Grove Path: The Hawk

"You will find none of those objects will work here..."

A voice spoke out to Luther from above. Luther had been hearing nothing but birds for a few hours so was a little unnerved when he heard someone. Luther lowered his fate's focus and Looked around him. All he could see were the towers. Only now did it seem like each tower were looking down at him as he scanned the doorways and windows with his eyes. "and why is that?" Luther asked hoping to lure the speaker out or to at least get a sense of the voice's relative direction.

Suddenly a strong gust of wind and a dark shadow past by overhead. The shape pulled the landscape with it. Clouds swirled around in a ruckus, lifting off the ground like it would leave no clouds to stand on. Birds scattered in a panicked mob vacating every nook and cranny where the shadow went. Even the burme towers seems to dance. Luther was forced to squint against the gust and brace himself or else be blown away.  

The figure landed on a shorter tower in front of him. Luther slowly opened his eyes, blinking a few times reflexively. He now had a better view of the speaker. The figure was roughly the size of a a large building. It's form towered overhead blocking out most of the light from the sun. The body was that of a bird that was a deep rich purple color all over. The lower half was semi-translucent, it's ghostly talons hardly visible against the tower. The claws on the talons easily large enough to pick up him up and he was a tall satyr at 6'4". The upper body was that of an owl with beautiful shimmering feathers that seemed to absorb the sunlight. On closer inspection, swirling clouds, flickering galaxies and stars shifted in their mass. At last Luther looked at the head. The shape was also that of a owl but at the same time, the head changed shape to other birds of prey. It seemed fluid and quick. So fast in fact that one might miss it if they were not paying attention. Luther locked eyes with the spirit. It's brilliant violet eyes boring into him with intensity and brilliance of many suns. Luther dropped his gaze quickly.

The spirit ruffled their feathers as though amused "Very good, I'm surprised you were not blown away." The voice was surprisingly soothing and cheerful. 

Luther was still taking everything in so he paused a little longer than he would have liked.

"Do you still wish to know about your technology?" the owl asked tilting their head as they focused on Luther.

As if broken from a spell, Luther replied "oh...yes of course." 

The spirit adjusted their head again before straightening. "Your object does not work because time has been paused." The owl spread out one of their great wings and gestured to the air around "Everything around is in a state of pause from the outside world."

"Does that mean the world I'm from is still moving?" Luther asked now wondering about the speed of time when he returns.

"Yes and no. We are in a time gap that I have made to keep the world exactly as I would like. When you return to your world, it'll be as if you never left." The owl looked down at Luther "Unless you'd like to enter a later time."

"Oh no that sounds perfect actually. Exactly when I left works well." Luther replied. It was so weird having this kind of conversation. It felt normal. Well..as normal as speaking with a giant spirit could get. "Are you the great spirit owl? The one the city talks about who takes peoples fears?"

The owl ruffled their feathers. "Yes, one of them. I am many and I am all." 

Luther found the response interesting but didn't think much about it.

 The Owl stretched a great leg down from the spire and onto the cloud floor. "I'm amusing you would like your fears gone too." The spirit circled Luther.

Luther watched the owl circle. Their foot steps did not even make a sound or disturb the cloud clutter. Having the owl this close fully showed the spirit's true height. Luther hardly was the size of the owl's leg. Luther began to wonder what would happen if someone ever made this owl angry. He wasn't stupid enough to find out. "You must get a lot of visitors seeking fear removal" Luther joked.

"Not as many as you would think." The owl looked off into the distance with a smile "My entryways tend to be sheer drops." the owl chortled. "It also helps to keep the less dedicated away." The owl paused "The peace and quite doesn't hurt as well" 

Luther almost saw a smile. The birds that had scattered previously had begun to clutter the burme building once more.

"I have however found some mortals have begun to create fake gateways to gain a little currency so far few of them attempt from your century. The most visitors I get from your gates are the birds who find holes in my world. Dumb things become trapped." The owl shooed some away with a gust of their wing.

Luther watched the birds declutter to another burme tower. They seemed startled but quickly settled into their new perches.

"Prattling on again I find myself. You probably would like to know how fear is taken." The owl turned to look at Luther.

"Yes, that is exactly why I am here. If you please, I'd love to know if my fears can be cured or taken." This was going rather smoothly. He was surprised by how chill the owl was. 

The spirit stopped to look at Luther. "It depends on your fear. Many see different things and it is solved in many ways."  The owl suddenly became serious. "For me to take your fear, we must see into your past and your future." The owl spread their wings wide. Their massive wingspan full of feathers. Each prime feather decorated with many eye patterns. "I will give you the gift of sight and the fates will show you the trials of your fears." The owl tucked their wings in again. "I will warn you though. Those that have experience this sight have either become enlightened or have been driven mad with fear." The owl made eye contact with Luther "Do you wish to continue?"

Luther did not hesitate "Yes." 

"Very well.  May you triumph over your fears." The owl's eyes glowed a brilliant violet as they slowly extended their wings.

 The air grew cold and the sky became dark. "Remember to focus. What do you truly fear?" All the clouds swirled and the world slowly lost color and sound. Luther watched as the environment faded from sight and melted away. He suddenly found himself surrounded by darkness. No sounds could be heard other than the in and out of his breathing. Luther tried to calm himself. The sound of his breath was driving him nuts while he could hear the blood flow in his skull. Luther flicked the rings on his muse's treasure hoping to give him some more background noise other than his breathing. There was a faint clanking from the metal but it did little to help. The sound seemed to carry a little before becoming swallowed by the silence. Luther looked around him, the burme towers, clouds and owl were gone and there were no landmarks could be seen. It was so dark that he had to blink to make sure his eyes were open.

