There Be Monsters
Flash Fiction, Microfiction, Fantasy, Monsters, Magic
I watched the Hawk high in the sky float and float. Then it tucked its head in and dove like a missile straight toward the tree line where the hidden archer was firing at us. Into the trees, a scream, then a man falling from a tree. Then the Hawk returned to the sky. Fifteen Hawks and their masters in all made up the Hawks of Roetar.
A service to the great houses by the Falconers Guild. A very lucrative trade, it turns out. On this day, Roaray and his Hawk were part of an expeditionary group into the wilds of Ilfrain. An Island just south of the Great Torrent Reef that was the edge of the charted Southern Sea.
Its mildly sloping hills are spotted with fruit and nut trees, unlike those seen in other regions.
House Elbrey wanted it all for themselves.
“Looks to be a native,” Lord Alvis Elbrey said.
“Not a very friendly welcome,” Grainel said. “Falconer, send your bird to look for a village, will take the negotiations to them.”
“My lord, I am not a Druid or a Ranger. I can not speak to my bird or see through its eyes. I am a simple Falconer. It is not that simple for me. But I will give it a go.”
Taking the headdress of the tribesman, Roaray set about giving the bird a scent and sight…
