Raven

by Shelly Pratt

  “Is that when the APP came about?” she interrupted.

  “Not yet dear, they didn’t form until after the new race had emerged. Now where was I? Oh yes, so the worse the violence got, the more it burned your Grandmother up. She couldn’t stand the toxicity that these people were spreading amongst society – it became almost like a disease, catching if you like. Well by the time she had born her first child – your mother – the problem had become almost epidemic. Those who had any morals had already had the good sense to leave town – families heading for the hills lest their children turn out like these people.

  The more the violence increased the weaker your Grandmother’s powers became. She found she was getting to a point she could no longer right the wrongs with her witchcraft because the balance of good versus evil was too much in their favour. Deciding something needed to be done about it, your Grandmother sought my Aunt out to come together to form a spell that they thought would undo the mess that had become of her city. It was meant to rid the city of these people, but with your Grandmother’s already weakening ability, the spell didn’t turn out quite the way they had wanted it too.”

  “What happened?” she asked

  “Well the spell became a literal translation – as the words that were chanted state for them to fly away, it wasn’t expected they would literally take on the form of an animal that could indeed fly. It seems their good intentions went completely awry through lack of power. Instead of taking the evil from them, they instead armed them with the power to cause more destruction than they ever had before,” she said.

  “What happened to your Aunt and my mother then?” Aiyana asked.

  “Well seeing the error of the spell they knew they had to right the wrong. Your Grandmother was too weak by this stage and she passed of a cancerous tumour in the brain. However my Aunt knew that your mother, being of the same bloodline as hers, could carry out the reversal for her. Your mother was the one link that would be able to take back the error, take back the power they had unwittingly given these beings so that the spirits could forgive and find its rightful balance,” she said.

  “They found that out, didn’t they?” she asked, referring to the ravens.

  Harmony nodded that this was indeed correct.

  “You were ten at the time, and your sister was at home babysitting you while your parents had gone out to the city. Nobody can really say for certain, but from when the authorities came and interviewed me I believe even they suspected that the ravens had taken them and dropped them from the skies to prevent the reversal from going ahead. You see evil wasn’t going to relinquish its power quite so easily. They liked the strength they had, and now they were free to fly – to come and go as they pleased but at the same time walk amongst the humans undetected”.

  “But for the markings,” Aiyana offered.

  “That’s right – they bare the double infinity markings on their lower backs – a symbol that the spell should last for all of eternity; which is how your name came about. Your name means Eternity – a link to your witch bloodline through your mother and your grandmother. You see, you also possess the ability to reverse the spell”.

  Harmony stopped speaking now, giving her a moment to reflect the ramifications of the statement.

  “What am I supposed to do?” she asked.

  “Only you and you alone can reverse the spell – your sister was not gifted with the witch’s bloodline.”

  “But how do I take their power away from them? I don’t understand, I don’t know any spells,” she said apologetically.

  “You don’t need to worry child, your destiny is already written. Only love from a pure heart can turn the curse back in time. Your kindred spirit must be sacrificed – love in its purest form and only that will break the original writings of the spell. A dagger through the heart will bleed the evil from all of the creatures that were created.”

  “I really don’t understand; who is my kindred spirit?’’ she said confused, but at the same time a sinking feeling had crept over her.

  Harmony rose from her seat then and walked over and stood in front of her.

  “My Aunt and I have been gone for a long time dear, we’ve been waiting for you come to this house so we would have a portal to speak to you through – it’s in this house that our magic is the strongest. You see dear, your mother wasn’t the only one they wanted to silence. Of course they weren’t to know upon all of our deaths that our magic would transcend to the next bloodline. But now, back to your question – let’s not keep you waiting any longer now shall we?”

  As Harmony placed the palm of her hand on her head images flashed through her mind. It was like she was an outsider watching a movie of herself. She watched every single moment that she had interacted with Eilam – the fruit he had given her, the way he had flown off with her in the alley and the way he had kissed her down by the river. The heat from Harmony’s hand intensified and she felt all the desires Eilam felt for her transcend through her touch.

  Harmony infiltrated her thoughts now, relaying a message the witches on the other side kept chanting. His name is the same as yours, it also means eternity. Double eternity will break the spell, his soul must become yours and his sacrifice will be his biggest show of love for you. He will be the one to break the curse. Go to him now, her grandmother urged, her voice floating through the strongest.

  “No!” she yelled with finality.

  Her shout broke the connection she had with Harmony and in that instant she found herself alone in the house. All that remained of Harmony’s presence was the tea cup she’d left on the coffee table. Her ghost may have vanished, but she was not forgotten and Aiyana shivered as she sat in the room just moments ago occupied by a ghost of the past.

