The Urbem (Completed)

Chapter One: Insurgo

(3,000 years in the future, after the rebellion, an event known to mankind as The Divide has created an entirely new world...)

(Lyra)

‘Lyra,’ the quiet, mystical voice hooted in my head, attempting to keep me focused on the matter at hand. A large owl landed lightly on my shoulder, his potent talons having little effect on my flesh; I was used to the cutting perch of his claws. I unconsciously lifted my hand to his head, allowing him to run the feathers on his face across my index finger. ‘Don’t allow yourself to become distracted.’

“I know,” I replied to the bird, keeping my eyes locked on the tree in front of me, shaking him off with a swat from my hand. In response, he took to the air as his perfectly silent wings glided in front of my face, glaring at me critically with his dark black eyes.

‘Be cautious. I can’t save you if you decide to plummet to the ground.’

“I’ll take great care not to do that,” I replied sarcastically.

‘See to it that you do.’ There was no humor in his tone. “You’re not my nanny, Dolosus,” I growled, carefully balancing on the tree limb I stood on. He watchfully spiraled up into the air higher and then perched on a limb above me. ‘I’m just saying that I don’t feel like dying tonight because you’re clumsy.’

“Look, you-” I began to snap, but was silenced by his voice ringing in my head. ‘Be quiet; you need to concentrate.’

“Shut up! You’re giving me a headache. Stop communicating with me for a few minutes.” I could feel the link bridging our minds together temporarily weaken as he obligated, building up some sort of wall between us so that I could not hear his thoughts. With the newfound quietness, I very carefully vaulted off the trunk and launched myself higher into the tree, grabbing the limb Dolosus stood on. “I wonder how high up this is,” I muttered after pulling myself up, knowing that it was enough to prove fatal if I were to fall. The owl was silent, simply flying up even higher.

‘Lyra, you need to stop talking to me out loud,’ he suggested after I had hauled myself up several more branches. ‘We’re almost high enough that there’s a risk you could be heard by other birds.’ He could read my mind, so I wasn’t concerned about not talking. He kept lookout while I climbed. The owl continually tilted his head, rotating it at a slant several times, taking advantage of his species’ outstanding sense of hearing. I looked at him, a bit annoyed, but also marveled.

Even after being inseparable from Dolosus for the past three years, I could never get over the barn owl’s natural beauty. His face was large and white, shaped like a heart with a spotted tawny color at the very top of his head. His eyes were the deepest black, clashing dramatically with the white face and tawny color of his beak. His chest and stomach, legs, and the underside of his wings were also white, dusted lightly with tan speckles. His back, wings, and the back of his head were a beautiful yellowish-brown, covered, for the most part by a big black blotch, which was dappled with tiny white freckles. The tips of his wings were light brown, with thin black stripes streaking across in the same spot on every feather. All in all, he was the most gorgeous creature I’d ever seen.

‘Stop thinking about me and concentrate!’ he screeched in my head, letting an angry hoot escape his beak. Ignoring his annoyance, I continued to climb. Eventually, when we were so high that I could see the lights of the walled city of Uxor-Russia in the distance, I found a limb that was as thick as I was wide, and I lay on it. “It’s a busy night in the city,” I commented with a smirk.

Dolosus settled on my lap wordlessly. ‘It always is.’ I looked down at the bird in my lap, and smiled at how similar we were, like it was fate that we had formed the Animus Link together. ‘It wasn’t fate, Lyra.’ he commented, reading my thoughts. ‘It was my choice.’