The flock of harpies surrounded us as we soared through the sky. I felt a sense of wariness rumbling throughout me as I watched the sky being covered in black-feathered beings.

I felt cornered, unsure of what the right move was, until I heard a loud laughter erupt from beside me.

I plucked my gaze from the harpies and instead stared at Khalissi. She was laughing hysterically.

"What are these creatures?" she asked with an amused smile on her face.

"Half bird, half woman beasts."

I didn't know that much about them, other than the fact that they lived in mountains. My father once told me he encountered an injured harpy in his travels.

He was traveling inside a deep forest, tracking a rare mythical creature, when he encountered the harpy.

The wounded creature was nesting in a cage, and it seemed to have a few young with her. He said he left them some food but didn't bother engaging with them since he knew they were wary of people.

He also told me that harpies were once wind spirits turned into terrifying bird women.

This was all I knew of them.

The symphony of their wings beating together created an ominous feeling in the air.

Khalissi looked ready to fight, and so did the bloodmoth carrying me. I prepared myself, ready for whatever would happen, but just then.

"Are you Liam Lycann?"

Suddenly, one of them spoke in an ominous-sounding voice. Their bird-like eyes stared sharply at me.

They came here with a purpose, knowing exactly who they were looking for, so there was no point in lying.

"Yes, I am."

The harpy stared at me blankly without a hint of emotion.

"Come with us. Our Queen wants to speak with you."

Their Queen, huh? It seems I'm popular.

"The people here must see you as a conqueror. The ones who are dissatisfied with the current rule will now look to you," Khalissi said.

I agreed with her for the most part. Apart from their disturbing appearance, I didn't sense any threats coming from them.

I agreed to go along with them, and so we changed course. With the flock of harpies leading the way, we ascended further up into the sky.

At this altitude, the air became thinner the more we ascended. We flew higher and higher for what felt like an hour.

Just as I was about to question where we were headed, we passed through a giant cloud hovering in the sky.

We were drenched with water, but the moment we passed through, Khalissi and I were left speechless by what we saw.

We saw islands. If I had to guess, they numbered nearly a hundred. Some were larger than others, but they were all relatively small.

They floated in place. The land had trees and tall grasses that were unlike anything I had ever seen before. These islands were occupied by other harpies who looked at us curiously.

The smaller islands seemed to form a circle around a giant island that was in the middle.

"Welcome to Pandora," a harpy said. I still couldn't get over how unsettling their appearance was, like something out of a horror movie.

"TWEE!"

The bloodmoth carrying me let out a loud screech. It looked as if it couldn't hold up anymore.

Its wings were flapping in desperation to not fall from the sky.

Just then a harpy flew across the sky and grabbed me by the shoulder with its talons.

"Thank you" I expressed my thanks.

With the weight lessened the bloodmoth could now find its balance. I reached out my hand and patted the creature on the head.

"You did well. You can now rest"

"TWEE!"

The bloodmoth let out a happy noise before flying off to rest on one of the sky islands.

Khalissi watched us with a pouty expression on her face. She was really protective of her moths.

The harpies flew us towards the larger island in the middle. On the island was a crudely built wooden building.

The harpies led us to that building, their wings creating loud flaps as we landed on the island. Immediately, as my feet hit the ground, I realised something.

The ground was really soft. It felt almost like mud. There were quite a few black feathers lying about. Some of them were dancing in the wind.

Without wasting another second, we were led into the crudely built wooden structure standing in front of us.

This building had no windows and only one large exit. Khalissi and I, surrounded by harpies, entered the building.

The first thing I noticed was that there was no furniture. Only a vast empty room with a giant black ball at the back.

It took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust to the darkness, and I realised that it wasn't a ball. It was a giant bird-like creature, curled up on the ground. Its giant black feathered wings covered its body.

Soon the creature slowly began to move. Its wings spread apart to reveal its body.

At the same time, all the harpies in the room bowed until their entire upper bodies rested on the ground, their wings spread across the floor.

"Our Queen," they all said in unison.

The harpy spread its wings to reveal a body that much resembled a human. Apart from her hands, which were feathered wings, and her feet, which had talon-like claws, the rest of her was human-like.

Her face was round and cute with sharp features. She had this delicacy about her, like an untouched princess.

While her eyes were the opposite. They were sharp and predatory like an eagle's.

Her breasts and the rest of her lay bare for all of us to see.

Her predatory eyes never left me for a second. She tilted her head like an owl as she continued to stare at me.

"So you are him," her voice had a strange accent to it. "The wolf that came to destroy our city."

"And you are the queen of the harpies. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"So you aren't denying it. You came here to kill us and wreak destruction with your pack."

"I have no reason to deny it; what you say is the truth."

Immediately as I spoke, the queen climbed to her feet and approached me. Her eyes were still sharp, glowing with a predatory gleam.

The floorboard creaked as she edged her way closer and closer to me. Soon she was standing over me, and I realised she was much taller.

The last time I checked my height, I was 6 feet tall. Comparing our heights, I would've guessed she was at least 7 feet tall.

She stared down at me. Her pale round face looked even more beautiful up close.

The room stood silent as if everyone was holding their breath. Khalissi stood beside me with a smile on her face.

It felt as if time was moving slowly. Her eyes seemed to be looking past me as if she was staring into my soul.

At that moment, I was at a loss for what would happen next, but it completely shattered whatever expectations I had.

In the next instant, the towering Queen was bowing before me. She was on her knees, her wings spread as she lowered her head.

"Save us."

Her words came out as a plea. A cry for help.

"I've watched you with my all-seeing eyes ever since you came to this city. You've liberated so many people, the ghouls, the lamias, and even the vampires of the Sun clan. You've given them power to fight. Please do the same for us. Take us under your wings and we will pledge our alliance to you. All you need is to turn us, right? Here, take my neck; I'll gladly let you!"

"We pledge our allegiance," the rest of the harpies said in unison.

For a moment, I was speechless. Whenever I conquered a group, I had to scheme and make plans to make them submit. Sometimes I would be forced to use brute force.

But here and now there was a group willingly submitting themselves to me without me having to do anything to conquer them.

I couldn't help but wonder what drove them to this.

"Seems I was right," Khalissi chuckled beside me. "I know desperation when I see it. I've seen this happen countless times in the demon army, especially when we got to a world where the people are oppressed. They seek freedom so they go to the person who they think will grant it."

Heeding Khalissi's words, I turned my attention back to the harpies.

"So you guys want freedom," I said, and the queen quickly answered.

"Yes! This city is a cage. We've tried to leave this city countless times, but they wouldn't allow us. We wish to roam the skies and travel the world. As free as a bird should be, but those vampires won't allow it. The only people they allow to leave are the ones they think can merge with the human population undetected. You are the only one that can grant us the freedom we desire. I beg of you, please save us."

The queen begged on the floor with tears lining the creases of her eyelids.

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