The flight back to the Perch felt anything but relaxing- the concern and worry translating into a long and taxing journey. Throughout, Mazdall found herself constantly checking behind her, making sure none of those soldiers were following or stalking them.

 As they approached the Talons Perch, Mazdall was intimidated to realize that she and Udakai were flying directly towards the Crest. A deep part of her sparked with joy, but ultimately simmered down, overtaken by nerves.

 “Udakai…” She started, and he looked towards her, “Am I… allowed in the Crest?”

 With a smile, he nudged her with an open wing, “Of course you are. You’re on official Talon business.”

 It took everything in her not to squeal. Not the time- she reminded herself.

 Both of them flew through one of the large open entrances, landing neatly on the tiled floor. Instantly, Mazdall felt the importance of this place. It was huge, its ceiling incredibly high and made of crystal glass. The light caught on the glass, spilling it across the entirety of the open room. The floor was pristine tile, and the lower half of the walls were made of sculpted marble and refined wood. It didn’t just look important- somehow, it smelled important- the scent of craftsmanship of all kinds wafting through the air. Mixed with that, the scent of books. Lots and lots of books. The Crest was filled with bookshelves, desks, and scrolls. There were several Flocktics aside from them moving about, hurried with business of some kind. Across the room was a set of wide stairs that led to an open space. A meeting circle.

 Dragging her attention back to their task, Udakai gestured for her to follow him towards the stairs. Up the stairs and at the far end of the circle was a large table- with a dark-coloured Flocktic looking over some papers.

 Though this didn’t quite look like Commander Jeyn… 

 “Ah, Jonosa!” Udakai called out, moving towards the desk. Mazdall followed shortly behind Udakai, wondering where she had heard that name before.

 The Hunting Flocktic casually lifted her head, smiling once she noticed who it was.

 “Udakai, hello. What brings you here? Looking for Jeyn?”

 “Yes, we have something to report from our scouting.”

 “Our?”

 “Ah, right-” Udakai gestured to Mazdall, “This is one of the recruits, Mazdall.” He swiveled his head and hand, now gesturing to Jonosa, “Mazdall, this is Jonosa, the Books Master and Second-in-Command.”

 Ah, that was where Mazdall had heard the name before. Jonosa had been the trusted information keeper as well as Second-in-Command at the Talons Perch for over a decade. She was intelligent, tactful, and experienced- a force to be reckoned with. At least, that was what Mazdall had heard.

 After his swift introductions, Udakai quickly returned to the situation at hand, “Mazdall joined me on today’s scout, and she saw something… potentially concerning.”

 Suddenly, Jonosa was all business. Righting her expression and placing down her ink-tipped quill, she leaned forward.

 “Concerning?”

 Now, Jonosa was looking directly at Mazdall. Under such an intense gaze, Mazdall couldn’t help but gulp.

 “Um- yes.” Mazdall practically muttered, “While we were out scouting, I saw what… appeared to be Icoran soldiers.”

 Immediately Jonosa’s eyes widened. “Icoran soldiers? What makes you think they were Icoran?”

 “Their armour- the iron pauldrons with the light-blue fabric, and medallions too- they looked like the emblem of Icora.”

 “I see… Are you sure they were soldiers? Could they have been scouts?”

 Mazdall’s words caught in her throat- “I-I don’t know, exactly.”

 “Hmm…” Jonosa contemplated, “Did you see what they were doing?”

 “No, not exactly. But by what they were saying, they were trying to be secretive. Mentioned something about completing some sort of task and…” Mazdall gulped, “...eradicating anything that gets in their way.”

 At this, Jonosa fell silent for a long moment. Her elbows rested on the desk, her hands curling in concern by her face. Looking at her again, she looked a lot like Commander Jeyn. Her feathers were nearly identical, but her eyes were a soft purple rather than a sharp yellow. Mazdall wondered if they were related… 

 “Alright.” She simply said, moving out from behind the desk, “I’m… going to get Jeyn. Would you both mind… staying here for a moment?”

