An Owl's Rise

Her nerves had been building up since Melisandre told her the day before that she would have to personally meet with the Roost's reclusive leader.

As far as she knew, only those that were part of the upper brass ever had any contact with her but now out of pretty much nowhere Evelyn was being brought before her.

'For all I know she might notice the heavenly flame and decide to rip it out of me. I doubt that even Melisandre could stop the Roost's leader if she really wanted to do something to me.' Evelyn thought as her breathing became shallow and labored.

She was afraid that this meeting might end with her dead or possible tied up and experimented on again.

Of course, Melisandre assured her that this would just be a simple meeting. She would only have to thank the leader of the Roost for supplying the golden drops that had been used to keep her alive during her evolution process.

Still, it started at the back of her mind that something more might happen and now this thought had creeped its way to the forefront.

'I just have to get through this. I know there is no way to cack out. If something happens, there was nothing I could do about it. There is no point in being afraid of the inevitable.'

Evelyn managing to calm herself down a bit began moving towards the door in order to head to where Melisandre was waiting. Though she still shook a bit as she did.

Soon enough she had made it to the front entrance where Melisandre was waiting as well.

Unfortunately, her normally confident master had a somewhat strained expression which showed that even she was on edge a little. This naturally did not help with Evelyn's own misgivings about this meeting.

"Well let us go. It is time for you to meet our leader and the strongest owl within the Roost." Melisandre said to Evelyn before turning around.

The large set of doors leading into the estate then opened up before them and they set out into the air. Their destination the largest tree that sat in the middle of the Roost.

"Evelyn, wait here for a second. There is a barrier here preventing unauthorized entities from entering. I will need to get permission for you to enter."

Nodding her head, Evelyn did as she was asked to and waited while Melisandre slipped through the barrier without any problem.

And to Evelyn's surprise not only did the barrier keep beings out but also obscured what was going on beyond. As Melisandre completely disappeared from view.

Around ten minutes later Melisandre reappeared and with her was another humanoid owl who Evelyn had never seen before.

However, this owl gave off a similar presence if not a more imposing one as Melisandre, and Evelyn could tell just how powerful they were.

"I have been ordered to bring you to see Lady Minerva. My name is Georgine, and I am our leader's head attendant. Give me a moment to register you for temporary entry." The new owl whose name was Georgine said to Evelyn.

An instant later the identification cuff on Evelyn's leg began to glow and when it died down Georgine said, "Everything is ready now. Please follow me."

With that she took off back into the barrier. Leaving Evelyn no time to ask anything.

"Come on. Now is not the time to freeze up. Georgine can be pretty harsh if you inconvenience Lady Minerva." Melisandre said to prompt Evelyn who had frozen up to move.

Hearing Melisandre's warning Evelyn snapped out of her stupor and followed along. Finding that she was able to pass through the barrier with ease.

On the other side she had been expecting to see something completely different from the image transmitted by the barrier, but found that it looked pretty much exactly the same.

The only thing that was different was the presence of a few owls that were moving around.

All of them were certainly at or above the tyrant rank as they had humanoid forms. Which Evelyn had already figured out was something that could only be achieved beyond the awakened rank

"This way. And make sure to stay close. As you are just a visitor if you stray too far from me before we arrive the defenses will detain you." Georgine said to Evelyn.

After that they flew right towards the top of the massive tree that easily several miles tall and more impressive up close than Evelyn could have imagined.

Soon they had ascended up to the top of the tree and just like where Melisandre lived there as an estate that had been built there.

Georgine purposefully led them through a side entrance and began taking them down the large hallways that were bigger than any Evelyn had ever seen.

'I think they might be able to fly a jumbo jet through this place!' Evelyn thought in astonishment.

Along the way she kept her eyes out but other than some tapestries on the walls the place was empty, and they did not run into any other owls along the way.

Eventually they stopped at a set of massive and ornate doors and even with them closed Evelyn could feel an overwhelming presence on the other side.

"Beyond here is Lady Minerva. As she has asked, I have brought you here and will leave you alone. But take head to keep you disciple in line Melisandre." Georgine said before flying away.

Once she was gone the doors began to open all on their own and a large room opened up before Evelyn and Melisandre.

Taking the lead, Melisandre headed in first, with Evelyn right behind her.

Yet the moment Evelyn entered she stopped abruptly. Right before her eyes was the largest owl she had ever seen.

She had mostly golden feathers with a pattern of dark read going down her chest and out to her wings.

Overall, she easily stood over a hundred feet tall, and dwarfed Evelyn by comparison.

'I now know for certain. That serpent really was at the calamity rank.'

Seeing the leader of the Roost, Evelyn finally had someone to compare the massive snake curled around the flower that reached into the sky that she had met in the deadlands.

"Evelyn, bow you head!" Melisandre said after a couple of seconds of Evelyn staring in a daze.

Frantically she looked forward and saw the Melisandre had her head lowered and quickly moved to follow suit.

A loud laugh then reverberated through the room and Evelyn shook more and more with each chuckle.

"Please be at ease you two. There is no need to be on edge. This is just a friendly gathering for me to meet the disciple you have told me so much about Melisandre." The leader of the Roost said.

Then the most astounding thing happened. The form of the giant owl in front of them started to rapidly shrining down until they had taken a humanoid form.