An Owl's Rise

Certainly, it had mostly been a pipe dream, something that was not likely to actually happen. But her seniors Anneli and Katrina had come through for her.

Unfortunately, it seemed that her celebration had been premature.

Once she began reading the message further, she found that obtaining the float stones was not going to be a simple procedure.

Why? Because where the deposit does not belong to the territory of the Roost.

Katrina and Anneli found it just beyond the border of where the Roost's territory stops, and their ally the foxes' territory begins.

This meant that they could see where the float stones were located, but they had no claim to it.

"I mean this cannot be that big of a problem, right? I may not know much about the Roost's relationships with other beasts, but they are allies. I am sure that I can facilitate some sort of trade with them if I go through Melisandre.' Evelyn thought, not allowing herself to get down.

Quickly she wrote up a response and ripped it out of the notebook she had.

The slightly glowing white piece of paper then folded itself into a bird and began flying towards its target.

Watching it fly away Evelyn let out a slight sigh now that her mood had fallen and went to gather up the rest of her squad and return to the expedition's camp.

When they made it back everyone else went to sleep to recovery after a long day, but Evelyn sat there impatiently waiting for Katrina to send her back another message.

She was completely wired, and she knew that se would not be able to get any rest until she knew more about the situation.

'Ah, there it is!'

Spotting the flying white message Evelyn in her excitement did not even wait for it to travel the last thousand feet and flew to intercept it.

Taking ahold of it, she hastily opened it up and began reading.

Though as she did, she scowled since it did not come with a favorable response.

'Sorry Evelyn, I wish it were that easy. If it were the crows that found it that might be possible, but the foxes cannot inherently fly like us, so they have more uses for such a rare mineral. They are also sly and cunning and only make deals that highly benefit them. Especially when they have the upper hand. It is highly likely they would ask for something that not even I or Anneli could obtain in return. And the instant you show interest in it any chance of obtaining it will be pretty much impossible. You really only have two options. Give up; or steal it. Take some time to make your decision. Anneli and I will help you out however we can with whatever you decide.'

Reading through the message a few times Evelyn began clenching her beak incredibly tightly in frustration.

The item she was here for was so close but out of reach.

'What should I do? It is possible that we could find another deposit in the area afforded to the Roost, but it is not guaranteed. And if I pass it up now, I probably will not get another chance at this deposit. Just like how we brought in more personnel to secure the magic crystal mine we found, the foxes are likely to do the same with the float stone. If I want to steal some, I will need to do it before they have properly secured it.'

Evelyn continued to toil around with what to do, but she found both positives and negatives in either approached.

If she was found out it could end up with her being killed or possibly even the Roost going to war with the foxes.

Of course, her other options were not that much different, since unless she got lucky enough to come across another deposit on this continent that was in owl territory, she would have to attack humans instead. Who she frankly wanted nothing to do with ever again if she could help it.

'Why am I even hesitating? There is only one answer I can go with. I already decided to do whatever I had to in order to get stronger.'

Finding her resolve, Evelyn wrote another message to Katrina telling her that she intended to steal the float stone from the foxes and that she would like their help if possible.

After sending out this message she felt a calm come over her now that the path forward was certain. If she had to make an enemy out of the entire world to reach her goal, she would do so.

Soon enough another message came flying in which confirmed that Katrina and Anneli would help her.

'So, we will meet up tomorrow halfway between our current positions in an area that is incredibly low in magical energy to avoid any threats or being found out so that we can make a plan in person. All I need to do is slip away unnoticed while the expedition unit is resting.'

With the next step settled and nothing else for her to do today, the focus that had kept Evelyn awake quickly waned, and the fatigue of the day caught up with her and she drifted off to sleep.

The next day came and went just like normal with her squad exploring their designated area and recording any valuable finds that they came across.

Overall, it was uneventful, and other than finding a small outcropping of a rare magical plant called star clovers nothing of note happened.

Then once they had returned and everything began to settle down Evelyn prepared to leave the encampment to go and meet up with Anneli and Katrina.