“Oh,” Zoey said. Her face paled, as she trembled like a leaf in a fierce wind. Above, silent wings carried six more owls in a low circle over their heads, each one kept their heads angled down, staring right at the duo.

“Keep your eyes on the ground!” Edwin barked out.

“No, please no!” Zoey cried as she raised her arms above her head. She sank to her knees and squeezed her eyes shut tightly.

“Ok,” Edwin tried to reassure himself. “Alright. I can totally do this,” his voice echoed out. A hysterical edge lined his words and Zoey sobbed a moment later.

Edwin held one hand up in front of his eyes and peeked through. Hopefully he would be able to shield his eyes if one of the owls tried to catch him with their paralyzing gaze. Psyched up and jittery with nerves, Edwin did not wait for the owls to descened. Throwing caution to the wind he swung his injured fist skyward and shouted, “Die!”

Half a dozen little concrete projectiles ripped themselves free from the sidewalk and rocketed towards his feathered foes. The concrete moved twice as fast as before as Edwin tried to pour on the juice, he wanted to catch the owls by surprise with a shock and awe strike.

Two of six found their marks as the owls did little to dodge. Edwin had difficulty aiming at six different targets with just as many projectiles flying in a circle over his head. One shrieked as its wing was struck, it pinwheeled off to land on top of a nearby car. The other fell limply from the sky, Edwin had struck something critical. The owl fell dead or unconscious, either way, two of them were out of the fight.

In ominous synchronicity the other four tucked their wings and dived. A cacophony of screaming filled the air as the four joined their voices to the conscious owl stuck on the ground. They came too quickly for Edwin to counter and their talons left deep slashes as they passed him on their first dive. He only just managed to raise his arms to shield his head from them.

He focused on his connection to his spent shots and willed them to fly towards him and take up a defensive orbit around his head and shoulders. Edwin stumbled backwards and gasped as he poured out his new energy. He was desperate to ward the owls off.

A lucky shot took one of the owls from underneath and it fell into a bloody heap. The other three backed off. One of them came to hover, flapping its wings several feet out in front of him. Peeking through his fingers Edwin caught sight of the owl and clamped his hand firmly over his eyes and turned his back towards the scintillating purple spark coming from the bird. That momentary exposure to the owl's third eye left his thoughts blank and he collapsed to the ground as his mind lost control and reasserted itself a moment later.

His concrete shield collapsed and Edwin found himself gasping for air as he tried to push himself back up. His fingers met the concrete through a slick puddle of his own warm blood, sheeting off his new injuries.

Panic and fear gripped Edwin, he was dying, the slashes were bleeding too much and there were still three owls after him. Their continued shrieking set his teeth on edge. Their discordant voices keening a personal dirge. As Edwin teetered between jumping to his feet and fleeing or turning and fighting to his last breath he felt his rage at the birds grow.

His thoughts blanked out and he rolled onto his back and gestured forward with both arms like he was cupping something between his hands and shoving it forward. Around him a dozen more miniature concrete spears were stripped from the side walk and shot towards the owls in a cannonade of his hatred for the stupid creatures.

The other two owls were slammed point blank, they had been moments away from gouging into his back. The pencil shaped concrete burst through the creatures’ light bodies and continued on towards the one that had tried to trap him. All the owls were downed and Edwin felt a metaphorical sledge hammer slam his chest and head. His energy tank was dry. Expended in seconds between a couple attacks to fight half a dozen owls. He turned on his side and hurled, the vomit mixed with his pooling blood as he collapsed fully to the ground. His breath came in shakey wheezes as he fought to keep himself from passing out.

Zoey had quit sobbing at some point yet three of the owls continued to scream, their voices growing weaker as they headed towards death. Something impacted the pavement hard nearby and Edwin flinched but was unable to muster the strength to turn and look. One of the owls fell silent.

Two more similar impacts followed and the other two shrieking owls were silenced. Edwin felt himself fading in and out, his rough breathing intermixed with the footsteps that approached him. Then a corona of white light burst around both of them. A chiming noise sounded inside each of their heads. Motes of light rained down around the two, creating an enchanting scene. Dazzled by the light Edwin let his eyes read through the message that had appeared on a glowing blue panel, it announced his acquisition of enough xp to level up once, thus reaching level six. As he skimmed over the last word the panel vanished.