  How in the hell was she going to get out of this one? She wondered to herself.

  Chapter Five

  She stood waiting on her balcony for him. She wasn’t sure he would come tonight, it could be any night. It had already been over a week since she had seen him last but she knew he would come – eventually. He had been quite firm about her not returning to the mountains to find him, so she bided her time until he came to her. The time before she would have to face him again allowed her a small measure of space to try and figure out what it was she should do – what she was supposed to do. Her balcony afforded her expansive views all over the city and between the high rise buildings she caught glimpses of the dark ocean rolling endlessly into the shore – the waves crashing repeatedly and shifting the sand to create a different shore line every time the tide changed.

  She never went to the beach. She couldn’t see the enjoyment in having to put up with all that sand if she couldn’t even swim, and she certainly wasn’t going to do that anytime soon – not while the sun continued to hide behind the ever present clouds. They loomed now, so low over the tall buildings that they seemed to cut off the top levels and hid the inhabitants from the rest of the world. She hoped the rain would hold off while she waited outside. She wanted to see him coming, admire him and watch the graceful way he flew across the sky.

  She hoped there would be a time that he would take her with him again, a time that she could feel the same freedom he enjoyed every time he soared into the sky.

  As the last of the light slipped across the horizon and started to hide behind the wall of ocean she caught a glimpse of the black wings her eyes had been searching for. Up and down, he flapped his wings with a powerful strength that seemed effortless. She watched him soar higher and then lower, catching the wind currents as they swirled through the air. He made his way between the buildings, his destination a very clear path in his sight. He saw her from the distance and called out in his raven tongue to let her know that he was coming.

  Her heart skipped a beat and she took a step back from the railing to allow him to perch there once he arrived. Claws first as he grabbed the rusted bar that circled the balcony, wings flapping wildly to keep him in position. His body morphed first, his face still bird-like ev
en in his human form. The eyes that missed nothing, the hooked nose that resembled the beak of the raven and the shock of dark hair that emanated the feathers that covered his body – he was beautiful. She wanted to be loved by this creature, not kill it. His wings still flapped wildly from his shoulder blades to keep him balanced on the rail, but she motioned for him to join her and he jumped down as his wings disappeared.

  Now that was cool.

  He was holding a material sack again and he offered it to her now. She took it with a quizzical look on her face. He seemed to look uncomfortable about it but said nothing. She opened it and saw the same pile of berries he had given her previously.

  “Why do you bring me berries?” she asked gently. Her curiosity was getting the better of her. His jaw clenched tightly and she could see he was trying not to say anything. She took his hand in hers and he looked deep into her eyes.

  “Will you tell me?” she asked again. He took his hand from hers and ran them through his hair, his features only disappearing now as the darkness of the night met them on the balcony top.

  “I can’t help it,” he said non-committedly.

  “Help what?” she asked.

  “Bringing you food,” he said, “and defending the area around your house and showing off when I fly around you,” he said. She blushed at his frankness but was still intrigued.

  “Why do you do it though?” she asked, still not understanding.

  “We, ah…that’s what ravens do when…um…when we find a mate,” he said kind of sheepishly.

  “Oh…ohhhhh,” she said, suddenly speechless.

  “You don’t need to worry, I’m not about to steal your virtue,” he laughed. It was the first time she had heard him laugh. It was incredible – a raven’s cackle, high pitched and throaty – it made her smile instantly.

  “Of course not,” she replied, thinking it was just as well he couldn’t read her thoughts or he would have seen himself undressing her right at that moment. She went quiet then, regretfully remembering the conversation she’d had with Harmony. He perceptibly noticed the shift in her demeanour and gave her a puzzled look.

  “We need to talk,” she said, “Come inside where we can talk freely”. He followed without hesitation and looked around her apartment with interest.

  “You have a lot of pretty things,” he said admiringly.

  “Ah, thanks – I think. You like décor?” she asked surprised.

  “I don’t know – it’s a bird thing – I have all these behaviours a raven would possess and sometimes I act on them, whether I want to or not. It’s like it is just programmed for me to act a certain way sometimes. In the wild we would collect things for building a nest,” he said as he swivelled around to face her.

  “You saw your sister?” he asked abruptly, leaving several unanswered questions she had for him with regards to his ‘behaviours’.

  “Yes. Why did you want me to see her? You obviously know more than I do about everything,” she said.

  “I do. But I wanted to give you the chance to hear it from someone else first,” he said.

  “Why, so I would believe you?” she said.

  “Partly, but mainly because I just wanted you to stay as far away from this whole mess as you could,” he said.

