An Owl's Rise

'What is happening here?'

Watching in astonishment Evelyn could not believe the battle she was witnessing.

After drinking the golden potion that Melisandre had given her, all of her wounds that were incredibly grave began to mend themselves and she no longer felt on the edge of death.

Of course, she was still terribly exhausted, but the sight before her had been enough to make her forget about her fatigue.

She had known that Melisandre was strong, but what she was witnessing was beyond anything she had ever expected to see.

It even made the output of her power under the unleashed potential look cute by comparison.

And on the other side it was clear that the empress dryad had never taken dealing with Evelyn or any of the other owls with any amount of seriousness.

The attacks she had been using on Melisandre were wholly on another level, and it was clear that now that she was not maintaining a massive barrier that she could use her true power.

'So, this is what the peak of the sovereign rank looks like. But if Melisandre is already this strong, what kind of power do those beasts that reach the calamity rank possess?' Evelyn thought as she was continual astounded by the fight she was witnessing.

Eventually the battle became completely obscured when Hollis erupted in a bright light, and for a moment Evelyn thought that where she and Bylur was going to be swallowed.

Luckily the attack did not reach where they were, near the base of the mountain. But the aftermath of the attack left Evelyn stunned.

Around the top two-thirds of the mountain had been completely vaporized, leaving and open area where once a massive peak had been.

This was a power Evelyn could hardly comprehend, and truly made her realize how crazy this world was.

'Did she blow herself up?'

Seeing that Melisandre was the only one in the air, Evelyn wondered if the empress dryad had gotten so frustrated she used a suicide attack.

However, this notion did not last long when she saw a forest of massive trees begin sprouting up out of the ground and proliferating to attack Melisandre.

Their large branches went at her like seeking spears, but Evelyn's master was not going to be done in by that and expertly dodged and blocked everything coming her way.

And just as Evelyn was beginning to feel extreme pride for Melisandre's abilities, the worst happened.

Hollis' main body erupted from the ground and caught ahold of her.

Watching his happen, Evelyn started to panic and a fear she had not felt for a long time gripped her.

She was all too familiar with the loss of those she cared about and watching Melisandre getting crushed made her realize that in her heart she already thought of this mentor who had picked her up like family.

'No, not again!' Evelyn thought as tears started flowing down her face.

Yet by some miracle the bloody pulp she had expecting Melisandre to be turned into by the empress dryad's immense strength never came to be.

Her master's wings erupted in a pitch-black flame and carved right through her enemy like butter, and immediately relief came to Evelyn.

'She won! She really beat that monster!'

Evelyn could almost not believe how spectacular the ending of the fight was, and all of the worry she had been feeling practically evaporated all at once.

Then after a few minutes Melisandre returned.

When she did Evelyn asked her about the black flames she had used to finish the fight and found out that Melisandre was not only proficient with water and fire, but also darkness.

"But enough about that. We need to move to collect the rest of your squad. Some of the others might still be alive."

After Melisandre said this Evelyn snapped back up and remembered that there were three members of her squad that also escaped the initial assault of the empress dryad.

It was still possible that some or all of them were alive even after the devastating battle that had just occurred.

They had simply been blown away by the sheer force of their enemy but never actively attacked, so their chances of survival were not zero.

"You are right let us get going." Evelyn said, ecstatic that Melisandre had won and that she had survived.

She knew just how close she was to death's door for the second time, and after all the progress and connections she had made in this world she had no desire to die.

However, when she tried to fly, she suddenly felt a wave of pain and fatigue throughout her body.

'What the hell is this?!' Evelyn thought as the pain assaulted her.

It was focused in two areas. One in her chest and the other in her lower left side.

Except at first, she could not understand where the pain was coming from since all of her wounds had been heled by the miraculous potion Melisandre had given her.

Still, it only took her a few moments to realize what was in each of these locations and why they were in such pain.

Close to her chest was where her beast core was located, and on her lower left side where the magic core she had miraculous form was.

Each of these were power centers where she stored her magical energy, and her affinities were located.

Unfortunately, she did not have long to think about what was going on before she passed out. The world going black around her.

'Where am I?' Evelyn thought when she seemed to come to consciousness.

Yet she quickly concluded there was no way she was really awake.

All around her was a distorted shimmering blue pace that seemed to go on forever.

And another thing that led her to know this was not reality was the form she had. She was back to looking like she had before dying. Back to being a human girl.

'Wow this is weird. I had nearly forgotten what it was like to have hand.' Evelyn thought as she moved her arms in front of her.

But as she looked at them, she froze and stared in disbelief. All up and down her arms, up to her shoulder, all over her torso, and down to her legs were cracks. Like a porcelain doll that had been dropped and nearly shattered.