25 Winter, 515
The eagle soared gently through bitter winter air, wings outstretched catching drafts easily beneath his feathers. Syliras, the fortress city slowly crept into view, the high towers flanking the low cobble walls peeking their stone heads into the sky and into his vision. Delicately he dipped and rolled in the air, stomach growly, bringing the reminders of a meal to his thoughts. Still, he remained playful and happy to see the forlorn cage he called home. He had been away for nearly a fortnight, his longest courier trip yet, all the way down to Kenash and back. It was an exciting journey, but he was glad to finally be coming home.
Clutched in his talons was the thread attached to a parcel directly beneath his body. Atop the parcel were other letters, yet one rolled up scroll was tired directly to his leg, held specially close to his being. His wings beat against the air, disturbing the crispness of it with rigid muscle. Carefully he angled himself to rise above one of the approaching towers placed in the walls of the castle city. He passed over it, glancing at the guards stationed on it below him as he strafed in the sky above. Again he dipped, rolling side to side as he descended, now officially within the walls of Syliras.
Ahead he spotted the familiar building that was the post office of Syliras. Beneath him, the roads were flourishing with bodies, only the tops of their heads directly visible from a moment’s glance. He descended further until he was only meters above the denizens of Syliras, beating his wings due to the lack of draft to carry his body. The building’s flanking his left and right prevented such powerful gusts from flooding the streets so easily, thus forcing him to work to cover the distance along the road to the post office.
On the roof of the building there was a fragile room where other messenger birds roosted, and was where Noah usually entered the building, considering once he shifted back into his human form he’d be stark naked. As he learned, it usually offended humans – it was something he did not want to do the human whom he called boss. He made his way for the front of the building where people usually dropped off their letters to be delivered. Above the front door of the establishment was window like frame that held no window, allowing messenger birds of non-Syliran nativity to enter and leave once their letters and parcels had been delivered to the worker within.
He made way for it now, swirling to correct his angle before making the sharp descent. Moments before the bird-door could be reached he tucked in his expansive wings and darted through the opening into the lobby of the post office. The worker of the front desk, a young man with dark brown hair and kind eyes took note of him, shouting a “Hey” in greeting with an excited wave. The Kelvic met the man’s eyes with his own of predatory intent, dropping the package from his talons into the man’s waiting hands. The man let out an “Oof” as he caught the parcel. “This a heavy one, huh?” he questioned the eagle as it settled on a perch beside the man.
The Kelvic let out an affirmative coo, glancing to the few patrons of the office across the counter from him and the young clerk. One patron, an older woman with a bonnet atop her head glanced uneasily at the resting eagle, shakily handing her letter to the young clerk who smiled at her with bare teeth. “You’re scaring everyone, pal,” he said to Noah after the woman hurriedly escaped the office. The next patron was a working class man with a heavy beard and dark eyes. While he didn’t appear as shaken as the woman before him, he still gave Noah uneasy glances. Unfortunate for him what he wanted to give to the young clerk required him to fill out the necessary paper work for delivery. “Going out of the city’s gon’ cost you a bit,” the clerk said to him, bringing forth an abacus to calculate the exact coin needed. In that time Noah kept his eyes trained on the man, whose uneasily fleeting eyes amused the Kelvic. It was interesting how fearful humans were of things they did not understand.
“There you go,” the clerk said to the man, taking his payment and placing it in a lockbox. He turned to Noah who looked at him in return, tilting his head in question. “What’s this?” he asked, nodding towards the letter tied to the Kelvic’s leg. He leaned in, canting to head to better read the vertical letter’s writing. “Elann? That the name of the girl you’ve told me about? Your friend?”
Noah cooed.
“Delivering that personally, are you?”
Noah cooed again.
The clerk placed his hand on his hip tiredly. “I expect you’re waiting for your treat?”
Another coo.
“Of course you are, must be starving after all that flying.” The clerk reached into his pocket bringing forth a chunk of jerky that he tossed Noah’s way. With a reach of his neck, the Kelvic caught the piece in his mouth, devouring it quickly. “You best get going if you gon’ beat dusk, you know how dark it gets this time of year.”
Noah took his words seriously, bidding the clerk a farewell with a chirp before departing from the perch and building altogether. He made his way home to the Traveler’s Row where he slipped through his own open window into his home, perching on the arm of his couch where he fussed with the tied letter with his beak, unstringing it lest it tear through his leg when he shifted. Once it was off the tumbled to the floor. Afterward Noah shifted, a swirl of dust and glinting lights surrounding him before dissipating in the air. He retreated into his room and scoured his wardrobe for clothing. Now dressed he retrieved the rolled up letter from the ground, making his way for his door that let out into the hall.
He traversed the hall quickly, boots clunking against the stone floor until he reached Elann’s door. With his free hand it wrapped on hard wood and waiting patiently, shoulder nudged into the doorframe, for Elann to answer.
