An Owl's Rise



After the attacking human army had reorganized itself, their assault began anew.

To start a massive wave of magic spells came flying towards the Roost.

However, despite the entire sky being blotted out by these attacks, the owls of the Roost were not immediately overrun. While it had been ejected from the separate dimension it had been housed within, the Roost still had other protections that were operational and working as intended.

A massive film-like barrier surrounded the sixteen trees of the inner circle of the Roost that made up the major halls such as the Alchemy Hall. Even being forced out into a volcanic region these trees held up and continued their normal functions. They acted as a last bastion of defense for the Roost and what might have been considered a paranoid level of security since the Roost was normally unable to be affected by outside forces was now proving its worth.

The strongest of the human attackers may have been dealing with Minerva, but that did not mean that they did not have other impeccable individuals with them. There were a few that had reached archmagi rank which was the highest rank for humans and equivalent to the calamity rank for beasts. Granted they were all at the low tier as the four that had gone to fight against Minerva were the only ones that had breached the floor of the highest rank.

The spells that had come from these individuals were clearly in another league and Evelyn watched in fear and awe as the first wave smashed against the barrier protecting what remained of the Roost.

Nevertheless, even with thousands of magic attacks hitting it, the barrier held strong through the first wave. Some small cracks had formed, but they quickly began to repair themselves.

"Loose." Melisandre said, her voice expanding over a wide area.

The moment after the first wave of attacks came from the human invaders, the now coordinated groups of owls focused around the Hall Masters fired back with their own magic.

While the barrier protecting them blocked all outside attacks, it seamlessly allowed attacks from inside to pass through, creating the perfect bulwark.

This made the battle similar to a siege, with the humans attacking a powerful fort that the owls were defending. Sure, the owls of the Roost were outnumbered, but they had the far better defensible position with centuries worth of magical inscriptions to protect the inner circle of the major Halls. 

'There really is nothing I can do.' Evelyn thought as she watched exchange after exchange of magic on a scale she had never witnessed before.

As powerful as she was for her rank and tier, her individual strength meant little in this battle between so many. She would need to be nearly as strong as Melisandre to have an impact on her own. She could unleash all of her power at once, and it would still only be a drop in a bucket compared to the immense amount of magic being blasted around.

In fact, all of the owls at her rank were not firing off their own spells, but instead sending their magical energy into giant magic tools that unleashed magic on a greater scale than possible for a single awakened rank owl to produce.

With the use of magical tools like these, even the weaker owls could participate in the battle by offering up their magical energy.

Of course, Evelyn and her companions were not included among this group. Melisandre kept her close since she was the target of the humans. Or more precisely, the Aethersphere that was imbedded within her was.

From Melisandre's observations, which she relayed to Evelyn; it was clear that the entire Tyrannis Union had come to attack them.

Among the Tyrannis Union which was one of the major powers on the continent was the Deamhain Sect, the organization that originally possessed the Aethersphere and captured Evelyn and her family to use as test subjects.

It was all but certain that the Deamhain Sect was responsible for the current attack on the Roost. They were the only ones that knew that Evelyn had the Aethersphere after all.

'If only I had not run into them in the Elmot Gorge, they would have not known I was in the Roost.' Evelyn thought bitterly.

During the hectic fight between beasts and humans she had been spotted by one of the men that had originally captured her and failed to kill him before he gave her away. Naturally she had been wearing her identification cuff that proved she belonged to the Roost.

Plus, Verrader had been specifically sent by the leader of the Deamhain Sect to spy on her and eventually deliver her to him. However, he betrayed them in the end and chose Evelyn and Anneli, his family, over the group that had brainwashed him.

Unfortunately, his betrayal had been the catalyst for the attack on the Roost from the Tyrannis Union.

Without any doubt, the Tyrannis Union had not originally known about the Aethersphere, with only the Deamhain Sect having sole possession of the divine item. But when it became clear that they would not be able to retrieve it on their own, their only recourse was to bring out the entire might of the Tyrannis Union and give up on monopolizing the Aethersphere's power.

As one of the three greatest powers on the continent, the Tyrannis Union could not abide by the Roost obtaining such an item. In the future Evelyn could easily become strong enough to be a major threat if she could develop her power. 

Magic continued to fly between both sides and powerful explosions shook the entire area and created blinding flashes that made the landscape nearly impossible to discern.

Luckily, since the opening attack before they had reorganized, the Roost had not suffered a single casualty. The powerful barrier protecting them had replaced every attack sent their way, while their own attacks were beating away at the enemy.

For a time, it looked like the Roost had gained the unquestionable advantage, but the Tyrannis Union was not among the greatest powers on the continent for nothing. The magic protecting the Roost was not going to last against them.