 “Of course, Jonosa.” Udakai responded quickly, Mazdall nodding beside him.

 With that, Jonosa took off down a flight of stairs that led deeper into the tower upholding the Crest.

 Mazdall exhaled loudly- she hadn’t even realized she was holding her breath. Suddenly, she felt a comforting pat on her shoulder.

 Following the feeling, she looked to see Udakai, smiling gently at her. 

 “See? I told you- you’re meant to be here. You’re already doing big, important Talon things.”

 Mazdall awkwardly laughed it off, but the expression on her face made it clear that the sentiment meant a lot to her. “Thanks.”

 A moment later, Jonosa emerged back up the stairs with Commander Jeyn. Seeing them beside each other Mazdall concluded they were definitely related. Most likely siblings. They were even the same height.

 Commander Jeyn made his way towards the two of them. Mazdall tried to bow her head in respect, hoping he didn’t remember her as ‘the recruit who wandered off’. However, by the look on his face, he did indeed recognize her. Upon seeing Mazdall, his serious gaze turned to surprise. Though not lined with anger, seeing her was obviously quite unexpected. 

 “Commander Jeyn.” Mazdall acknowledged quietly.

 “This recruit here-” Jonosa started, “-was the one who saw them. Mazdall, was it?”

 “Y-yes. I saw them. There were three of them.”

 Commander Jeyn tried to disregard his previous encounter with Mazdall, appointing his attention to the concerning matter. 

 “Did one of them have a white cloak on their shoulder?”

 Mazdall thought for a moment, “Actually, yes. One that appeared to be their leader of sorts.”

 Jeyn made a concerned sound, “Hm. That means this is coordinated in some capacity.”

 Jonosa added quickly- “What if they are just scouts?”

 With a stern expression, Commander Jeyn responded, “That’s just as concerning.”

 Abruptly, Udakai jumped in, “Jeyn- what if they are supposed to be here? Have we had any word about scouting missions from Icora?”

 Mazdall cringed immediately at Udakai simply calling the Commander “Jeyn” to his face. As it turned out, she was right. Udakai seemed to speak to all superiors in the same casual way.

 After thinking for a moment, Commander Jeyn answered, “Not that I’ve been made aware of. Our allied scouts aren’t supposed to start for another few weeks, and I’ve heard nothing of it from the Lordmanor.”

 The Lordmanor? Mazdall thought. Skies, this is much bigger than I thought…

 Mazdall recalled how- rather than going and getting Udakai- she made the decision to sneak up and listen in- nearly giving herself away and possibly alerting the intruders. She prayed to the skies that she hadn’t made a huge mistake.

 Commander Jeyn turned again to Mazdall, “Is there any chance you happened to catch any of their names?” His tone bordered on desperation.
Mazdall contemplated for a minute, trying to mull over everything she had seen and heard in the forest when suddenly it sprang back to her mind- “Yes! Their leader, I believe- they called her Ferron.”

 Jeyn closed his eyes for a brief moment in gratitude, “You did good, Mazdall.” He assured her, “This will help us a lot.”

 Mazdall tried to suppress her flattery. Perhaps she had made the right call after all.

 The Commander then turned to Jonosa. For a moment, his eyes exchanged wordless information with her. Her eyes flashed in understanding. Their wordless language was something Mazdall couldn’t decode.

 “Jon,” He then said, “I need you to write up a letter to Lordmayor Eridiam. Inform her of the situation and ask if there has been any word from Icora on any scouts or soldiers entering Olzen.” He paused for a moment, his eyes softening, “Please.”

 Jonosa nodded, quickly heading to the desk to start on the letter.

 “So… What do we do? Should we go try and arrest them?” Udakai questioned.

 “No.” Jeyn answered plainly, “We still don’t know if they are here on official business. If we arrest them, that could cause tension between us and Icora- and we don’t need any more of that. Besides, if it’s some sort of attack, we can’t give away that we know anything ahead of time.”

 Feathers. Mazdall thought- hoping the soldiers truly hadn’t seen her.

