Slowly walking towards the bright opening, a field of light and life surrounded by gloomy darkness of a dense forest, I glanced around again as if feeling I was forgetting something.

  The Owl’s Nest was as I remembered it. Within the bright field I saw the huge tree in the distance. And parts of their home, amongst other smaller buildings. I was approaching it this time from a different angle than the last but it seemed fine from here at a distance.

  I was walking alone through the dark section of the forest, and was indeed walking calmly.

  Vim had told me I’d not need to worry over the bear, the Shadow Bear, as he called it… and it seemed he was right.

  My lack of smell made it either unable to notice my presence, or made it wary of me. Either way, I wasn’t going to complain. I had worried a little about having to run away from it again, even if I felt a little more comfortable with running for long distances than before.

  I had left Cat with the horses at a small stream nearby. One secluded in a dense forest, away from any nearby villages. She had not wanted to stay at the human village nearby, the one that Vim had mentioned. It seemed Cat, being a member of a secluded village, just simply didn’t feel very comfortable amongst others. Especially when alone.

  Reaching the edge of the darkness, where the dark forest met with the brighter meadow surrounding the huge tree, I spent a tiny moment standing on the boundary.

  Lifting an arm, I reached out and slipped my arm into the lit up area. I felt the warmth of the sun’s rays, and stared at the spot on my arm where it had entered the light.

  I could actually see the spot where the darkness ended and the sunlight began. As if I was in a deep dark shadow, yet it was too dark to be natural. It was more than just the thick treetops above. It was as if I was standing in the middle of a cloudy night, and holding an arm out into normal sunlight.

  Somehow it felt… wrong.

  They called this place the Owl’s Nest. What if…

  Gulping as I realized that name was likely more than just Lilly and her families descriptor, I wondered how long it had taken me to realize that this had likely been a monarch’s nest. A monarch that was an owl.

  Stepping through the boundary, I enjoyed the feeling of the warmth the sunlight brought. The world had begun to grow cold, and damp, and I was strangely susceptible to it at the moment. I blamed the long year Vim and I had spent in the south, during the summer on top of it.

  Taking a small breath, I glanced around again and was a little surprised to find no one nearby. Last time I had come here, Lilly had been waiting for me. But that time I had been getting chased by that bear, so maybe that was why.

  Walking slowly towards the tree, and the large home next to it, I glanced around at the meadow I was now in. There were flowers and scattered small bushes mixed into the healthy grass, but none of it was very tall. The tallest things in this whole meadow were small trees in the distance. Ones that looked like they had things growing upon them.

  “Weren’t there other trees…?” I wondered as I tried to remember. Yes. There had been. Maybe they’re on the other side of the huge tree in the center, and I simply couldn’t see them from here. There should have been a small row of smaller trees, ones that had been planted not too long ago. Saplings of the huge tree this meadow was centered around.

  I glanced up the huge tree and wondered if the monarch had lived within it in the past. I scanned the huge thing for any sign of a hole, or nest, but couldn’t see any.

  “I wonder if Lilly would grow upset if I asked about it,” I mumbled softly.

  A sound drew my attention from the huge tree, and I smiled at the figure in the distance. Someone had opened a window, and before I had been able to see if it had been Windle or Lilly they had retreated into the home.

  They knew I was here. They had likely heard me mumble.

  By the time I made it to the house, the front door opened… and Lilly stood there waiting for me.

  “Rennalee,” Lilly greeted me with a small smile as she stepped back, gesturing for me to enter.

  My heart filled with warmth at the very gentle gesture, and its meaning.

  She had just invited me into her home without question.

  “Lilly. I hope I’m not intruding,” I said as I waited a moment before entering her home.

  Although very humbled and happy to have her so readily remember me and invite me into her home in such a way, I wanted to be as proper as I could.

  “Hm…?” Lilly noticed my odd action and tilted her head at me, and I gulped at the way her eyes hardened just a little bit. She was now studying me more intently.

  “Vim sent me. He… well, we, would like to ask for your help,” I said.

  Lilly then smiled at me. “You look so desperate all of a sudden! Please, come in. Vim never needs to ask for my help, Renn, so you don’t need to either. You’re family, Renn.”

