@@Greetings, noble bird@@ a voice said, behind me @@Would you have meat to share?@@
I spun around, almost taking off in instinct. There, standing in an arc behind me, were several horsemen, an adult male, several of his sons, and even a few wives… all holding their spears, carefully. And he had spoken horseman, which I hadn’t spoken since before I transformed.
//You are welcome to some of my kill,// I replied in Farmer, hoping that they understood it… since I didn’t think I could take off fast enough to get away from their spears; and my Horseman wasn’t good enough for me to reply.
The Horseman father looked surprised… in the inscrutable way that they usually have. //You speak Farmer?// he asked. //I have seen your kin taking Beasts off the plains of our former home, but never have I known that they spoke Farmer.//
//I can speak some Horseman,// I answered, //but not very well, it has been a long time.//
//Interesting,// he said, and waved his sons forward to divide up their share. //When you have eaten perhaps we can talk.//
I turned back to the Beast, tearing at the flesh, my heart racing… I had never known joy like this. The young men gladly left me the organs, the brain, the eyes, and all the other truly good parts; contenting themselves with the meat of the haunches and ribs.
//So,// the Horsefather said, coming up to me as I picked at the bones, //How is it that you speak Farmer?//
//Because I was born a Farmer,// I said. The Horseman’s entire family (the males and younger girls) had gathered round me, and I felt the weight of their eyes on me.
//Indeed?// the father said, //I was not aware that even Farmers could transform so far as to turn themselves into flying creatures.//
//I wasn’t aware either. I was kidnapped by the Eagles when I was very young… I pointed at a girl sitting near him who seemed to be about the age I was when I was taken, //and they raised me until I transformed… and afterwards, of course.//
//Here?// he asked, looking up at the mountains.
//No. There are no Eagles here, not that I know of, anyway. Back on Eilish.//
//So, what are you doing here?//
//Visiting my brother, my Farmer brother, and his wife and children.//
//Well, have a nice visit,// the Horsefather said, and I remembered how foreign that would seem to him. Horsemen didn’t ‘visit’; they only ever saw other families occasionally, unless they were involved in some kind of job… which reminded me.
//So, what are you doing here?// I asked him.
//This is our patrol area. The ‘front line’ is far from here, but occasionally Beasts break through, and that is our job, to keep them away from the forts and travel areas. One of my sons saw these Beasts and then we saw you. We stayed back in order to watch your technique. Most impressive, taking on a mother with her children all by yourself. Imagine what we could do if we worked together.//
//I… I need to go and see my family but perhaps afterwards… although I don’t know how I would find you…//
//If you aren’t in too much of a hurry, perhaps we could at least find and kill the rest of this family? With you to spot for us we should find them soon enough.//
//I can do that,// I said. //I’m not in that much of a hurry. I can spot him for you, and then be on my way. You just watch where I hover.//
//Very well,// he said, with a grin, and turned to whistle at his family.
Seconds later I was airborne, and minutes later I saw them. The area hear was hilly… not tall hills but continuous rolling hills, which must make spotting very hard for those on the ground. And they were feeding down in a ‘valley’. I circled over the spot (which was kind of hard as it was half in and half out of a thermal) and watched the Horsemen coming close in.
Suddenly I realized that I wasn’t going on, and that I was going to participate in this hunt. I watched for a few minutes, though, to see how they were hunting. I watched until I saw their weakness. The Beasts were very tough, and when attacked with the light spears of the Horsemen, they put their head down, and most of them bounced off. Even the smaller Beasts were doing well at keeping them off. If I could only…
I came down, close, and circled over head. The two smaller Beasts, having recent experience with me, were very nervous, and began lifting their heads. Immediately the Horseboys, seeing their heads lift, immediately started launching their spears attempting to catch their necks when their heads were lifted. Most missed… or hit the head, but eventually one or two hit and the smaller Beasts started bleating.
This caused distress for the mother, who must somehow have blamed me for her children’s distress, and turned toward me, bellowing with rage. This, of course, opened her up to the spears of the Horseman and older Horseboys, and soon they, too, had spears in the neck.
I got tired of my passive action, and dove down, screaming, at the pack. Frightened already, bleeding out, surrounded by Horsemen, they panicked, and stampeded.
Which, of course, was what we were looking for. I let the Horseman and his older sons and, along with some of his younger sons, went after one of the young. Running away like it was, he was an easy attack for me. In two passes I had him completely hamstrung and was back in the air, searching for the other young one. As it turned out I wasn’t needed with that one, the horseboys already had it down… like me they had hamstrung him. I went a little higher and saw that the Horseman and his sons had the big Beast down as well, so I returned to ‘my’ kill.
The Horsegirls were busy cutting, and they backed up, rather fearfully, from me as I landed. But I ignored them, and started in on the head. These Beasts were so huge that I didn’t really need any more than the head, especially after my previous meal. If I ate too much more than the particular bits on the head, I would be unable to fly!
And so I was sitting, preening, and watching the Horsegirls finishing up the butchering, when the Horseman came over to me. //Well, my friend, it seems we hunt very well together; and not just for your ability to spot. As long as you promise to remain in your Eagle form, and not hunt after any of my wives, you are welcome to come back and hunt with us at any time. In fact, perhaps I would even give you one of my daughters if you stay with us long enough.//
He looked at one of the girls with the meat, //What do think, my daughter, would you like to have a husband who can hunt from the skies?//
The girl he spoke to looked at me, blushed, and turned back to her work. Her father laughed. //An easy catch that might be, but a difficult taking!//
Now it was my turn to ‘blush’, sticking my head under my wing, and causing everyone to laugh at me. //I have to go now, I think,// I said, causing them to laugh again. Not knowing what else to do I took off, glad to gain the freedom of the air. I had a lot to learn about how to relate to all of these non-Eagles.
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Von