I sat at the edge of the mountain, glaring down at the world below. This whole domain was mine to rule, I thought. The open air whipped my skin and feathers yet I felt not cold but alive. Adrenaline rushed through my veins as I pushed off the cliff and my wings began to beat against the air, with a large breath in to steel my nerves, I took off. The world below danced in an array of liveliness and colours, the sounds of the buffalo below rang all around and the songs of the insects mellowed out the harshness of the larger animals screeches. The air was thick but I was like a knife, slicing through it as if it was nothing, this was true freedom.

I peered down, my stomached grumbled, as I watched an army of rats scurry across the grass land which lay under me. With nothing but hunger now filling my vision, how I could ignore such a delicacy. As if by magic, my wings collapsed and I was no longer flying , I was diving. Synonymous with a bullet, or at least I thought I was similar to a bullet, I had never seen one. Squeaks and ruffling of my meal got harder to distinguish but my eyes were sharp and focused, there was no way I was missing one, not this time. I hadn’t eaten in 5 days, I cant let hunger blind me but I also can’t allow myself to lose my position in this beautiful world I thought since all that would await me if this meal did evade me was death.

Time seemed to slow as I got closer to the ground, as if I was granted some mercy but a deity up above in efforts to show their support of my endeavour. Closing the gap between me and the food was one thing that I could achieve, grabbing the meal was another. My talons began to dislodge themselves from under my stomach and poised themselves for attack. I’m an assassin, a trained killer albeit one with a very poor success rate but I am still both of those things. The ground was much closer now and it was time to prepare my feast, I soared over the grassland and in the peripharal of my vision I noticed the scurrying. Yes, you’re mine now. Swaying left, I changed course and charged towards the rat, talons bared and ready to attack.

It was over in an instant. It happened so fast I can barely recall it. Blood dripped from the edge of my claws yet they remain empty. My stomach grumbled as it remained empty. My vision clear as it remained empty of any food. The top of the mountain looked daunting now, as I watched another eagle take their place on my perch, this domain was now his to rule I figured.