Another panel took its place immediately. It bore his status, the same as it had been before, or near enough. His frazzled mind did not take note of the details and after he let his eyes drift through the numbers the screen vanished as well. His slow thoughts started to wake up afterward. Unsure of the reality of recent events it took him a moment to recognize what should have been obvious. The pain was gone. He could worry about the vanishing panels later.

Feeling great, Edwin took a deep breath. Sitting up he glanced down at his arms, smeared with blood, and marvelled when he found them smooth and free of injury. Tearing the bandages from his right fist, he found his broken hand good as new.

Without meaning to, he started to chuckle. He rolled his shoulders and was delighted to find the searing lines raked into his back gone, all across his body his injuries were gone, as if they had never been there. No scars or marks. He had been healed completely. He stood up and let his laughter grow deeper, more uncontrolled. He saw Zoey to the side, her shins were splattered with gore, her pants still dripping. The last of the motes of light faded out around the two. Looking around he saw that she had stomped the owls into patties where they had fallen. Of the seven owls downed, she had squashed five.

Zoey stood there with wide eyes, her gaze flicking back and forth. Reading a panel only she could see. She jerked back as the panel vanished and craned her neck looking around to see where it might have gotten to. Her fruitless search brought her focus to rest on Edwin.

Her wild eyes shifted into hard green chips, her slack jaw screwed itself into a grimace and she hurried over to him. “Did you see that? It was like last night, with the light around you,” she rushed out when she was closer.

Edwin finished laughing but could do nothing to stop the manic grin splitting his lips. The adrenaline rush was calming down but he was still too charged to control himself fully.

Before he could reply Zoey froze, her body locking up. Rigid and tense her eyes bulged and her jaw opened in a silent scream. She jerked with wild motion, convulsions wracked her and she collapsed to the ground.

“Oh shit,” Edwin swore. He wanted to reach down and try to help her, but there was nothing he could do right now. What Zoey was going through matched with his experience from last night. Like wild electricity sparking and branching through your entire body, it was an experience Edwin never wished to go through again. The phenomenon lasted only for a couple seconds yet Zoey’s expression of anguish soured the elation Edwin felt from surviving and having his body restored to perfect health.

As Zoey regained control she gasped and tears spilled from her eyes. A pain filled whimper escaped her lips and she curled into a tight ball. She drew ragged choked breaths and Edwin gave her the time to regain her composure. A minute later he spotted a small group of owls returning to the building they had just left. They needed to wrap this up and get away from this place.

“Hey, we still need to leave,” Edwin said softly. “Before more owls find us. We can talk somewhere else.”

Zoey scrambled to her feet. The fear of the owls once again reasserting itself now that the bizarre light show had ended. She pushed her traumatic memories from just a moment again to the back of her mind. She nodded her head and the two made tracks away from the carnage they left in their wake.

Not sure where else to go, Edwin headed towards the dorms. Staying close to the nearby buildings the pair worked their way back the way they had come. Ahead of them was a pathway that split between the student union building and the library. No one was there so the pair crossed the open plaza between them. Edwin chanced a look over towards the open park and saw owls darting to and fro, diving and climbing back up as they harassed any student still in the area. He wished them luck and made his way between the buildings.

Still moving, they were through the passage. On their right were the library doors. Ahead of them, the path split and one direction led to the dorms. On their left, a parking lot sat empty. Between no one coming in for class, and the exodus to flee the city, there were no cars parked there.

It was almost peaceful, a stark contrast to the awful screeching of the owls. Well, it was peaceful until the echoing screams of several people rang across the lot.

Four people came running into view on the far side. Several owls tailed them from above. Unfortunately for Edwin and Zoey, this group spotted them and adjusted their course towards the pair.

“No,” Zoey nearly whimpered. Edwin grit his teeth. He had just been miraculously healed. He did not want to risk his life before he could get a moment to try and better understand what was going on. Despite the healing and energy replenishment, he still felt overwhelmed and mentally exhausted.

The sound of steps heralded the arrival of another group from behind them. Turning, he saw half a dozen uniformed police officers rushing towards them. They were all armed with shotguns.

