CHAPTER THREE: HARPIES
When the six companions finally emerged from the mist, they found themselves in a much different Gorge. Gone was the lush vegetation- here the walls were barren rock, dark and sharp-edged. The walls of the ravine rose even higher than they had before, leaving the narrow creekbed in even darker shadows.
"She said she heard music," Soveliss explained to Regdar. "I think I heard it, too."
"Well, we didn't hear anything as we passed through the mist."
"I know," Soveliss said. He scanned the surrounding rocks for any sign of Lidda, but saw nothing.
"What did this music sound like?"
The elf thought for a moment. "Soothing, lilting music, as from afar off. Like nothing I've heard since I was a child. It reminded me of my home." Then the faraway look disappeared from his eyes, and Soveliss looked sternly at Regdar. "You entrusted me to look after the halfling, and I have failed. I want to go on ahead and look for her."
"You tried to stop her from walking into the mist, Soveliss," Regdar said. "Remember, this gorge is full of ancient and dangerous magic- it's not your fault."
The ranger nodded. "Still, I want to go out and search. Lidda could be in danger."
"I know how you feel, Soveliss." The fighter turned to the others. "Standard formation," he barked. "Mialee and Jozan in the middle, Tordek, you guard the rear. Alhandra, up front with me. Sove is going on ahead to scout for us. This is the perfect place for an ambush, so keep your eyes open." The others hurried to obey- when Regdar spoke with that tone of voice, they all knew the time for battle was fast approaching. "Let's find our friend."
Alhandra walked alongside Regdar for a time, warily eyeing the looming walls of the gorge as they proceeded. She remained silent, her reproving glances making Regdar feel guilty about Lidda's disappearance. They had to find the halfling and get her back. Soveliss had nearly disappeared up ahead, almost invisible beneath his elven cloak.
"The sense of evil is stronger here," Alhandra said. "It lies faintly upon this entire place. Every step we take brings us closer to its source."
"You think we're walking into a trap?"
"I don't know. There is some sorcerery here. After the mist-wall, I am sure of that. But it does not feel like the evil I am used to. I think the Ancient One has not set foot here before. This is something else."
Regdar spared a moment to glance over at Alhandra. Like everything else from her homeland, her once-proud armor of half-plate was dented and tarnished, yet it still served its purpose. She would never think of wearing anything else. Every imperfection in her armor held a memory for her, of a comrade fallen or a foe defeated. He knew that somewhere beneath that battered and scarred armor was a beautiful and truly noble-hearted woman, but she rarely opened up, even to her companions after many harrowing adventures. "I know that as a paladin, Trithereon has given you the ability to sense evil in the people and things around you. How fine are your senses? Can you really discern the source of evil, or merely its presense?"
She did not look at him as she answered. "I can sense the strength of evil, in a place, or in a man's heart, but I cannot tell its source. Here, the evil is real, and it is all around us now, but it is not strong. From that, I can only deduce that it is very old."
"How do you do it?"
She frowned. "It is difficult to put into words, what you ask. It is something I must will myself to do, and the sensing requires some concentration to maintain."
"So it is like one of Jozan's prayers, where he calls upon his deity?"
"It is not like that. My prayers usually go unanswered." Alhandra shook her head. "But my ability to detect evil has never once let me down. It is more like a second sight, though not really. I don't see malignancy with my eyes, like a stain on the land. I just feel it in my heart, or know in my head that it is there."
"But how exactly does this gift work?"
"That is a question I cannot answer, Regdar," the paladin said, keeping her cold blue eyes on the cliffs about them. "Trithereon has chosen me, not the other way around. His church in the world has proclaimed that this is indeed my destiny. In their eyes, I am an anointed warrior of Trithereon, endowed to dispense justice in the name of holy writ. By what means the priests know this, I cannot say. Perhaps Jozan could better explain them to you."
"Probably right," Regdar agreed. He paused awkwardly for a moment, but whatever he was about to say was suddenly forgotten. A shadow passed quickly across the sun, and they heard the sound of flapping wings. "Beware, overhead!"
Looking up, the companions saw three dark winged shapes taking flight from atop the canyon wall. The three creatures spun lazily for a moment, then swooped, diving towards the adventurers. They appeared as some hideous cross-breed between a crone and a winged lizard from the dawn of time. The harpies had leathery wings and legs like some bird-lizard, but their heads and torsos were those of old women. Their wrinkled faces were contorted in screams of hate, their eyes malevolent and hungry.
Then, from somewhere high in the rocks, they heard the beginnings of an entrancing song. A fourth harpy remained atop the cliff, singing rather than attacking. Regdar paused to listen. For a moment he forgot the three foul harpies flying towards him, claws extended. Just as Soveliss had described, the song coming from somewhere above was enchanting. It reminded him of fond memories from his youth, and inspired in him hopes of better things to come. Regdar could not believe such a fair, peaceful song could come from such hideous-looking creatures. Then he realized that these creatures were really perhaps not so evil as he had first thought.
