It was morning when Dayesh arrived at the guild office. There were not many people at that hour. He went straight to the bulletin board to take a quest.
He chose the one about the owl. Quietly, he took the paper and approached the receptionist, speaking in a low voice.
"Where is its location?" he asked.
"It is strange that you keep choosing missions that seem impossible."
"I will just try again. I have enough to pay the penalty if I fail."
"Where is your map?"
Dayesh laid out his map. The woman marked the route leading to the location of the owl incident.
"I say the mission is impossible because only those who see the owl become its victims."
"That is exactly why I will try."
"It is your decision. I am telling you, there is a penalty if you fail to complete it."
"I will be on my way," Dayesh said before leaving.
It took Dayesh three and a half days of travel before he reached the city of Velmora.
In the morning, Velmora seemed like an ordinary town. Merchants walked along the streets, children played by the roadside, and smoke from chimneys drifted gently into the cool air. Nothing seemed unusual. There were no warnings.
But when night fell, everything changed.
As Dayesh stood in the shadow of a building, he felt it.
A thin yet powerful presence spread across the entire city, like an invisible barrier slowly descending from the sky and enclosing Velmora. It could not be seen, but it was felt through his senses, like a cage made of air and will.
His eyes narrowed.
This was not created by humans.
Moments later, a door opened from a house in the distance. A man stepped out. His eyes were closed.
There was no emotion on his face. No hesitation in his steps. It was as if something was pulling him.
Dayesh quietly retreated into the darkness.
His form began to change.
His bones shifted without a sound. His flesh reshaped itself. His skin grew fur as dark as the night.
Within seconds, a dark blue-black wolf stood in his place.
Between his jaws, he carried his bag, its strap firmly held by his fangs. Inside it was his item box.
He followed the man.
His steps made no sound. His presence left no trace.
The man continued walking until he reached an old tree outside the city.
He stopped there. He remained standing, eyes still closed, as if waiting.
Several seconds passed. Then…
Hooo…
A call broke the silence.
But it was not an ordinary call.
It carried a wave of energy that spread through the air, cold, ancient, and unsettling.
The fur on Dayesh's body stood on end.
On a branch of the tree, a figure slowly appeared.
An owl.
But its eyes were not ordinary. They glowed with a color that did not belong to this world.
And it knew that Dayesh was there.
Slowly, Dayesh changed form.
His fur receded. His limbs returned to human form. His posture shifted back to his true self, a form that did not fully belong to any single race.
A being capable of becoming anything.
The owl stared at him.
Then it spoke.
But its beak did not move.
Its voice echoed inside his mind.
Dayesh was not surprised.
"You are the one behind this," he replied through his thoughts.
"Yes," the owl answered.
"Why do you call them?" he asked.
There was a brief silence.
"For no reason. I am simply bored, so I play with them."
Dayesh's face remained emotionless. A long silence passed between them.
"People are afraid," he finally said.
"I know. They are more interesting when they are afraid," the owl replied.
It was a creature that did not understand humans. Not evil, but not good either.
Dayesh decided to speak.
"Come with me," he said.
"Why?" the owl asked, confused.
"So you will no longer be bored."
"And why?"
"So you will no longer cause trouble here. You have two choices, to be destroyed or to live and follow my commands."
Dayesh released a terrifying energy to intimidate the owl.
Slowly, the owl spread its wings.
It flew down, circling around him. It observed him, examined him, measured him.
At last, it landed on his shoulder.
At that moment, the presence surrounding the city vanished.
The invisible barrier disappeared.
In the distance, the man standing by the tree stirred slightly, confused but unharmed.
And the night became ordinary once more.