chapter 43. 

Dahyun was absent mindedly playing with the pendant of her necklace. Her, Tzuyu, Jihyo and Sana had been walking around a small, abandoned village for half an hour now in hopes of finding any clues on where they had to go to next. 

Nothing so far. The only things they found were signs that this place wasn't left behind by choice. Shattered windows and broken down doors made this assumption rather clear. Dahyun feared for the worst. 

Who knew, maybe an army of undead greek creatures had swung by and destroyed everything and everyone that stood in their way. Thinking about that made Dahyun feel uneasy. Which wasn't an unfamiliar thing these past few days. Their small group hadn't been able to contact anyone from the other group or in fact any other demigod at all. There was also still radio silence from the gods. Neither Nayeon nor Jeongyeon had been reachable, same went for Mina, Chaeyoung, Momo and Chungha. Dahyun also couldn't find a way to contact Yongsun or Byul-yi. She couldn't even remeber the last time she had heard from those too at all... Everyone was uncertain if Byul-yi had even made it out alive. But Dahyun forced herself to think about the matter at hand. 

She was about to walk into one of the small buildings when Jihyo's voice cut through the silence. This caught everyone's attention and they gathered around the other demigod as soon as they saw her. 

Ji: "I think I might have found something." 

She held a piece of crumbled paper in one of her gloved hands, her other hand was carefully placed on the handle of her sword. After they had been ambushed by a group of Harpies, Jihyo had decided that it would be better if they carried their weapons around freely and also wore their armor in case another unpleasant suprise attack occurred. Harpies were believed to be personifications of destructive winds that were half woman, half bird. They used to serve Hades, punishing human beings for him but Hades stopped the whole punishing act decades ago. So Tzuyu guessed that Dahyun's stepmother sent them. 

A guess nobody could argue with. 

Defeating those creatures wasn't too difficult. They managed to hold them off long enough to brainstorm ideas of how to kill them. In the end chopping of their heads worked just fine but they still weren't sure if they would actually stay dead... But that was a risk they had to take. 

No one was seriously hurt, only some scratches showed that they were caught up in a fight. Sana couldn't shake the feeling that these Harpies had greatly underestimated them and that was the reason for the easy win. 

A feeling that was another concerning thing. Considering that it wasn't unlikely for them to encounter them again. 

Tzuyu's eyes shifted to the piece of paper. A questioning look decorating her slightly dirty face. Jihyo just motioned towards one of the ruins.

Ji: "I found this letter in that building and I think I know what happened now." She paused, her expression saddening. "The person who wrote this letter is probably not alive anymore. He was a kid, a demigod most likely. He writes about the troubles his village has been dealing with for the past few weeks. A lot of children around the age of twelve to fourteen have been disappearing and no one knows where they went. A few adults never came back when they searched for them..."

Sa:"I'm assuming they weren't kidnapped by some lunatic but by something supernatural?" 

Jihyo only nodded and continued talking. 

Ji:"The boy complains that no one believes him when he tells them he had seen what took the children away. He talks about winged women...creatures he had never seen before. But no adult believes him.. This letter is a goodbye letter to his parents.. In case he himself goes missing... I'd say he was either captured or he left with his family when they left this village behind." 

She neatly folded the paper in half. 

Ji:"The creatures dragged the kids off farther up north. At least that's what the kid wrote." 

Tzuyu fumbled with her belt. Her sword secured on it and her repaired shield was strapped onto her back. (She didn't put them into their earring form because it was easier to get to them when they were already morphed.) 

Tz:"So, Harpies, most likely, got a whiff of demigod sent in this village and realised this was a hidden jackpot. The kid that wrote the letter was a demigod himself and the people looking for the lost children were probably also demigods that tried to kill the Harpies and failed...So the only question left is if we killed the Harpies just now or if there are more roaming around..."

The question hung in the air. 

Da:"They raided a whole god damn village so I'