"Harpies," said Alhandra, bracing herself for the attack. Then she noticed Regdar, just standing beside her looking up. She promptly bashed him over the side of his helm with her shield. "Stop listening to them," she barked. "We must fight them."
Regdar blinked and shook his head. Alhandra's blow might have leveled a lesser man, but Regdar stayed on his feet, his head ringing. The pain brought him back to his senses, and he drew his sword. Alhandra smiled at him, and drew her own sword as well.
Regdar looked back, thinking to sound out a warning to the others, but he saw that there was no need. Mialee and Jozan had already deduced the nature of their attackers, and seen the enchantment beginning to fall over Tordek as well. Elf and cleric tackled the dwarf, who was too entranced to protest much. Jozan pummeled him into distraction, shouting the holy words of Pelor at the top of his lungs, while Mialee tore a long strip from her cloak and bound it tightly around Tordek's ears.
"My thanks," grunted the dwarf. "Now, get OFF me and let me AT THEM!"
Jozan and Mialee grinned and moved aside. Tordek stood, straightened his helm, picked up his axe, and looked up, just as the three harpies swooped down on them.
Regdar shouted a great war cry that echoed off the walls of the gorge. He took careful aim at one of the three onrushing harpies, then swung the Sword of Kings in a great arc. His magical bastard sword struck one of the harpies a solid blow, completely severing one arm and one wing, and knocking the foul creature from the sky. Harpy blood splattered the ground like rain, covering Regdar's helm and armor in a gruesome spray.
The enraged beast turned and leapt at Regdar, surprising him with the fury of her attack. The big warrior couldn't imagine the harpy had any fight left in her after the damage he'd done with his sword, but obviously he was wrong. He managed to get his sword up in time to fend off the wounded creature, but his ears rang from the screeching. He backhanded the harpy with the armored spikes on his forearm, opening a gash across the harpy's collarbone. Then, with his right hand, he brought his sword down in a powerful slash, finally splitting the monster from chin to crotch.
Beside him, Alhandra raised her shield as a second winged monster dove at her. The harpy's claws raked her shield, and the thing made such a screech it nearly deafened the paladin. But Alhandra was a skilled swordswoman, and in the briefest of moments spied an opening as the harpy flew over her head. She thrust upward with her sword, opening a bloody wound in the monster's abdomen. Wings flapping, the harpy screamed in pain and anger, then darted back up into the air, poised for another attack.
Alhandra crouched behind her shield, calmly eying her opponent. The wounded harpy was not yet finished, flapping in the air above her. Alhandra taunted the foul creature with her eyes, and the paladin was not disappointed. The harpy descended on her with a horrible cry that echoed off the walls of the gorge. Alhandra met the attack with her shield, striking hard and fast into the belly of the monster. The harpy screamed and convulsed, pounding uselessly against the paladin's armor, clawing for an opening. But Alhandra's well-made armor served her well, and the monster snarled in futility. In an instant, she struck again, impaling the horrid creature. Alhandra stepped back and let the dead harpy fall to the ground.
The third harpy swooped down on Jozan, missing with her talons, but bowling him over with the force of the impact. Tordek swung at the creature with his axe as it passed, and Mialee tried to hit the thing down with her staff, but the harpy screeched and flew up beyond their reach. Tordek hopped up and down in frustration. Each time he swung, the harpy flew back, just above his reach. Jozan and Mialee were more calm, and quickly decided that a magical solution was in order.
At a brief nod from Jozan, Mialee moved in beside Tordek to provide a little extra distraction. She had a little more reach with her staff, although her upward stabs served only to anger their foe. But Jozan quickly whispered a prayer to Pelor and, confident he would be answered, pointed a hand at the monster. There was a pulse of magic, barely perceptible to those in the mortal plane of existence, but it manifested in an instant as a swarm of golden motes around the harpy's eyes.
"She's blinded," Jozan called out, readying his mace. "Now's your chance."
Tordek heard, and smiled. Leaping up as high as he could, he managed to slice into the harpy's leg with the blade of his axe. About the same instant, Mialee brought her quarterstaff around in a wide arc, smacking the harpy in the side. Blinded, confused and angry, the harpy descended rather than taking flight, and the dwarf was at last able to land a hearty blow. His axe chopped through the monster's abdomen, crunching bones. Mialee ended the creature with a bludgeoning smash to the head.
Somewhere far above them, the fourth harpy still perched atop the cliff, singing her alluring song.
"Come on," Regdar ordered, pointing his sword upward. "Lidda might still be alive. We've got to find a way up there."
The others agreed. Lidda, for all her faults, had always been a loyal member of the company. They all hated to think the poor halfling had finally met her end in the nest of some foul harpy.
"She's got to be around here somewhere," Jozan said. Then, the cleric frowned. "Hey, where's Soveliss?"
