We continued on our expedition as soon as the snowstorm ended.
We already stayed an additional day at the inn since I was too sick to travel and had to spend an entire day sleeping.
And vomiting.
After seeing me so drunk, everyone began to panic and made all sorts of remedies, half of which made me puke, making me feel even worse.
We left our carriage at the town, in which we had to pay the innkeeper for safe keeping.
The violet jewel proved to be quite useful.
We rode on a magical sleigh that moves by itself, that has several sorts of hand breaks in which you can control the speed, direction and when you want to make it stop or go.
Fascinating. No need for gasoline here in this world.
Magic really is amazing.
Lion is sitting at the front since he is the one controlling the sleigh. I sat down beside him while Ghost sat beside me on the other side.
Orm sat on the middle of Alpha and Sly, looking a bit green. He can move a bit quickly on the snow now as we bought a potion at the town that can help regulate his body temperature.
We left most of our belongings at the inn, much to Ghost's dismay and brought only essentials needed to survive the cold.
We bundled up and held on to our weapons, trying to stay alert as we are already in an area that is famous for having all sorts of wild predators.
The sky was overcast though it mercifully didn't snow as the cold is already bone-chilling despite us wearing several layers of coats.
....
It seems like we are traveling for several hours that everyone started to become sleepy, especially Lion who I had to keep nudging since he is the one driving.
Suddenly, I heard a wailing sound of some sorts.
What the.
I saw a creature who looked like a harpy, flying above us.
Thank goodness that I read all sorts of fantasy books back on earth.
But unlike the typical fantasy harpy, this harpy's face looks hideous.
It landed on a tree ahead of us and let out a melancholy sound that seemed like it's singing?
It didn't sound very nice as it sounded like nails scratching on a chalkboard.
I covered my ears and turned around to see Lion entranced, along with the rest of the pack.
Oh no.
Cuss word.
....
I have no idea which handbrake to pull to make the sleigh stop so I randomly pulled all sorts of handbrakes that made the sleigh go extremely fast (Ghost almost fell out of the sleigh), then extremely slow, going in all sorts of directions that almost made us fall off the cliff before finally stopping.
I panted as I kept on glancing around to see the first harpy calling her friends.
SEVERAL OF THEM.
They are all flying above us, making all sorts of shrieking and wailing sounds while my survival instinct starts to bang a hammer on my head.
I hurriedly tied everyone together (except me) as they looked too dazed to even realize what is going on.
I secured the end of the rope on the sleigh and hurriedly took out my pistol and a baton infused with lightning spell in which I had Lion made just before leaving for the expedition.
The harpies slowly moved towards the sleigh as I held my weapons, ready for their attack.
Bring it on, witches.
....
They are surprisingly big.
They tried to attack me using their claws and beaks and I desperately hit them back using the baton.
Strike one.
All of them screeched and swarmed me.
I made them furious since I killed one of their companions.
One of them scratched my face using her claws and I can feel blood dripping from my cheeks.
Oh you asked for it, i yelled as I shot them using the 3rd attack on my pistol.
Strike two.
Strike three.
I can feel pain on my arms and neck as they tried to bite me.
I tried to hit one harpy who landed on my neck using the baton.
Strike four.
I'm sweating and panted a lot as it seemed like they are endless.
Ouch!
Now one of them tried to bite my head, pulling several strands of my hair.
I AM FURIOUS!
It hurts, you dummy! I shouted as I hit the harpy simultaneously using the baton and the pistol, triggering a reaction that hit several of them at once.
Five, six, seven, eight, nine and ten strikes.
Not bad.
But I'm starting to get tired.
I'm almost out of breath and my arms are bloodied.
I can taste blood on my lips.
The remaining harpies flew up and I hurriedly took off some of my blasted coats.
Now I can move and breathe better.
I glanced at my companions and saw them looked bewildered.
The harpies are still planning to attack us.
And I am getting exhausted. My body is trembling either from the cold or from exhaustion.
But I won't let those harpies harm Lion or my friends.
As I saw them flying towards us in increasing speed, I slowly knelt down and lightly kissed Lion on his lips.
I whispered to him, telling him not to worry as I am going to protect everyone.
Even if it costs my life.
I wiped away my tears and stood up, determined to finish the battle.
I held my weapons tightly, positioning myself in an attack stance, ready for the attack.
And then they attacked me.
....
I killed every last one of them.
I laid down on the ground, panting as I just finished killing the last harpy.
I did it.
I laughed while panting, as I cannot believe I managed to kill all 28 of them.
But not without a cost.
My arms are bloodied as they are full of deep, gaping cuts all over.
My face are bloodied too and my hair is a mess.
My scalp hurt since several of them, while attempting to bite my head, pulled several strands of my hair.
They deserved their death, those witches.
I looked up the sky and I can see something similar to Aurora Borealis.
It really is beautiful.
I can feel myself starting to get drowsy and everything turned black.