  My tail went stiff and my head went a little numb as she tilted her head in a nod, to gesture for me to enter her home already.

  Unable to say anything to that, I stepped forward with a strangely blank mind. I felt as if I should weep and hug her, yet all I could accomplish was step into her home.

  Walking past Lilly and deeper into the house, I felt a strange sense of ease all of a sudden. As if I had been here many times before, enough to call it home myself. It was likely thanks to what she had said earlier. She had called me family. Though she had likely said such a thing because to her, anyone in the Society was family, it still made me feel proud and somehow comfy. I felt kind of like how Vim made me feel when he returned my hugs once in a blue moon.

  Glancing down one of the nearby hallways, like before I immediately noticed how clean the place was… though now it… had a strange smell that I hadn't remembered being here before. Was someone else here? Not an owl? No, this was...

  I paused a moment, and realized I recognized the odd smell. One that hadn’t been here before.

  A baby.

  “Lilly…?” I asked excitedly as I stepped farther into the home, and found Windle walking down a set of stairs. He had a bundle in his arms, wrapped in an obvious way.

  “Welcome Renn. You look far better this time, I’m glad to see it,” Windle greeted me with a gentle smile as he stepped off the stairs, and I felt my eyes go wide as I slowly approached the man.

  I barely heard Lilly shut the door behind her as the tall man kindly lowered the baby, to let me see better. The small child was sleeping, with a bundle of brown hair, and…

  “Wings…” I whispered as my eyes watered up at the sight. The baby had wings. Barely hidden by the blankets wrapped around what was obviously a little girl, were small nubs of half-grown feathers sticking out from behind her head.

  “Well Windle? Hand her over, look at her she’s about to weep at the mere sight of here she’ll not harm Root,” Lilly said firmly as she stepped up to us.

  Windle shifted, smiling shyly as I realized Lilly’s meaning.

  He hadn’t wanted to hand her over to me, out of worry.

  I sniffed as he gently extended his arms, and suddenly I was holding her.

  “Root…?” I asked with a whisper as I carefully held the bundle of a child. She hadn’t even noticed she had left her father’s arms. She had a small part of her hand in her mouth, sucking on it.

  “We name our children after the trees. We’re running out of parts to use, so if you have any ideas let us know,” Windle said.

  Shifting my head a little, since I had begun to cry, I made sure none of my tears landed on the child’s face. A few dripped down my chin, landing onto the blankets but not her. “That’s adorable,” I whispered.

  And she was adorable indeed. She felt as if she weighed less than the blanket she was wrapped in. How was she so light? Fly had been light too. Maybe it was just a bird thing.

  “Come. Sit,” Lilly patted my shoulder, and without taking my eyes off the wonderful thing in my arms I was guided to a chair. I soaked up the sight of the young girl, and took in a deep breath and kept a shiver at bay. I didn’t want to wake the small girl.

  She was so, so tiny. She was smaller than Hark had been. Was it because of how old she was? Because she was a non-human? Lilly was taller than I was, though a little scrawny. And Windle was taller than her!

  I was completely mystified by the child. The whole world suddenly felt innocently small, reminding me of the feeling I once had when a child. Back when my whole world had only been the few trees around my family’s home.

  I’ll protect this child forever. Against anything. Anyone. Always.

  “She’s beautiful… is… uh…” I glanced around, and realized they had led me to that large table. The one we had sat at the last time I was here. It was a few rooms away from the entrance; they had guided me rather far without me realizing it. I had been mesmerized. How long had I been staring down at her?

  “She’s mine. Ours. I had been pregnant last time you were here, though I’d not told you. Don’t feel bad though I had only told Vim, I didn’t even tell Windle,” Lilly said with a grin as she pulled the chair next to me out from under the table as to sit in it. She didn’t sit directly next to me though, and instead pulled the chair out farther and put it at an angle. To face me, yet not sit too close.

  “Congratulations. Both of you,” I said warmly to Vim’s friends.

  Lilly’s grin stayed strong as Windle actually blushed and nodded.

  “And congratulations to you too, Renn. I’ve heard of what you’ve done, at least some of it,” Lilly said.

