Haddie, Harpies, and Havoc

By Hannah Carter

“Haddie Underwood, you said you knew how to fly this thing?!” Percival Holmes shrieked over the rush of the wind.

“Funny story—I lied!”

Haddie clutched the neck of the griffin as it plummeted through the sky toward the infamous Harpy Mountain. The bird tumbled, its claws skittering across the rocky terrain, and spilled its passengers onto the ground.

Haddie rolled. Shards of rock sliced and bruised her arms and legs. She crashed against a boulder and Percival slammed into her, knocking what little breath she had left from her lungs.

“G’rroffme,” Haddie wheezed.

“Why do you always get me into these messes?” Percival moaned as he struggled to his feet.

Haddie coughed. “Don’t act like you don’t like these adventures. Nobody forced you to come.”

Percival gave her his “I will one day be a feared headmaster of our school” side-eye. “‘Let’s go for a little flight,’ she says. ‘Oh, you don’t want to come?’ she says? ‘Don’t mind me, then. I’ll probably just destroy half the town on a griffin rampage.’”

Haddie stared up at him, in too much pain—and too lazy—to get up. “Nobody said you had to be selfless and put the town’s safety above your own.”

Percival inhaled sharply—the kind of inhale that could only be succeeded by the lecture of the century.

Fortunately for Haddie, he never got to start that tangent.

Unfortunately for Percival, that was because a harpy let out an awful squeal, dug her talons into his shoulders, and carried him into the stratosphere.

Haddie moaned. “Oh, Percival Holmes, what did you get yourself into this time?”

“Of all the pickles I get myself into to rescue you—” after I get you into them, but that’s beside the point “—hiking is definitely the worst one.” Never mind that time they ended up in the Underworld or when she accidentally turned him into a pig.

Haddie huffed as she labored up the steep climb to the mountaintop. Hiking was the root of all evil, especially when she could have flown. But no—her griffin had snapped its beak at her when she tried to mount it.

Haddie almost wished one of those harpies would come back and abduct her.

Instead, they circled around a cavern entrance like vultures. Haddie wanted to call up to them, until she heard Percival’s scream.

The sounds gave her a spurt of energy as her heart pumped adrenaline through her veins. She rounded the bend and whipped out her wand to obliterate any harpy that dared prevent her from rescuing her best friend.

But she wasn’t prepared to find a trove inside the cave: a hoard of baubles, jewels, and other fancy things. A globe spun by itself in the corner; windchimes dangled from the ceiling. Like ravens, these harpies had crafted something eclectic, odd, and beautiful for their mountain home, yet Haddie couldn’t admire it properly with Percival screeching.

“What is it?” Haddie stomped forward, wand at the ready.

Percival lounged on a settee with several pairs of wings draped over him. One harpy attempted to feed him with a clawed hand, while another fanned him with her brown wings. A third draped herself over his chest, and that was probably why his face was so red.

“They keep—they keep trying to take off my shirt!” Percival bleated. He tried to scoot away from the harpy on his chest, only to find himself in the wings of the one who wanted to feed him. A fourth harpy stripped off his shoes and socks and seemed fascinated by his toes.

All of them let out a flurry of caws as Haddie approached.

“Haddie—tell them I have a girlfriend—Merida!” Percival pleaded.

Haddie rolled her eyes. “Perce, they’re harpies, literal man-stealers. They don’t care about your mermaid girlfriend. They only care about the fact you’re a male. A poor specimen, but maybe they’re desperate. Do try and keep your head—you have magic, and they don’t.”

She pointed her wand, prepared to unleash some magic of her own. “All right, you harpies. Let my friend go. He really isn’t worth your time.”

Those must have been words of war.

The harpy that had been toying with Percival’s toes shrieked and flew at Haddie, claws extended. Haddie yelped as she ducked out of the way, but it still managed to smack her with his loafers. She fired a spell aimlessly behind her; something exploded, and Haddie pocketed some debris that landed near her.

“You blew up the globe!” Percival shielded his face from the shrapnel.

“I always knew I’d destroy the world one way or the other.” Haddie fired another shot at a second approaching harpy.

That missed too. The harpy pinned her to the cavern floor and swiped Haddie across the face. Pain split through her, and warm blood already dribbled down her cheek. Haddie kicked and thrashed, but when that didn’t work, she fired off a blast of magic that threw the harpy against another, incapacitating all of Percy’s captors.

“Let’s go!” Haddie dragged Percival to the entrance.

“My shoes!” Percival whined.

“Aren’t you ungrateful. I’m saving your life!”

“After you put me in danger.”

“Minor details!”

They reached the mouth of the cave, the harpies rushing after them.

Haddie whistled, grabbing Percival’s hand. “Jump!”

“Wh—?”

Haddie leapt and prayed the griffin wasn’t still mad at her.

She slammed into the beast’s waiting feathers. Percival almost slipped, but Haddie yanked him back upright.

“Fly, you beautiful thing!” Haddie kissed the griffin between its ears.

It squawked, which she could only take as grumbling affection.

With a lurch, they soared toward the clouds, the harpies and their cries falling behind.

“Some joyride this was.” Percival wrapped his arms around her. “Can we go back to school now?”

Haddie rolled her eyes. “Some people just don’t appreciate adventures.” She fetched the two slightly singed items from her pockets, which she’d grabbed earlier. “And I even saved your shoes.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hannah Carter is just a girl who wakes up every day hoping it will be the day she discovers she’s secretly a mermaid. Her work has been included in several anthologies: Whispers From Before, The Depths We’ll Go, Havok’s Prismatic, and Finding God in Anime. Her short story, “Lara,” won a competition, and she has two published novellas, “Amir and the Moon” and “Seashells.”

---

More Stories | Author Website |Facebook | Instagram