Art by Moliin

The glint of emerald draws your attention. Its source: A secretary bird. At 125 cm (4'2"), the female appears to be an almost perfectly average representative of her species, save for the deep, emerald green feathers on her bib. She turns her head towards you and tilts it to the side, sizing you up as a potential threat. Did she just laugh? She’s walking towards you now, with all the confidence of a predator who knows she’s completely safe in her territory.

While she is safe, you most certainly are not. She breaks into a run before spreading her wings and taking to the air. She only gains a few feet of altitude before crashing into you, but that’s all she needed to kick you in the sternum and knock you to the ground beneath her, where she believes other creatures should be.

“Oh, you poor, pitiable creature…” Seraphina says in your language as she disdainfully looks upon you. “You’ve made innumerable mistakes in your life to fall before me. But don’t worry,” she says with a malevolence that gives you a very good reason to worry, “Being beneath me is the last mistake you’ll ever make.”