“Get out of the way!” One of them shouted. Edwin glanced at a nearby bench and ushered Zoey towards it. They scuttled over and sought shelter behind the wooden frame. For whatever imagined protection it might provide. It gave them some cover from the owls’ at the least.

The officers streamed past them. The fleeing students continued to run, now swinging their arms wildly as the owls pecked at their heads. No one had been ensnared yet though.

“Get down!” The same officer yelled. “On the ground now.”

One of the running students dropped right away. The others stumbled forward before getting the message and going down. The police formed a line and unleashed with their shotguns. Each officer was loaded with buckshot and while not the best shot for shooting birds, at such a close distance with their targets grouped up, the men annihilated the birds in two rapid volleys. The birds were mulched as the air above the students was filled with round lead death. When everyone’s ears quit ringing in the aftermath, one of the police officers gestured towards the group on the ground.

“Go check on them,” he said and two officers responded. He turned towards Edwin and Zoey and waved them over. Edwin set out, recognizing the officer, while Zoey followed a step behind.

“Officer Ferguson,” Edwin greeted him. His meaty face shifted to a scowl. This officer was the one most commonly called to deal with drunk residents in the dorm and Edwin disliked the officer for his overzealous work in catching the underaged drinkers. It caused more work for him.

“Ahh, it’s you,” Ferguson replied. A scowl on his face. The dislike went both ways. “Return to the dorms, we’re heading into the park to find any more survivors.” He was curt and Edwin nodded his head in reply. The man turned to find the four other students walking over with the two officers behind.

Edwin recognized the group of four and did not want to be bothered by them. He turned and started moving back towards the dorms and Zoey fell into step behind him again.

“Officer, sir!” One of the four said loudly behind them. “What the hell is going on? There are some psycho owls killing everyone over in Prexy’s.”

The officers shushed him and told the group to return to the dorms, they would send a medic later to check on any injuries. Dismissed by the officer, who marshalled his group and led them towards the park, the group of four turned their sights to Edwin’s back.

“Hey, you two!” One of them yelled. “Wait up.”

Edwin came to a halt reluctantly and assessed Zoey out of the corner of his eye. Her legs were soaked with blood. Dark red blotches splattered the rest of her. She must have really squished down on those owls. She looked ghastly. Whereas Edwin’s sweatshirt was soaked through with blood and torn half to shreds. His pants were in a similar condition. He had blood smeared across most of his body. He was surprised the officers had not reacted to their appearance, but perhaps they had stumbled onto similar cases of students. Or they had been too busy to care.

They made a sorry looking pair as they turned around.

“Oh! Edwin,” A girl called out. Edwin knew that voice, it was Ava. “And Zoey. Oh whoa. Zoey, are you quite alright?”

Looking at her, Edwin hid a grimace. Ava was smiling brightly towards them. Zoey mumbled a yes in reply. Ava walked closer and embraced Zoey. It only lasted several seconds before the hug ended. Zoey’s blushing face was revealed as Ava turned to Edwin. The corner of her eyes narrowed ever so slightly as she looked at him.

“Keeping together alright Ed?” She asked.

Edwin gave her a blank stare before he sighed inside and nodded shortly. “Yeah,” he said.

She clapped her hands and her smile grew wider. The three guys with her also smiled. It was just a happy fun time apparently. Edwin felt his annoyance with Ava grow even further. That she would act this way rubbed him the wrong way. As if a smile and several kind words would wash away the lingering memories of what just happened.

“Excellent!” She said. Her friends all agreed enthusiastically. “I believe it is time that we make our way back to White Hall, yes?” Another round of agreement and Edwin set off before the parade could get started behind him. They caught up to him a little later. Edwin was not walking with any particular hurry, and he wanted to hear what Ava might have to say as they walked.

The walk back was short and the guys spent the time giving Zoey a play by play of their harrowing escape from death.They had been on the fringe of the pasture when the owls descended into the ongoing football match. Chaos had broken out as half the people froze. Their bodies refused to run and they were cut down—trapped by the owl's eye. The rest scattered.

