Chapter two: From the miasma
Before the waning gibbous moon begun to creeping over the horizon lined with trees, the warm light lingered in the sky creating a soft blue glow rising from the obscure forest that melted into the darkness of the night, pushing the stars back across the sky. As the creatures of the day went to sleep the owls awoke into the eerie darkness that surrounded them.
A serene atmosphere could be felt inside the silent hollow. Eve, partly awake, disturbed and unsettled could hear the heart beats and steady breathing of her family. She could tell each heart beat apart, Eve sighed with grief as she slowly counted the heart beats over again, she could feel the grief creep in into her hollow bones as a fresh memory that seemed distant yet it had only happened a few hours ago looped in her mind. She had thought that what happened last night was just a dream. Memories of being perched outside the hollow, on the splintered branch in the daylight breeze, Avia learning how to fly while Mum and Da where asleep. Something an owlet should never do. During this time two owls who looked like Da came and landed on the branch, one was very pale while the other was a little darker. The owls had told her they were just going to play with Avia and that they are friends of Zava and Jax. Eve and Avia thought they had made two new friends, they lied, and they had tried to forcefully take Avia with them. Avia being boisterous defended himself as best as he could. But it was not enough, the owls quickly homed in on him like a dart, backing him up against the tree trunk, terror consumed him as he tried to lash out but it was no use he felt himself going yeep as he slipped off the side of the branch. As he fell one of the owl lunged forward slashing his chest open. His limp, lifeless body tumbled through the air, hitting the branches on the way down, wings in an awkward position, blood spraying everywhere, it was a horrific sight.
Eve slowly opened her eyes to an empty nest next to her, she could feel the cold realty hit her as it all came crashing back. She blinked slowly, using her third eyelid she cleared her eyes, focusing back on the empty nest Eve gazed in shock as Avia was really gone and it wasn't just her dream. Another memory faded in to her confused mind which was already filled to the rim with questions. Being sucked into the memory her attention drifted elsewhere. An image of an owl faded into mind, a large owl perched in the opposite tree, one she had caught glimmers of standing in the light of the blistering sun. He was different than the other owls. An owl she had never seen before. This owl was black and brown; he had feathers that moved like the bristles of a fir tree in the warm breeze, strange deep coloured eyes that pierced into her soul. Eve was perplexed by it; she wasn't even sure if it was an owl. It must have been tree times her size. But she remembered talking with Altair and he had explained that there are owls beyond the Forest of Tyto. The only owls Eve had ever seen where owls that had very dark eyes she found it very hard to believe that there where owls who were different from tytos.
Eve drifted back out of her deep thoughts; suddenly a painful knot swelled up in her gizzard. "Avia!" shrieked Eve, ripping through the quietness of the hollow. All the owls shot to life instantly, snapping their heads towards Eve as she was seen crying.
"Ah! Eve! What is -" mumbled Altair as his voice faded to nothing before he could finish. Looking at Eve's tears his head slowly dipped down to where Avia usually slept. Slowly, a horrified expression crept into his feathered face. Speechless, Altair did not breathe, sounds of what he thought was a dream returned to him.
"That wasn't a dream, oh great Glaux why didn't I wake up!" screamed Altair in his thoughts, the sound could be heard echoing into the deepest depths of his mind.
"A-Avia?" slowly spoke Altair but with no resonance.
Altair felt a dreadful twist in his gizzard as he could not take his eyes off the empty nest. He felt himself become desperate as his breathing grew heavier by the second. He thought that maybe Avia had just fallen out of the nest; he was down in the vegetation, hiding, and waiting for his warmth. His second thought, which brought a dread so painful he thought he would yeep while standing still was that maybe Mark and his family had done something to poor Avia. He never trusted them or Eve.
Eve on the other hand had to tell Altair of what she saw; she would not feel like a sister to him if she did not tell him. But the owls said not to speak a word of what she saw to any one, otherwise they would come back. The memory of the two large owls, as big as her parents landing in front of her on the branch quickly faded back into Eves mind.
"Young'un, I ask that you say nothing," solemnly said the old owl as he gazed coldly at Eve.
Eve began to cry as she dared not to breath, feeling herself go limp in the legs.
"Indeed, say something and we will be back." threatened the younger owl turning his back taking into the thick warm air with a single down stoke, following the older owl.
Eve watched as they disappeared into the glare of the sun, the brightness was blinding, she wished she could have watched them for longer.
Eve then wondered why they didn't take her as well. She thought that nothing stopped them from killing her too. But those where some of the few questions that floated around in her mind, who were those owls? Why did they look like her family yet they were so mean? And who was that owl with the sticking up objects on his head? Was he part of them?
Snapping out of her dream like state again she felt the need to tell her older brother, the urge screaming in her head. She felt herself splitting from the contrition of not doing anything to help Avia. She was worried that the owls would come back, come back to kill him, or even herself and Mum and Da.
