An Owl's Rise

Her head held low as she apologized to her friends and siblings, Evelyn had to clench her beak tightly to prevent herself from bursting into tears.

She had just experienced an extreme emotional whiplash and was having a difficult time keeping herself together.

In both of her lives she had lost a great deal and the loss of her home and Otis had felt like enough to break her.

However, thanks to Lucia, Evelyn understood that she still had plenty to live for. Right in front of her were four companions that would stick with her through thick and thin.

"I am sorry as well. I should have seen how much you were hurting and tried to help. You are normally our stalwart leader, so I did not notice, or perhaps I did not want to notice." Rehni said, lowering her own head towards Evelyn.

While it might have been in hindsight, she could look back and see the signs of Evelyn's sorrow eating away at her.

"I'm at fault as well. All I focused on was your physical wounds, when I should have realized that you were going through even more than any of us. I failed you as a healer and a friend." Bylur said, his expression showing his regret.

Following him, Verrader and Aralee expressed their own remorse for not doing more for Evelyn. 

As her siblings they should have understood her emotional state better than anyone.

"Please, stop apologizing to me. None of you did anything wrong. I shouldn't have let my suffering overcome me and lose sight of what I have right in front of me. I'm still free and alive thanks to all of you, and because of Otis' sacrifice." 

The tears that Evelyn had been doing her best to hold back burst forth all at once and she could no longer help sobbing profusely.

For several minutes she simply let her emotions out until the emotional pain she had been feeling felt dull.

'I've still got my life, so as long as I breath, I cannot ever give up on my will to live. Doing so would be to spit in the faces of those that have gotten me this far and the people I have lost along the way.' 

Finding her resolve once again, Evelyn got her emotions under control and prepared to move forward.

"Bylur, if you would, could you apply the medicine that Lucia provided. I am ready to regain my strength. There is much we have to do, and I cannot continue to be a burden any longer." Evelyn said, a sharp look in her eyes filled with resolve.

Seeing the sudden change in Evelyn's demeanor, Bylur was stunned for a moment before he began frantically trying to open the bottle that contained the salve that would heal Evelyn's damaged muscles and bones.

Once Rehni chided him, Bylur calmed down and carefully applied the medicine to the areas where the twelve rods had impaled Evelyn in her wings and legs.

The wounds had already been sealed, but Bylur's magic and the potions they had on hand had been insufficient to restore the pieces of missing bone and muscle.

Luckily Lucia had medicine that was powerful enough to regenerate even missing parts of a body and Evelyn could feel the salve beginning to work just a few minutes after it was applied.

Drowsiness was quick to follow the soothing feeling of the salve and Evelyn could not hold out long before feeling her eyes get heavy.

Unconsciousness soon found her, and she fell asleep so that her body could heal.

For the next several days, Evelyn spent her time slipping in and out of consciousness. Only really waking up to eat and then immediately going back to sleep.

It was a brutal process that left her mind hazy and her body sore, but it was necessary for her to recover from her crippling injuries. In the grand scheme of things, it was a small price to pay to be able to fly and walk again.

On the fourth day of this cycle Evelyn finally truly awoke and finally feeling the strength having returned to her limbs she leapt to her feet.

'Hehe. Finally, I can walk around again.' Evelyn thought elated at her recovery.

It was easy to take something as simple as moving around under your own power for granted until you became reliant on others for everything.

Now just being able to stand on her own again was enough to bring a smile to Evelyn's face.

Forgetting any restraint, Evelyn began hoping around like she had before and spread her wings open to fly. 

However, after over a week of being unable to move, she found that her coordination was not what it used to be, and she lost control and tumbled over. Slamming face first into the wall of the room she was in.

"Sister! What's wrong!?"

Flying into her room frantically, Aralee saw Evelyn sprawled out on the floor with her head smashed against a stone wall.

"Nothing is wrong. I am doing perfectly fine. I can finally move again." Evelyn responded, using her wind magic to jump back onto her feat with an ecstatic expression on her face.

After being immobile for so long, finally being able to move under her own power made her feel as if she had been reborn. 

Until now, Evelyn did not realize just how much losing functionality of her legs and wings had affected her. And joy strong enough to push past the recent tragedies she had recently experienced welled up inside her.

"I am glad to see you have recovered, but you should take it easy. Let's have Bylur take a look at you before you do anything else. We do not want you hurting yourself in case you are not fully healed yet. Please just wait here until I can go and get the others and we have checked on your condition." Aralee said, her tone conveying how concerned she was.