I’m a Wren, but I’m Going to Charm a Human!

Gritting my teeth, I somehow managed to spread my trembling wings. But the instant I did, a sudden headwind nearly wrenched them backward.

“Aaagh!”

The same terrifying ordeal repeated several times before I finally managed to catch a strong current of air.

‘I did it!’

I was hardly safe yet, but at least this was better than before. Like a feather drifting on the breeze, I let the wind carry me as I surveyed the landscape below.

There were countless enormous, elongated buildings stretching across the ground. I couldn’t quite explain why, but everything about the sight felt unfamiliar. The Wren Kingdom where I lived was surrounded by lush green forests.

‘Where am I?’

Could the storm have swept me all the way into another country? If my disappearance had already been discovered, my family must be frantically searching for me by now.

Just as the thought crossed my mind, I suddenly felt a prickling sense of murderous intent.

I turned my head and saw an enormous eagle flying toward me, easily ten times my size. And it was heading straight for me.

‘Surely not….’

I desperately hoped I was mistaken, but ominous premonitions had an awful habit of coming true.

—Screeeech!

The predator’s piercing cry carried through the wind.

A chill ran over my entire body.

I immediately began flapping my wings as fast as I could, but the difference in our size was simply too great. I had to beat my wings at least fifteen times to cover the same distance the eagle managed with a single powerful stroke.

The gap between us steadily narrowed.

At this rate, it was going to catch me.

I spun my head toward the eagle and shouted furiously.

“You insolent creature! Do you have any idea who I am?! I am Princess Meishutanacompattineoraro of the Wren Kingdom!”

It didn’t work in the slightest. If anything, the eagle’s eyes gleamed even more fiercely as it continued its relentless pursuit.

“D-Don’t come any closer!”

An ordinary eagle should have sensed the presence of a beastwoman and backed off. Yet for some inexplicable reason, this deranged creature showed no sign of retreating.

If I had been on the ground, I could at least have attempted to transform into my human form. Unfortunately, I was still high in the sky.

With no other choice, I forced my aching wings to beat harder and plunged downward. At this rate, I felt as though my bones might snap. I was flying faster than I ever had in my life, yet it still wasn’t enough to shake off the enormous eagle.

Desperately searching for somewhere to land, I spotted a forest in the distance.

There were plenty of trees. If I descended through the gaps between the branches, surely my smaller body would give me an advantage.

Clinging to that hope, I dove into the forest.

The eagle descended right after me.

I darted between densely tangled branches, narrowly avoiding one after another as I fled. Then, without warning, a searing pain exploded through my shoulder as though someone had set it on fire.

Stab!

“Aaagh!”

I had never experienced pain like it in my entire life. All the strength vanished from my wing, and I plummeted straight into the ground.

The world spun violently around me. I tumbled helplessly across the earth until my body suddenly wedged itself into something.

Panting in short, ragged breaths, I peered through my blurred vision and realized I had fallen into a small, round hole.

Had someone dug it here long ago?

My relief lasted only a moment.

The eagle’s screech sounded from somewhere nearby, and a second later, sharp talons plunged into the opening.

Scrape! Thud! Screech!

The vicious clawing continued again and again, sending dirt and dust scattering into the hole. Each time, I held my breath and desperately pressed myself farther into its depths.

I wanted nothing more than to burst into tears and sob at the top of my lungs, but I couldn’t. What if the sound drew the eagle’s attention even more?

All I could do was curl into myself, squeeze my eyes shut, and pray for this horrible nightmare to end.

Rumble—CRASH!

A sudden clap of thunder jolted me awake.

Beyond the hole, a violent storm was raging. My shoulder still burned with pain, and hunger gnawed painfully at my stomach.

But I couldn’t go outside.

I wasn’t even sure whether I could transform into my human form in this condition. Yet the thought of venturing out as a wren terrified me even more. What if I encountered that monstrous eagle again?

“Sniff… sob….”

I missed my family.

I missed my warm, cozy room.

Where had everything gone wrong? Was it because I had insisted on taking a walk alone? Or because I had been brooding over problems that now seemed ridiculously trivial?

But really, who could possibly have predicted that I would be swept away by a storm and dropped into some unknown place?

I cried silently, careful not to make a sound.

Before I knew it, what felt like another full day had passed.

Would the eagle be gone by now? Surely it wasn’t still sitting right outside, waiting for me to emerge… was it?

Even the last scraps of my consciousness were beginning to fade. If I stayed here, I would die. I knew that, yet I still couldn’t bring myself to leave the hole.

The fear carved into my instincts kept overwhelming every attempt at courage.

Finally, unable to bear it any longer, I screamed with everything I had.

“I don’t want to die! Please, somebody—anybody—save me!”

Of course, there was no such thing as a god. Perhaps I really was destined to die here.

Just as despair threatened to swallow me whole, however, someone answered my desperate plea.

“…Didn’t you just hear something?”