The Innkeeper

The baby owl's body was only slightly larger than Lex's own, but that did not mean it was not a good fit. Its body carried a hidden strength that had been tucked in, to keep it from detection while it searched for enemies. But that could not hide it from Lex, who was beginning to gain a lot of experience in such things.

Even without the need for spirit sense, Lex could tell, based solely on its lush plumage and the way that energy flowed around it, how tough and durable it was. It did not move much, as it tried to remain still and blend into the darkness, but its massive eyes revealed its inner shrewdness.

No, the minor size difference would not deter it from being a good mount. Taming it, though, might be a small issue. Long ago, Lex had learned a taming technique. It was, in fact, the one he used on Fenrir.

But he was not interested in formally taming the owl. Just a temporary agreement would do. If he were in his normal body, he would turn himself into thought, enter the bird's mind, and communicate with it. But in his fairy body, none of that was possible. It was really strange, because he did not think his abilities were linked to his body, but his soul.

Yet it became an issue, not because of the body, but because his race had changed. If his clone had been another human, this would not have been a problem.

But, as a fairy, there were other ways in which he could resolve this issue. He walked right up to the owl, remaining undetected, then put his arm around its neck, as if he was talking to any old friend.

The owl jerked, but then froze. In his fairy form there were many things Lex lacked, but that did not eliminate his knowledge. This body did not have Domination, but it did have an aura. Lex, with some knowledge and experience in controlling auras now, used it on the calm and friendly aura that fairies naturally exuded, and added a hint of his power in it.

His fairy body was at the peak of the Foundation realm, but that did not change the fact that his soul was at the Nascent level. Although in his fairy body, it seemed to be in a pseudo nascent state, it was enough to intimidate anyone.

The owl wanted to react to the sudden hand, but its body would not respond as it was completely restricted by the aura.

Lex flapped his wings, thinking of communication and translation, and allowed the fairy dust to be absorbed by his own body and that of the owls.

The reason the universal translator did not work on animals, and certain beasts such as Fenrir, was because they were not speaking in any language, even if they did communicate. But connecting through souls, something being in the nascent soul realm allowed. Could enable communication between any two things with souls.

"How are you doing, friend? I hope I'm not interrupting anything too important."

The owl turned its head sideways as it tried to understand what was happening. It looked at Lex, its tiny bird brain trying to grasp the situation.

"I was scouring the abyss for worthy prey, aiming to assist it in fulfilling its role in the food chain," it responded. It was interesting because Lex heard it hoot, but at the same time he also understood what it was trying to say.

"Oh, the cycle of life. Nice. Anyway, listen, I want to go explore that human settlement over there, but when I flap my wings little shiny lights come out, which is very visible, as you can see. I was wondering if you could maybe give me a ride over. Since you're a local, maybe you could also give me a tour. What do you think? I'll find some way to repay your kindness."

The owl paused again, as it tried to process what it had heard. Eventually, it bowed down.

"Assume your place for the journey," the owl said.

Lex smiled. The world really was a wonderful place. All he had to do was ask nicely, and others were willing to help out. He completely ignored the suffocating aura he had just momentarily revealed.

"My name is Lex, by the way. What's yours?" he asked as he swung his legs over, and positioned himself so that his legs would not interfere with the wings.

"The designation allocated to me is Ollie Hoots IV, Marquis of Dundland. It is a pleasure to be of service, your majesty."

The owl spread its wings, and paused for the briefest of moments, as if to display their grandeur, before it flapped and took to the air.

Lex was pleasantly surprised at the owls speed, not to mention how smoothe the actual ride was!

"I did not know owls had noble families," Lex commented, even as he surveyed the darkened lands. "Is your estate nearby?"

"Mundane avifauna lack the necessary faculties to coalesce, however we Shadow Talons are of a higher breed," the owl said with great pride in its voice. As if to add emphasis to its words, Ollie suddenly pulled a maneuver, turning upside down before straightening back up, all without losing momentum or giving Lex the opportunity to fall off its back.

"That's quite interesting," Lex commented, as he began to imagine a country of owls. It presented quite an adorable image.

"My estate is nearby, however I have been dispatched by the patriarch of my household to oversee a raid against some nearby abominations."

"Oh, I hope I am not disturbing your plans. That sounds important."

"The deed is already complete. Our former foes no longer know the plight of living. With no other obligation to bind me, I am free to show you the monuments of this settlement."

Lex was beginning to get very impressed by this owl, until he realized that to the owl, the trees in the city were the monuments. It flew to each and every park, and took some time to describe the history and relevance of each tree, as if it had everything memorized.

While that was interesting as well, especially since the trees had apparently been the sites of a colossal war between the great horde of undead insects and the black doves, he was more interested in the people themselves.

Up close, he finally saw them, and realized the skin color of these humans was unexpected. They had ashen skin, with their pupils shining white in the dark. To be honest, Lex felt like he was at a comic convention because they looked more like they were undead than living humans, but nothing about their auras suggested anything was amiss.

Their glowing eyes did not seem to grant them dark vision, as they usually all carried lanterns with them.

Besides their unusual skin color, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, so Lex turned his attention from the settlement to the owls' estate, and asked Ollie if it could give him a tour of its home.

The owl seemed almost too eager to agree, and just as Lex was preparing himself for a small journey, Ollie did something strange. It turned and twisted inside space itself, suddenly transporting them to an entirely different plane.

For a moment, Lex was extremely disoriented, but a single flap of his fairy wings was all it took for him to gather himself back up.

He looked around and discovered that his eyes were useless here. He was in pure darkness. Or rather, everything was just colored black.

"Welcome to the dominion of the Shadow Talons, the Shadow plane," said Ollie, though it had no voice. The words just sort of came into existence as smaller shadows which were then absorbed by Lex's body, allowing him to understand.

"From here, our rule extends to every corner and dark domain of the realm. The mighty Shadow Talon dynasty will become the ultimate ruler of the lands."

Then Lex saw… no saw was the wrong word. He somehow became aware of the countless shadows that existed around him.

For as far he could sense, and far beyond that even, a massive military compound seemed to stretch out. Millions and millions of owls moved about, each of them moving with the discipline and focus of a well trained army. Weapons and vehicles littered the shadows, and from each of them reeked an aura of blood… or a bloody shadow, if that made sense.

For the first time, Lex suddenly became aware of this massive army that was hiding in every single shadow that existed in the entire Midnight realm, and he could not wrap his head around how an entire dynasty could exist connected solely by shadows. And yet, somehow, here it was, and of course, he just stumbled into it.

Then Lex something dangerous in the distance. A shadow suddenly approached them, and it had an aura similar to his own. This shadow was at the nascent realm.

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