NOVEL SIMPLE 93 - Surprise Attack
The owl's head snapped towards David, its massive eyes fixing him with an unnervingly steady gaze. The manic energy that had possessed it moments ago vanished, replaced by an eerie calm that set David's fur on edge.
"David," it said, its voice suddenly smooth and controlled, "would you like to see a secret?"
What the actual fuck? This is some horror movie bullshit right here.
"A secret?" he replied cautiously, trying to keep his voice steady. "What kind of secret involves getting mauled by a crazy bird-man?"
The owl tilted its head, an eerily human gesture on its avian form. "Oh, a wonderful secret. Something that will change everything for you. Just as it did for me."
David's mind raced, Spooky's presence in the back of his head practically vibrating with tension. The owl's sudden lucidity was clearly an act, but a disturbingly good one. Its words were measured, reasonable, yet David couldn't shake the feeling of danger lurking just beneath the surface.
"It's not far," the owl continued, its voice taking on an almost hypnotic quality. "Just a short flight from here. A place where the veil between worlds is thin. Where one can glimpse...the truth."
The truth, huh? Bet it comes with a side of getting eaten. Hey, wait a second. ‘Take it to the water, make it look’? Shit. I think I–
But as the owl spoke, pieces began to fall into place in his mind. Water. Stars. The owl's earlier ravings about voices in the darkness. The events of the last few days. Everything suddenly clicked into place for David, and he took a few slow steps back from the owl.
"This place," David ventured, "it wouldn't happen to be a pool of water, would it? Because I gotta tell you, I'm more of a shower guy myself."
The owl's eyes widened fractionally, a flicker of surprise quickly masked. "Clever boy. Yes, a pool unlike any other."
Oh, great. Cosmic bird-brain here found his own personal LSD puddle. Looks like he had a bad, bad trip too.
David's suspicions solidified, a chill running down his spine. This man, this broken creature before him, had stumbled upon what David and his friends had deliberately sought with their telescope. He'd made contact with an Overseer, but the experience had shattered his mind, leaving behind something twisted.
"You saw something in that water," David said softly, his voice barely above a whisper. The Cuddlebugs huddled closer, sensing the tension in the air. "Someone spoke to you, didn't they?"
The owl's massive head tilted, its eyes boring into David with an intensity that made him want to look away. But he held its gaze, heart pounding.
"Let me guess," David continued, forcing a nonchalant tone he didn't feel. "Big, scary, lots of eyes? Maybe fluffy with a penchant for cryptic messages?"
The owl was silent for a long moment, its facade of sanity slipping ever so slightly. A tremor ran through its mangled wings, and when it spoke, its voice held a reverence that made David's fur stand on end.
"Spoke?" it finally replied, the word dripping with a mixture of awe and terror. "Oh, it did more than speak, little bat. It showed me truths. Terrible, beautiful truths that I can barely comprehend."
The owl took a halting step forward, its voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "I saw it, you know. Not your usurper's stars, oh no. I glimpsed something far more beautiful, far more terrifying."
David felt his breath catch in his throat. "What... what do you mean?"
The owl's eyes seemed to glow in the dim light, reflecting some inner fire of madness. "The dark star, hidden from all but the most worthy observers. It crawled with a power that made your crimson pretender seem like a guttering candle. Oh yes, I saw your pathetic master clearly, little bat."
David's mind raced, remembering the terrifying sight of Omega's star. The idea of something even more powerful sent a wave of dread through him.
"This true star," the owl continued, its voice taking on a dreamy quality, "it showed me the true nature of our world, of all worlds. Showed me through its own eyes!"
It leaned in closer, and David reflexively snarled at it, hopping back a few feet and flattening his ears. "And do you know the best part, little bat? It chose me. Me! To be its herald. To strangle the Usurper's chosen in the cradle! To make things right again."
The weight of the owl's words hung heavy in the air, the forest around them seeming to hold its breath. David felt as if he were standing on the edge of a precipice, one wrong move away from falling into a madness he might never escape. His wings almost physically itched with the desire to simply hammer the creature with a flurry of attacks and fly away while it was still disoriented from the shock.
"So you see," the owl said, its voice once again taking on that unsettling calm, "why you must come with me. Why you must see for yourself. All you have to do... is look."
The owl's demeanor shifted again, an edge of desperation creeping into its voice. "You must see it. You must understand. Come with me. Let me show you the glory that preceded us all."
David stood his ground, acutely aware of the Cuddlebugs tensing around him. The owl's words were seductive, promising answers to the mysteries that had quickly begun to stack up around him.
Yeah I might not be the smartest cookie but I know a false promise when I hear one. Even if he is telling the truth, it doesn't matter. Omega has me by the scruff anyway, and I'm not particularly keen to meet something that considers Omega a usurper.
"I appreciate the offer," David said carefully, "but I think I'll pass. Some secrets are better left…well, secret. I learned that the hard way lately. Plus, I'm pretty sure my friend would eat me if I came back as a feather duster."
As the words left his mouth, a sudden realization hit David like a bucket of ice water. His eyes widened, and he took another involuntary step back.
"Wait a second," he said, his voice tight with suspicion. "How do you know my name? I never told you who I was."
The owl blinked slowly, its massive eyes reflecting the moonlight in an unsettling way. For a moment, it seemed caught off guard, but then that eerie calm returned.
It cooed, its voice dripping with false sweetness. "Names are such trivial things. Surely you understand that by now? I discarded mine, offered it to the dark star. It was…liberating."
But David wasn't buying it. "No, I don't think I do. How about you explain it to me?"
