Grave Mistake (Codex Blair Book 1)

by Izzy Shows

As soon as I came to that understanding, the world swam again.

  29

  MY VISION BLURRED AND I FOUND myself back sitting on the bench at Tower Hill, disoriented and dizzy. I felt like I had just lived a thousand lives in the span of a single second.

  “You have seen me.” The bird spoke, its voice near my ear.

  I wondered, vaguely, if anyone was paying attention to us now. It had to be odd to see the giant bird perched on my shoulder. Where was the Raven Master, why weren’t they freaking out that someone was so close to one of their precious ravens?

  “They do not see because I do not allow them to see.” The raven supplied the answer as easily as if they had picked the question from my mind.

  Maybe they had.

  “Watcher. Protector.” I tried out the titles, tasting the syllables on my tongue. “What does that even mean?”

  “This is the best possible translation for your language. Time and balance must be protected. And…there is a rift about you.” They said.

  “A rift?” I asked, eyebrows jumping up.

  “Mmm. It is difficult to explain. Things are changing, and for some reason you are involved in it. It has happened before.” They spoke with such a solemn tone that I almost missed how absurd it all sounded.

  A rift around me. Bah.

  I snorted derisively. “Yeah, well, have fun with that. I’ve got a lot on my plate right now.”

  I felt the bird’s feathers ruffle against my cheek. “Of course you do. I intend to assist you with it.”

  “Oh.” I frowned, caught off guard. “Well, I could use some advice about what’s going on in the city, if you’re offering any.”

  “I am capable of answering these questions.” The bird replied. “You may ask.”

  I rolled my eyes. I had to ask? I was hoping to just be given the information I wanted. “OK. Do you know where they are?”

  “I have deduced the most likely location. I should point out that my deductions have been wrong precisely three times in recorded history.” OK, well, wow, that was impressive. I tried not to look it, and was glad that the bird couldn’t see my face in our current position.

  “Do you know what they’re intending to do?”

  “They do not know what they are doing and therefore can have no possible intentions.”

  I rolled my eyes.

  “Do you know what they think they are trying to do?”

  “I am not privy to the thoughts of all mortals, though I believe they are under the impression they are going to destroy the world.” The bird sounded so bored, as if they were talking about the weather this morning or some such topic.

  “The end of the world!” I gaped, mind reeling. Mal had said they were trying to blow up the city, which was sad and horrible and needed to be stopped, but this was something else entirely.

  “Calm yourself, they are incapable of such a task. I predict, even if all factors were to align for them, that they would succeed in obliterating a portion of this city.”

  “That’s still not good! You’re talking about the death of a hell of a lot of innocent people. Try not to be so cavalier about it.” I snapped, turning my head so the bird could see my scowl.

  “Forgive me, Sheach. It has been some time since I have needed to adjust my speech for the sensitivity of mortals. I will endeavour to portray more empathy.”

  I felt like I was the one who had been reprimanded, which was stupid. But the way the bird had said mortals had made it sound like it was a dirty word. I thought about what they’d said for a moment there, about how it had been a long time. The clear deduction from that was that they hadn’t interacted with other people for a long time now, although perhaps they’d been interacting with their own people. I wasn’t sure, and I felt like I probably couldn’t ask.

  “OK. Yeah, just work on that.” I shrugged my shoulders, feeling a little awkward. Usually, I was the one being accused of not displaying enough empathy. “So, you’re sure you know where they’re going to do this thing, that’s cool and pretty helpful. That’s what I was trying to figure out, so we might as well head down there to check it out.” I don’t think I was talking to them at this point, as much as just talking to myself to normalise it all. I should have come to the Tower first, if I was going to run into the raven here, it would have saved me a lot of time.

  But I didn’t regret the opportunity I’d had to speak with the spirit of Catherine, that had been worthwhile.

  “It occurs to me to advise you that walking down the streets of London with my current self on your shoulder would attract undue attention,” the bird stated.

  “Well, yeah, I guess you have a point there.” I frowned, not wanting to tell the bird that I wanted them to come with me. It was a weakness.

  The raven sighed—I don’t know how that was possible—and hopped off my shoulder. “I do so loathe to take on other forms.”

  Oh! They were going to come with me after all, then. That made a bit of sense. They’d had a human form in the visions, and they were a bird here so obviously, they could shape shift.

  “You could just be a person, you know. That wouldn’t be too difficult.” I offered the suggestion with a shrug.

  “A human?” The bird sneered at me. “Oh, no, that form is so limited. Go, leave the grounds. I shall meet you at the exit.”

  I got up, frowning slightly because I realised that they hadn’t exactly agreed to be a human, but they hadn’t told me to look for any other form, so I was going to have to assume that’s what they’d be doing. I left the Tower grounds, feeling a bit disappointed that I hadn’t taken advantage of the opportunity to look around a bit, visit my Favourite spots there. Oh well, another time. Maybe it would be my treat for making it out of this weekend in one piece.

