Feathers of Bravery

Unknown POV

"What do you mean we lost an altrika! How in the bloody heavens do we lose such a large and powerful contraption!? Which town was it in?" I growled at my men who delivered this ill news to me.

They all cowered in fear as I began to grow impatient with the silence. Finally one of them stepped up and told me everything. It only enraged more. How can those pathetic simpletons of Riverira, who have no real weapons, ability to use magic or any real defenses, so how can they destroy a freaking altrika!?

My temper kept rising and my only outlet were the useless men in front of me. Roaring, I flew to the first one's throat and ripped it out. Some of them tried to flee but most were accepting of their fate and stood their waiting for their turn. For that, I admire them. Admitting your failure and accepting the punishment was very noble of them.

"You know, if you keep killing and eating your men, you won't have much of an army when the time comes. Haven't you ever heard of the saying, Don't shoot the messenger?" my mage replies coming out of the shadows. She's the only who will dare to speak to me in such a manner.

She comes over to me and takes a look at our latest experiment. The rotting and crumbling wings at my back. "The spell is not lasting long enough! It's already painful when it's done to me, but now they are rotting. The smell is unbearable and the peeling is annoying." I complain to her.

I've always been selfless. Putting other's need before my own. Ruling won't be easy, but it's a burden that I wouldn't give to anyone else. It would be too much for them. Not to mention that their lives could be at risk. No I couldn't let any of those who would be my subjects be harmed like that.

This however, is the only thing that I am doing for myself. I've always wanted to be able to fly. I know that I'm not a bird, but I want wings. It's was just a matter of choosing which ones would look perfect for me. Fit for a king. I wasn't satisfied with any of the wings that she had placed on me from all the birds. Of course I wouldn't be. They came from the birds. So like the true wise king that I will become, I made my own path.

My wings would be unlike any this world has ever seen. They would be powerful and will strike fear into the hearts of all those who look at them. If I she could just get them to stay alive and work. But she says magic takes time and is not always perfect. Anyone else who dare feed me such an absurd lie would be punished. However, she has never let me down before, never lied to me and has always been there for me since the tragedy of that stupid family of eagles who adopted me.

They were weak and dull minded. Sure I could admire their creation of the Kijod, marvelous creature. But they were fools. They became afraid of it and in their fear they lost control of them. Now, due to their idiocy their numbers have dwindled to near extinction. So imagine my disgust and horror when after hearing that my father died victoriously against obtaining over a hundred altrikas, that I had just been adopted by not only birds but eagles. At least I should be grateful that it wasn't a raven or heavens forbid an owl.

She helped me get dispose of them. Helped make it look like a Kijod had come in the night and attacked them. Sure it would have been easier to just actually have them be attacked by a Kijod but the work of finding one, caging it, luring it to their house, making sure they all died, that no one called for help. See all too much. My mind was already occupied with getting thing set and making sure executing the perfect catalyst to get the two kingdoms I hated most to go to war.

And so far it's worked. All I have to do know is be patient and wait. Which is by far the most boring thing to be doing. But if it wasn't for my boredom then I wouldn't have thought about asking her to make me my wings. Even with those though, I'm still forced to be patient.

But you know that old saying, "Good things come to those who wait".