This badge is of Barakis my bearded vulture. He is also a character in the book I'm writing, Reign of Ice.

Badge artwork done for me as a commission by DarkIceWolf on Fur Affinity.

I have to say I'm having so much fun writing about him! Barakis is highly intelligent but also rather arrogant. He never passes up an opportunity to look down on others or talk down to them. Very cunning and not to be underestimated mentally or physically. As a bearded vulture, Barakis can not only be aggressive but is also surprisingly strong. He's not someone you want to mess with. Everyone in the book assumes or suspects that he's a spy. The real question is for whom?

Following below is a small excerpt from the book:

Stubbornly, Timber kept his eyes closed for a few more moments waiting for his erratic heartbeat to finally calm down a bit. When he no longer felt like his heart was going to jump out of his chest he opened his eyes and saw Barakis standing there at his head staring down at him.

“I can see now why other animals avoid bearded vultures like the plague. I take back every nice thought I ever had about you,” Timber growled uncharitably as he lay stubbornly in the snow letting his heartbeat slowed down to more normal levels.

“Did you die?”

“I nearly got my head taken off!”

“But did you die?”

“That's not the point!”

“It's completely the point. You're alive, confirmed a very important theory, and suffered only minimal mental trauma in the process. I call that success,” Barakis said fluffing his feathers a bit before stepping aside. As expected he didn't so much as offer a hand to help Timber get up again.