  I gulped. “Nothing as wondrous as this,” I said as I looked back down to Root.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Root. An odd name for a girl, maybe. But it was lovely all the same. Roots were strong. They ran deep. Held a tree firm. Plus they could help re-grow a tree even if it fell or broke. It was a splendid name, one that would keep her strong and stout. Perfect for this harsh and lonely world we lived in. Though I prayed she’d not end up a solitary tree one day even if she was strong enough to endure such a fate.

  “I disagree. Marrying Vim is quite a feat, I’d say,” Windle said.

  I blinked, and realized that was what they were talking about. I looked up, and felt a little silly as I grinned back at the two smiling at me.

  So that was what Lilly meant by family. She hadn’t just meant that in the sense of the Society.

  She had been serious. Genuine.

  “It’s not official yet, but…” I said, and felt my throat constrict a little. I suddenly felt like weeping, even though I was so happy. It was a silly feeling.

  “Please. I know Vim, Renn. He is not the type of man to allow such a thing even as a rumor, so for he himself to tell us? Can’t get any more official,” Lilly said.

  “He told you?” I asked. When?

  “We’ve received a few letters from him over the last year or so. Plus we’ve been visited by Oplar, not too long ago. What… a few months, honey?” Windle asked his wife.

  She nodded. “Four or so? Maybe five?” she wondered as well.

  Ah. So before she had come to search us out, and finding us at the Crypt. I had thought she had gone straight there, but I guess this place wasn’t too far out of the way on such a path.

  “Um…” I spoke up, and then hesitated as they both looked at me.

  What to say…? How to say it? I had so much I wanted to ask. To tell them.

  They had just called me family. Family.

  Family.

  My eyes watered up again, and I had to look down and away, not in shame but to make sure I didn’t shed any tears on the girl again.

  “Was she this emotional during her last visit?” Windle asked.

  “A little. Here, Renn,” Lilly sounded amused as she leaned forward, and a small handkerchief was suddenly being held out to me.

  I shifted a little, and worried for a tiny moment. I could easily grab it even while holding Root, but…

  Before I could shift enough to grab it without waking the baby, Lilly leaned forward and went ahead and patted my face with the thing herself. I happily accepted the strange gesture, and laughed a little as she wiped my face for me.

  “I got plenty of experience,” Lilly teased as she finished.

  I bet she did. I was jealous.

  “I have… a lot to say. To ask. So much. But before I do, I need to handle what I was sent here to do or else Vim will get upset with me,” I said with a smile.

  Lilly nodded, waiting expectantly as Windle shifted in his chair. He was suddenly nervous.

  “I have a human friend. Her name is Cat. Vim found her in the south… she was sent on a mission by a saint, from her village, and Vim sent me to find out if you’d be willing to help me. To go to this saint, or at least find her properly,” I said, speaking quickly but in a slightly hushed tone. Not because I worried over anyone hearing me, but simply so that I’d not wake Root up.

  Windle groaned as Lilly tilted her head at me. “Now that’s a story. I of course will help, Renn,” Lilly said without hesitation.

  “There’s more…” I said.

  “I’m sure. And we’ll face it all together, I bet,” she said with a nod.

  Windle sighed. “Indeed. Vim would not ask if it was not dire. I’m to assume this saint is not a member of the Society?” Windle asked.

  I shook my head. “It’s likely a human saint. It’s a descendant of a saint I knew in the past, a friend of mine,” I said.

  “And we’re to kill her…? Vim hates saints but she’s your friend? I’d not thought him cruel enough to kill his wife’s friends,” Lilly said with a serious look.

  Smirking a little, I shook my head. “I don’t think he wants to kill her. Yet, anyway. She had a prophecy. One concerning the birth of a monarch, and…” I started to explain, and Windle actually sat up straight with such vigor he had bumped into one of the other chairs on accident, making it bang against the table and rattle.

  Luckily Root didn’t even shift or notice, as Lilly glared at her husband. “Windle, if you wake her I’ll put you to sleep,” Lilly warned.

  “Sorry. But jeez, the birth of a monarch? How about we just let Vim handle this one, dear?” Windle asked softly.