The eagle soared gently through bitter winter air, wings outstretched catching drafts easily beneath his feathers. Syliras, the fortress city slowly crept into view, the high towers flanking the low cobble walls peeking their stone heads into the sky and into his vision. Delicately he dipped and rolled in the air, stomach growly, bringing the reminders of a meal to his thoughts. Still, he remained playful and happy to see the forlorn cage he called home. He had been away for nearly a fortnight, his longest courier trip yet, all the way down to Kenash and back. It was an exciting journey, but he was glad to finally be coming home.
Clutched in his talons was the thread attached to a parcel directly beneath his body. Atop the parcel were other letters, yet one rolled up scroll was tired directly to his leg, held specially close to his being. His wings beat against the air, disturbing the crispness of it with rigid muscle. Carefully he angled himself to rise above one of the approaching towers placed in the walls of the castle city. He passed over it, glancing at the guards stationed on it below him as he strafed in the sky above. Again he dipped, rolling side to side as he descended, now officially within the walls of Syliras.
Ahead he spotted the familiar building that was the post office of Syliras. Beneath him, the roads were flourishing with bodies, only the tops of their heads directly visible from a moment’s glance. He descended further until he was only meters above the denizens of Syliras, beating his wings due to the lack of draft to carry his body. The building’s flanking his left and right prevented such powerful gusts from flooding the streets so easily, thus forcing him to work to cover the distance along the road to the post office.
On the roof of the building there was a fragile room where other messenger birds roosted, and was where Noah usually entered the building, considering once he shifted back into his human form he’d be stark naked. As he learned, it usually offended humans – it was something he did not want to do the human whom he called boss. He made his way for the front of the building where people usually dropped off their letters to be delivered. Above the front door of the establishment was window like frame that held no window, allowing messenger birds of non-Syliran nativity to enter and leave once their letters and parcels had been delivered to the worker within.
He made way for it now, swirling to correct his angle before making the sharp descent. Moments before the bird-door could be reached he tucked in his expansive wings and darted through the opening into the lobby of the post office. The worker of the front desk, a young man with dark brown hair and kind eyes took note of him, shouting a “Hey” in greeting with an excited wave. The Kelvic met the man’s eyes with his own of predatory intent, dropping the package from his talons into the man’s waiting hands. The man let out an “Oof” as he caught the parcel. “This a heavy one, huh?” he questioned the eagle as it settled on a perch beside the man.
The Kelvic let out an affirmative coo, glancing to the few patrons of the office across the counter from him and the young clerk. One patron, an older woman with a bonnet atop her head glanced uneasily at the resting eagle, shakily handing her letter to the young clerk who smiled at her with bare teeth. “You’re scaring everyone, pal,” he said to Noah after the woman hurriedly escaped the office. The next patron was a working class man with a heavy beard and dark eyes. While he didn’t appear as shaken as the woman before him, he still gave Noah uneasy glances. Unfortunate for him what he wanted to give to the young clerk required him to fill out the necessary paper work for delivery. “Going out of the city’s gon’ cost you a bit,” the clerk said to him, bringing forth an abacus to calculate the exact coin needed. In that time Noah kept his eyes trained on the man, whose uneasily fleeting eyes amused the Kelvic. It was interesting how fearful humans were of things they did not understand.
“There you go,” the clerk said to the man, taking his payment and placing it in a lockbox. He turned to Noah who looked at him in return, tilting his head in question. “What’s this?” he asked, nodding towards the letter tied to the Kelvic’s leg. He leaned in, canting to head to better read the vertical letter’s writing. “Elann? That the name of the girl you’ve told me about? Your friend?”
Noah cooed.
“Delivering that personally, are you?”
Noah cooed again.
The clerk placed his hand on his hip tiredly. “I expect you’re waiting for your treat?”
Another coo.
“Of course you are, must be starving after all that flying.” The clerk reached into his pocket bringing forth a chunk of jerky that he tossed Noah’s way. With a reach of his neck, the Kelvic caught the piece in his mouth, devouring it quickly. “You best get going if you gon’ beat dusk, you know how dark it gets this time of year.”
Noah took his words seriously, bidding the clerk a farewell with a chirp before departing from the perch and building altogether. He made his way home to the Traveler’s Row where he slipped through his own open window into his home, perching on the arm of his couch where he fussed with the tied letter with his beak, unstringing it lest it tear through his leg when he shifted. Once it was off the tumbled to the floor. Afterward Noah shifted, a swirl of dust and glinting lights surrounding him before dissipating in the air. He retreated into his room and scoured his wardrobe for clothing. Now dressed he retrieved the rolled up letter from the ground, making his way for his door that let out into the hall.
He traversed the hall quickly, boots clunking against the stone floor until he reached Elann’s door. With his free hand it wrapped on hard wood and waiting patiently, shoulder nudged into the doorframe, for Elann to answer.