  “I thought I could help you, but I can’t,” she said simply. In her mind she knew she would rather the whole population of the ravens stay the way they were rather than have to sacrifice him just to right a wrong that her grandmother had set in motion all those years ago.

  He took a step closer to her and held her shoulders in his strong hands.

  “I know you know a way to break the curse,” he said.

  “I do, but I can’t give you what you want Eilam,” she said.

  “It’s not for me I wish you to break it. The others, they grow stronger every day and their numbers grow. Your grandmother didn’t anticipate that the first of our kind would be able to procreate – but they did, and now – their numbers grow quicker than those of the humans,” he said.

  “I’m sorry Eilam, but in order to help you I have to hurt you,” she said.

  “I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make things right. You don’t have much time to decide Aiyana. The ravens, they have eyes everywhere and if they even for a minute suspected that you were the one who could break the curse than you would be marked immediately,” he said, a deep look of consternation written all over his features.

  “I can’t,” she said, her voice catching in her throat. She stared at the floor to avert his gaze for she felt sure that if she looked into those eyes that she would do whatever he asked her to.

  “You don’t understand, Aiyana. When your grandmother set the curse it was meant to rid the world of these people who were causing such atrocities. The ravens were meant to be like normal birds that just flew away, never to be seen again. But something went wrong. Instead of fixing the problem it got worse. These people suddenly had powers they could only dream of. They were strong, invincible and had the ability to come and go as they pleased, never being caught for all the demonic things they did,” he said.

  “But you’re not bad, I know you’re not. There must be others like you also?” she said, still not looking him in the eyes. He lifted her chin so that her eyes would meet his gaze.

  “No I’m not bad, as you put it, and yes – there are others like me. We stay in a flock away from the others, but if they knew even for a second that you had the ability to alter their current state then they would come for you and wouldn’t let you go until they had killed you. Don’t you see? The ones of us who are good are willing to do whatever it takes to make this world go back to the way it used to be,” he said as he released her chin from his grasp.

  “I think it’s a little late for that,” she said with uncertainty.

  He gripped her shoulders again, as though to emphasise his point.

  “It’s not too late Aiyana. We can stop them, you can stop them! All you have to do is break the curse – however it must be done, whatever must be done – only you can do it,” he said as he released her.

  “I can’t do what has been asked of me,” she said, tears starting to prick her eyes. How could she tell him what really needed to be done?

  “At least think about it, I’ll do whatever you ask of me, just promise me you’ll think about it,” he said.

  “I promise,” she said, not really believing she would truly consider it. A snippet of conversation she’d had with her sister intruded on her thoughts now and she suddenly was eager to ask Eilam a question.

  “Why would my sister tell me to stay away from you?” she asked.

  He looked like he had been slapped in the face and turned away from her hurriedly, eager to conceal his expression.

  “I have no idea why,” he said flatly.

  “Eilam, please look at me,” she begged. He turned slowly, apparently recovered from the surprise he had suffered at her question. “Why would my sister tell me to stay away from you?”

  He was thoughtful for a moment before replying. “I had heard through some of the older ravens that a woman named Harmony – a friend of your grandmothers would know of a young woman who would possess the ability to break the curse. A daughter descended from the same blood line as she. This person was you. I’ve been trying to track you down for a number of years now. In my search for you, I first crossed paths with Cybele. It appeared to me that your sister wanted nothing to do with our race at all and she refused to help,” he said.

  She sensed he was holding something back, but she let it be for the moment. She had too much going on in her brain right now and she was starting to get a headache. She needed to take some paracetamol before it developed into a full blown migraine and decided to make a pot of tea to wash it down with.

  “Do you drink tea?” she asked as she moved over to the kitchenette to fill the kettle with water.

  “Yes, only herbal though,” he laughed – again the tinkling cackle of the ravens voice reached
her ears.

  “Right,” she said smiling to herself as she set about searching the cupboards for some chamomile that she knew she had stashed in there somewhere.

  “You can sit down on the couch there if you like,” she offered as she gestured towards it. He did so, but sat perched on the arm of the settee, seemingly unsure of how one would go about sitting on such a thing. She almost laughed out loud, but thought it would be very poor manners and didn’t want to appear as though she were making fun of him.

  Once the kettle had boiled she carried the pot and two mugs on a tray over to where he sat. She rested the tray on the floor and then patted the seat next to herself, indicating that he should join her on the cushion. He watched her intently, curious about each and every movement she made.

  She was nervous – for the first time in her life she actually cared about what someone thought of her. Gone were the tough exterior and the walls she had built up around herself. One kiss was all it had taken for him to capture her eye. One moment to set her heart on a course, that even she didn’t know where it would end up. She sipped her tea, too hot to just gulp down. He copied her.