 As though he had read her mind, Commander Jeyn turned to Mazdall abruptly, “Mazdall?”

 She snapped to attention.

 “Did they see you?”

 Mazdall stuttered, “I-I- I don’t think so.” Honestly, she wasn’t actually too sure.

 Regardless, the Commander took the answer with relief, “Good.”

 “Wait- so what do we do?” Udakai pressed, “Just… let them roam around our plains? That seems risky.”

 With a sigh, Jeyn responded, “There is nothing else we can do at the moment. For now, I would like you to go speak with the other scouts. Ask them if they have seen anything. I will speak with the hunters.”

 “As for the recruit,” Jeyn looked towards Mazdall, “Please return her back to Obora. She doesn’t need to get involved in this.”

 Udakai sighed, “Like it or not, she is involved. So far, she’s the only one we know who’s seen them.”

 Mazdall expected Jeyn to snap at Udakai, but instead he remained level-headed and patient.

 “You’re right.” He said, “However, we have to focus on the bigger picture here. I can’t risk putting our recruits in danger. She is too unprepared for this.”

 Mazdall felt a pang in her chest at the sentiment.

 Commander Jeyn continued, “I’ll send word if anything changes. Until then, those are my orders. Please, heed them.” Mazdall must have gotten too used to Obora’s cut and dry mannerisms, because Jeyn’s formal and respectful disposition was thoroughly surprising.

 “Alright.” Udakai rescinded, “I understand. Thank you.” With a nod, Udakai started to lead Mazdall away, and Jeyn turned towards Jonosa.

 As they were leaving, Mazdall’s heart sank in her chest as her mind played the word on loop- unprepared. Though she understood why the Commander had made such a statement, it knocked the wind out of her sails. She had nearly forgotten she was simply playing Talon for the day. She herself was no Talon.

 Leihen’s taunting and mocking words from the day before crept into her mind. 

 Soon, Udakai and Mazdall were back in the sky before quickly dipping back down towards the training yard. As they landed in the yard, it appeared as though the rest of the recruits were still doing drills. They landed off to the side of the area, and Udakai spoke quietly.

 “Sorry I have to leave you back here again, I didn’t expect us to actually find something, to be honest. Especially not something like… well… that.” He rubbed the back of his neck. Mazdall didn’t look at him.

 “It’s alright, I’m just a recruit afterall.” Though this was said in earnest understanding, there was a semblance of sadness beneath her voice.

 Udakai could feel her sudden sense of self-doubt. “Hey-” He placed a hand on her shoulder, “You did great, Maz. Seriously.”

 With a smile, he said, “I’ll see you later?”

 Lifting her gaze to meet his, Mazdall smiled.

 “Yeah. See you later.”

 Backing up, Udakai waved and took off, heading towards where she assumed the other scouts were stationed. 

 Turning around, Mazdall immediately was met by Obora’s gaze burrowing into her. The intimidating blue Singing Flocktic marched towards her.

 “So, Mazdall.” She began, “How was your first time scouting?”

 Mazdall wasn’t sure what to say. Was she allowed to talk about what she saw? With Obora- probably. By the smug look on Obora’s face though, she must’ve suspected that Mazdall was sent back early for doing a terrible job.

 “Actually,” Mazdall started, “We had to call it early. I spotted Icoran soldiers… or maybe scouts… Either way, we had to alert the Commander.” Though she tried to suppress it, her voice still trilled with a brag. However, Obora didn’t notice this trill- the information had left her shaken, and suddenly any desire to tease Mazdall was gone.

 “... Don’t speak about that with the other recruits.” She cautioned, “The Commander will release a statement when he feels it's appropriate.” 

 Mazdall nodded in complete understanding, “Of course.”

 Obora nodded, leaving Mazdall to herself again. Turning her head towards the course, Mazdall noticed the other recruits- many of whom were staring at her, including Leihen.

 With a huff, she tried to ignore their prying eyes and move back towards the advanced course- ready to resume her mandated torture.