been a miracle that they did not cramp up while he was walking.
Just a little rest would not hurt, right? Just five minutes.
He felt his eyes grow heavy and despite his efforts to keep them open, they closed. No matter how hard he tried to force them open they just stayed shut.
Leo felt his center of gravity shift as one of his legs slipped on the ground and forced him onto his side. Eyes still shut he lay there on the ground motionless aside from his deep and heavy breaths.
"Hey, you okay?"
It was a girl's voice. Leo could hear the concern and almost panic. Soon enough he started to hear rapid footsteps, quickly getting closer to him.
He wanted to say something, but he could not. His throat felt like it was sealed shut and he could only breathe in and out. There was no chance of making a sound.
"Hey say something!"
The footsteps slowed down before eventually coming to a stop. Leo felt the presence next to his head and he tried to open his eyes, but just like when he tried to make a sound, nothing happened. His body would not respond, he just kept breathing heavily.
"Come on!" He felt a jabbing at his side and he offered no reaction aside from a small twitch.
"Fuck," The girl sighed.
Leo felt the girl's hands wrapping themselves around his legs and back. Soon enough he felt himself above the ground and immediately a sense of terror ran through his body.
His limbs started shaking from fear. He could not go back to the harpies, not now, not ever. Leo was done with them, they had taken so much from him and it was his time! He was his own man, he controlled his own life.
Yet despite how much he wanted to move there was no moving done. His body still would not react.
Leo felt his head resting against something while he felt the arms from before move underneath his knees.
The girl grunted before he felt his body start to move again, "Let's go, I'm not letting you die out here."
Leo broke.
He lost hope, an elf grabbed him and took him back to wherever her home was. In whatever monster village that was. Soon enough he was going to be either a slave to this elf or back in Harpy Village, getting yelled at by Queen Sybil and eventually locked up. Put under more watch than before.
Alone time would be none existent and his time living with Sophia, Irini, Vasil, and Natassa was over. He would live in a more literal cell compared to the metaphorical cell that was the village. Queen Sybil would have him under lock and key until she broke him.
He had heard stories that some harpies pacified their husbands through sex, whether it was forced or not. Some males broke within the day, others took weeks, but it was a one hundred percent success rate.
Queen Sybil would break him, even if it meant breaking her standards or whatever plan she had for him originally. She would break him and he would be her slave. Leo was certain of that, it terrified him. Leo wanted to be himself and have his own moral code. The minute it was influenced by someone else would he even be himself anymore?
Leo rolled over onto his side, he felt a small blanket on top of him and a pillow at his head. The pillow was soft but not as soft as the one he had in Harpy Village, while the blanket had a different feeling. It felt like fur, almost like a dog was constantly rubbing up against his body. It was nice and it calmed him slightly, bringing a comfort that he had long since forgotten.
He did not want to open his eyes, he could not accept his reality. Leo knew someone else was in the room, he felt a presence watching him, someone, some monster watching him. Waiting for him to wake up so that she could take him for herself before sending him off to Harpy Village to live the rest of his life.
"I know you're awake," It was the same girl from before and she was clearly annoyed, "You gonna sleep all day, or are you gonna tell me why you were almost dead on the road? Mom said she'd put you up for the day just to make sure you're okay."
The girl sighed before Leo heard a door open, "When you decide to get up I'll be out in the field, just look for me." With that said, Leo heard footsteps followed by the sound of a door closing.
Leo laid in bed before curling up into a ball, gripping his legs as best he could. His calves were sore, his body felt bruised, and frankly, everything hurt. Both physically and mentally. He wanted to just forget everything, he wanted to just be done, death would be better than being stuck in that cursed village again.
After around an hour of laying down, his eyes struggled to stay closed, they wanted to come open, almost like his trying to sleep was straining his muscles. He pulled the blanket over his head and slowly opened his eyes, embracing the darkness that the blanket gave him.
There was only a sliver of light coming from the edge of the blanket. Leo tried to pull it down to get rid of the light only for nothing to change.
Eventually, Leo had enough of the little light and yanked the blanket off his head.
He was blinded for a second by the sunlight peaking through a window. Soon enough he recovered and stared at the closed door from the bed. Slowly Leo sat up and took a glance at the room to see what this monster had around the room.
