WYN'S VIEW (3)

There was a vent at the top of the wall. He latched onto the lid with a clawed grip, yanking it open. The clatter of the metallic lid falling on the marbled floor made Wyn reflexively pause for a moment before hopping into the vent.

It would have been much, much easier if his soul was not heavy enough to materialize. Then he could have easily flown through walls like a ghost. Instead, he was forced to skitter through vents in the form of a bird with sharp claws that threatened to give his presence away with click, click, click.

Step by step, he carefully approached the vent's opening in the conference room. The dust from the vent had temporarily turned him from a snowy owl into a shadowy figure. Wyn deemed it beneficial since a darker form would be harder to spot lurking through the gaps in the vent's lid.

The view from the vent was ideal—he oversaw the three men in the room—even the bald spot on General Gi's head.

Lord Chioni's voice traveled through the conference room with a diplomatic tone. "...it has always been a problem of his to care about people regardless of their crimes." He bowed his head in a formal apology, "Forgive his naivety. Young Lord Chioni still has a lot to learn."

The Arbiter of Justice sighed, sympathetically bowing his head in return, "Parenthood is not an easy task, and Young Lord Chioni lost his mother too early. I can only begin to imagine how it impacted his development."

The owl's feathers ruffled up in frustration upon hearing that, but he quickly settled, keeping calm to not give his presence away. Still, the bird sat in the vent, fluffed up in outrage.

General Gi assured, "The military will take good care of Young Lord Chioni. He is ought to learn some valuable lessons from our knights. That being said, let us focus on searching for the Smaragdine Lily. It is a pressing matter."

Wyn's senses sharpened. Smaragdine Lily? This was the first time Wyn had heard of it. How come? Had it never been discussed before? He sighed inwardly. It appeared there were some crucial pieces of information missing in his framework.

"General Gi, is there still no sign of the crystal?" the Arbiter of Justice asked.

"I am afraid not. Whoever has it, is a cunning person," General Gi noted. "All clues lead to dead ends. I assume the holder of the crystal is purposefully leaving false trails to throw us off."

The Arbiter of Justice drew a deep breath, pondering. "I wonder why the Stygian Overlord is seeking the Smaragdine Lily now, after all these years..."

"The prophecy," Lord Chioni responded. "Smaragdine Lily is a powerful spiritual tool. If it ends up in the Stygian Overlord's hands, he might become the dual sovereign."

The owl-Wyn heard approaching footsteps outside the room he had entered. He was forced to cut his spying session short.

The white owl swiftly shuffled back and out of the vent. With quick flaps of wings, he flew through the open window just before the door opened.

An exasperated exclaim echoed behind. Whoever entered it, must have not been happy to see the fallen vent lid amidst the dusty mess on the floor.

The bird soared away, a shadowy cloud following him with each flap of wings. Since he had been forced to leave earlier, he had enough spiritual energy to travel to the Tainia stronghold to check on the runaway disciples.

Getting to the stronghold took much less time as a bird. He descended into the territory of the stronghold before sunrise.

Wyn looked for a way to draw the attention of the disciples inside the castle. He tried flying at the door a few times, scraping the handle with his claws, but it was no use. They must have been asleep.

Wyn flew to the side of the castle, stopping by a window, but it was impossible to see inside. He hopped over to the next window, but it was still all dark. Just as the owl was about to tap the glass with its beak, a sudden movement made him freeze.

A light, familiar chuckle rang out with a greeting, "Well, hello there."

He turned to see Marshall standing a short distance away, coming closer. Relief washed over Wyn. The disciple was smiling and unharmed. Seeing the smile, Wyn concluded that Sun Hayden was unharmed and safe as well. Good. There were no issues on this end.

"Do you come bringing a message?" Marshall asked, crouching next to the bird.

Wyn wanted to click his tongue in disappointment at failing to bring any notes again. However, his main purpose of Soul Shaping this time had been to listen in on the meeting of the powerholders. Traveling here had been a spontaneous decision. 

Even so, guilt gnawed at him for never coming around to telling the disciple the truth about the owl. There never seemed to be an appropriate moment—no, that was an excuse.

He enjoyed watching the unguarded version of Marshall, the one that looked at him with pure fondness. And he could blatantly stare back, studying Marshall's face without being teased. At least, usually. 

The disciple observed him with a perplexed expression, murmuring, "Where did you come from... Is Wyn alright?"

All the owl-Wyn could do was shamefully bow his head 'yes'. The wind blew at him harder, expressing its criticisms for withholding the truth. It was shameful. He could not bring himself to admit that he had been spying on the disciple in his owl form. 

And his guilt only grew larger seeing the disciple block the wind, smiling at him sweetly. 

"Why are you so dirty?" Marshall gently brushed the owl's wings, dusting them off.

Then, as if struck by lightning, the disciple sprang up, blurting out the idea to send a message to Wyn as he ran back to the castle.

The owl waited curiously by the door for the disciple to emerge with a rolled-up note and a thin string.

Owl-Wyn turned his head in disagreement. If the note was tied onto him, he would not be able to untie it himself. Fortunately, Wyn did not have to fight him for long before Marshall held out the note, letting the bird take it into its beak.

❄ ❄ ❄

The bird dropped the note on the bed. He barely made it back in time. The piece of his soul was practically yanked out of the owl form back into his body. It was never pleasant when he spent too much time outside or encountered a disturbance.

Wyn coughed up a bit of dust and opened his eyes to watch the owl form dissipate like a misty cloud. He cleared his throat, swallowing a few times. Running on minimal spiritual energy made his throat feel like sandpaper.

Wyn glanced at the rolled up piece of paper, his fingers moving to open it.

Had Marshall come up with another plan already? He didn't know whether to fear the contents. Wyn had no more available spiritual energy to perform Soul Shaping a second time, so he would not be able to send a note back. If the plan was outrageous, he...

The cheerful scribble on the note distracted his serious thoughts.

"Hey, Wynnie! Keep your head up!!! I'll be back for you!!!!!"

Wyn raised an eyebrow, unable to keep a straight face. He squinted in amusement at the excessive amount of exclamation marks. How silly.

Chuckling, he read over the note a few more times. How precious.