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“What did you say to me?” Treant went to grab me, but I skipped backwards a few steps. I turned and ran from the crowd, feeling as if even Xagon couldn’t keep me safe on the ship now. I went below deck and kept running towards the cargo hold. I didn’t believe anyone would come looking for me there. When I stopped running, I looked behind me, but no one had followed me below deck. Xagon had probably got them back to work.
I was a sitting duck on that boat, as long as they believed that I brought some sick curse to them. I could easily disappear overboard in the middle of the night, if someone really wanted to get rid of me. I didn’t think that there was anywhere on the boat where I would be safe. The cargo hold held all the supplies for the ship, as well as the items they carried with them to sell to others. I walked through, going from box to box until I saw a low cargo hold that I hadn’t realized was part of the ship.
I knew that Sirens often carried slaves from one port to another, to sell them or to transport them for others. I opened the wooden door that would lead me into the low cargo hold and walked through. The lighting in the room was dim, but I didn’t need much light to see. I gasped.
There were wooden cages within the hold, and inside one of the cages was a Hirpy slave. He was a Demon, the kind that emerged straight from the underworld through the gash. They were bird-like, very much like a Hirpy. Hirpy’s had a strong torso and chest with arms like a human, but those arms were also attached to wings, much like that of a hawk. They were covered head to toe with feathers. They had tails, and claws for hands and feet. If they got their hands on you, they could tear out your throat in a second.
It was very unusual to see one up close, they were considered to be dangerous creatures. I wondered how the Sirens had gotten their hands on a Hirpy. They were normally quite strong, but this one was thin, weak, and had clearly been starved.
I glanced behind me to make sure that I wouldn’t be discovered. I was shellshocked at the idea that Azil would do something like that to the creature. What were they thinking?
The creature wore no clothes, which was normal for their kind, but what was not normal was the bruises across his body.
“Hello?” I said, as I leaned in towards the cage. His eyes opened, but he just stared at me. I immediately turned around and ran through the cargo hold until I got to the bunks, where I had some bread stored in my bag. I ran back, bent down, and put the food through the bars of the cage. I was sickened by what I was seeing. The creature just stared at me for a moment before he then reached down and claimed the piece of bread. He barely chewed the piece of bread and swallowed it quickly.
“Hello,” he said. It was barely a word, more like a croak. The Hirpy couldn’t even speak properly.
“Hello, what’s your name?”
“Jes—ye.” Another croak. I could barely make out his name.
“I’m sorry, let me get you some water.”
I raced to the kitchen and filled up a bowl. I wanted to scream at the kitchen staff, and ask if they knew that there was a starving creature in the back. But I didn’t want anyone to know at that point that I knew the Hirpy was back there. I returned to the low cargo hold and sat beside the cage. I took my water container from my bag and poured some water from the bowl into it. I pushed the container through the bars. The Hirpy snatched it up and drank the entire container in one large gulp. I filled it again and he drained it for a second time.
He took a couple of deep breathes and whispered, “My name is Jesye.”
“My name is Flipp. I’m sorry, I had no idea you were down here. But, I promise you that I’m going to do something about it.”
“Please, don’t. You are only going to get yourself in trouble.”
I wondered how the Hirpy had found himself in that situation. They were dangerous creatures, and it was almost impossible to capture one. I looked at his wings and saw that they were clipped. My heart went out to the creature, because I knew that a bird with clipped wings was a broken creature.
“How did this happen?”
Jesye looked me in the eyes, and I saw his pain. It felt like a knife in my chest. He knew what I was asking of him, and I had unknowingly brought him shame.
“My people threw me to the wolves, so to speak, or in this case, the Sirens. They didn’t bother to come to my rescue because I was of no use to them.”
“Why not?”
“They don’t believe that I am a warrior. I’m too sensitive and sweet to do the work that they wanted me to do.”
“What did they want you to do?” I whispered back.
“There was a virgin human that I was supposed to acquire for them; but it was just a big trick so they could capture me. They had led me on and now they are going to auction me off because I was useless to them. Useless. I was captured by the Sirens instead. I wasn’t even capable of doing what was asked of me. I’m nothing. Even more so now that I’ve been clipped. What good am I? I have no idea how to fight without my wings. They should have just killed me.”
“No don’t say that.”
Jesye was despondent. He felt as if he didn’t belong with his own kind, and I couldn’t blame him for his thoughts. They had betrayed him in the worse way, and there was no happy ending for him if he did not get out of that cage. His gorgeous red feathers were considered of high value to the Witches. They would take what they could from him, including his semen and bones. His future did not look bright.
“I’m going to help you.”
He slumped onto the floor of the cage and his eyes started to flutter closed. He didn’t believe that I could do anything for him.
I turned from Jesye and left the cargo hold, closing the door behind me. I walked through the rest of the cargo area until I got to the bunks. My blood was boiling and with shaking hands, I made my way up to the upper deck. I headed straight to Azil’s cabin and opened the door. He was sitting at a rather large wooden desk, looking at a map. He glanced up with surprise, as I hadn’t even knocked before I burst in.
“What the hell is going on down in the cargo hold?”
