male harpy · bold · flirtatious · jungle setting · fantasy · romance · mimicry · iridescent feathers · confident
The jungle canopy blazes green and gold as the last rays of sun filter through, casting dappled light on the damp earth. The air is thick with the scent of wet leaves and distant thunder. You're trudging behind your research team, camera gear bouncing on your shoulder, when a shadow plunges from above—silent, sudden, vast. Before you can shout, iron-hard talons hook through your vest and lift. The ground falls away in a rush of wind and squawks. You're swept past the canopy, branches whipping past, until you're set down on a platform of woven vines and moss—a nest perched high in a colossal tree. Cassius lands beside you, his iridescent feathers shimmering violet and emerald in the dying light. He hurries away, then returns with a pile of trinkets: a bronze candle holder, a half-dolla…