I was summoned to be taken away by a falcon

I raised my head upward. On the wooden beam under the roof, I saw a big bird of prey. In its beak, it was holding a small crystal bead.

“Look up, there is our thief!”

The moment the weasel saw it, it squeaked in fear. It scurried to hide under the hay, trying to disappear.

Even Korvan was now shivering, sitting on my shoulder. He slid down my arm and hid in my apron pocket. They were scared that this bird would eat them. And in nature, this type of bird of prey would hunt and kill them.

I looked at it again. It reminded me of a falcon, but I remembered seeing those back home on the fields. This one was much larger than usual. Was this some kind of supernatural creature that could take animal form?

“What is that thing?” I asked.

“That’s a raroh,” Korvan beeped out of my pocket.

I heard about that one. But the thing was, this one was never evil in the folk tales I studied at my uni. They could appear as a bird of prey or even as a small whirlwind or fire vortex. In general, their appearance should bring good luck. But his role was to guard treasures and punish bad human behaviour, not to steal from somebody.

“Why is it still here, when it stole the bead?” I wondered, still looking at the wonderful bird.

The bird turned its head to the barn door. I followed.

Now it made sense. Once the weasel found out the magic bead was missing, it went out of the barn to call for me. But it opened the doors only slightly to slide through them. And the falcon was unable to leave the barn until I came, leaving the door open.

“No, you are not leaving,” I said.

The Raroh was big. If we stood next to each other, it would probably reach my waist, but even though its claws and beak could be sharp, I did not think about that. For now, my priority was to get that crystal bead back.

The falcon moved with its wings, and I could see small gusts of wind forming around me.

“Give us back what you stole!” I screamed.

It looked at me, puzzled. Then it took off from the beam and went straight to the door. I ran after it.

“What is happening?” Korvan yelled from my apron back. “I hope you are not going after that bird!”

“I have it! It is trying to run away!”

“Leave it.”

“You said that bead is important and powerful. We cannot let it go.”

As the falcon was getting farther away from me, with the magical crystal bead in its beak, my enchanted leather shoes were pushing me to run quicker. He was almost at the door when I jumped.

I caught the falcon with both hands around its leg, but we were already outside the barn. He flapped its wings again, and gusts of wind took us off the ground. Suddenly, we were in the air.

“Oh no, I am not good with heights!” I screamed. “Last time I was up in the air, I fainted.”

“Then let go before we are even higher!” Korvan recommended, now peeking out of my pocket.

“Are you crazy?” I asked. “Even if I let go, only god knows what those enchanted shoes of mine do after that.”

“Maybe they will teach you how to jump a few meters high.”

“No thanks!”

The Raroh was taking us out of the outer courtyard near the mountain. If I were not cursed for leaving the castle up until this point, now I definitely would be turned into an animal.

“Turn back!” I screamed at the bird. “You thief! Get us back to the castle and return what you took!”

I received no response, only another strong flap of wings, lifting us even higher.

“Noooo, why can't they talk back if they can understand me!”

The falcon shrieked so loudly, it pierced my ears.

“Let's go back. Please! You are the one in the wrong here!” I tried to explain.

We were now flying for a while, and I could feel my hands going numb. It did not help that each time the Raroh flapped its wings, I was being thrown around, climbing to its feet, hoping I wouldn’t fall. But even though there were some small vortexes of wind helping us around, I was heavy for the falcon.

He slowed in his flying and tried to peck me, but the bead in his beak prevented him from doing that.

“Did you just try to peck her?” Korvan screamed at him. He was getting comfortable in my apron now, when he realized Raroh won't get him. “Don’t you dare to hurt her! She is His Highness’s bride!”

“Excuse me!” I protested. “I am nobody’s bride! I ended up here because I had no other choice, but that does not mean I do not have any say in certain things!”

The bird was getting tired. We were now flying at a much slower speed, even getting lower and lower.

“Look, you look tired. Let's get down somewhere to rest, and then we can talk it out. Okay?” I said.

“Put us down, you atrocious bird!” Korvan squeaked. “Once His Highness finds out you stole its bead, we will hunt you and roast you above an open fire.”

Bird jerked with its leg, surprised by Korvan’s words.

“Don’t you dare to scare him, Korvan. If he lets go now, we are goners.”

The falcon lost its patience. It shrieked, angry. Then it lowered its head and pecked me on my hands, sharp beak biting into my flesh, drawing blood.

I yelped out of pain and let go.

“Are we falling now?” Korvan shrieked. “Are you crazy? Why did you let go?”

“It's my brains and reflexes' fault!” I screamed at him. “Why did he peck me? I thought his beak was full because of the bead.”

“Did he just drop it to get rid of you? Let's look around if we cannot see it somewhere.”

“I am not sure if you realize, but I am too busy to look for a bead. I am falling to my death now!”

Korvan was not listening to me. Instead, he was looking around. Suddenly, he saw something small glistening in the air. He jumped out of my pocket and flapped his wings, catching the bead in his beak. Then he tried to catch me with his small chicken feet, but of course, I was too heavy for him.

“We will fall now,” he said.

And we did.