  Oh. Right. Coward.

  “Ignore him, Renn. Go on,” Lilly though didn’t mind as she looked back at me.

  I nodded, and did my best to ignore the whinny groan that escaped from her husband as I did. “Vim doesn’t believe it. But there’s evidence, I guess. A huge raging fire had ravaged the lands to the south-east of here, near the Summit. As far as we’re aware the bison family were the only casualties, other than their daughter Angie. Vim believes the fires are from the monarch, or at least started by them. So he’s worried her prophecy has some truth to it, and he wants us to find her and verify them if we can,” I explained.

  “And this human? Cat you said?” Windle asked.

  I nodded. “She’s a member of the group the saint, Saint Elaine, sent to stop the fires supposedly. To kill the monarch. Vim found them instead,” I said.

  “Yet didn’t find the monarch? And you called this human, this saint, your friend…? Yet you don’t know where they are?” Lilly asked.

  “Oh. I do. I think. I’ve not been to their village in a long time… maybe half a century or so, but I could probably find it. Rather I think Vim wants you to help me, Lilly, so that I don’t get myself in trouble. And… well…” I hesitated a tad, but knew better than to do so. Vim had explicitly told me to tell her everything. The truth, in full.

  “Well…?” Windle furthered.

  I nodded and sighed. “Vim doesn’t trust the Chronicler anymore. Or anyone involved in the church. He firmly believes, or believed, that we’d be followed here. He fears if I go to the village and find the saint alone, I’ll be followed by one of the church members. He doesn’t want that,” I said.

  It was Lilly’s turn to sit up a little straighter. “You’re kidding,” she whispered.

  I gulped and shook my head.

  Lilly then glanced away from me, to her husband. I watched the two stare into each other’s eyes for a moment and felt jealous again.

  I hoped one day Vim and I had such a deep connection. He already looked at me with such affection as Windle did Lilly, but there was still a tiny bit of a divide. A gap. A missing piece. I kind of knew what it was, but was unsure of how to find it within him. I was betting, hoping, on time fixing it for me.

  “It must be bad,” Windle then said.

  “Very. But this is Vim we’re talking about. It might just be him being overprotective of his new wife,” Lilly said with a gesture to me.

  I smiled at that. “I honestly think that might be part of the reason, yes.”

  The two smiled at me, and I felt strangely warm. As if it was Vim I was sitting with instead.

  Family. They had called me family. And likely had meant that.

  I had family…

  “Where’s your human then, Renn? I hope you didn’t leave her at Telmik,” Windle then said.

  “Oh. No. She’s not far outside of your forest, in a very wooded section. Vim had wanted me to leave her at the village nearby but she doesn’t seem to like people much. For a human she’s more like us than not, surprisingly,” I said.

  “Yeah? Maybe I’ll be able to stomach her then. We’ll leave in a moment and go get her, just in case you two were followed,” Lilly said.

  I nodded. “I also got letters, Lilly. For you and Windle,” I said.

  “Hm? And no bag?” Windle asked as he glanced at me.

  Right. I had left my luggage with Cat and the horses. “I have one of Vim’s little pouches, on my waist,” I said with a tiny nod to it.

  “Of course you do,” Lilly said with a smirk.

  Shrugging gently, I wasn’t too shocked to hear and see that she likely fully knew the pouch I spoke of.

  Glancing at Lilly, and the way she studied me while smiling… I thought of all the things I’d wanted to ask her. All the stuff I’d considered and thought of during my journey. From stories about the past, when she had traveled with Vim, to even things beyond Vim. Stuff about the Society, the world… and…

  Glancing at Windle, and his gentle smile that I noticed was more directed to his child than me, I wondered if I should ask him too.

  After all most of my questions were concerning both of them. Their relationship. What it meant to be husband and wife. To have children.

  Unlike most others in the Society, they were not just one of the few actually married and still alive, but they were also the only ones considered true friends by Vim. All his other supposed friends were either single, or had lost their mates already. Like Nebl, or Nann. Berri had been another I could have talked to, but it seemed although Vim trusted her husband Horn he had not been the most astute individual. Someone who didn’t like the Society or its purpose even.