There was not much, there was a window on his left and the blanket he had was some kind of animal fur, although he could not tell exactly which animal. He grabbed the pillow behind him and saw the fabric was oddly similar and it was filled with white and brown feathers, ones he could only assume came from chickens.
The room was made of wood planks and the door had metal hinges with a door knob that came up to around his chest. It was once again oddly familiar and Leo could not place why. It looked similar to his home in Happiness Village, what little he remembered of it that is. Yet at the same time, it looked completely different.
The bed was extremely similar, although it may have been because it was simply a bed and not a bedmat as the harpies had. Leo had only seen one full bed in his life in this world, and that was the one at Happiness Village. He could only assume that most beds were the same in this world, at the very least the same for humanoid monsters.
Slowly Leo got up, forcing himself through the pain in his legs. He knew from track that doing some exercise would help get rid of the pain faster, even if it hurt at the moment. Each step hurt but when he arrived at the door Leo stood there, unmoving. Not wanting to walk through.
He did not want to see a family of elves outside the door. Leo knew there were some that were waiting for him on the other side of the door, either her sisters or neighbors. He had to be prepared for his new life, even if he did not want to live it he had to accept his place in this world.
Leo's arm shook slightly as he pushed open the door and what he saw in the front room baffled him.
The first thing he saw was the window which showed a massive field of planted grain. The color had yet to come in but Leo could tell that was grain, there was no mistaking it. His gaze then shifted to the table and kitchen. Four chairs sat around the wooden table with a simple arrangement of candles at the table's center.
The kitchen had a small fireplace encased in brick with a metal grate on the side. There were several pots and pans resting by the grate as well. But what stood out most to Leo was the arrangement of knives on the counter. Four simple knives, three of varying sizes and one duplicate, exactly what mother had.
However, his world truly shattered and tears flew down from his eyes when he saw a small chair and table in the corner. There was an unlit candle on the table along with a simple book.
Leo recognized that book, he could never forget it. It was his mother's diary, she told him stories from it at the kitchen table every few nights. She always had her long candle resting on the table and that book in her hands. He could not remember if they finished all her stories but he knew she loved to tell them.
It was home.
It was his home.
Instantly after realizing this he forced open the front door and rushed into the field, searching for the girl that had taken him home. Leo had no doubt in his mind that it was Maya. She had saved him, she saved him from his hell.
Looking off into the distance he saw two people. One woman with long brown hair reached down to her shoulders, she was muscular and tall, a truly scary woman to get on the bad side of.
While the other was smaller with brown hair that reached down her back. Her posture was slouched but anyone could clearly see that she was beginning to develop as both a human and a woman. Even from a distance, Leo could see the muscle she was putting on, the fieldwork must have really helped to develop her strength.
Leo's legs never stopped moving until he was within shouting distance of the two women. It did not take long for them to notice and they placed down their plow and seeds and simply stood there, waiting for Leo to come to them.
"So you finally got up," Maya said with a scowl on her face.
Leo did not stop sprinting until he was right in front of the two women. His legs still burned from the previous day but he put aside his pain and looked at them with the brightest smile in the world.
Slowly he walked towards Maya to give her a hug, so he could finally wrap his arms around his twin sister and say that he was there. That he was not dead, that he was free.
Only for her to step out of the way and for mother to walk forward toward him.
"Keep your hands to yourself," Maya said angrily, "You seem fine so why don't you head off to your house."
Leo's smile dimmed immediately before he looked at mother staring him down, trying to intimidate him, "Your parents are probably worried, go off to them and leave us be before they cause more trouble."
His smile vanished and his eyes widened. They truly did not recognize him. After all these years they did not recognize him. He would have thought that at least mother would see the resemblance.
But maybe she just accepted the fact that he was dead, maybe they both did. Maybe they both knew that he would never come back so they discounted any chance of Leo actually being their long-lost family.
"But it-, But it's me," Leo choked out, "It's Leo… I'm home."
"We've had enough of that game," Maya screamed at him, "Stop harassing us, Leo's long gone and everyone knows that. Hell, you all celebrated it and I'm fucking tired of it."
"We just want to live in peace and you all never give us a break from it," Mother said slowly her hand tensing, "Just go home."
Leo started to tear up before looking into Maya burning eyes, "But I am home! I never stopped thinking about you Maya. I've tried for six years to get home and I'm finally here."
Maya took one step forward and pushed Leo to the ground before yelling again, "Get out! This isn't funny and it never was! Now leave!"
