Happy late Thanksgiving!
If you’re just starting to read this, or if you need a refresher on what’s happened, you can find previous chapters here.
The straw of the cottage roof welcomed the flame from Damia’s mouth. Human screams filled the air. She smiled and circled the house from above. Their screams were the first nice thing to happen in a week.
She was starving, hungrier than she’d been in almost a century. Despite days of rest, her wounds still ached. Flying syphoned more strength than it should.
The people in the cottage weren’t the princess, she could smell. The princess had been there, though. Damia caught the scent of her blood somewhere inside. These people who hadn’t kept the princess here for her to eat should suffer—really, they should sleep. But whatever sorcery kept the castle awake when she sang was working on the cottage people, too.
No matter. She wouldn’t have had time to wait for them to ripen, anyways. Even though it wasn’t ideal, she could still eat them fresh.
Little humans spilled out of a hole in the cottage. She sniffed. One was injured, the one in the middle, carried by two others. Humans were strange creatures. Why didn’t they leave the injured one in the rear and take care of themselves like rational food? It would make picking them off so much easier.
Damia opened her mouth and swooped toward the frantic bunch of people. Her shadow gave her location away. The first human spun. Something sprung from it. New, fresh pain blossomed in Damia’s belly. She shrieked.
One of the humans carrying the hurt one stopped and held something up. Sun glinted off of it. A pointy stick!
A new pain sprouted in Damia’s wing. The first human again!
This group was too much work. She was sluggish from her previous wounds, and she didn’t have the advantage of their sleep. They weren’t worth this much effort to eat.
Damia sped up and rose, soaring on toward the delicious scent of princess. She would find other, easy humans to munch on.
And when she bit into the princess, that would certainly make her feel all better.
Loved the story. Looking forward to the conclusion :-)
I am surprised you didn’t get too many likes for this story. I loved it. Looking forward to the conclusion : -)
Thank you!
Have you already decided the whole story or are you still working on it?
It’s pretty much all figured out, but the rest of it still needs to be written so minor things are bound to change :)
“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”
– Mahatma Gandhi
I was just confirming that you don’t get any thoughts of abandoning the story. I’ve seen some writers dropping their stories midway because they didn’t get enough likes.
Well, can’t blame them though.
BTW, really looking forward to see you complete ur story.
Not a chance that I’ll abandon this one :) While you’re waiting for the rest of this story, you might be interested in checking out “The Weavers’ Blessing” and “The Kangraffs’ Curse,” my two earlier fairy tales.
Sure thing :-)