Richard perched obediently on Lord Angelmaris's arm, looking around with interest. He needed to get as much information as possible on the competition and what challenges lay ahead, or so he'd convinced the fae. Otherwise he would have been wearing that demeaning falconry hood as well as having to wear jesses, but he could put up with the latter. After all, he could still see to peck his captor's eyes out, if nothing else, and he very purposefully disdained to notice the scowl shot his way by the Lord. He saw several ladies and lords gathered at what must be the starting point, beasts of every description gathered around. It was long line of silk laid in front of a pavilion where two of the fae sat. From their appearance, the sheer glimmer about them and the power that they radiated, he figured that this must be Titania and Oberon, and the flickering void by the starting line must be Mab. He felt a deep urge to fly at the sight of her, to flee and never stop until he had left her so far behind that there was no way that she could ever catch him, though he knew that was a ridiculous urge. She'd be able to reach him anywhere shadows lay, anywhere darkness fell, so he'd be very smart not to upset her.

The brown and gold harpy that sat on a perch beside the Queen of Air and Darkness must be the one Angelmaris had mentioned, the queen's entry for this contest. She was small, compared to what he'd thought a harpy would be, about half the height of a normal human, though that still made her rather larger than himself. From the way she eyed him and licked her lips, he had a feeling that he'd better be watching the skies above him, particularly as Mab was known for playing only as fair as she was forced to. If the rules didn't specify that the contestants couldn't interfere with one another, he was guaranteed to have her pet swooping down on him at some point. What confused him, though, was that there weren't only avians in the competition. There was a giant wolf, a white stag, a black horse, and a few things he couldn't quickly put a name to along with the winged competitors. He had no idea how they were all supposed to complete challenges when only a few of them shared characteristics, but he supposed there might be a balance to the game. Or it could be entirely unbalanced on purpose, designed specifically to eliminate most of them and make the winner a sure bet. There was no telling with the fae.

"Remember, Shard," Lord Angelmaris said, stressing the pet name that he'd given the former human. "Nothing too fancy, but keep your wits about you. All you need do is survive to the end." He dropped his voice to a whisper, glancing around suspiciously and cupping his hand over his mouth as he leaned close. "And don't upset Queen Mab!"

Thankfully the silencing command had been lifted, so Richard, thinking his real name pointed at the elven fae, gave a soft screech to show his understanding. His captor took a place at the starting line, and Titania clapped her hands together, rising to speak with her hypnotizingly lyrical voice.

"Lords and Ladies, friends and guests, and sister dear, thank you for gathering. The tests have been set and the course created. The beasts are to head down the valley before you and reach the other end then return to this point. Unless there are more than half remaining, those that survive shall be declared victors, with the first across the line as the champion. If there are more than half, then those who come after shall be the guests of honor, or shall we say the centerpieces, for our feast afterwards. The challenges shall be announced when the first creature reaches its beginning, and you may convey the instructions to your beasts at that point. Remember, my Lords and Ladies, and especially sister dear, cheating shall be frowned upon and heavily punished. You may provide no information except during the challenges, and no direct control. This is a test for our beloved companions, after all. Now, let the game begin!"

The sudden start caught Richard by surprise, but being basically thrown into the air by Angelmaris caused instinct to take hold, and he began flapping his way upward. The valley, which had been shrouded by a wall of mist until Titania started things, was deep and swept with trees, a river running through the center to a fall at the far end. And no, the river didn't run from the fall, but to it, the water visibly rising to crest the top and continue onwards along the level ground found there. The fae realms were... weird. He could see the giant wolf, several other canines, what looked like a cross between a mountain lion and a lizard, and the stag all pulling to the forefront of the ground pack below him. The stag didn't bother running with the rest along the easy path beside the river, but bounded along the steep, rocky edges like a goat. The other aerial participants were spread about beside, above, and behind him, each stroking their way towards the safety of altitude. He took a second look, and alarm flared. He couldn't see the harpy. Instinct, or perhaps a nudge from his "benefactor" despite the rules, told him to tuck his wings, and he peeled into a dive just as talons scraped his tail feathers.

Well, as he had guessed, he was going to have shots taken at him, but he hadn't expected quite so soon. He decided to hold the dive, trading what he had gained and using his tail and pinions to aim further into the valley, becoming a living missile. He was gaining on the lead on the ground and passed it before he flared his wings, keeping most of his velocity as he changed angle to a more horizontal plane. Then he world seemed to turn itself upside down as a massive gonging sound filled the air.

"First challenge, inversion!" Angelmaris sounded in his mind. "It's just your perceptions, not the world itself. Just... fly straight, you idiot, don't angle towards the ground. Dive! Dive you feather brained fool!"

Richard reversed his course just in time, feeling dirt skim against his keel. He closed his eyes and pointed his beak towards what felt like down. Then it occurred to him that most of the other avians, and possibly the harpy, would be having a far worse time of things than he had. With his eyes closed, he was much less disoriented, and he took the opportunity to flap as hard as he could to regain the altitude he'd lost earlier. When his muscles began to burn and he felt the cool wind that gusted well above tree height, he angled himself for a straight glide and opened them again. Up was still down, and vice versa, but he could see that his competition was well behind him. Mostly. A brown and gold form was flapping hard, below/above him, and he decided to just put his attention on the horizon until things straightened themselves out, because otherwise he was going to vomit or crash or possibly go insane. The latter was most likely.

His stomach did a flip when the world suddenly righted itself, but he managed to keep flapping, and checked his tail again. The harpy was still behind him and well below, still caught in the inversion, and it felt like he had gained some distance on her, though he doubted it would last very long. She had over twice his wingspan and obviously more muscle. She was plowing along despite flailing a little, and keeping a very respectable pace. Then again, her weight might also be a deficit, considering that she had to burn more calories to lift herself. She was rather scrawny, maybe not being fed well, and it could be more desperation than malice which made her attack him. He didn't imagine that Mab would be a very caring owner.

He saw her suddenly stabilize, glancing around wildly before fastening her red-eyed gaze on him. Maybe it wasn't entirely desperation, because she looked pretty pissed, but her chest was also heaving with heavy pants. She'd worn herself out pretty badly getting through the inversion, and he felt a little bad by having sort of cheated. Then again... harpies were supposed to be intelligent, too, weren't they? She had a human face and torso. Feathers spread across her shoulders, chest, and upper back to connect her wings, and her lower body was a bird, but she looked at least partly human. She could be a cheat entry, smarter than the rest of the dumb beasts in the contest. He decided to test her, rolling himself to one side and then the other in a wing-wave, something that no normal bird would ever do, and repeated it just to make sure she realized that it was an errant current causing his movements. He saw her expression turn to confusion, then it slowly dawned on her. She mimicked his motion, and he cheered internally. If they could find a way to communicate, he might just have an ally in this crazy place.

Then the gong sounded again, and he was plummeting towards the ground with his wings pinned behind his back from the air pressure.

"Gravity!" Angelmaris screamed into his brain. "Some parts are down, some are up! If you hit the ground with this level of force, I'll be lucky if I can find any giblets of you left for the feast! Find the up part!"

And how in the hell was he supposed to do that?!? With painful slowness, he managed to furl his wings then flared his tail so that he almost went into a forward spin. With his beak towards the ground he focused his vision in to look for any clue as to the where the changes took place. Then he saw the harpy shooting by beneath him. She glanced back, then aimed herself towards a spot somewhere in front of them, altering her course slightly and glancing at him again. Well, he didn't have anything else going for him... He aimed himself along her path and hoped for the best.