  I stood near the exit, feeling like a fool because I didn’t have anywhere to go and didn’t know who I was waiting for, tapping my foot impatiently. I made a mental note to ask the raven what their name was, or what I should call them at least, because if they were going to be slipping from one form to the other, then ‘the raven’ would not be the most appropriate thing to call them. That, and it was a little tedious to keep thinking of them like that.

  I almost jumped out of my skin a moment later, when I felt the brush of Raven against my mind again.

  Hello to you too. I am above. I felt the smug tone rather than heard it.

  “You just couldn’t let me have the comfort of talking to a regular human being, could you.” I groaned and shook my head.

  I told you. The form is limited and I do not enjoy it.

  I shrugged, to each their own. I didn’t see how a raven was any less limited than a human being, but I wasn’t going to press them. “So hey, before we get started, what can I call you?” I asked.

  Whatever you would like to. They replied, sounding a little confused by the question.

  “You don’t have a name?”

  Not in the way you mortals do. I have only a True Name, and the names that others have given me. I would find it very odd if you were to call me by the name that others used.

  I tilted my head to the side, curious. “Why is that? That’s usually how names work. Everyone calls you one so that they aren’t confused when they talk about you.”

  Are you in the company of many form shifting entities with my mannerisms?

  “N-no.”

  Then no one shall be confused.

  I blinked, and realised that they probably weren’t going to answer the question. “Oh well. OK, I’ll just call you Raven. It’s a pretty name, and it’s straight to the point.” Not very original, but neither was I.

  Raven nodded their head approvingly. “May we go now? We have wasted time.”

  I blushed at the reprimand. “Yeah, we can go.”

  We started off with the occasional glance up at the sky to make sure I was following Raven and not going off in the wrong direction. I wish they’d just become a human so we could walk together, but, well…they intimidated me.

 
“How far away is it?” I asked after we’d been walking for several minutes.

  A very long walk. Was the response that I received. I was surprised that it was not difficult to hear Raven, though they were far above me and a few paces ahead. Normally, with all the traffic and chatter, it would be difficult to hear a person speaking. But Raven’s voice was just as easy to hear as when they had been perched on my shoulder. It had to be some sort of magic, but I didn’t pry into it.

  “Wouldn’t it be better to take the underground, then?” I asked. “Or a cab?”

  Relying on such methods of transportation will remove your ability to properly navigate your city, as well as reduce the strength in your limbs. Such a matter of fact statement, that I almost accepted the answer without a rebuttal. Almost.

  “That’s ridiculous, Raven. It’s a waste of time to walk everywhere, and we don’t exactly have a lot of time to begin with. Where are we going? I’m sure I can figure out the best route to get there with the underground.”

  We are going to the site of the Tyburn Tree. They informed me with a little huff.

  “Yeah, screw that, it’ll take fifteen minutes if we get on the tube.” I told them, and quickened my stride so that I could take the lead. “Follow me.”

  They did not seem to appreciate the effort on my part, but did as they were told without too much grumbling. It took a few more minutes of walking to get to the stop that I wanted, and I jumped on. I assumed that Raven would be able to follow along just as well as they had when flying above me.

  I had a lot of questions for Raven, and now that we had a moment, I wanted to see if I could get any information from them.

  I reached tentatively for them with my mind, doing my best to focus the energy directly on the raven, rather than just reaching out blindly and broadcasting to anyone that might be paying attention.

  Hey. It was a simple greeting, but it was more of a ‘testing, one, two, three’ than an actual attempt at conversation.

  Yes? The response was rather immediate, Raven’s tone one of boredom.

  So, I was wondering if you could tell me a little more about magic. It’s all been kind of a nonstop rollercoaster for the past few days.

  There was a pause after my question, I could feel Raven thinking. You must be more specific. I do not have time to tell you the history of magic and its presence in your world, that would take an eternity.

  Yeah, so Raven was rather literal minded, which was fine but a little frustrating. OK. How am I magic?

  That’s rather simple. Someone in your bloodline was a magic user, and they passed it along to you when you were conceived.

  That matched up with what Aidan had said—he’d been surprised that no one had told me anything about it, but that was a foster kid’s lot. No real parents to talk to or get any kind of insight from. One more reason to hate the theoretical birth parents.

  Aidan said he had to report me to the Order. What are they going to do about me?

  The Order. I heard the disapproval in Raven’s voice. From my understanding, The Order will do everything in their power to label you a danger to the community. They are not very much inclined to bring members into the fold, but they recognise that magic users of actual power cannot be ignored. The majority are made to be a danger and executed. Those who they cannot label as such are given a mentor and groomed to fall in love with their ways of doing things.

  I swallowed roughly, nodding my head, trying not to panic. Labelled a danger? What was I supposed to do to avoid that kind of death sentence? It probably would have been for the best if Aidan had already reported me, but now that he hadn’t and he was teaching me some of the things and I was participating in the take down of a ritual, and a demon was breathing down my neck…

  I didn’t see how I was going to avoid being labelled a danger. They’d kill me, they’d have to. The evidence was very much on their side, and I doubted I’d have anyone that could reasonably defend me. Aidan, maybe, but that was only if he cared beyond reporting me.