Leo placed his arms behind him and forced himself up, "No! I won't leave until you realize. Those harpies tried to break me, they wanted me to forget about you both, but I never could! I never would, I swore I wouldn't!"
"The harpies kill the kids, everyone knows that! All the boys they take they kill 'em." Maya shouted.
"They don't" Leo countered, "They brainwash them, think about Illias' commandments. They want to breed with the kids, that's how they survive. It's a fate worse than death."
"That's fucking disgusting," Maya scowled, "How do you even think of that. What man would want to have sex with a harpy?"
"But it's true!" Leo shouted, "They groom the kids until they don't want to leave. That's why you never see the kids again because they never leave!"
Maya sighed, "I'm done, just go home." She began to walk back to the bag of seeds and plow, followed by mother who simply looked at him, disappointment clear on her face.
"Don't you remember Foxy!" Leo shouted before running his hands through his hair in frustration, "The black fox with orange ears."
Maya turned around with a confused look on her face.
Leo took her attention and ran with it, "We always played with Foxy in the morning before coming to the field. The little fox was all over me, chasing us, finding berries. Her fur was the fluffiest thing we've ever felt. Foxy was our only friend Maya!"
Her face was clearly conflicted, and she never spoke.
"When we first saw her she was eating berries. We made some noises and I panicked, I thought we were going to die. But Foxy walked over and gave us berries, I tried so hard to pull you back but you ate them then I thought you were going to die!"
"You have to remember that!" Leo pleaded, "Please Maya, you have to remember that."
Maya stood still her gaze never leaving Leo while mother brought her hand up to her mouth.
"Leo?" His mother spoke softly, in the soft calming tone that he remembered as a kid, "...Is that really you?"
"I'm home mom," Leo said hopefully, "I'm finally home."
Maya slowly walked toward Leo, her expression unchanging. By the time she was directly in front of him, she simply stood there, inches from his face.
Then she gripped him and a back-breaking hug.
Instantly Leo responded, resting his head on her shoulder, and Maya did the same.
"I'm sorry," Maya said, "I'm so so sorry, I couldn't believe it. I still can't believe it. I want to but I can't, it's not real. It's all a dream."
Leo placed his hand on her head and gently stroked her hair, "It's not a dream Maya, you saved me. You really saved me."
Soon enough mother joined in on the hug and simply kissed Leo on the forehead, "This is the best day of my life. My son is back, he came back to us."
She looked into the sky and yelled with tears falling from her face, "Thank you Illias! Thank you for bringing him back to me!"
The three of them simply stood there in the field for what felt like hours before mother spoke up, "Let's go back inside, there is so much to catch up on."
Leo followed behind them with a newfound smile on his face. He was home, away from the scheming of Harpy Village. Away from Queen Sybil, the monster who saw him as nothing more than a tool to use and a male to breed with.
They all sat around the kitchen table and Leo told them what he had been through for the past six years.
He started out with his arrival in Harpy Village and his encounter with Sophia and her daughters, Irini, Vasil, and Natassa. How Sophia constantly tried to convince Leo that he was meant to stay in Harpy Village, that this was his best option for safety, and that he could truly be a kid again.
Leo explained how Vasil and Natassa were avoidant with him until they eventually warmed up to him. But Irini was instantly one to welcome him and in the end, she was someone he could call a friend, someone he could confide in without fear of punishment. Despite the constant scheming of Sophia and Queen Sybil, Leo knew that Irini was not a part of it and that she could be trusted.
He talked about his encounters with Queen Sybil and how delusional she was. Leo explained that she was the main cause of their problems simply because of her reluctance to compromise with the humans. She saw them as nothing more than mates and tools and the humans that lived there accepted that, hell they welcomed it.
Queen Sybil wanted nothing more than a peace which was a noble goal, he had to admit. But despite her actions, the peace she wanted was one that favored monsters, not a peace that favored all. Leo was suspicious that most if not all monster Queens wanted the same, a lopsided peace.
Leo reluctantly explained his encounter with the rash, which he learned was typically called the Sinner's Rash. He told mother and Maya how much he distrusted any form of medicine they gave him. Leo thought they were going to kill him, and rightfully so, he was a problem for Sophia which in turn caused him to be a problem for Queen Sybil.