"A-Av-via…" said Altair under his breath quietly to himself. Lifting his head slowly he gave Eve a cold empty stare deep into her black eyes. What was left of the morning light shone softly on one side of his face while Eve stood in the darkness glaring at Avia's nest in despair. Altair began to wonder if Eve, Mark and his family started all this mess. He wondered if Eve really did care, was she just pretending to miss Avia?
Eve tilted her head up, her expression saturated with grief. She took a quick glance at Altair then at the floor dropping her wings down. She desperately thought, with her mind in chaos she couldn't think straight she did not know what to do or say. She thought she would be better off not saying anything at all.
"D-Did you," stuttered Altair under his breath out of sheer anguish, his gaze boring into Eve, trying to find answers, answers to the millions of questions he had in his head. He didn't want to complete his sentence; it was too painful to say the words. He then thought it was uncomfortable to even think that his own sister would do such a thing with that horrible masked owl.
Suddenly the noise of talons scratching the dry bark outside grabbed Altair's attention. He thought that maybe it was someone who knew where Avia was, or it was someone with Avia or worst of all it was Mark. But listening to the heartbeat he knew it was Jax.
"I'll find him!" said Jax in mid-flight determined to find Avia.
"Great Glaux, where is my little Avia!" shrieked Zava looking down at Avia's nest. Altair looked at his Mum graving, he shared her pain; he could feel it cutting deep into him. He had hoped that maybe he fell from the nest and was hiding in the under growth somewhere trying to keep warm, siting quite hoping that Mum and Da would find him.
Altair's gaze glanced at Zava in sorrow and then snapped back to Eve who took a step backwards into the darkness pressing her feathers closer to her body, disheartened he threw one last gloomy glance at her then hastily skipped across the hollow before taking a short flight in silence out onto the end of the splintered branch. He landed with a wobble, gripping onto the dry bark he stabilised himself as he took a deep breath. Titling his head upwards he gazed at the endless sea of stars that poked through the clouds and fog every so often, it made his problems feel insignificant compared to the vastness of the sky, even for an owl of the night sky.
"You are the only one who can answer this, is my brother out here?" softly begged Altair, his words faded into the immeasurable foggy landscape, his gazed fixed on the rising moon surrounded by fast rolling clouds, the light breeze gently pushing his newly fledged feathers. The eerie stillness of the night made him think; think deeply as he looked out across the vast canopy of trees covered in fog that faded into one colour, cold grey.
Eve stayed quite as she stood in the darkest corner of the hollow motionless, watching Altair standing in solitude against the grey sky made a tear come to her eye as she heard Altair. Zava then came over wrapping her wings around Eve. Eve felt warm for once, it as if the warmth could never come back after what she had seen. Ever since last day Eve had felt distant from everyone, a feeling as if she didn't know the owls around her.
"Jax will find Avia, don't you worry Eve," softly sobbed Zava.
Eve did not know what to do, so she remained silent, she thought it was the best thing she could do at the time.
Jax glided through the endless see of trees that kept fading in from out the dark depths of the forest. Scanning across the misty ground below he began to turn his head one way then the other. Triangulating and examining every sound and tree he swiftly flew by silently hoping he would spot Avia. He had flown out quite far now as the trees began to thin out, indicating they were coming to the most southern point of the Forest Kingdom of Tyto where the land would end and the unknown ocean would begin. Gliding, weaving through the trees Jax began to feel that the longer he had spent searching for Avia the more he felt his heart fall into his gizzard. If he had known better he'd think he'd yarp up his own heart from the pain of missing a much loved one. Just as Jax was thinking of flying up to perch on the branches of a thin slender tree he heard a scuffle on the ground, sounded like it was in the rotten thee stump below. He quickly ducked his head around and under his right wing. It was a false alarm as he spotted a rodent run out from the stump and among the vegetation. Sighing with dread Jax banked hard to the left, curving around to head back, again he began to scan the ground with the small flicker of hope he still had burning away in his gizzard. Just as he stopped scanning the ground and had given up hope he heard a high pitched 'Hooo-wii!' to the right of him. He ignored it at first, but then a thought stuck his mind, the owl he had just heard was certainly not a tyto. He then landed on a low branch that stood out. Gripping on what little bark it had he began to franticly look around, listening for any signs of Avia. 'Oohu-oohu-oohu!' another sudden noise came out from the darkness, this noise was higher pitched then the last and quicker too. It was if this unknown owl was trying to grab his attention anyway it could. Jax finally spun his head to where exactly he heard the owl. He was shocked to see it was a large Eurasian eagle owl perched in a slightly higher branch in the opposite tree. The owl was looking right at him with his deep golden orange eyes; he had a very interesting plumage. He was mostly black and caramel brown, the tips of his secondary flight feathers where a light caramel brown the same as his face. The lower half of his body was covered in black soot.
What is an eagle owl doing in the middle of the Forest Kingdom of Tyto? Why is he so dirty? Why is he trying to catch my attention so badly? So many questions had filled Jax's mind, he could not think straight if he tried. For all he knew this owl could have something to do with Avia's strange disappearance.
