Liora Featherwood's Arc

Chapter 1 of 2

Liora Featherwood lumbered through the Evergreen Forest in her owlbear form, sniffing her own thick fur and frowning. She still smelled like dried lavender and old spellbook ink. To truly become one of the owlbears, she had to stop smelling like a druid. She spotted a towering tree, half redwood and half pine, its bark sticky with deep amber sap. Liora rubbed her shoulders and belly against the rough trunk. Pine resin coated her feathers, drowning the herb scent under sharp forest tang. Further on, she found a fallen log scratched deep with claw marks. She sniffed it carefully. This was a border, a warning sign carved by big paws. Liora swallowed her nerves and stepped politely around it instead of over it. Beyond the log rose a cave tucked into a vine-draped cliff, wildflowers spilling from its cracks. Inside, two grown owlbears huddled around a fluffy cub and a smaller gray hatchling. Their ghostly yellow eyes locked onto her at once. Liora lowered her head and chuffed softly. The larger owlbear sniffed the air, then her shoulder. Pine. Only pine. The mother relaxed and nudged the cub forward in greeting. Liora's heart soared. She was inside the den now, accepted at the doorway, but four sharp pairs of eyes still watched her every twitch.