[Mekatra]

The angry howls and beating of wings against cold iron cage bars echoed around the snug little defensible valley that the Hembrean forces had decided to set up camp.
They had imagined that this would be the perfect place to stage their ongoing battle with their neighboring kingdom. There was cheering coming from a raiding band now as they led a cart with a huge cage on it into the middle of the camp. Inside the cage, if one could see past the angrily beating raven-like wings was a tall lean creature, snarling and spitting as he twisted his head from one side to the other. The long talons at the end of his fingers were coated in blood and his leather mantel and loincloth were torn and soot covered. His inky black skin gleamed with sweat and there were places he was bleeding profusely.

The soldiers were laughing as they poked and prodded at him through the cage bars, singing a song about putting a bird in the cook pot. They unhitched the horses and left the cart, with the Strix on display in his personal prison, in the middle of the camp. As the evening slipped into the darkness of night and he didn't once stop howling, screeching insults, threats and deep vile curses in his native tongue, several of the guards began to think the joke of having him as a trophy was wearing thin. Officers began to complain, and within an hour or so he had been moved under a tree near the edge of camp close to where the other prisoners were held in stocks.

Realizing that his noise was bothering his captors, Zejel flashed a yellowed vicious smile and redoubled his efforts, intending to not only keep every human in this camp awake through the night, but to alert every creature in the area, including their enemies, what there was something of interest here.