It would not have surprised him if they decided to poison him. Even if that was not the case, he was almost certain that the harpies knew next to nothing about how humans functioned. They could have killed him even if they did not intend to.
The Sinner's Rash left him in more pain than he thought, he was bedridden for days until it eventually cleared up. Something he assumed was a result of his prayers to Illias. Despite not being the most faithful, she was there in his time of need and Leo would not be one to forget that easily.
Leo told them about his escape and that if it were not for Irini helping him he would still be there, stuck in Harpy Village. He gave her a plan to distract some of the guards that we watching him and when the guards finally went for him Irini reacted and took one down. She took down a guard harpy that was aimed at him, wishing to take him back to the village and keep him there.
Once he was in the woods he could see and hear one of the harpies searching for him, threatening him the entire time. He was petrified with fear but eventually, she walked away and Leo began his journey to Happiness Village. He found a road and when he collapsed he thought an elf had caught him.
Leo thought that after all he'd been through he would be taken back to Queen Sybil and forced into captivity again. But when he realized where he was, Leo felt a new sense of joy and relief that he had not felt in a long while.
"That brings us to now," Leo said with a light sigh, a smile still on his face.
Maya was looking down at the table and Leo swore he could hear her grinding her teeth, "I'll kill them all… Every last one of them."
"They've gotten worse," Mother said slowly before looking at Leo, "The old Queen was ruthless but she at least stayed away from children. She took hundreds maybe even thousands of men in her war but she left the kids alone."
Leo sighed, "I was hoping you wouldn't say that."
"I would be more worried for the future," Mother said, "This Queen Sybil… She's not like the other Queens, I've never seen them watch one person so closely."
"She's going to take Leo from us again!" Maya said sternly, "I won't let her after we just got you back."
Mother looked at Maya, "You're still not strong enough to fight a harpy, even with Lydia's training."
Leo's eyes widened, "Wait, Aunt Lydia's training Maya?"
Mother chuckled before her eyes darkened, "After the harpies took you Maya was so intent on getting you back that I caught her training by herself in the mornings. I just pointed her toward Lydia and she's been improving ever since."
"But why can't you train her?" Leo asked.
"Because Aunt Lydia's a better teacher," Maya said bluntly.
Leo burst out in laughter and mother lightly shook her head still holding a smile.
"Mom tried to teach me at first but she couldn't explain the basics with a sword," Maya said.
"Lydia's a much better swordswoman than I am," Mother admitted, "Maya's less than interested in the bow but she'll have to learn eventually if she wants to fight the harpies."
"Maya, you do know how strong the harpies are right?" Leo said slowly.
"They can't be that much stronger than a human, Mom threw one around before," Maya said.
Mother looked at Leo with a deadpan expression, "She refuses to believe how strong a harpy is, no matter how many times I've told her."
Leo looked at Maya and stared at her in disbelief. Why would she not believe mother? She had literally fought them for years!
"Maya," He said slowly, "I was carried around by harpies more than I can remember. I know adult harpies can pick up full-grown humans and still fly around. That's not even counting some guards and Queen Sybil, they're even stronger."
Leo rested his head against his hand, "That's just talking about the harpies. Monsters in general are so much stronger than us. Mom has probably trained for most of her life, that's why she can fight the harpies. Same with Lydia."
"I'll be able to take them," Maya said confidently, "I won't let them take you again."
He could only deadpan at her, "You're delusional, they'll kill you without a second thought. Especially after they find out we're related. They already hate mom as is."
"That reminds me," Mother said, "Did the harpies ever mention me?"
Leo sighed, "Every time there was a heated argument, or they tried to convince me to stay someone mentioned that it was dangerous to be around you. That you were a threat and deserved to die for everything you had done."
Mother's smile brightened, "Good, they still fear me, seems all my work wasn't fully undone."
Leo slowly looked over and lifted his eyebrows in confusion, "What did you even do to them?"
"Me, your father, and Lydia came here to settle down and escape from the rest of the world. We brought justice to the people of Sentora, killing monsters who threatened humans, taking down bandits who robbed the innocent, and removing tyrants across the kingdoms," Mother said.
"It got to the point where the Monster Lord herself put a bounty on our heads. We had killed thousands of monsters together, minus your father. He was never one to take a life but he was always the first to point out an injustice, something wrong with the world."
