Between the Veil and Crown

Kylin 44

Vicious had not settled down in the night, and Kylin could not blame her. He and Ime had a restless night as well, the images of the transformation playing in their heads. She knew where the bag of eggs were and stayed as far away as her rope allowed her. When Kylin greeted her in the morning and attempted to feed her, she refused, watching the eggs with round eyes while her ears went in all directions.

When Kylin recorded the incident in his journal, he had skipped illustrating any part of it. None of the previous illustrations had been able to prepare him for what he witnessed, and he could only pass that knowledge by writing that he hoped no one else would have the same experience.

As few words as possible were spoken in the morning. The grimness of the situation had left little room for small talk. Every so often, at least one person would glance at the tops of the trees, as though they were expecting the strix to appear so suddenly.

Kylin gathered the group he had been given, gave a nod to Shaelren as his only farewell, and then struggled with the task of convincing Vicious mount while carrying the eggs. When he was finally up it was only a matter of minutes before she was a sweating mess.

As they traveled, one of the hunters broke off branches they passed and whittled them into stakes, dropping them in his saddlebags when he was finished. Whenever they paused for any reason, he grabbed a handful out of his bags and discreetly tucked them into his fellow hunters' saddlebags.

And pausing was not uncommon. Any time a sound above them was heard, their horses were halted, bows were gripped and arrows were reached for. They waited until Kylin gave them the all clear, when nothing else could be heard.

As much comfort as his hearing gave him, he was also apprehensive about its ability to hear the strix. Owls in general were silent flyers. Even the sharp ears of Elves had a hard time picking it up, much less a half-Elf. Who was to say that a strix didn't keep the owl's deadly silence? He had only heard it last time because of its clumsiness.

The tension only got worse when night fell. A part of Kylin wanted to continue. The sooner they got to headquarters, the better. But it was clear that Vicious's nerves could not take much more. He called for a stop and set up a shift schedule. It became unnecessary as it was difficult for any of them to sleep. In the morning, they were just as ragged as the night before.

It was a sight of relief when they stepped in view of headquarters. Kylin put Vicious in the care of the horse master, who was greatly alarmed at her condition. Kylin could only give him a grim look before sprinting off to find Vivienne, leaving the hunters to explain what was going on.

Vivienne was in the beast wing of headquarters, located at the base of the cliff and taking up nearly the entirety of the bottom. Not only did it contain Vivienne's office and quarters, but it also had enough space for whatever the Beast Master brought in. Vaguely remembering Vivienne mentioning that she had a peryton fawn, Kylin waited outside of the beast wing, having someone else go in and inform her. If the eggs stressed out Vicious, there was no telling what kind of stress it would cause the peryton fawn, and he wasn't going accidentally find out by stumbling on Vivienne while she was caring for it.

He did not have to wait long. Vivienne hurried out when she got the message. She beckoned him in and steered him into an empty section.

The section was clearly meant for a bird creature. In the middle of the room was a table carved to help simulate the feel of a nest. Cabinets lined the walls with special bird-proof latches. The room itself was circular and the wall were wooden, giving the sense of being in a tree. Vivienne gestured for Kylin to drop the eggs into the middle of the table. She opened one of the cabinets and pulled out balls of light, affixed to arms to attach to the table.