An Owl's Rise

After the swirling light of the warp portal had faded, Evelyn and her companions found themselves back within the Forest of Giants.

Quickly they exited the room with the warp portal and headed outside just in case there were any pursuers.

When they reached the exit, just as Rehni had informed them when she last left, the wooden guardian knights had reformed.

Thankfully they did not attack them, and their group was able to leave without issue and reenter the forest without issue.

For several minutes they waited nearby to see if any of the humans would leave, but no pursuers came for them as expected.

'It is likely that they do not yet have enough tokens, or in the unlikely scenario they do, that the three humans are not confident in chasing after us.' Evelyn thought.

Still, with a group of humans having invaded the domain it was too dangerous to continue exploring it on their own. Evelyn was certain that they would need help to do so.

"Let us make our way towards the nearest warp portal back to the Roost. We can discuss our next move along the way." Evelyn said.

Turning towards the direction that their return tickets were pointing; their group flew across the forest hastily while coming up with their plan of action.

By the time they reached the nearest warp point, it had already been several hours and the six of them had decided one what to do next.

At Evelyn's suggestion, they would inform Melisandre about the domain and try to get her support to secure it. It was far too valuable a resource to not secure it for the Roost before the humans that had discovered it fully took over.

"Here we are." Evelyn said when the return tickets started to glow, showing they were in range of the portal.

"Otis, I want you to keep an eye on the entrance. We need to know if any of those humans leave, or if more show up. I am counting on you."

"Of course. I will make sure to do it to the best of my ability, Evelyn." Otis responded, a happy smile on his face.

After everything was squared away, Evelyn activated her return ticket and along with Bylur, Rehni, Verrader, and Aralee were bathed in light and warped to the Roost.

In a matter of seconds, they found themselves back in the familiar Warp Hall and the moment the slight vertigo had faded they immediately left and headed to Melisandre's estate.

When they arrived, Anneli came to greet them and happily began bombarding them with questions about their journey.

"Sorry Anneli, time is of the essence I need to speak with Melisandre." Evelyn said, her expression tense and showing how serious the situation was.

Seeing this, Anneli frowned and informed Evelyn that Melisandre was gone. She had gotten a lead on another item that she would need for her evolution and had left a little over a week ago, and it was uncertain when she would return.

"Damn it." Evelyn grumbled.

Without Melisandre's help it would not be guaranteed that they could secure the entrance to the domain. Frankly there was no one else that Evelyn knew and trusted enough at her station that could get things moving quickly.

Perhaps she could have tired to directly inform Minerva the roost's leader, but she was unsure how soon she could get a meeting with her without Melisandre acting as an intermediary.

"Evelyn, you know, if something is bothering you, I do not mind listening. Perhaps Katrina or I can help." Anneli said, a concerned look on her face.

Suddenly popping her head up, Evelyn realized that perhaps Anneli and Katrina would be enough.

Rapidly Evelyn explained about the Verdant Warlord's Domain and explained how a group of powerful humans had found it as well.

Afterwards Anneli wore a hardened expression that Evelyn did not see on her face often.

"This is more serious than I could have imagined. A domain left behind as the heritage of an expert that exceed the peak of the world is about the most valuable thing that anyone can discover. Let me go and get Katrina. She is in the middle of brewing, but I am sure she will not mind having what she is working on ruined for this." Anneli said, before flying away at top speed.

In a matter of minutes, a slightly grumpy looking Katrina came back with her and Evelyn once again explained everything she had learned.

"Okay, the five of you should go to the magic spring as planned and come right back afterwards. Anneli and I will prepare in the meantime. We are going to help you secure that domain." Katrina said, resolutely.

Thanking the two of them for their help, Evelyn led her companions out of Melisandre's estate and headed to the Inscription Hall where they picked up several spell talismans and a few pieces of new gear before heading to the Velinis Desert.

When they arrived, the burrowing Owls welcomed them happily and threw a banquet for tehri arrival since they were all considered honored guests.

Another surprise was that Po had reached the peak of the awakened rank since they had last been there. Apparently, their home had been attacked by a group of scorpions and after eating the core of the leader Po had accumulated enough magical energy to ascend to the peak of his rank.

Hearing this Evelyn contemplated bringing him along as an added force but decided against it. The burrow had just been attacked and she could not risk taking its current leader when po had only recently taken up the position.

As the day wound down, the magic spring eventually began to bubble up with magical energy, and when it was full, Evelyn and her companions dove in and greedily absorbed the abundant magical energy.

Normally they would not mind sharing with the burrowing owls as this was their treasure, but Evelyn knew she and her team needed as much of a power boost as possible and had been a bit forceful and taken the entire spring this time and left some of the goods she had collected in the Forest of Giants with the burrowing owls to compensate them.

"Thank you for your generosity, Po. I promise that next time we will not need to monopolize the spring." Evelyn said, after getting out.

"Think nothing of it, Lady Evelyn. You are our flock's savoir and you have been nothing but generous and fair. Our hospitality is always open to you and your companions." Po said, the same look of reverence as always towards her in his eyes.

Having finished their business in the Velinis desert, Evelyn, Bylur, Rehni, Verrader, and Aralee, left and headed back towards the Roost.

Normally they would have stayed a bit longer to rest, but right now they needed to act fast.

'I can feel that I am close, but I still need more magical energy before I can make the jump to the next tier.' Evelyn thought as they flew over the desert.

None of them had managed to raise their tiers this time which would have been a great boon for their upcoming battle. Alas it was not so easy even with some of the best resources int eh world. It was still going to take them all more time to grow.

At the very least they had increased the amount of magical energy they had and gotten a bit stronger.

As soon as they reached the warp point in the Velinis Desert back to the Roost, the six of them activated their tickets and returned.

Once again, they hastily made their way back to Melisandre's estate to meet up with Anneli and Katrina who were going to be assisting them.

Yet when they came into the entrance, the six of them froze since an owl none of them had ever seen before was their waiting.

'Who is he?' Evelyn thought, taking a defensive position.

The owl before them was in humanoid form, proving that he was at the tyrant rank, and Evelyn could tell that he was around as strong as Anneli and Katrina.

For a few moments Evelyn and her companions just stared at the man as he stared back, but when Katrina entered, she moved to dissipate the tension.

"Sorry about that, I thought that we would need more power, so I called in some help from someone trustworthy. This is Savan, he is an associate of mine." Katrina said.

The man named Savan got up and waved towards them and put on a friendly smile.

"You know after all this time you could introduce me as more than just an associate. I am your husband after all." Savan said with a teasing smile.

Hearing this Evelyn's mind went blank for a moment as she had not known that Katrina was in any relationship at all and never suspected her to have a long-time partner.