Erika's Acclaimed Renaissance

 "You must always be the stronger one."

The Duke's words echoed through my mind as I fell to the ground in anguish. For three days, we had been tracking the beast. The past week had been hard on me and my body was exhausted. My legs trembled under my heavy armor as they carried me forward. I clutched my sword down by my side, only holding it up to strike when necessary. I wanted nothing more than to set down the burden of my armor and rest.

 We had been following the monster for days on end with little rest or food. We had eaten all of our rations three days ago and were now left to live off the land. It wasn't that bad really, just a tad embarrassing for me being a woman in this man's world. I always liked to think though that I could hold my own but at this point I was starting to doubt myself.

 "Erika! Look!" he yelled over his shoulder as he motioned me forward. He had stopped abruptly and was looking at something off in the distance. I stumbled over trying to catch up to him. When I reached him his eyes were wide in disbelief and his mouth gaped open slightly. He was pointing off into the distance behind what looked like a small mountain range but what we were staring at made no sense to us whatsoever.  

 There was a large black cloud floating above what seemed like an entire city with hundreds of tall towers reaching up towards the sky, something that we hadn't seen in years let alone ever imagined existed outside of fairy tales and stories told by drunken travelers around a campfire. As we stood there gaping at the sight of this strange thing floating above us, Erika's eyes squinted against the sun and she noticed something moving along its surface towards us at an alarming rate of speed. A large dark shadow appeared through the cloud followed by a thunderous boom as it broke through and came speeding towards us so fast that it made Erika feel like she could hardly breathe. It approached them quickly from behind but then slowed down as if it knew where they were standing and flew right between them, slowing even further until it was barely moving before stopping directly in front of them creating a deafening sound that almost made their ears bleed from within their helmets.  

 The black cloud cleared away revealing what looked like a large bird with bright golden eyes sitting on top of two long thin wings which were bent back close against its body leaving its neck outstretched for balance and its large sharp beak pointed directly at Erika and Salvatore who stood transfixed in terror with their mouths hanging open stupidly staring directly into its piercing gaze which seemed to burn right through them both. They could see glowing red veins pulsing beneath its dark skin as they watched it take in deep breaths while it stared directly at them with its large golden eyes before it finally broke eye contact with them after what seemed like forever to both Erika and Salvatore who neither dared blink nor make any sudden movements while they stood frozen in horror not knowing whether to run or stay still or even move again for fear that it would attack either of them with one swift swipe of its massive talons or snap their necks with one quick twist of its powerful neck should they try to run away or even worse swallow one of them whole using its razor sharp beak which glistened menacingly every time it opened it's fearsome jaws showing off pointy razor sharp teeth yellow from age, grime, blood stains, grease and other substances they didn't want to think about while simultaneously opening and closing her mouth slowly letting out a wicked laugh sounding more like a cackle than anything else making their hearts race faster every second that passed letting out another ear piercing laugh which sounded as if it was echoing inside their heads causing pain as well as fear which turned into terror when Erika suddenly realized she couldn't hear Salvatore breathing anymore which caused her heart to beat even faster until she noticed that he had fainted dead away face first onto the ground in front of her after seeing what seemed like movement underneath his breast plate which frightened her greatly causing her heart to beat so fast she thought she might faint herself causing her knees suddenly turn weak forcing her to sit down on the ground next to him before she too fainted from fear not knowing what fate awaited either of them or how long they would be unconscious for when next she woke up finding herself laying on her back staring up at thousands of twinkling stars blinking down at her with curiosity wondering why they were now here instead of being placed high up in the sky where they belonged causing Erika to wonder how long they had been out while looking around realizing they weren't anywhere near where they had started only moments earlier causing her head spinning making her nauseous so much so that she did vomit all down her armor/clothing not caring one bit about such things because right now she only cared about figuring out where they were exactly because whatever this place may have been it certainly wasn't anywhere near home, town or anywhere else that either Erika or Salvatore recognized causing them both to panic terribly wondering why neither could remember anything after seeing the bird because now neither could remember anything prior which scared the crap out of both Erika and Salvatore because although their lives may not have been perfect or even good for that matter but at least there was some semblance of normality about their lives before now meaning that maybe this wasn't even earth anymore prompting both Erika and Salvatore wondering if anyone would miss them if neither returned home ever again causing each of them fearing for their lives thinking oh God please don't let this be hell because all hope is lost without hope because without hope we have nothing but despair causing us to start crying loudly because life sucks sometimes especially when you're forced into situations you can't control nor understand because either way you look at it you're still fucked which is why no one should ever wish upon a star unless you want your entire life ruined forcing you into unimaginable situations beyond your control leaving you helpless until someone decides otherwise.