Tony and several other staff members met them at the door. Worried looks filled their faces. Tony stepped forward. “We heard gunshots,” he said. His brow was scrunched together and his eyes were narrowed. “Mother fucker!” he swore violently when he got a good look at Edwin and Zoey. “Get inside and sit down now. Is anyone else hurt? What the hell happened?”

Edwin allowed himself to be led to one of the chairs in the lobby and as Tony fretted over him he got around to explaining that he was uninjured. “Then what’s all the blood from?” Tony asked with worried exasperation.

“I killed the owls that were attacking me, it got messy,” was Edwin’s calm reply.

“The owls? Owls were attacking you? Did you rip them apart or something? You’re practically coated from head to toe!”

“Let Ava explain. I’m going upstairs to ruin one of my towels,” Edwin grumbled before getting up and stepping through the small crowd around him. He left a red imprint on the chair and the others stepped away before they rounded on Ava. She was left to field Tony’s questions and bring him up to speed on what had happened.

Free from Tony’s mother henning, Edwin stopped by Zoey, who had not joined in to listen to Ava. “Would you like to use a towel to clean yourself up? Maybe we can talk a little about what happened?” Edwin offered the younger girl. “I have some wet wipes too.” She cracked a small smile and nodded her head.

The process was time consuming and they spent turns outside his room while the other used the privacy to try and clean themselves. In the end, Edwin wore new clothes and had removed most of the blood from himself. Some hard to rub out smudges remained, but there was not a lot he could do about it without running water. Zoey’s pant legs were unsalvageable and they ended up just cutting the legs off below the knee. Turning her jeans into jorts. The splatters higher up were scrubbed with a little water from a water bottle to some effect.

Edwin had been debating the best way to start this conversation while they cleaned themselves in relative silence. Now they were as clean as they were likely to get. Settling on a direct approach he cleared his throat. Zoey turned from looking out the window and met his gaze.

“So uh, that was pretty crazy,” he tried for some levity but powered on before he could gauge her reaction. “Like actually insane and I’m still kind of processing the whole thing. But I want to talk to you about the blue screens, you saw them too, right? After the light popped up around us?”

“Yes,” she said with a subdued voice.

“Well yeah, like you mentioned earlier, that happened to me last night, with the whole light show then the, y’know,” Edwin’s face twisted into a grimace as he spoke, “the whole paralyzed and struck by lightning or whatever that pain was. Fucking awful experience.” Zoey nodded along, so Edwin continued.

“So the screens, right. What did yours say? What level are you?”

“It said, I’m level five,” once more she turned and looked out the window. Her words came slowly as she thought back to the moment. “That I had unlocked a dormant ability for reaching level five.” She paused and shivered. “The uh, yeah that lightning strike thing happened after that.”

Zoey paused again and took a large breath, she held it before exhaling for as long as she could. Eventually she needed to breathe again, she turned and her eyes flickered up to meet his own. Her determined gaze focused on him and Edwin’s eyebrows rose in surprise before he settled his features and crossed his arms.

“I got a skill, one different from what I now know you got,” she started again. “Mine’s called psy-kom-etry,” she enunciated.

“What does it do?” He asked.

“It said—the ability to obtain information about an object,”

“A bit wordy, but I guess it’s basically the observe skill right?” Edwin asked rhetorically. He rubbed his chin with one hand.

“The observe skill? What’s that?” She asked, her voice serious.

“It's like a common skill in something like this. That I’ve seen in stories anyway.”

“Something like this is in stories? What does that even mean?”

“It’s—well—it’s,” Edwin started to try and explain before a familiar chime cut him off.

Your realm was discovered before it was integrated. For the next month, integration will occur. Prior to completion, travel to and from this realm will be restricted. Only several special permissions will be allowed.

What? Edwin thought. His mind was blank for a moment when he finished reading. This time the panel didn’t disappear when he read the last word. Rather a second one appeared below and he sort of scrolled them so as to reposition the new one at eye level.

Human-0 (Psych) Realm has been invaded!

The Human-2 (Mana) Realm and Synthetic-3 (Qiurrent) Realm have established gateways and are sending forces. Prepare yourselves.

“That’s not good, I think,” Edwin said as he stared at the hovering messages. Zoey gulped when she read over the line about invasion, the other information was more difficult for her to parse, but that bit resonated.