Aryn paused her horse and watched a dark spot on the horizon as it drifted around the peak of a mountain. She thought it was an eagle at first. As she watched, it moved off eastward, towards the farming village Aryn knew was nearby. As it did, Aryn’s sharp hearing picked up the distant sound of the bird’s hunting cry, and it wasn’t the sound of an eagle.
It was her quarry.
Aryn urged her horse into a gallop and took off towards the village, hoping to get there in time. As she rode, she wondered, not for the first time, just what she’d been thinking when she’d accepted the job offer.
She’d been approached by the city’s magistrate to help the outlying villages with a problem of their livestock being poached. The one doing the poaching, however, wasn’t a person but large bird of prey. And not just any bird of prey, but a giant, legendary bird that has used the area for its hunting grounds for centuries.
A roc.
The magistrate had begged Aryn to help, but she wasn’t sure just what she could do to help. She’d never taken on a creature like that before. She had started to turn down the magistrate, but then he had promised her a hefty reward if she could get rid of the bird.
Aryn instantly accepted the offer.
And now here she was, rushing off towards this village to face a giant bird that could steal a full-grown cow with no problem (and even elephants, according to legend), with no plan or the vaguest idea of what she possibly could do to get rid of it.
As she neared the village, she spotted a heard of cow and bulls grazing in the distance. The next thing she knew, a large, dark form dropped down from the sky with a piercing shriek. Aryn watched in amazement as the giant bird scooped up a pair of cows in its huge talons and took off, heading back towards the mountain.
As Aryn watched the roc leave, she wondered just what she’d gotten herself into, and cursed her greed and reputation for getting her into this.
She urged the horse on into the village so she could talk with the residents and devise some sort of plan of action.
(image found on Pinterest)
This post is part of the Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt, “roc”:
https://lindaghill.com/2021/05/21/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-may-22-2021/
Jeanne Owens, author 