An Owl's Rise

Evelyn sat alone in the back of a large warehouse while inside a cage.

There were manacles around her feet and a strong rope tied around her wings to keep her from moving. From all appearances she looked to be completely restrained.

'He's still not here. What is taking so long.' Evelyn thought impatiently.

She was carefully listening to her surroundings with her impeccable hearing. Waiting for her target to arrive.

Since early in the morning she had been stuck in the same place, with uncomfortable bindings constricting her.

Nevertheless, Evelyn waited intently for Uriah. She would continue to play her role as a captured owl until the perfect time to strike.

Fortunately, she did not have to wait much longer. The sound of the wheels of a vehicle reached her ears, signaling the arrival of her hated foe.

Soon the large doors to the warehouse opened, and Uriah entered alone.

"Looks like the intel we received was right again. I shouldn't have gone to that shame informant first." Uriah said upon seeing Evelyn in her cage.

She had to restrain herself from immediately breaking free and ripping him to shreds. Right now, he was still far enough away that there was a chance he could react in time to her attack.

To catch him completely off guard, Evelyn needed to wait for him to approach.

"This one seems quite a bit stronger than the other. I think it might be a tyrant rank. They really did try to hide the best from us. But there's no point in such a weak Sect trying to oppose the Deamhain Sect. They should have just rolled over and delivered the goods when asked. It would have been easier and better for everyone that way."

Uriah continued to voice his thoughts while walking around Evelyn's cage and appraising her.

Once he finished his cursory look, he began moving his hands and cast a spell.

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A moment later to large earth arms rose up from the ground and seized the cage.

'Now!'

The instant Uriah turned around and began walking back towards his vehicle to load Evelyn on to it, she struck.

With a single flex of his wings, she tore apart the rope binding her wings and shattered the shackles around her feet.

Then, with a single wave of her wings, she created a powerful gust of wind that sucked Uriah towards her.

A loud band rung at as he slammed into the metal bars.

While her target was stunned by her opening attack, she had transformed back into her humanoid form.

"Gotcha!" Evelyn squealed happily as she closed her hand around the back of Uriah's neck.

Before he could react to the sudden developments, she pushed her way out of the cage and used her wind magic to forcefully shut the warehouse doors.

"None of that now."

Uriah attempted to cast another spell to attack Evelyn, but she simply squeezed down on his neck with greater force to stop him. It became utterly clear that whoever had him in a vice grip was far stronger physically and could break his neck easily.

"W-who are you?" Uriah wheezed out.

"Oh, you don't remember? But we have such a history together."

In a single swift movement, Evelyn spun her captive around and grabbed the front of his neck this time.

Despite her smaller stature in her humanoid form, Evelyn still easily held Uriah up with a single hand. Her strength was that of a tyrant rank beast, something a mage rank human could never hope to contend with directly.

In a desperate move, Uriah moved to kick Evelyn once he was facing her.

However, before he finished pulling his leg back, he felt a sharp pain assaulted him, and a sickening crunching sound rang out.

With a single quick motion, Evelyn had struck his leg and shattered his femur.

A pained scream rose up in Uriah's throat, but Evelyn tightened her grip and prevented any sound from escaping.

"You're really incorrigible." Evelyn said, shaking her head like a disappointed teacher.

Realizing that he was hopelessly outmatched, Uriah had been reaching for a spell talisman hidden up his sleeve, but Evelyn grabbed his hand and broke his wrist before he could activate it.

Yet the moment she did so, she regretted it.

A flash of her past life when her father had broken her own wrist forced its way to the forefront of her mind. It was an unpleasant experience that she tried never to remember. Her own actions being what made her recall it now disgusted her.

"I suppose that is enough punishment. What you did to me was a thousand times worse, but I'm not as cruel as you people."

Evelyn laxed her hold on Uriah, and with his airway open again, he coughed violently and began sucking down air to relieve his strained lungs.

When he had recovered a bit, he glared directly into Evelyn's eyes. Staring directly into her hateful gaze.

Now that he was able to get a good look at her, he remembered seeing her at the party for the Miris Sect's Grand Elder's niece's welcome party.

She was supposedly a mercenary friend of Maeve.

"What could I have possibly done to you? We've not even properly met before." Uriah said, confused as to where Evelyn's animosity was coming from.

But as he continued to look into her rage filled eyes, a couple further back memories surfaced.

He had seen these eyes before on several occasions. And always they glared at him the same way.

"That's impossible! There's just no way."

Uriah didn't want to believe what his mind was telling him. That before him was the owl that had merged with the Deamhain Sect's Divine Item.

"Ah, it seems that you've finally recognized me. Yes, I'm that small, helpless owl you captured in the Deadlands. I've come back to return the courtesy you showed me all those years ago." Evelyn responded spitefully.

Fear clouded Uriah's face once Evelyn confirmed who she was. He could still remember their last encounter in the Elmot Gorge and how she nearly killed him then. Certainly, he had applied himself and gotten stronger since then, but to his horror, Evelyn had reached even greater heights.

"How? How could a beast that was only born a few years ago reach the tyrant rank so quickly? You should still be a dumb animal squatting around in the mud."

Normally just reaching the awakened rank should have taken a couple of decades for most beasts, and to advance far enough to become a tyrant rank should have required at least half a century. Yet Evelyn had needed only around a tenth of that amount of time.

"Why are you so surprised? You're the ones that gave me the necessary drive and ability to do so." Evelyn said, pointing to her chest with her free hand.

This gesture reminded Uriah of the Divine Item that Evelyn had within her. Its powers were unclear to the Deamhain Sect, as their only successful test subject had escaped. Though, it was clear from Evelyn's words that it was capable of helping a wild beast advance to the tyrant rank in only a few short years.

Of course, there were many other factors to Evelyn's accelerated growth, but she did not care to explain them to Uriah. She simply wanted him to know that his downfall here today was due to his and his Sect's actions. She wanted him to regret what he had done to her in his last moments.