George

18 years old, it was the time now to become a man. That's what his parents said to the least, which is why he is standing in front of the military office, waiting to see if he would be accepted. He was the only Owl in the army, the others were humans and Eagles, it was kind of stressful. He never thought he would make it this far, he thought he would do something else with his life, but it seems that fate has led him here. He waited for two hours to finally be accepted and sent to the dormitories with the others. It was rather quiet, the humans and hybrids not even talking to each other. It wasn't surprising, but for now, George went to sit on his bed and took a book out of his bag to read while he waited for his next orders. He was fine with not talking to anyone since it wasn't his strength to talk to others.

The next morning, everyone was awake at sunrise, which was complicated for George, since he slept during the day and lived at night. Living at the pace of humans was complicated at first. They all had to leave the dormitory and go running in the mountains for about two hours. He kept pace, but stayed behind to keep a distance between himself and the others. Once back at camp, their leader asked them to do several different exercises to develop their cardio. George could feel his pulse racing through his brain, and wondered if he was really going to make it deep into the day.

Some days were less hard, during archery practice, he was excellent at it, that's why he seemed to have fun during his rare days. For the rest, it was pain, running, cardio, exercise, yelling from the commander and back again.

This vicious cycle lasted at least 3 years before George decided to do something different, and concentrate more on reading than anything else. He had time to read all the books available at the camp in less than a month, not taking time to really sleep and sometimes not even joining the others for exercises.

One day, his commanding officer came to yell at him to stop his behavior and focus on his career in the army since he seemed to have a real talent for archery, but George would have none of it. He wanted to leave the army and open a library. It took two weeks to sign the papers, leave the army forever and buy a place to store his books. In that time, he had amassed a lot of books. It took him a little longer to assemble the furniture to house them, but he finally had a library that rivaled any university's.

For a full year, he sat there letting the kids read his books and bring them back 4 weeks later, earning a little pocket money too. After a certain point, George always wanted to read more, so he visited old libraries in the city to buy books. He settled out of town in a wooden shack he had built himself in the meantime. A few months later, he had sold his premises for a future bakery and returned home, learning how to make potions. All the information, all the details from the books he had read had stayed in his mind, and never left him. He knew a lot about the psychology of both humans and hybrids. So, as a hobby, he wrote down new information in different notebooks. He had more than 30 of them, depending on the subject he was writing about.

George was in heaven, in a perfect place, doing things he wanted to do. He never saw his family again, and that was fine. He stayed there, sometimes exploring the surroundings, coming back to town to observe the different behaviors of the inhabitants. Always looking for new acquaintances, no one came to chase him, and he was comfortable in his life in the forest.

One night, a man appeared at George's door. Banging loudly at the door, pourring rain outside the windows. George was calmly sitting on his sofa, with a warm cup of tea set on his wooden side table, meanwhile, he was reading a book about the behavior of humans children in the kindergardens. He was caught by surprise, since he never recieved visitors at this hour, sometimes lost people would come by or people looking to buy potions from him. Today had been very calm, he finished another book about different hybrid species for his notebook, took a walk to get some food in the closest village.

Once he got up, placing down his book to get to the door, George said he was sorry but he couldn't let anyone in.

— Please, I have to talk to you. It's important."

George didn't like being disturbed while he was relaxing, so he made it clear that he wasn't going to open the door until he could speak to whoever was knocking. The man was dressed in rags, he had an old-fashioned sword on his belt, and his hair was unkempt as if he hadn't washed in weeks. George frowned when he saw the man, his face seemed familiar. But before he could say anything, the man continued to exclaim: "You're the only one who can help us."

— What do you want?" George asked, he was tired of this kind of behavior, people always came here asking for help, and then they were gone without even thanking him.
They usually left after receiving their potions, leaving him alone with no explanation. This man looked like a drunkard, maybe he wanted something to drink?

—We need your help, we are on our way to kill the president."
—Why would I help you?" The owl man asks, crossing his arms.
—Because I'm the only one who can stop them! Once Schlatt is gone, I'll be able to return home, and the war can be stopped!" Wilbur pleeded.
—I don't know what you're talking about."
—You have to believe me, please George." Begged the tall man.
—No, I won't do it. If you think I'm just going to go out there and fight someone, then you're wrong."

The man seemed to be getting upset now, it was important and he trusted him to be helpful. George stood still, waiting for the man to leave, but he kept his ground, not ready to leave. "I trust you, you have talent and I know you wish to make a difference in this country."

—I don't need your help."

—Yes you do, I have the ideas and information none of us have. You have to trust me, otherwise we will fail."

George sighed, annoyed by this man, he didn't want to hear any more, he wanted to relax and read his book. He didn't understand why people believed him to be so powerful. There was nothing special about him, he was just a simple wizard. Maybe he was a bit strong, but that was because he trained hard every day, he was used to fighting and he knew how to defend himself.

He looked at the man standing at the door, he didn't look dangerous, but he was obviously a bit insane. "Fine, you win. I'll accompany you, but promise me that it's for a good cause."

—Thank you, thank you!" Wilbur exclaims, glad the owl hybrid was going to help them.

The man was happy to see that he accepted his offer. "I'll come by tomorrow at dawn so we can leave" the man said and walked away, heading towards the others, waiting around a campfire. George observed him leaving, feeling like he wouldn't be brave enough for this. He went back to his couch, sitting down and starting to read again.

Maybe a little adventure wouldn't hut anybody.

Updated: 17/08/2022