“Hurry get into the wardrobe!” The man shoved his two children into the wardrobe and put the sleeping baby into the young girl's arms. “Why are we hiding here daddy?” The boy asked innocently, unaware of the horrors that were taking place just outside the house. “Don’t worry about it, we’re just playing a bit of a game at the moment, ok? You two just need to stay in here until tomorrow comes, alright?” The two children looked up at their father, they could tell that something was going to happen as no matter how hard he tried to hide it, there was fear and sadness in his eyes. “Alright daddy. We promise not to come out until tomorrow! But how will we know that it’s time to leave?” As they asked the question their mother came into the room, holding a small golden and circular pocket watch in one hand and in the other a bag that contained a few bottles of milk, a few bottles of water and some bags with sweets and fruits in them. “Here. Take these. Once the small hand on the watch has reached twelve twice you can come out, but never leave before then.” The parents wrapped their arms around the twins, being careful to not wake the baby. Once they did they could feel their resolve weaken. Their bodies began to shake, their sight started to blur, a lump in their throats started to form. “In the bag there’s some milk for you to feed the baby and there’s also food and water in there as well for if you ever get hungry or thirsty.” The mother managed to get those words out as she pushed the lump in her throat down and fought back her tears. “We love you three with all our hearts. We hope you remember that.” “We love you too mummy and daddy, we’ll see you soon!” The second they heard that their tears they were desperately forcing back streamed down their face. They used to believe that they would be able to hold the whole world on their backs if it meant their children could be safe and happy. But as it turns out simply an attack from harpies and a final goodbye from their children was more than enough to destroy that belief. As their tears rolled down their faces they looked back one more time at their children and once again forced out “we love you” and slowly closed the door. The pair made their way out of the bedroom, the tears still falling and rushed to the front door. They grabbed their swords that were placed on a mantel. Before leaving they took a deep breath to prepare themselves for the worst. They wiped their tears, gave each other a hug and opened the door.

Without having to take a look around, they could already see the damage caused by the harpies. Blood was covering the streets, there were limbs spread out everywhere, buildings were crumbled and blood curdling screams could be heard. Armour from defeated soldiers scattered across the roofs of houses to the ground and splatters of blood, flesh and bones strewed across the floor as if they had been dropped from high above the ground. In the sky hundreds, if not thousands of harpies flew across the sky, observing the ground below, looking for their next prey. 

In the distance one of the harpies broke away from the group, almost as if it was an owl hunting a mouse. The closer it got to the pair the farther it reached its bloodied talons out, preparing to have something in its grasp. The woman raised her blunt sword, the hilt held firmly in the palm of her hands, her feet planted firmly on the floor, eyes focused on her target. As the harpy closed in, the sword sharpened. Once the harpy was close enough, she ducked, cutting the leg off in one swoop. Instead of calling for the others or returning back to the herd, the harpy flew back, making sure there was a large distance between itself and the woman. It brought its wings together, pointed towards its opponent, the wings seemed to have solidified and as they clashed together a loud ringing pierced through the air, stunning the woman for a brief moment. The man, who was looking for any survivors, noticed the harpy diving for her once again and solidified the air in front of the woman, blocking the attack. The woman recovered from the shock, regaining her ability to move. “Thanks!” She yelled over to her husband. The air in front of the woman returned to its original state, no longer stopping the harpy’s attack. She once again waited for the harpy to get close, cutting off the other leg. Once again it flew back, sharpening its wings once again, however, instead of hitting them together it dipped the tips into the blood, stretched the wings as far back as it could and flapped them forward as fast as it could. The blood shot down at a rapid pace, almost like it was raining. The woman dodged the barrage of blood, blocking it when needed. Cuts started to form all over her body, caused from the blood she was not able to avoid or block. Although small, the cuts were painful and the amount of the dagger-like blood aimed for her made it difficult to go on the offensive. Once again her husband joined in, solidifying the air in front of the woman, blocking the blood. The harpy turned its attention to the man, shooting down to him, this time, its head was at the front. It opened its mouth as wide as possible, but the man blocked the air once again. The harpy, rather than taking to the higher altitude, flew around erratically, making it seem invisible, at least to the person standing before it. The man kept trying to get a glimpse of it but every time he thought he did it disappeared. Once it was sure the man couldn’t see it the harpy flew low, quietly approaching from behind. However, before it was able to, the woman rose her sword far above the harpy’s head and sliced down, the head dropping to the floor. 

Despite already being dead, a loud screech came from the harpy’s mouth, almost like it was communicating to the other harpies. The noise echoed through the village, the harpies turned their heads towards the noise. The flock flew around hectically, their faces changing from a human-like face into a more bird-like one. They screeched, almost as if they were replying to their fallen member and then screeched once more, but this one was deeper, almost as if to grieve the one they lost. Once the cacophony of screams and their hectic flying came to a stop, they turned their attention to the couple, watching them in silence for a moment as if they were planning their strategy. 

