Ayil's family lived far from everything, perched on the steep heights of the Misty Mountains of Arcadia. They belonged to the Avian tribe, half-beasts with abilities very close to those of an eagle, and like all his kind, Ayil had never known any horizon other than these jagged peaks and valleys drowned in clouds.
When he turned 14, his mother sent him to gather some simple fruits on a plateau he knew by heart. He spread his wings, felt the wind carry his long feathers, and launched himself without the slightest apprehension. He had been flying over the gorges since childhood; he knew every air current.
But that day, something was wrong. He didn't see the net stretched between two peaks until it was too late. The collision threw him violently backward, the meshes tightened around his wings, and he tumbled into the void, held only by barely visible cables. As he struggled, he heard human voices echo against the rocky wall.
