“I told you so,” Cory said when Emily returned to her side. The red harpy’s wings folded across her chest as she snorted twice. “Oh. All of us also have to learn how to read and perform some form of sorcery called mathematics. Harbinger’s declaration.”

Solra’s brow furrowed even further as Cory chatted with Emily. The hostility between the two seemed to have faded within that short moment. He cleared his throat. “Emily,” he said and narrowed his eyes at the greenish harpy. “Didn’t you want the position of matriarch? Don’t you remember what we agreed on after you evolved?”

Emily stopped inquiring about the changes that occurred to the territory while she was evolving and stared at Solra. “Well,” she said as her brows knitted together. “Well…. You see…. I….” She stroked her chin with the tips of her wings as she stared up at the ceiling. Solra’s expression darkened. A crack appeared on the surface of his cane as he ground it against the floor. Emily nodded and faced the archangel. “Nah. Thanks though.”

“What do you mean?” Solra asked and narrowed his eyes, his voice practically a growl. Harpies were supposed to be loquacious. Why was Emily’s response so curt? “Do you understand what you’re saying?”

Emily tilted her head towards the ground and scratched her scalp with her talons. “Honestly,” she said after fixing her posture, “you seem pretty weak. Like ‘a really strong breeze can knock you over and kill you’ kind of weak. Or you’ll trip on the stairs and die. Or I can wait a couple weeks and you’ll succumb to old age.” She pointed at Raea with her wing. “If you can beat her in a fight, I’ll renew our deal. You promised me that the harpies would get a place for themselves and I’d get the biggest piece if I listened to and helped you. But she’s the harbinger. The harbinger is guaranteed to do that anyway unless our ancestors were completely wrong, but still. If I follow her, I can abandon all personal responsibility and slack off and do whatever I want without following orders and still get what I want. Harpies are really intelligent, you know? We’re smarter than all the races put together. Of course I’d make the smart decision. Helping you would be stupid.”

“Have you forgotten who helped you evolve?” Solra asked and stood up. “Have you forgotten why your race hasn’t been completely exterminated? It was my mentor who saved your ancestors when they were being hunted to extinction. It was my mentor who helped created this place for you to live! Where’s your loyalty?”

Emily blinked. “I don’t have loyalty? I thought you said my virtues were nonexistence because I’m envy,” she said.

“Cory!” Solra said, snapping his cane with his hand. Blood dripped to the ground, but he ignored it. “You’re the matriarch. Is this how harpies repay kindness shown to them?”

“Hey now,” Cory said and frowned. “You’re plotting to overthrow my position. That’s kindness? I can repay your kindness with some kindness of my own.” A red lightning bolt flashed through the air, rushing towards Solra. Before it made contact with his body, it dissolved less than an inch away without a sound. Cory frowned. “That wasn’t supposed to happen. You were supposed to spasm and fall over. Or explode.”

“This is a mutiny?” Solra asked as he pulled an orb out of his robe.

“No,” Cory said and shook her head. “This is just me instigating a rebellion against you like you had Emily do to me.” Her wings folded against her body. The halflings stacked in the pile shouted some curses at her, but she ignored them. The harpies were flocking towards the nest, not daring to step inside, but hovering in the air and landing on the floor around it.

“Isn’t that the definition of mutiny?” Justitia asked Raea.

Raea nodded. “Is this my fault?” she asked. The air rippled as a zone of charity expanded, encompassing all the harpies.

Cory cleared her throat when she realized her powers didn’t work anymore. She inhaled through her nose, causing her chest to expand. She let out an ear-splitting shriek, “Swarm him!”

The harpies that were in the air dove downwards, while the harpies that were perched on the ground flew upwards. Solra’s expression didn’t change as he clutched his orb. The zone of charity disappeared, and the orb lit up with a green light, engulfing the archangel’s body. “You’ll regret this,” Solra said, his voice piercing through the cacophony of beating wings and shrieks. The green light disappeared, taking Solra’s body with it.

The harpies collided against the ground, forming a dogpile. “Eh? Where’d he go?” one of them asked as she struggled free from the cluster. Cory and Emily tilted their heads and shrugged.

“Maybe he was squished so hard he disappeared,” another harpy said.

The harpies chattered as they flew into the air, searching for any signs of the angel, while Raea pulled Cory aside. “Why did you do that?” she asked the harpy.

Cory blinked. “Emily’s right,” she said. “Now that you’re here, we don’t need that smelly angel to help us reclaim lands aboveground.”

Raea’s brow furrowed. “I mean, he still could’ve helped,” she said. “There wasn’t any need to attack him or damage our relationship with every other species.”

“But it was your idea to kidnap them?” Cory asked and tilted her head. “Besides, weren’t you going to overthrow him anyway? I’m pretty sure he”—she glanced at Palan—“was thinking about it with the insane benefactor. And didn’t you threaten him first because of Madison and all that?”

“That is true,” Raea said and pursed her lips, her voice trailing off. Her brow furrowed. “This is going to give me a headache.”

“Really? Why?” Palan asked. “Since we’re not on friendly terms with Solra anymore, we can just eliminate him. Let’s have Pyre lead the army and assault the capital already. I’m tired of waiting around for something to happen. I’m strong now. I’d like to see who can stop me from advancing towards my goal.”

Justitia shuddered and took a step back, distancing herself from Palan. There was a strange expression on his face, and it unsettled her.