The noise vanished.
One moment, Kain heard the shrieks of the creatures below, the brush of wind against his skin—the next, silence. He blinked, disoriented, and realized a faint, shimmering barrier had encased his chair, sealing him away from the outside world.
'Are we not voting again?' he wondered, fingers twitching over the buttons.
Then the owl emblem on his armrest moved.
The metal twisted, rising like liquid mercury, forming a three-dimensional owl no larger than his hand. Its body was polished silver, feathers etched with intricate runes, and its hollow eyes glowed faintly blue. Kain jerked back, then whipped his head around. Through the translucent barrier, he saw the same phenomenon occurring on every throne—the owl button was taking on a three-dimensional appearance. The only exception was the owl throne, who had a small metallic owl fly out from the emblem on the backrest of her chair and land on one of her armrests.
