Owl in the Daylight

Chapter 16

The day started as it usually did.

Frigid morning breeze creeping in through the small air hole. The orange light rays from the beginning sunrise. The faraway cry of a stray rooster. The cold stone walls of the tower.

Everything was the same.

And yet the world was different.

Audwin knew the answer he was seeking even before he opened his eyes. He could already feel the pain on the inner of his left arm where his dream self was supposed to have branded a mark.

The mark he hoped he would never find once he woke up.

Gritting his teeth, he turned his head to the side, hoping against hope that the pain was from something else. Opening his eyes, tears streamed down his face as he looked down on the "x" mark he burned on his own skin.

At the tender age of eleven, Audwin learned how it was like to be betrayed. No less than by the only person he knew and trusted.

He fell back on his pillow and gritted his teeth. Covering his eyes with an arm, he wanted to scream. He wanted to lash out.

Most of all, he wanted to ask "Why?"

But he couldn't, because his mentor might be watching his every move at this very moment.

No, not my mentor. My jailor.

He felt surrounded, trapped more than ever.
Before, being locked away by himself was nothing.

Now, it was crushing.

Losing track of time, Audwin barely noticed that his silent cries had stopped as he blankly stared at the ceiling. He didn't know what to do next.

Though one thing's certain.

He's on his own now.

As he was before.

Steeling his resolve backed by growing indignant anger, Audwin hid his shattered heart as he set out to win the game that Von started.

***

It was a struggle to conceal his emotions.

For the next few days, Audwin used the excuse of not feeling well enough to take on his lessons. He wasn't ready to be his usual self in front of Von, thus he used this time to think and plan for his next steps.

When they got back to their drills, it was like nothing happened. Audwin appeared to be the same boy who admired his dear mentor. The same good obedient boy who listened.

He did one hell of an act, all the while absorbing everything he could learn to surpass the traitor.

Since Von didn't know that the spell to block off Audwin's awareness during the time the boy was taken out of the tower wore off, Audwin was able to retain his consciousness and watch every single thing he did while under Von's control.

Every person he killed.

Every man he tortured.

Every child's cry for help.

He remembered them all. He never looked away from their helpless faces. He engraved them to his memory.

It was the least he could do for now. But not for long.

Unbeknownst to Von, Audwin was able to master his own mind and built impregnable defenses when he turned thirteen. Needing to keep the facade, he cloaked his victims so they would appear mutilated to Von even though he only made them sleep.

What kept him from blowing his cover was the tower's magical barrier and the fact that he was still weaker than he needed to be.

He knew that if he revealed that he was awake and in control during his outside missions, Von would just lock him back up and place a tighter security around the tower.

That he couldn't afford.

He needed Von's guard down if he's going to break out of there.

***

Everything reached a turning point when he was sixteen.

Audwin was mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausted. Keeping up the pretense for five agonizing years was no easy feat, it may even border on impossible. But he seemed to be naturally adept on masking his true emotions. And it seemed only fair to fool the scum who turned him into a mindless puppet.

Aside from full control of his own mind, Audwin also learned how to control others, albeit his only practice was on rats.

So he wasn't sure how it'd work on a human, but he was able to sneak a tracking spell which also enables him to feel out Von's overall disposition.

It made his skin crawl, sharing a mind link, but he deemed it necessary. He'd hate to be caught unaware.

Audwin was having his usual barrier-destroying session when he received an overwhelming rage from Von's link.

Perking up, he grabbed the nearby wall for support. Audwin was being consumed by Von's rage as if it were his own.

He wanted to kill everyone.

Heart racing, Audwin could feel his magic wanting to burst out of him. Too much was happening too fast.

Close to a breaking point from being torn apart from the inside, Audwin let out a gut-wrenching scream as his enormous mana exploded in all directions, accidentally shattering the magic barrier.

Having no time to ponder over the irony, Audwin almost fell to his kness but held himself back.

He had a more pressing task at hand.

Stopping a massacre.

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Dedicated to @leilani331 (discord) for binge-reading through the night ♡