It was a monster and a man, with golden wings and russet feathers and hair, and what looked like twin orbs of fire staring out at us. He was dressed in old-fashioned clothing, better suited to centuries ago, before I'd been captured by Birsha, and he wore no shoes on his large furred feet, white claws piercing the earth as he watched us. A tail whipped slowly behind them, three long, bronzed feathers undulating in the air. When the stone walls of the castle gates were close enough to block out the dawn, I realized this monster didn't have fire for eyes, only a prim pair of golden spectacles on
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