"Who are you? Do you know where Avia is?" blindly asked Jax out of desperation. He wouldn't dare to go near the owl, he was huge, double his size.
"A white Tyto?" simply questioned the owl almost instantly as he eyeballed Jax. Taking a deep breath he continued, "Almost fully fledged owlet who looks like you?" The owl had a rough voice compared to Jax.
Jax's gizzard lurched in shock from the sharp description; he got it pretty much spot on, from that moment his trust for this Owl took a dive. He was clearly not from here yet he knew exactly what Jax was talking about in a blink of an eye, this gave him another reason not to trust the huge owl.
"Yes, Yes, Avia! I am his father!" desperately said Jax as he moved about eagerly on the branch almost slipping off. The owl cringed as he thought Jax was going to fall off.
When the owl heard that Jax was the owlets father he looked down at the vegetation below in trepidation. Jax had hopped he knew where Avia was, but from the owls latest reaction his gizzard gave painful lurch as he stared down at his dark talons in disappear. To him Avia felt distant yet so close, he was there one night and then gone the next, so quickly, without any warning or knowing of what happened. After some time the owl sighed deeply.
"I know," quietly said the owl taking a deep breath before he peered up at Jax for a moment then looked back down, Jax's head jerked upwards as he waited, all eager ears, waiting for the bad news. "I know, what happened to your son," said the owl with a sterner tone as he fixed his dark orange eyes with the sorrow behind Jax's. "Your son, Avia, I saw him in the middle of the day. I had wondered why he was out at such a young age on his own. I watched him from afar obscured by the light of the sun; you live up in that tall fir tree with the splintered branch. You tytos are night owls, I know that. He was almost there, he could almost fly but then he got stuck on a branch on another tree," explained the owl as he remembered it clearly. Jax almost didn't want to hear of what happened next, he couldn't bare it anymore, but he did. "Then, they came." darkly said the owl taking another deep breath after, Jax could clearly see this owl was much older than himself as he kept taking a break to think. He remembered being told that eagle owls could live to 60 years.
Jax sharply gazed at the owl with an unyielding stare. What did this owl mean by 'they'? And who was this owl? In his mind he demanded to know.
"Never seen the owls in my life," said the owl as he shifted from one foot to the other as if he was agitated. "But all I know is that they were all… Tytos," said the owl as he hesitated then finally spat the last word. Jax got the drift that this owl didn't like Tytos but at that point he really didn't care, he just wanted Avia back. Jax eyeballed him carefully "They came and tried to take your son alive, killing him because he didn't cooperate," the owl had finally said it, the words echoed through Jax's mind as an eerie stillness came down heavy on the two owls. He couldn't believe it; Avia was murdered by another tyto. Jax didn't want to believe it, he felt himself become very light he thought he was going to faint. "Hold on there, don't faint on me," reinsured the owl in his more relaxed and natural tone, as he was glad to get that off his chest.
"Don't faint?" thought Jax to himself, how could he not faint after he had just heard that his son was slaughtered?
Ignite stood still for a brief moment as he could see the emotions building up in Jax, he was blinking a lot. "He didn't go down without a good fight, regardless of him not being able to fly. But that little one, the female owlet from your hollow, she watched the whole thing." coldly said the owl cocking his head to the side as he looked at Jax for answers as to why that was so.
A chill froze over Jax's feathers, he gasped, gazing into space, motionless, shocked, his gizzard twisted in a way it had never done before. It could feel every feather and bone in his body lose its weight. He thought it was going to go yeep while perching on the branch. His thoughts then drifted off slightly as he began to think about Mark and Eve.
"Why, why did you do nothing?" shrieked Jax as it echoed deep into the darkness, everything in the forest grew still from the noise, the noise even shocked the owl who seemed fearless.
"I couldn't, that younger one was with them, staring at me, watching if I made a move. These tytos where like the mist, they came and then left, it seemed like seconds." said the owl in a small voice, Jax glared at him, speechless.
What did this owl mean by "that younger one was with them"?Did Eve organise the murder of her brother? Jax was horrified.
The noises in the forest began to pick up again as silence feel once more across the land.
"What is your name?" demanded Jax throwing a tumultuous look at the owl.
"My name?" asked Ignite taking a deep breath. "My name is Ignite, I am a blacksmith, explaining why I am covered in soot," boldly said Ignite as he ruffled his feathers to shake the soot off, trying to make himself more presentable, "And, I believe we should both head back to your hollow to check on the young'uns," added Ignite assuring Jax as he nodded, looking deep into Jax's troubled eyes.
"I am Jax," said Jax with a timid voice.
Ignite could not bear to watch this powerless owl cry for his chick, he wanted to stay clear as he saw himself a simple folk but this was something he felt deep in gizzard that he must do. As if it was a calling it was as if he knew these owls from long ago.