Harpy

The Roc determinedly surged forward through the blinding snows, nearly deaf to the cries of men far below, and the snap of a rope as a catapult was launched. It shrieked and swerved to the right as a flaming projectile narrowly missed its feathers. It looked down as the object plummeted beneath the snowstorm to crash into the frozen soils. The Roc screeched in loathsome defiance and flapped its wings ever harder as the ice crystals bit into its skin like shards of glass.
Two more flaming boulders rushed by the creature, singing the tip of its tail feathers and melting the surrounding snow. Suddenly, a flash of red blasted up from below and nailed the Roc in the chest, paralyzing it for moments. Panic filled its head as this human magic flowed through its being, stunning it as the snowy ground reached up to claim it. It shrieked as it regained its senses, pulling out of the dive and away from the village. Its vision wavered as the human magic continually sparked inside of it, but the Roc flew onward towards the mountains where her nest was hidden and where she would soon lay her eggs, if she survived the remaining trek.
--
The girl blinked several times as a new sensation weighed down upon her like a tidal wave, and eventually her eyes adjusted to this unfamiliar experience. Her frail hand reached forward and snapped another shard of eggshell off. The remaining albumen in the egg slid forward into this opening and she slipped into the mess and fell forward onto rough ground.
She looked up, now seeing the blue of the sky above her, and the small wisps of white clouds that drifted by. The strange feeling, light, bathed her in a feeling of warmth and life, and she giggled gleefully. Crawling away from the rough branches crunching beneath her knees, she returned into the hollow eggshell that shielded her from the crisp mountain wind.
The girl looked up when the shriek of a bird sounded and the repeated beating of wings was heard. She saw the silhouette of the creature black against a bright sky as it came closer until its wings pounded the air around the nest, blowing wind around the girl, and its talons securely gripped onto the nest. Its great golden eyes fixated onto the girl inside of the egg, and it released a momentarily alarmed cry, turning its head to the side and hopping forward.
She gasped as the egg reverberated around her as the beast's beak tapped the top of the shell. Then, a hooked talon slid forward and dropped a tiny insect in front of her; a grasshopper. The girl tilted her head and then pounced forward, scaly hands wrapping around her prey and forcing the meal into her mouth with which she consumed it ravenously.
--
Fifteen years had passed since the girl had hatched from the Roc's egg. She had grown up learning the ways of the bird and playing in the nest with her avian siblings. She thought herself no different from any of the creatures that stood around her, giddy with excitement, no matter how different she truly was.
The three large, shimmering, blue-black feathers that sprouted from the backs of her arms waved softly in the chilly gust of wind that drifted through the mountaintops, bearing signs of a coming Autumn, which by then the young birds would leave their nest forever.
The screech of their mother urged the children to the edge of the nest, which they had been wary to do so ever since hatching. The girl looked anxiously at the four small birds beside her, who returned the nervous glance. She hopped agilely onto the lowest twig on the wall of the nest and climbed the rest of the way up to the brim where she stood and took in the full majesty of the world she was about to become part of.
From way above on the summit of the mountain of which they looked down, brilliantly snow-capped mountains encased an emerald green valley, rich with flowers and wild-life they had never before witnessed. A breeze ruffled the feathers on the animals as they analyzed the pristine meadow and lands before them; all theirs. A softly rushing river meandered through the center of the valley, cutting around early between further mountains that beckoned her to travel farther beyond.
She gasped as their mother walked forward and nudged her brother off of the edge of the nest, who shrieked as he plummeted towards his death. Whether it be adrenaline or wit, the young bird spread his unused wings and pulled himself into a graceful glide away from their mountaintop. Rapidly he got farther away, and the girl felt slightly sorrowful that not once did he ever look back.
Next, two more of her siblings were shoved off of the nest to take flight. One of them caught on quicker and used this new skill to their advantage, performing an impressive spiral as she shot downward towards the meadow. The second one spun further downward, shrieking and helplessly flailing. It spread its wings meekly, not far enough to catch air and smashed into the rocky precipice, snapping its neck and killing it instantly. The mangled mess of feathers and blood that lay a thousand feet below on a snowy bank filled the girl with dread and despair.
She looked back with a pleading gleam in her eyes as she stared into her bird mother's eyes, who seemed nonchalant of the incident. The Roc seemed to think that the girl was complaisant to volunteer, and thus walked forward and knocked her off of the nest and into reality.