  Yes. They were perfect for certain questions in my heart, ones I had been contemplating for a long time. Ones I couldn’t outright ask Vim, or anyone else.

  Not only were they married, they were also trustworthy. Vim himself trusted them. My being here, with Cat in tow, was proof of that.

  “Where is Vim during this moment anyway? Telmik?” Wnidle then asked, likely not even noticing my stare.

  “Heading to the Bell Church. A new member, one we met in Lumen, is… regretfully not blending in well there. The young girl is a bird, named Fly. I don’t know the whole story, only that she’s struggling with settling in. The elders, Plumb, asked Vim to find her a new home,” I said.

  “Fly…? A bird? What kind?” Lilly asked, perking up. She did so in a way that told me she hadn’t known about Fly at all.

  “I’m… honestly not sure. She doesn’t have wings, not real ones, but she’s covered in feathers. Head to toe. Or well, she doesn’t have toes. She has talons, for feet. She’s a young girl, with pretty reddish feathers. We saved her from other predators, and monsters in Lumen,” I said.

  Lilly glanced at Windle, and I noted the look between them. Did they think she was an owl? “I think Vim would have brought her here if she had been an owl,” I said.

  “Yes. He would have. But he may also not have known or had the luxury. Hopefully he’ll bring her here before taking the poor egg elsewhere,” Windle said.

  Lilly nodded. “He will. Where else would he go from the Bell Church with a bird in tow? Especially one so unable to blend in with humans. Even more so for one not able to live amongst the nuns,” Lilly stated.

  “I’m not sure if it was over religion,” I said carefully.

  “What else would it be? There’s a reason those with half a brain stay away from those idiots. Even Merit’s fish brain can comprehend that,” Lilly said.

  I blinked at the mention of my friend. “Merit did say she was banished from there too,” I said.

  “Too?” Windle asked.

  I nodded. “I am too. Supposedly one of my ancestors killed Plumb’s family,” I said.

  “Ha!” Lilly scoffed a laugh, and quickly started to giggle in an effort to stay quiet. She glanced back at me, and as she did little Root shifted in my arms. The girl noticing her mother’s laugh was not surprising. My full attention went to the child as I gently started to rock her back and forth, lulling the child back into sleep.

  How strange. I’ve not held many children in my life, yet my rocking had obviously worked. Root had fallen straight back into sleep without any hesitation. Maybe it was just instinctual?

  Or well…

  I felt my own frown grow and widen as I realized something serious.

  “Renn…? What is it? Is she pooping?” Lilly asked.

  My frown turned into a smirk as I shook my head. “I don’t think so. No. I uh… just realized this was the first time,” I said softly.

  “First time…?” Windle asked for his wife.

  I nodded. “This is the first time I’ve ever held one of us. A baby. A non-human baby,” I said.

  My smirk had grown while I spoke, turning into a huge grin of a smile, but the two hadn’t seemed as happy as me. They both frowned sadly, and looked at one another again… as if I’d just said something concerning, and not wondrous.

  “She is precious. Almost so precious I worry over leaving her so soon,” Lilly said, agreeing.

  My ears perked up as I realized her meaning. “Oh…! Oh! Oh no… You’re right,” I said as I realized her meaning. Root was still so small! A true baby! She likely still needed her mother, for milk and more! What were we going to do?

  Lilly giggled at me. “It will be fine, Renn. We’re owls, remember? We don’t nurse.”

  I blinked and looked up, and frowned at her. “What? Really?”

  She nodded. “I mean. We do. But go ahead, stick a finger into her mouth if you want to know why,” she said with a small gesture.

  While frowning, I carefully shifted the baby ever so gently… and chose to instead of putting my finger into her mouth, instead I simply lifted her top lip ever so gently.

  Sure enough I found teeth.

  “I see… Wow,” I was glad I hadn’t woken her, or put my finger in her mouth. Not because her teeth had looked a tad bit sharp, but because I hadn’t washed my hands all day.

  “Hurts like you know what when she bites while feeding,” Lilly said with a laugh.

  My ears fluttered and I laughed with her, and by doing so woke up the girl.

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