part of her fear was the structure itself , built of murkwood , whose bark was the toughest and darkest material found in lurien , and thus considered suitable only for beasts ; once she stepped inside , stooped and cringing , the coop felt like a trap , the only way out of which was by confronting an even greater fear : to shoo away the hens , who never abandoned their nests peacefully , stick her hand inside the putrid tangles of excrement-spattered straw , and collect the eggs carefully , all the while being attacked from all sides by the fluttering monsters and their leader , a brown rooster who often flew as high as her head , perched on her shoulder and jabbed relentlessly at her mask , trying to tear through the hardcloth mesh and poke her eyes out with his beak .