The bitterly cold wind rushed up from beneath and chilled the girl. Her tail feathers battered in the wind, and she spread them apart quickly as well as her flight feathers and spun onto her stomach, catching the wind and sending her sailing forward. She laughed and stretched out her arms, flexing her fingers and looking at the three large feathers protruding from the backs of her arms.
The gleaming blue feathers that ran from her neck to the base of her tail helped to insulate her from this cool temperature. The black tail feathers fanned out and further stabilized her, the white spots towards the tips practically glowing in the sunlight.
She looked to her right, seeing her mother beating her wings and flying skillfully beside her. There seemed to be a sense of pride emanating from the creature as it suddenly pulled into a steep dive towards the meadow below. The girl tucked her wings close on her back and narrowed her tail feathers into a point, and shot like an arrow towards the beautiful earth far below. The air surged past the girl, and she shrieked at the cold, but laughed as she picked up speed, passing her mother.
The feathers along her back ruffled softly as the wind whistled sharply by and the ground came closer and closer. She could see the sunlight gleaming off of the cool surface of the river, the first time she had seen water up close, and it intrigued her. Fanning out her tail feathers to propel her forward slightly, she aimed for the river, releasing a cry of delight.
Hundreds of feet above the earth, she spread her wings quickly to avoid a collision, then flew up to reduce her speed, proceeding to glide softly towards a sandy river bank.
The tall grasses embraced her as talons dug into the earth and their blades tickled her body. She walked silently forward towards the water that trickled along the sandy beach, and she crouched down to watch it. Reaching a cautious hand forward, she tapped the water, laughing at how it splashed and got her fingers wet. Leaning forward she could see her reflection in the water, and it startled her for a moment how the ripples distorted her features, but she smiled at this new anomaly.
Her head snapped up towards the sound of something rustling through the grass on the opposite shore. She chirped threateningly, backing slowly into the grass away from the shore. Ducking behind the tall grasses, she peered through waving blades to see a creature she had never seen before.
It was a young human boy, with a large straw hat and a strand of grass between his teeth. He carried a large net in his left hand that he lowered into the flow of the river as he crouched down. The girl watched with immense curiosity.
Lightning fast, he heaved the net out of the water, where a gleaming silvery fish flailed in its wires. He skillfully pulled it out and pinned it to a line he had brought, then lowered the net back into the water. She leaned forward further in the grass to see better this strange being.
Her piercing golden eyes saw the gleam of silver beneath the water beside the net, but this fish was too crafty, and slid right by the trap. An idea came to mind as she looked down at three large clawed toes on her scaly feet, and she turned around and ran through the grass in the opposite direction, spreading her wings and taking flight.
She soared upward and circumvented until she was upstream the boy and could follow the flow of the river. She ducked until she was skimming the surface, feet tucked under her body. There, she saw the gleam of sliver, and her talons shot into the water and snatched the fish right out of the water.
She flinched at the scream of the boy in her ear, but flew farther away with each second.
The boy shoved the fish into his twine basket, dropping the net and grabbed his bow. He stood and immediately began to chase the strange flying girl. A ferocious shriek from behind shook him to his core, and he paled as the ground darkened around him from the looming figure overhead. He felt the talons dig into his flesh as he was hoisted from the ground and into the air, screaming.
The Roc took him higher above the ground at great speeds until she was about even with the height of the nest, and to the terror of the boy, released her grip and swerved away, leaving him to plummet to the earth.
The girl heard the terrified cry of the boy and turned to face him, beating her wings. She flew inches above the grass, laughing as it bowed to the wind that she created. A drop of water landed on her arm and she looked up, seeing great gray clouds rolling in.
Approximately underneath the human, she darted upward, arms outstretched to catch him, although she did not know him or anything about him and his kind. It may have been sheer curiosity that led her to do so, but she caught him from underneath, and was immediately taken off guard by his weight. She shrieked as her wings beat helplessly against this weight double to what she was used to. The boy looked back to see who she was, and was taken aback by her strange features, but gloriously beautiful face. His eye twitched as he realized that they were still falling at about the same rate.
She continued to beat her wings to slow the rapid descent, but the ground loomed closer with every second. As it came up to meet them, she immediately flipped over, her back facing the earth and the human above her as she crashed into the ground.