91 Bonus Bird and Backup

It took half an hour for Zeph to make a passable owl. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to see any better in the dark after possessing it. When he wondered why, Bernard surmised that it was because he didn't mimic the biology of an owl. This was just a shape transformation, so Zeph would need to find an owl and touch it so his Aether could get a sample to mimic.

"Well that was a waste of time," Zeph huffed.

"Not so. We at least confirmed that you're unable to mimic the biological traits of a being without first coming into contact with one," Bernard said.

"Well, the sun's just about set," Eli said looking at the blue sky faded and the last bits of sunlight fade. "I'll look for a nocturnal bird of some sort for you to mimic. They should be waking up about now."

Zeph grabbed a drink and sat on a chair by the lake. "Cool, I'll just take a break then. Making an owl from scratch took more focus than I'd hoped. I need to decompress." He looked at the lake and smiled. It was a beautiful sight as the coral in the lake started to give off their own light. The natural violet glow of the lake was becoming prismatic. "Now that's what I want to see in a magical forest." He took a few pictures with his pendant.

Eli headed into the woods while the rest of them relaxed. It only took a few minutes for him to return with a sleeping owl in one arm and dragging a large bird wrapped in vines behind him. "I got you an owl like you wanted, and I also managed to find an umbrahawk. That way you'll have something more combat friendly when flying the skies. Think you can mimic a magical beast?"

Zeph looked at the cute owl that looked reminiscent of the snowy owl from earth. Then he looked at the large bird of prey wrapped in vines floating behind Eli. It was similar to the hawks of earth but covered in black feathers with violet accents. Grey eyes looked back at him, unamused by its capture.

"Not that I don't appreciate the effort, but why bring the hawk?"

"Well, I figured you'd like the option. The owl's not really a fighter. Not only that, but I thought you'd think it would be cool. Umbrahawks use shadow magic to hide and trap prey. Think you can mimic them?"

"Well I can certainly try," Zeph said happily as he approached the two birds with a smile.

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Miriah was leading Max and the other valir over the forest looking for the lake that Lord Malston said they were to meet. Lance, Daniels, and Roan were following in silence. She was happy with their professionalism. Max on the other hand…

"Why can't the bad guys have a secret base closer to town," Max grumbled as he dodged a branch. They were using a mixture of jumping between trees and flying to make it to the lake. They had to stay high enough to avoid anything on the ground, but low enough so they couldn't be spotted in the air.

"Quit whining. You're the one that wanted some action. Remember, the sooner we take out the demon followers the sooner you can spend time with James. Honestly, I don't see why you're so irritable," Miriah said.

"Are you serious?" Max snapped and pointed to his forehead where an eyebrow should have been.

Lance, Daniels, and Roan let out a collective sigh at their captain and lieutenant. Ever since they formed up after arriving in Asperitus, the two would often bicker. Max had been in a bad mood since before they got in the jeep to go to the forest and it only got worse when they had to leave it behind when they entered.

After a few more minutes of listening to Max grumble to himself, they saw the lake. 'Finally,' Miriah thought to herself as she landed by the small fishing site. "Reporting for duty Lord Malston," she saluted. Max was about to say something about the lord sitting in the middle of the woods fishing when he felt Miriah elbow him and give him a warning look. So, he did the smart thing and saluted as well.

Bernard reeled in his lure and put the fishing pole to the side. After standing he walked over and started to tell the group of valir about their plan. They were to split up and attack the camp from different locations after Eli and Alex took care of the barrier. Once the barrier fell, they were to attack quickly and decisively. Their enemies were sleeping and would be caught unaware by the initial attack, so they would use that time to take as many of them out as quickly as possible. The demon cultists each had a lesser demon familiar following them, so he warned them about that as well.

Max was listening to the plan, but an owl sitting on a branch near them kept distracting him. It was staring at him, and it was making him feel uncomfortable. Maybe it was somebody's familiar, so he decided to bring it up. "Um sir, There is an owl on that branch that seems suspicious," he told Bernard.

Bernard's lips curved slightly upward. "Don't worry about it. That's Eli's owl and will be flying over the camp to spot any runners."

"Ah, I see," Max said with some relief and decided to pay no more attention to the white bird on the branch.

Zeph, on the other hand, kept staring at the red-headed valir. Max looked oddly familiar, but he just couldn't figure out why. Maybe he saw him before, or he looked like someone he knew. Either way, Zeph had to get going if he was to scout out the camp and make sure the cultists were asleep and it was okay to attack soon.

Miriah would glance at the cute little owl wearing a green pendant nearby while listening to the plan. She never saw one in person before, which was weird considering all the places she's been. It looked pretty funny as it squinted at Max like it was studying him. Then she saw Sir Greenleaf or Eli as he preferred to be called, give the bird a wave. To her surprise, the owl waved back before taking off into the sky. 'Okay, now I want one,' she thought to herself.

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Zeph was above the tree line gliding through the air and enjoying the feeling of wind brush past his feathers. He was doing so much better now, considering it took face planting into seven trees and eating dirt four times before he got the hang of flying down. He did a barrel roll and squawked in joy. 'I definitely should have tried this earlier. I may need to do more shapeshifting stuff in the future. I can't wait to try out being an umbrahawk,' he thought. Being a small white owl was a lot easier than being an umbrahawk since the latter was so much bigger. It made it hard for him to move around when he wasn't used to the body. Owl form seemed like a better fit for a beginner bird.

Looking through an owl's eyes at night also took some getting used to. He thought a shifter's enhanced senses were impressive, but now he could count twigs on the forest floor from the sky. 'I'm going to have to figure out how to mix and match this kind of stuff. How cool would it be to have these enhanced senses no matter what form I was taking.' Sleeping beasts, huts and tents were coming into sight. 'There's the camp, better start paying attention and stop talking to myself.'

He flew through the barrier and it felt like he was pushing past a spider web, just the faint sense of something touching him and then fading. There were four lesser demons walking the camp, probably on patrol while their summoner's slept. Using the pendant around his neck, Zeph recorded the patrol route and sent a live feed to Eli. Then he lowered his altitude so he could get a good sweep of the area where all the beasts were being kept.

Eli was projecting the video Zeph sent into the air in front of the valir. "Alright everybody, this is the place we're attacking tonight. You guys know the general plan, but if you have any questions or feedback feel free to speak. You may come up with something after checking out the camp yourselves." Then he started to point out places of interest, and discuss their plan of action with the rest of the valir giving feedback and ideas. The talk was coming to an end as Zeph was making his third lap around the camp. "Alright, any questions?" Eli asked.

Max raised his hand.

"Yes?"

"Why is that cat trying to open that container over there?" he pointed at Rin with her paws pushing against the lid of a cooler by the lakeside. It was where they were keeping all the fish they caught earlier.

"Oh, because she couldn't find any cookies," Eli stated as if it was obvious and then started to lead the group towards their target.