After the door closed, I heard three sets of footsteps head away from the room. It didn’t seem like they were going to leave a guard outside the room.

Just to make sure I decided to call out. “Hey! Hey! Can you hear me?”

No response.

There was only a small grill on the door as a window to corridor, but I still went to check what I could see. Not much. I could just about tell that there was no one in front of the door. Still, I couldn’t be sure that there wasn’t someone stood, just to the side of my limited field of view. I walked to the far side of the room. There was something I needed to try.

“Celine?” I asked out loud in the hope she would hear.

I waited for a moment, but there was no response. I called out her name again this time a little louder. There was no reply again. I knew right away she couldn’t hear me. I didn’t doubt that if she could, she would have responded. I had been hoping from the moment I was lifted into the air that I would be easily rescued by Celine.

In my panic I hadn’t thought about it rationally, but now I was alone in the room hoping for a response, it made sense. Celine had used a lot of her strength before we were attacked. Sure, I had replenished some of her energy, but not completely and we were interrupted halfway. Teleporting seemed to drain her more than anything else. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise that she wasn’t able to follow me here. Now I just had to hope she could tell where I was and that the others were already on their way here. Because if they weren’t, I would have to find my own way out of here.

I had unconsciously begun to pace up and down the room, as I thought about my situation. So, I decided to sit on the edge of the bed and calm down a little. My friends were unlikely to leave me behind. I was sure that they must have some idea of where I was now. I just had to wait until they came for me and of course, if I could find an opportunity to escape, I would.

It was just what happened in the intervening time that worried me now. I could expect the captain to interview me, I had heard her say as much myself. So far, I hadn’t been treated roughly, there was no reason for to assume that I would be tortured. It was just the conversation between Ceraphine and the other harpies that worried me. I really wanted to still be in one piece after the captain. I didn’t know much about harpies, but something was telling me that they weren’t hoping they could inflict violence on me. I would find out soon enough what they had meant.

I heard footsteps approaching as I sat on the bed. They stopped outside the door. It fell quiet for a moment, then the door was pushed open. Just as I expected it was the captain from before. Only now she looked less annoyed that she had been before, she almost had a smug expression as she stepped into the room. She closed the door and strode into the room, her large chest wobbling under the thin strip of material that covered her.

She stopped a few feet from the bed. “Are you ready to tell me what you and your friends were doing in our lands?”

“I’m not going to tell you anything.” I replied defiantly.

“I see. Well, I’ve reported the activity. Your friends will soon be caught, and the truth will become known. So, let’s continue on our own here.”

I didn’t think that they would be caught so easily, but…

“Continue?” I asked unsure of what she meant.

“Yes. You might not talk, but I’ll still get what I want from you.”

“What is it that you want from me?”

“Surely you already know that. Harpy behaviour is common knowledge.” She said as she slowly approached me.

“Urgh, could you humour me? There aren’t any harpies where I come from.”

“Hmm interesting human. Do you really not know, or are you just trying to make me say it for your own enjoyment.”

“I really don’t know. Honestly!”

“Really, well I’m not sure if I believe you, but I’ll play along and tell you anyway.”

“Thanks…”

“You see we harpies have very, very few males. That means we must mate with other races just to survive. Obviously, it’s frowned upon us to take mates without their consent from the demon races. That doesn’t matter with you humans. There are few of the other races that can mate with us, so we take matters into our own hands.”

“Oh, I see.” I said as my situation started to dawn on me.

It wasn’t that she wasn’t attractive, but I would like to at least have a choice in the matter.

“Do you? Well, turn around.”

“Turn around?”

“Yes, I want to unbind you.”

“Look, I’m not sure if I want to go through with this.”

“You don’t have a choice!”

She flicked her leg up in the air. At first, I only felt the rush of air across my face, but then I felt a warm trickle of blood. It was only a shallow cut, but I was still surprised how sharp her talons were. I hadn’t felt a thing at first and it was clearly just a warning to show what she was capable of. I stood up and spun around, holding my bound hands out behind me. She flicked her feet up again and I felt my hands go loose from the rope. It was what she wanted, but at least now I could use my skills in any direction I needed. I turned back to face her once again.

“Good, you should just do as I ask. This doesn’t have to be unpleasant for you.” She told me, her lips making a smile.

“O-okay.” I replied while putting my hands out in front of me.

I didn’t want to be cut again and if she realised something was up, she might to more than a little scratch next time. If I did anything and she realised, I could be seriously hurt. Knowing this as she stepped forward, I used the skill I thought would bring about the best outcome “interrogate.” She paused for a moment and tilted her head as if she had noticed something.

“Please get on the bed.” She asked.

Not wanting to argue with her I did just as she asked and climbed on the bed. Had it had no effect? Was she somehow immune like the dark elf I encountered? The skill had seemed to affect each of the races in subtly different ways and it definitely felt like something had happened this time. She did say please when she asked me to climb on the bed.

I laid on my back once I was on the bed and took a longer look at this woman. She was pretty hot, there was no doubt about it. If I didn’t know better, I would have confused the harpies as another race of beastkin. Apart from the talons for feet, the short black feathers that stopped a little above the knee, she almost looked human. Well, there was the wings too. As soon as I had settled on the bed she climbed on after me.

“Are you sure you have to do this?” I asked daring to test the effects.

“We can talk later. Right now, I need to mate.”

She had climbed over me and was sat on my lap. She fiddled with the strip of material covering her chest behind her back. After a moment it came loose and drifted to the floor, revealing her ample breasts. Well as far as interviews I’d had in the past this one wasn’t going too badly. I suppose I might as well just enjoy the situation for now.