Grace

Hopes Vanish When Death Plans Its Visit

Nyra looked at all the owls which now stood a short distance away from her. It didn't seem as if Kludd even cared about the golden owl - it was probably her own paranoia that led her to this.

Nyra was a lot of things and she admitted it. She was a killer. She had a vicious streak and was most certainly ambitious. Upon seeing Kludd's potential, she couldn't help also developing a crush on owl as much as some owls might think her manipulative for using his apparent feelings for him to show him what he could be.

She didn't know, though, that she could ever be gullible or paranoid. That she her own mind would turn against her with such absurd conclusions. Conclusions that would paint her favourite Tyto as a traitor to her. Conclusions that had led to this.

Nyra did not want Kludd to think she did not trust him. If he did, that could be the end of their relationship.

She could have very well stepped in and made sure that Kludd remembered who he was marrying. Plenty of other owls would have done so. Return, however, seemed like the more sensible option. With any luck, Kludd will never find out that she had been spying on him.

Flapping her wings, she ascended as far up to the sky as possible, to look like something small, something that did not look like an owl, so that no-one would know it was her. It would only be a day's flight if she was lucky and a sandstorm wasn't going to delay her flight. Not even if it were the middle of the dry season in the desert, adding to the commonality of dry winds and sandstorms.

[ --- ]

Kludd looked up to the heavens to see a small bird - probably a desert dwelling songbird or parrot – soaring through the largely cloudless sky. At the sight, he found himself reminded of St. Aegolious and Nyra, though he'd come to realise that thoughts of Nyra had grown scarcer with each passing day. He'd chalked it up to being preoccupied with other things though. As the bird disappeared from sight, the place he'd come to known as home had left his recent memories once more, fading into the shadows.

When he remembered again, it was as Grace had already found another rock to try pick at the rope around herself again. At that moment he stood up, before looking to the soldiers who were still guarding the other protesting traitors. "We will be returning to St. Aegolious immediately. Four of you all grab an owl. We'll be returning with them as proof that no one rebels against the pure without consequence," Kludd commanded.

"Yes, Metal Beak, sir!" came a resounding cry.

"Raven," Kludd motioned to one of the free owls once the rest had grabbed a captive of their own, "you will guard our tails, while I will ensure nothing we're protected from the front."

Raven nodded, waiting for the other owls to take to the skies before tailing them. The linear set up they had going on was disrupted by the rambunctious, squirming prisoners, much to Kludd's displeasure.

"Urgh! Let go off me you brute!" Blaze complained, snapping at the owl that was carrying her. He had to say though, he was rather impressed by the strength of his followers – they'd managed to carry owls only a tiny fraction lighter than them – along with their stamina. After all, they would be flying for days. So, it wasn't all a disaster.

"You have no right to command me, traitor. Only Metal Neak has the right to," the owl snapped back at her.

"That's right, Razor," Kludd conceded, a sensation of satisfaction and pride welling up in him. After all that time trying to train and gain the loyalty and respect of a bunch of disloyal owlets, he was glad to be back among the Pure that knew their place. "I would remember that if I were you, Blaze," he turned to fly up to her, snapping at her with his beak as a reminder. "I am the only one who can tell these owls what to do."