An Owl's Rise

As tensions were rising in her store, Evelyn could only look on in confusion.

It seemed that a rival faction had taken notice of the group being led by Trine and had decided to get involved.

And while it appeared that they were defending Evelyn, she thought that they were just creating an even bigger mess of the situation.

She had just been about to make her move, but now things were complicated by the second group.

There was also the fact that for some reason the hostile faction thought she had killed some of their members which Evelyn could not wrap her head around.

Unfortunately, even though they were in her store, the two groups were practically ignoring her for now and looked to be ready to start a brawl at any moment.

Eventually though, the group that had been harassing Evelyn backed down and after a few of its members sent Evelyn a couple more glares they finally left.

This left only the other faction that had seemingly come to Evelyn's aid.

'I suppose that they are probably stronger since the others backed down easily enough and were quite frustrated when these owls showed up.' Evelyn thought, eyeing her rescuers warily.

She still did not know what they wanted, and while they had helped her out by getting rid of the group harassing her, it was very possible that they could start a faction war with her in the middle.

"I am truly sorry about that. The Devurg Faction which that Trine is a part of is an up-and-coming power among us awakened ranks and they enjoy throwing their weight around. I am just glad that I noticed your blight and was able to mobilize some of my faction to help." Legget said with a friendly smile.

"Yeah, thanks for getting rid of them, but I would have been fine on my own." Evelyn said, allowing a little irritation to seep into her tone.

Her plan had actually been ruined by Legget and his group and now she was left with numerous questions and no way to have them answered.

Now she was going to have a much harder time getting any information out of the Devurg Faction which was targeting her.

"Hm, I am not so sure that you could have so easily dealt with them." Legget said, a bit surprised that Evelyn was not more grateful for his help.

Normally anyone that was being targeted by the Devurg faction and did not have any backing of their own was very appreciative, but Evelyn looked more peeved than anything.

Still, Legget just decided to write this off as her having a prickly nature and still being angry about the earlier harassment she had endured.

"The Devurg Faction is known for using all manner of dirty tricks to force people into their group and use them up. It is clear that they have it out for you and fighting an entire faction alone is just not really feasible." Legget said, a look of concern on his face.

He then got to the point he was trying to make, and Evelyn realized why he was here.

"It is certain that they will keep coming after you, but if you join my faction, I can make sure to protect you. We have allowed many others into our rank that have been persecuted by the Devurg Faction. Our numbers are nearly double theirs and they know better than to actually pick a fight with our members. You will definitely be safe under our care." Legget said, acting like the embodiment of heroism.

He was generously offering his support to Evelyn who was the poor lone owl with no means to defend herself from the group targeting her. Or so it appeared.

Evelyn was incredibly wary after all she had been through and had developed the skills necessary to read the true intentions of most individuals.

While Legget seemed to be offering his help magnanimously, Evelyn could feel the avarice oozing out of him.

Cleary he was seeing Evelyn more as a prize to collect for his faction rather than truly being noble in his assertion to protect her.

'These owls are my enemies as well.' Evelyn thought looking at Legget and those he had brought with him.

They were clearly trying to play the heroes while she was the damsel in distress, but all of them had only surface level virtue.

Evelyn was just an asset they were trying to collect, nothing more.

'I may not have any evidence to support this, but I can feel it in my gut. Legget and his faction are the reason I am being targeted at all. They must have spread false information about me in order to incited the other faction to come after me and are now trying to forgivably recruit me by leaving me an ultimatum. Join them for protection or get crushed by the Devurg Faction.'

It would be a nasty trick if Evelyn's assumption was true, and most owls would think that they had found their saving grace when Legget and his faction came to offer their help.

However, she was not going to fall for such a trick.

"I thankful for the offer, but I will have to refuse. I have no intention of joining any faction and will be fine on my own." Evelyn asserted. "Now if you are done here, would you mind leaving or buying something. Currently your group is the one impeding my business and I have already lost a good amount of time."

Shock was apparent on Legget's face, and he betrayed his true intentions for a moment.

Clearly, he had used this trick before and was in disbelief that it had not worked. Or so that is what Evelyn interpreted his expression to mean.

Quickly enough, like the con artist he was, Legget put back on his friendly mask and tried again to get Evelyn to join his faction.

"I understand where you are coming from, but you must not realize the danger you are in. The Devurg Faction is known for working their members to death if they do not care about them, and you heard that was what Trine has planned for you. Certainly, we came to help you this time, but unless you are actually a member of our faction, we cannot always be there to protect you." Legget said, trying to play on Evelyn's fears.

Of course, she was not afraid at all. Worst case scenario she flashed the emblem that Minerva had given her and used the leader of the Roost's authority to put an end to all of this.

"That is fine, I did not need your protection in the first place. I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself. Now please leave, you are loitering around my store and making it impossible for me to do business."

Being refused again Legget snapped and began shouting at Evelyn.

"Don't you realize that you are going to be killed if you do not join us! Are you an idiot or just suicidal!? Just hurry up an accept my generous offer!"

With a sigh Evelyn just looked at Legget with complete disinterest.

She thought that he was acting like a child that had not gotten what he wanted even after pleading and was now resorting to screaming.

"If that is what is going to happen because I do not join you, then so be it. Now I have already asked you to leave twice, I will not ask again." Evelyn said, hostility clearly in her tone this time.

Her actions took Legget by complete surprise. No owl he had 'helped' in the past had ever acted so averse to joining his faction.

Immediately, the other owls with Legget that had been silent up till now, began berating Evelyn.

Telling her that she was a fool for not accepting their offer and that she was going to be crushed without their help.

'Looks like they finally showed their true colors. They act like they are helping, but all they want is to trick talented owls into joining them.' Evelyn thought as she took the verbal onslaught of Legget's group.

Quickly she had had enough and acted on her threat.

Activating her gravity magic she increased the pressure on all of the owls in Legget's Faction and used her extreme press on the leader.

Many of them were caught off guard by this and were unable to stop themselves from falling over and slamming into the stone flooring with heavy thuds.

Legget however, despite experiencing five times greater gravity than his compatriots, he was able to stay standing.

It was clear he was having to strain himself to do so, but nevertheless, he had managed to keep up his appearance as a leader.

A couple moments later Evelyn deactivated her gravity magic and glared at Legget and his group.

Fear was apparent on all of their faces as they could not understand what Evelyn had just done to all of them.

Luckily her message got across and Legget began organizing his shaken group and left Evelyn's store.

But not before saying to her, "This is not over yet."