Suddenly grayscale shadows flicked into view. Luther watched shapes form and move about their life before fading into darkness. Luther tried to walk towards some of the specters but each would fade like trying to catch clouds in fog. All the sounds he was making magnified as he tried to catch or see the ghostly scenes around him. He was becoming frustrated. "Focus" he thought to himself.  

Luther took a deep breath and began to think about his fears. The ghosts began to take shape. All of his past relationships that he had hurt out of fear came into form. All of them seemed to call out to him. They seemed to have a lot to say about and to him. Luther approuched each one as he relived a scene with them that he regretted. It was as if he was getting a second chance to appologize and lift a fear about himself.

Soon Luther spotted his wife. He almost tripped as he ran to her. Just as he reached her the scene changed. Luther was witnessing a birth of some kind. The room and figures were blurred as they ran around. The only thing was was clear was his wife. As suddenly as this scene started another appeared. His wife was holding something in a bundle. A tuft of white hair sticking out from it. "Luther, they're beautiful. Come see." 

Luther hesitated while staring at the plumage of white.  He wasn't sure if this specter was actually talking to him or is it was just a ghostly scene. He was morbidly curiously but also terrified about what he would see. Luther watched the hair again as if it was mocking him.

 "Luther?"

Luther waited a little before approaching. He felt like every step was an eternity. His wife tilted the bundle so Luther could get a better look. In the blanket was a small satyr with wild white hair. A bright red masked pasted into the center. Egg colored eyes stared up at him as if confused about who Luther was. Luther subconsciously brought his hand up to touch the child. The hair was soft and twisted. He then spotted the small hands of the child causing him to instinctively reach out to them. The child's hand was hardly big enough to hold Luther's finger. The child firmly gripped Luther's digit before toddling to sleep. Every fear Luther had seemed to melt away. He wanted this child and everything that came with it. As if that were the magic spell, everything started to fade away. Luther wanted it to last longer but knew he would be back here again one day. All he could do was stare at the little hands of his future child until they too faded from existence.

Slowly the world faded back in. Above him was that same welcoming blue sky. Clouds lazily pasts by over head and the sounds of birds were chattering away. The colors and sounds were a welcoming sense and Luther smiled. He felt like he had woken up from a good dream. Luther squinted a little as his eyes readjusted to the light. He was never more happy to be in the spirit's cloud world again. Luther shifted himself and stretched soon discovering that he was now laying on his back. "How long had he been out?" Luther slowly sat up. His first thought was a look for the owl spirit. Strangely enough the owl was nowhere to be found. 

"Spirit?" Luther called out waiting for a reply. Only the wind and the random birds replied. Luther puzzled a bit before standing up. His legs had fallen asleep leaving a prickling and tingling sensation. He must have been out for awhile. Luther went about some easy stretches to get the blood flowing. one at a time, he lifted a leg and made slow rotating motions hoping to get feeling back into his feet. He looked around once more hoping to see the owl again. Instead he spotted a burme rock resembling that of some sort of bench. On top was a small tea cup steaming away. Next to that was a fortune lightglass similar to the one he had left near the owl's gateway on the cliff. Strangely, it was also fully lit. Luther approached the burme, hobbling a little due to his legs not being fully awake.

Examining the cup it seemed to be full of a purple liquid. Luther picked up the cup, the outside pleasantly warm to the touch. Luther took a questioning sniff, it smelled like fresh herbs. Luther shrugged and took a sip of the contents. his whole body felt like he was getting the strength of hundreds of satyrs. Maybe he would run a mile after this. Luther looked around before examining himself "I don't feel any different?" he paused a little disappointing "Maybe it didn't work?" 

"Touch the lightglass"

Luther looked around him but saw no speaker. "Spirit?"

"The lightglass satyr!"

Luther turned his attention to the lightglass. Looking it over it really did look just like the one he had earlier. Shrugging once again he reached a hand out to it and pausing only to hover for a second before touching it. The world fell out from under him. An infinite clouded sky was all around him. "The spirit sure likes their drops" 

"At last! Spread out your soul satyr! Feel the wind."

Luther had no idea what the voice was telling him to do. The ground was still a ways below him but was quickly approaching.

"At least spread out your arms!"

Luther obliged. He felt rather silly with his arms wide but the sensation of falling and the wind rushing felt exhilarating. It felt different from when he entered the gateway. It seemed as though he could hear everything in nature, water rushing, animals moving, people talking. The wind felt amazing on his arms and...in his feathers... Luther looked to his arms. In place of his fingered limbs where sets of wings complete with rich green feathers. Luther was stunned. The ground was now closer than ever. As if by instinct, Luther angled himself to swoop upwards, away from the ground, to the skies above. Luther flapped his newly formed wings and in a joyous manner called out in a mighty hoot. "Thank you owl spirit!" Luther could see the air balloon below him. It was the same one that had taken him to the base of the mountain. He was high enough that no one seemed to notice him. The sight from this height was incredible. If it wasn't for his home being on another planet, Luther would have flown all the way home. in the distance he could see the crystal city just a little ways further. "Maybe I'll stay in the air for a little longer."

End Part 2