An Owl's Rise

After she was satisfied with observing the brass jackals that were sleeping within a chamber filled with red magic crystals, she turned to head deeper.

There was one last large chamber to explore that was a part of the brass jackals' den and Evelyn was feeling the anticipation welling up inside her.

She had already confirmed that there were red magic crystals within this deposit, yet she had not found the high tier awakened rank jackal she saw earlier.

That meant that it was almost certainly in the last chamber and that there must have been something greater in there.

And when she flew inside, she saw that the red crystals slowly turned to purple towards the center of the ceiling and hanging right in the center was a single silver magic crystal.

Seeing all that was in this chamber Evelyn's eyes went wide. It was better than she had even imagined.

'This deposit is extremely valuable. Probably not quite as impressive as the magic spring since its resources are finite, but still, this is something that will keep us going for a long time.' Evelyn through tas she counted the crystals.

However, while she was absorbed by the magic crystals for a few seconds, the occupants of the room soon garnered her attention.

Sitting right under the single silver magic crystal was undoubtedly the boss of the brass jackals.

He was not much taller than any of the rest of the species which were all about the size of huskies, but the leader was bulkier and had enough muscle that he had entered what Evelyn would consider the uncanny valley.

'I have never seen a ripped dog before. But he definitely fits that description.' Evelyn thought while she examined the leader of the brass jackals.

Just as she had expected they were at the peak of the awakened rank and sitting around him in the chamber were three brass jackals at the high tier.

One of them was the individual Evelyn had spotted earlier and she had now confirmed exactly how many were within the brass jackals' upper ranks.

'They are a bit weaker than the ospreys were before we took them out, and a little stronger than the burrowing owls are now. But with Bylur, Rehni, and my help we should be able to make up the difference in power. It is definitely worth taking this as our own.'

Having confirmed that the magic crystal deposit was truly valuable enough to fight for, Evelyn prepared to turn around to leave when she noticed that the jackals' leader had woken up and was sniffing around the air.

Immediately Evelyn felt a sense of panic grip her and she swiftly moved to leave.

Then the instant right after she moved a blast of metal like buckshot from a shotgun was launched by the jackal leader.

Thankfully it had aimed at where Evelyn had been before and due to her quick decision to trust her instincts and flee, she had avoided the attack.

Naturally the other jackals in the room who were asleep shot up and looked at their leader while assessing the situation.

However, while he had thought that there was some foreign presence in the chamber, his attack had not hit anything.

In the end, the leader concluded that he was just a bit jumpy and went back to sleep. Putting the experience out of his mind.

Evelyn on the other hand felt her heart racing and she was constantly turning her head around expecting to see pursuers.

Yet by the time she was back to where the green crystals started not a single jackal had moved to try and find her.

'It seems that I have not been found out. I guess that maybe the leader slightly felt my presence and sent out an attack to test if anything was around. Luckily it looks like I managed to get away without truly being discovered.' Evelyn thought while letting out a sigh of relief.

Soon she had made it back to the entrance of the den and flew over the heads of the guards without alerting them and began flying towards where her allies were waiting for her.

'Damn. It is hard to fly when the sun is all the way up in the sky and there is no cover like trees to offer any protection.' Evelyn thought as she flew with her eyes practically shut.

Their search for the jackals' base had taken them most of the night and she had started her infiltration just a bit after sunrise.

Now it was stupidly bright outside and as an owl adapted for living at night, the blaring sun was quite difficult to deal with.

'I need to find or make a pair of sunglasses after this. I have managed to avoid day for the most part or been in a thick forest on the few occasions I did have to fly while it was light out. But this is too much.' Evelyn thought as she struggled to fly with the sun practically blinding her.

Nevertheless, despite the sun making it more difficult Evelyn eventually found the temporary shelter that Po and the other burrowing owls had made.

'I never knew how much I would miss darkness.' Evelyn thought as she entered the temporary burrow.

Getting out of the light brough her instant relief and it no longer felt like her eyes were burning.

"Evelyn, you are back!" Bylur said excitedly when he noticed her return.

Along with Rehni, the two of them approached Evelyn, with Po and the other burrowing owls close behind.

"So, how did it go? Is the deposit worth taking for ourselves?" Rehni asked after the fanfare of Evelyn's return died down.

"Yes, it is more valuable than I anticipated. Unfortunately, the jackals' strength is about as high as I expected and greater than the burrowing owls. But with our help it should be possible to take them out. Now let us rest here until the sun goes down. I will tell you all the details back at base along with Otis and we can make our plan of attack."