  So, I’m going to die. I sounded distant, and I recognised that I was removing the situation from my current self.

  Absolutely not. I would not allow it. The Order is not the only entity in the world, they simply do not acknowledge the others. And granted, like the humans they grow from, they are rather widespread and loud.

  What else is out there? And if they don’t acknowledge them, how would that help me?

  Well there are the Courts of Sidhe, naturally. The Order would not dare to tangle with a Court, but they do not have ambassadors and therefore do not take the Courts into account when making decisions. I believe the Centaurs of France have grown considerably in size of late, but they can be rather brash to outsiders. The Vampires have a considerable dominion and the Order cannot ignore them, though I wouldn’t recommend turning to them for help. They’d only want to convert you. And, of course, there are singular entities in the Ether that would give the Order a run for their money if they ever opened war on them.

  It was all very overwhelming and not very encouraging in the slightest. So, The Order was the only group of human mages and therefore had control over every single one of us. That was disheartening. None of what they’d said had sounded like a good option, not really. The…Courts of Sidhe? That was the only one that didn’t have an obvious downside to it, which made me suspect that Raven had ties to one of them. Everyone is always biased about their own group, even if they don’t realise it themselves.

  Well, I guess all I can do is get through this weekend and see what happens. I thought, more to myself, but I shared it with Raven.

  That is the course that you have set yourself upon. A statement of the obvious, which was almost all that Raven was good for.

  Switching gears. Do you know what I can do with magic? I asked, because aside from what Aidan had showed me, and the little bits of things I’d stumbled upon, I didn’t really have a clue.

  A great number of things, I would imagine. I have seen Wizards do great and terrible things, and you seem to be marked for considerable power. You must be careful with that knowledge, though, if you depend too heavily on the idea of it being something later, you will miss the opportunities that will allow it to be possible.

  That’s good advice for just about anyone. I said, a little surprised. Raven didn’t seem the sort to wax philosophical.

  I felt the impression of acknowledgment, as if they’d pushed the sensation to me through the mental connection, but they remained otherwise silent. Probably for the best, there wasn’t much left to talk about on that topic. I was feeling out of my depth, but refusing to acknowledge that I was probably going to end up drowning in all of this.

  Either it would work out or it wouldn’t, and while I was given to anxiety rather frequently, I just didn’t have the energy to worry about it.

  It wouldn’t do any good anyway.

  30

  WHEN I REACHED THE STOP, I got off with the rush of other people, random faces in the crowd that no one paid attention to. For a moment, I thought Raven had to be wrong, this couldn’t be the spot we were looking for. There were so many people, all milling about and going about their business as if nothing at all mattered, and their emotions masked what I should have been looking for. I bit my lip to gain some focus.

  Then it became obvious to me. The three oak trees, still practically babies, standing around the marker for the original Tyburn Tree were completely empty. Usually people would walk through the triangle, or even stand in it if the street’s island was busy enough with people waiting to cross, but the spot was completely empty. Everyone seemed to be avoiding entering it, though I wasn’t sure that they realised they were doing it.

  I walked closer to the group of trees, and as I neared I recognised the sensation that I had been hunting for the entire day.

  Black, oily sludge washed over my soul with every step that brought me closer, driving me to turn and walk away from it. I could feel it growing and oozing towards the rest of the island,
pushing others further away as it did.

  My brain started to clamour for me to turn and leave now, get away from this area, this is a bad area and bad things are going to happen to us if we stay here. Just turn around and walk away, you don’t belong here, you can’t possibly be a part of any of this. Don’t look at it, don’t touch it, don’t be near it.

  I clenched my fists, biting my nails into the palms of my hands for the clarity that sharp bits of pain afforded me, and did all that I could to focus and push down the thoughts. It wasn’t easy, I didn’t have any practice at this. I looked up at Raven, and saw that even though they seemed to be flying with ease, they were not immune to the effects either. Closer inspection showed that they seemed to be jerking down and then up again, wings working a bit harder than normal.

  Raven was on guard and so was I, and neither of us liked it. It was necessary, though, for us to do this. The innocents of the city didn’t know why they were avoiding this spot, and they couldn’t do anything about it.

  Such was the burden of knowledge.

  You’ve heard the saying ‘ignorance is bliss’ of course? I’m sure you’ve rolled your eyes at it a time or two, and insisted that no one could truly be blissful in their ignorance, but that’s probably because you’ve never really thought about what it means.

  Your ignorance affords you safety and comfort, it allows you to move along in your life without fretting about all the things that can and will go wrong.

  Finally, we reached the border of the trees. It wasn’t a long walk from the stop by anyone’s definition, but it felt like it had taken an age to reach it. I had to fight just to stand near it.

  This is bad, Sheach. I did not know how bad it would be. Raven sounded worried, which in turn worried me.

  “What do you mean?” I reached down to pick at the seam of my jeans, knowing that I would open a thread to tug on in a moment or two of the action.

  I was hard on my trousers, but I took my comfort where I could get it.

  You need to learn to analyse the groundwork that was laid here, so that you can do it in the future for yourself. Raven told me.