The owl opened its beak to respond, but suddenly jerked its head to the side, as if listening to something only it could hear. Its eyes went unfocused, and when it spoke again, it wasn't to David.
"No... no, I can't. Not yet," it muttered, its voice strained. "It hurts to use it. The Ability...it's too much."
David watched, a mixture of fascination and horror churning in his gut, as the owl seemed to argue with thin air. Then, without warning, the creature's demeanor changed dramatically. Its eyes went wide with terror, and it began to tremble.
"No! Please, I didn't mean—" the owl cut itself off, whipping its head up to face the night sky above the canopy. In an instant, it went from terrifying predator to groveling servant.
"Forgive me, oh great one!" it cried, prostrating itself on the ground, flopping its mangled wings pathetically. "I meant no disrespect. I only sought to bring another creature of darkness to the truth!"
David took another step back, thoroughly unsettled. The Cuddlebugs chittered nervously, their tiny claws digging into his fur.
"Okay, buddy," David said, trying to keep his voice steady. "I think it's time we went our separate ways. You clearly have a lot going on, and I've got... well, literally anything else to do."
The owl lurched to its feet, its body contorting unnaturally. "I will make the voices proud!" it howled, its voice cracking with manic intensity. "I will bring you into the light of the dark star!"
Suddenly, its eyes transformed. David saw the blackness morph rapidly, not just dark but anti-light, as if they were sucking in the very essence of illumination around them.
The sight triggered something primal in David. Spooky's presence surged forward, a tidal wave of pure survival instinct threatening to overwhelm him. For once, David didn't hesitate. He surrendered control, letting his body move of its own accord for the second time that night.
He whirled away, wings lunging forward and digging into the soil as he dove into the underbrush. Branches whipped past him, leaves brushing against his fur as he wove through the forest with inhuman agility. His mind raced, trying to predict the owl's next move, to stay one step ahead of whatever nightmarish ability it was about to unleash.
Behind him, the owl's shriek split the night air. It was wrong, multi-tonal, as if multiple voices were screaming in unison. A sickening crack followed, the sound of bones breaking and reforming.
The Cuddlebugs, sensing the imminent danger, swarmed around David. They formed a living shield, their tiny bodies interposing themselves between him and the threat behind. There was a flash of... something. David couldn't see it, but he felt it. A wave of wrongness that made his fur stand on end and left Spooky raving mad even as David leaned into his own instincts a bit harder in response.
In an instant, the majority of the Cuddlebugs winked out of existence. Only two or three remained, clinging desperately to his fur.
Heart pounding, David launched himself skyward, clawing for altitude. Trees rushed past him as he ascended, branches scraping against his wings. Suddenly, Spooky floored it, burning a huge amount of stamina to pour on speed, and jerking him to the side.
An orb of pitch-black energy tore through the space he'd just occupied, annihilating branches and leaves in its path. The darkness was absolute, a void that seemed to devour light itself. With every leaf and branch it came into contact with, it shrank violently, but left nothing but empty space where it touched.
As David finally cleared the treetops, something grazed his wing. Pain lanced through him as he felt the tip of his wing simply...cease. Not cut, not torn, but erased from existence. A small orb of darkness whipped past to vanish into the sky, clearly fired blind and in desperation.
Behind him, the owl's voice rang out once more. "Forgive me!" it begged, terror evident in its tone. "I tried, I—" Its distant plea was cut short by a scream of agony that made David's blood run cold.
As he reasserted control over his body, two notifications flashed in his mind:
–Moonlit Regeneration has been purged–
–You have taken 38 Magic Damage–
David's mind reeled, his wings faltering for a moment before he caught himself. Magic damage? The concept was so foreign, so unexpected, that for a moment he couldn't process it.
What the actual fuck? Magic damage? Since when is that a thing? I've never seen a single reference to that before. I spent hours on the Evolution screen looking through stuff, and I'd have shit my pants and bought it instantly if I ever saw it. This changes everything.
As he soared higher, putting distance between himself and the nightmare below, the implications began to sink in. This wasn't just a new type of damage, this was a whole aspect of the System he'd never even considered. If magical damage was an option then that would seem to suggest…
The Overseers are holding out on us. On everyone. Things aren't just complicated, they're... they're...
He couldn't even find the words to describe it. He'd thought he was starting to understand this new world, but now? Now he realized he'd barely scratched the surface.
I should have fucking killed it when I had the chance, what the hell was I thinking? Playing twenty questions with a clearly insane bird-man instead of ending the threat? I can't make friends out of everyone…fuck! STUPID!
David berated himself as he flew, jaws open and lips wrinkled back from his fangs in anger. He growled and hissed with every exhalation, absolutely furious with himself, with the Overseers, and…
The memory of the Cuddlebugs winking out of existence hit him hard. Those little creatures, annoying and adorable as they could be, had sacrificed themselves for him. And for what? Because he'd been too cocky, too sure of his own understanding.
I've been hatched for what, a month? Maybe a bit more? And I thought I had it all figured out. Stupid, stupid, stupid! Grow the fuck up David! You can't assume anything anymore! You shouldn't have assumed anything to begin with!
As he flew, his body almost on autopilot while his mind churned, David felt a mixture of emotions washing over him. Fury at himself for his miscalculation. Sadness for the lost Cuddlebugs. Fear of what other surprises this world might have in store. He'd made a mistake, yes, but he'd survived. He'd learned.
And he wasn't about to let a repeat situation happen again.
As soon as I get back, it's time for another 'bug report.' Omega's got some explaining to do. No more playing nice, It's time to get some real answers.