Grimly determined, Soveliss scaled the side of the Gorge. The elf's lips were set tightly in a grimace of concentration as he struggled against the allure of the song from the lone harpy above, the noise pounding in his skull. He ignored the sounds of battle from below him- Regdar and the others would have to deal with the harpies down there without him. His mind was focused on a single task- killing the fourth harpy and rescuing Lidda. He could only hope he'd arrive in time, and with his wits still about him.
Soveliss reached upward with his left hand to grab an outcropping when suddenly the rock pulled free, showering the ranger with dirt and dust. He slid alarmingly down the cliff. He spread his arms and legs to slow his fall, managing to find a new handhold and halt his descent. He spared a moment to look back over his shoulder. The fall had cost him only a few feet. He adjusted the bow and quiver on his back and continued his climb.
He could see the last harpy now. The hideous beast had finally stopped her infernal singing, and screeched in feral rage at the fate of her sisters below. The harpy perched on a narrow ledge, about halfway up the steep wall of the gorge. From below, the place would be almost invisible. The ledge looked just big enough for the four harpies to nest. Soveliss snarled and scrambled up the last bit of the climb.
Then, he saw a sight which raised his spirits- a boot. Not something a harpy would wear- those fell harrigans had no need for footwear. It was a halfling's boot, black and scuffed. Lidda! With a cry of vengeance, Soveliss used all his wiry elven strength to heave himself up the last bit of the climb and onto the ledge. He stood face to face with the angry harpy.
The moster stopped in mid-squawk, clearly startled. Up close, the harpy was a disgusting, stinking monstrous creature, with fell, batlike wings and crooked bird-like legs mottled with dirty feathers. Her grotesque torso was vaguely human, with sagging flesh and crusted with dirt and scabs. Her hair was unkempt and matted with filth, and her face contorted in such a mask of hatred Soveliss couldn't believe such a creature was capable of singing a song beautiful enough to entrance any reasoning creature.
The ranger took advantage of his opponent's momentary surprise. He drew his sword and slashed at the harpy, drawing blood and an ear-splitting shriek of rage. "Die, witch," the elf snarled, stepping protectively over Lidda's prone form. He held his sword ready, poised either to strike or parry, and drew a dagger with his other hand. "By the gods, you're ugly!"
The harpy leapt into the air, simultaneously raking Soveliss across the chest. But the ranger was ready. Not wanting to let his quarry escape, he ignored his wound and slashed at the harpy again, this time with both weapons. His sword bit into the creature's feathered thigh, drawing blood but inflicting only minor damage. His dagger, though, dealt a more telling blow. His knife pierced the base of the harpy's wing, severing nerves and tendons and hopefully impairing the creature's ability to fly off and escape.
"Lidda, wake up," Soveliss said, nudging the halfling's body with his foot. He didn't dare take his attention off his opponent, but he tried to look at Lidda out of the corner of his eye. The halfling didn't stir. "Wake up, lass! The cavalry's here."
The wounded harpy kept the ranger at bay with another swipe of her talons, while reaching back to feel the wound above her shoulder. The muscles at the base of the wing were severed and bleeding- there'd be no more flying. The harpy spared a glance over the ledge and hissed in rage.
Soveliss smiled. "My friends are climbing up now, aren't they, harpy? Your days are almost at an end." He didn't know whether the creature could even understand him, but his taunts still had the desire effect, or else desperation had finally overcome the harpy's senses. With a final angry shriek, she leapt at Soveliss, claws outstretched and fangs bared.
The ranger had little trouble ending the creature's life. The fighting done, he knelt down beside the halfling. "Lidda, wake up. It's me, Soveliss." Gently but firmly, he shook the leather-clad halfling. With the eye of a skilled healer, he searched her body for signs of injury. He saw none. "Everything's all right, Lidda. The harpies are gone. You're safe now. Wake up!"
To his great relief, the little halfling opened her eyes at last. Lidda sat up. "Sove?"
The elf grinned. "Lidda!"
She rubbed her head painfully as she assessed the bloody carnage and filth beside her on the ledge. She turned back to face Soveliss. "Got anything to eat?"
Soveliss laughed and shook his head.
After quickly searching the ledge, and confiscating what few bits of treasure the harpies had hidden in their nest, Soveliss and Lidda climbed back down and joined the others.
"Welcome back, Lidda," Tordek said, clasping the little halfling in a crushing bear-hug. The others crowded around the two as they reached the floor of the Gorge.
Regdar clasped hands with the elf. "That was bravely done, Soveliss."
"Well, I couldn't go on without knowing what had become of our little thief." He ruffled Lidda's hair.
"If one more person messes up my hair, they're going to get a dagger where the sun doesn't shine." The little rogue was somewhat taken aback by the warm greetings the others gave her, even gruff Tordek, but the companionship warmed her heart. She wasn't about to let them know it, though. "Are you people done blubbering? We have a job to do, you know. Regdar, are we going to stand here all day, or are we going to do what we came to do?"
"Uhm, right," the big warrior said. "Let's go." He turned and led the company onward into the Gorge.