"The humans supported us for the longest time until our time in Port Natalia. They had grown too close to the mermaid population to the point where it was affecting the rest of the continent. Originally, mermaids would take a few sailors and settle down with them but eventually, it got to the point where enough was enough."
"It started to affect the shipping across the continent, didn't it?" Leo asked.
Mother nodded her head, "Not only that but between the continents. Nobody was willing to sail, to the Illias continent anymore. The captains refused to bring over more heroes from the Illias continent and refused to take anyone who wished to become a hero."
"So we did what we could, we cut down the mermaid population of Port Natallia almost completely." She looked down at the table, a frown forming on her face, "We should have driven them from there completely but the humans forced us to sail to the Illias continent."
Leo's eyes were wide in shock while Maya eagerly listened.
"Yo-you three almost killed an entire population of mermaids?" Leo said slowly.
He did not know what to think. Leo knew the monsters were a problem but killing an entire population seemed impossible. He knew mother must have done something horrible to get the humans against them, but surely that was not it, it had to have been something more. They had done nothing but good for the people of Sentora, right?
Blocking the travel of humans was detrimental to both continents. Heroes kept the monsters at bay in Sentora, without them humanity would be on its downfall. Surely even the sailors could see that. They can't be so selfish as to endanger humanity as a whole!
Mother nodded her head again, "We would have if it wasn't for the people of Port Natalia trying to fight us. There were a few good souls who helped us escape to the Illias continent but by the time we arrived word was beginning to spread that we were dangerous and would only bring harm. Bounties were put on our heads so we traveled to the one place we knew would not reject us. Happiness Village."
"They were under constant raids from Queen Refletsia and the harpies were expanding. So we settled down and organized a defense against the harpies. We fought them back, and with the help of several villages, put down the Queen and stopped the destruction."
Leo spoke slowly, "You saved the continent from being overrun by monsters, just like Port Natalia."
"We did," Mother smiled, "But soon enough the villagers caught wind of the bounties on us and our peace ended. They treated us horribly in hopes of making us leave. They understood they couldn't kill us directly so they made us the scapegoat for everything."
"Then one day before you two were born, the harpies attacked and Adrian's concentration was broken by several villagers." She sighed, almost fighting back tears, "The harpies gutted him the second they saw the opportunity."
Leo was right, Queen Sybil did lie to him.
There was no break, there was no peace between mother and the harpies. The harpies wanted nothing short of dominance over Happiness Village and the harpies were the cause of all their problems. Not the humans of Happiness Village.
They just did what they had to survive. Leo would not be surprised if this village was secretly under the control of Queen Sybil. If this treatment and occasional kidnapping were their way of finally killing mother and Lydia.
The humans wanted them gone so they could claim a bounty, a selfish few who wanted the money for themselves. While others struggled to survive, constantly wondering why the harpies kept coming by, and why they were a constant threat despite the lack of war.
No, the war never ended. So long as mother is still alive the war will go on. The only problem is that when the war is over the only winner will be the harpies, the humans have already lost.
Leo ground his teeth in rage, "The war never ended Mom. It makes sense now. They took me to try and break you, they won't stop until you're dead."
Mother nodded her head once again, "Exactly Leo… Even with all the trouble, they gave us." She looked at him and ruffled his hair in an attempt to lighten the mood, "They made you smarter."
"See this is why I need to train mo-" Maya said before being cut off by the sound of several screams.
Mother immediately jumped to her feet and ran outside. Leo and Maya stood still for a few seconds before getting up out of their chairs and rushing outside as well.
When Leo looked toward the main village he saw what only could be described as a swarm of harpies. He saw countless harpies flying across the village causing nothing but panic among the villagers. Not only that but he could tell they were not aimed at the village itself, they were flying directly toward his home.
From what he could see these harpies were well armored with plates of metal tightly covering and protecting parts of their wings. On their talons were sharpened metal claws, even from this distance Leo could tell those were extremely high quality.
The helmets they wore had small bladed wings by their ears. Leo knew those helmets, they were not given to simple guards they were given to hardened warriors. They were for the elite. These were the veterans of the previous war and Leo could guarantee they all had a bone to pick with mother.
This was not any normal raid to kidnap a child and bring them back. This was a full-scale assault with the intent to kill and cause nothing but destruction.
Queen Sybil had just organized one of the largest raids on Happiness Village since Queen Refletsia's hunt for his mother. All because of him.