The harpies flew around, random at a glance but strategically upon closer look. Every time one flew down, their beak-like mouths gaped open, another approached from the back, their talons spread as wide as possible. Each time the couple would counter, the man forcing the wind to solidify and the woman slicing the wing’s, legs or heads off of their enemy’s. In retaliation the harpies would use their bodies as weapons, whether using their wings to stun the pair or using their blood to create small cuts on the couple’s bodies. It was a back and forth the last hours, the man and woman starting to exhaust their magic, their minds starting to break from the pressure and stress. They still had dozens left to defeat. To the couple, who once worked seamlessly together, started to struggle to match to each other, they were out of sync, unlike the harpies who were working together like they were a well oiled machine. The man and woman slaughtered one more, which would soon become their biggest mistake. 

The harpies let out another screech, this one different from the others, this one was louder, a higher pitch and lasted longer. This was the one that filled the man and woman with the most dread. The harpies started to fly higher, in a circle, continuing the noise, their feathers solidifying scraping against each other. The couple looked towards the sky, noticing things coming from the distance. For a moment they weren’t able to tell what they were but it was soon clear to them that it was more harpies. At this point the man and woman collapsed, knowing that there was absolutely no chance of them surviving. If they were to continue to use their magic they would start to hallucinate. Despite this, they looked around them, noticing the destroyed village, the blood and bodies that covered the roads. Even though they knew that no one else, apart from their children and themselves were alive, even at the risk of themselves, they needed to protect their young. They stood back up, the woman clutching at her once again blunt sword and the man closing his eyes, taking a deep breath. They looked back up at the flock, determination in their eyes. Every time a harpy drew close and the woman's sword sharpened, it felt like a hundred daggers pierced her skin, every time the man solidified the air it felt like he couldn’t breathe. The more and more they fought and the more and more they killed, the more pain they were in. Another hour went by. This time only about twenty harpies remained. The partners now started to hallucinate, they broke free a few times, but now the burden was getting too heavy. They saw their children in the hideous faces of the harpies, they saw their parents, their friends. Each cut and each injury wore them down. Fifteen remained. 

Once again, a harpy flew around, almost hectically, flying before it could be spotted. It snuck behind the man and opened its mouth. The woman watched ahead. The image of her children hanging off of her husbands back entered her mind. Although logically, she knew it was not her child, she could not think of it as anything else. The harpy soon consumed the man. It was at this point that the woman realised what had happened and broke free from the hallucination once again. Her eyes were full of tears, however, she was not allowed the time to grieve and fully accept what had happened. Afterall, now was the time she had to avenge her love. She forced herself to stop trembeling, she forced herself to look up, she forced herself to push farther beyond her means. With each harpy came a slice and with each slice came a death. She moved more effortlessly then before, but the pain and hallucinations were more vivid than before. She cut through images of her siblings, her parents, her children and even her husband, she forced her way through the horrendous pain until it was just her and the harpy that ate her husband left. It was an awfully easy battle to win. It was clear that both the harpy and the woman had run out of hope that they would survive, they both ran out of energy to keep on. It was obvious to both of them that no matter what they both would die. The woman clutched her bloodied sword in her bloodied hand and limped towards the harpy, the harpy just looked on, defeated, not making even a single movement. The woman sliced its head off, and unlike the others who screeched when they died, this one was quiet. The woman sighed, relieved that this was the end, but before she could let herself fall into her eternal slumber, she had to get her husband back.      

She cut through the feathers and flesh to reveal the insides of the beast. What she saw was nothing short of horrifying. Inside the stomach were faces. Still ever so grossly intact. Anyone who saw them wouldn’t have thought that they had been eaten. The faces she saw were ones of friends, acquaintances and strangers. She stared at them and they stared lifelessly back at her. Through the chaos and the disturbing sight, she managed to spot her beloved. 

She dragged him out and hugged his body. It was almost as if he was still alive. His body was still ever so warm to the touch leading her to believe that at any moment he would come back to her. That at any moment he would open his eyes. Despite her knowing better she grasped onto that hope. That wish. Memories of her life from childhood to this point flashed through her mind. She remembered the first thing she brought with the money she got from her first job. She remembered her first meeting with her husband. She remembered her wedding and the birth of the twins. She remembered the birth of the baby and regretted that she wasn’t able to live long enough to even give him a name. As she remembered everything, both happy and sad moments she found herself losing consciousness and it wasn’t long before she finally gave in, her weariness soon took over her body and she closed her eyes. Her breaths soon became shallow, her wounds oozing out blood, her limbs became heavy and her weariness overtaken her. It wasn’t long until she was lying there, cradling the love of her life, her face filled with love but her body lifeless. Her last few moments were ones of pain and suffering but also a strange sense of peace and tranquillity.