An hour from sundown, and the owls were everywhere now. Every fence, tree and rooftop that afforded a view of the garden was covered with owls. Even the grass was littered with brown and white birds, watching the man at the centre of the lawn. He flinched every time one moved towards him, and his hands shook until he pushed them into his pockets.
He took a series of deep breaths, and then knelt down to speak to a large tawny owl perched on a birdbath.
**
The bargain, the owls were murmuring. They're breaking it!
Talons tensed and owls readied their beaks to tear flesh from the living traitor. We're nearly free.
Remember, my daughter, said the owl some called prophet, about the Story. It ends when they break the contract.
It ends with freedom.
**
The man put out his hand, which was visibly trembling, and gently clasped the owl's wing. The smallest of shakes, almost invisible, was enough to shatter the magic. Muscles that for centuries had been paralysed in their attempts to strike suddenly found movement, and the owls launched themselves at the man as momentum carried them forwards.
For a moment. Not even a second. But long enough for the man to scream, and the birds instinctively changed course, shying away from the sound.
The owls were no longer a group with a purpose. They were many, many individual birds, without any interest in each others welfare or in the scrawny man before them. Certainly they were not the type of creatures who coordinated attacks.
It would no longer be possible to identify the owl that some called prophet, but she was somewhere in the wheeling crowd, already vaguely thinking about food inasmuch as she could think about anything. The Story of the Owls would have meant nothing to her. She was her own owl, and she flew alone.
And standing alone on the lawn was the man, clutching a small goblet. A witness, had there been one, might have noticed a faint glow surrounding it.
Thanks and credit are owed to JK Rowling, obviously. Also to ferretbrain dot com, who have a lot of interesting Harry Potter articles which made me look at the series differently and inevitably influenced this story. Also I was reading their DH runthrough when it occurred to me I should get into gear and finish this piece. And while I'm thanking I may as well mention the Sam Neil TV version of Merlin, which remains my major influence when it comes to Arthurian lore.
