Extract from Prologue

Finally, she was level with the nest. Steadying herself on the narrow limb, she inched forward. The nest was within reach now. In the nest, she could see four speckled, blue eggs, exposed and unprotected. Gripping the branch in one hand, she reached out with the other to touch one.
Suddenly, there was a screech, and something black and furious hurled itself like a projectile right at her head. The parent bird! Startled, she brought her arms up to her face to shield herself. In doing so, she lost her hold on the branch. The next instant, she slipped from the branch and fell…
…straight into the arms of a green-faced creature with a long nose and pointy ears. It grinned, displaying a row of needlepoint teeth. With a shriek, she rolled out of its arms to the ground. When she looked up, it had vanished.