The Raven's Source

The Raven's Reflection

Thunder rumbled off in the distance. The night air was hot as the young boy sat in the backyard and looked up at the skies. The stars had been swallowed by the clouds and the electricity was starting to tickle through the air in Ralnsah. Pushing his chin-length and disheveled black hair out of his face, he returned his attention to the newborn baby kittens in front of him. He noticed they were still too young for the thunder to frighten them, but it had certainly frightened the mama cat, Susaloo.

"Cerno, come inside. You shouldn't be out there with this storm that's coming," Nan Edna called out to him.

"Susu ran inside and left her babies out here," he replied. "I was trying to keep them safe."

The older woman smiled at her grandson and walked out to him with a basket filled with a blanket. "Here. Let's load them carefully in here and we can take them inside to her."

"Okay!" Cerno replied happily. He helped Nan carefully move the litter into the basket and beamed as she took them toward the house. Continuing to stand outside for another moment, Cerno looked up to the big mansion that stood above Ralnsah and looked down upon it's people. He sighed as the clouds behind the mansion briefly flashed, casting the mansion as a black outline. It was the mansion of the Noble Angevin family, his family.

"Why are you still standing out there, child?" Nan Edna scolded. "Come on, get in here."

"Nan, why couldn't I stay with Yaya? Why is everyone saying she's sick? She doesn't feel sick," he asked, unmoved. He had been separated from his twin sister, Sheja, and brought down here to his grandmother's home while the doctor was tasked to help her.

"What do you mean, 'she doesn't feel sick'?"

"I get sick when Yaya gets sick. I'm not sick," he replied.

"You're both barely eight years old, you wouldn't understand."

"Could you explain it to me?" Cerno asked quietly. There was a pit that had been in his stomach all evening since his nanny, Elowyse, had delivered him here. He had never been forcefully separated from his sister like this before and it made him uneasy.

Nan Edna huffed. "Maybe, but only if you come inside. I swear, you're going to get struck by lightning if you keep standing out in that open yard like that!"

Suddenly, the windows of the mansion lit up and exploded outward, a fireball erupting from the building and climbing towards the sky. After a few seconds before either of them could wrap their minds around the flames, the ground shook and a forceful wave of air washed through. Cerno toppled to his knees and Edna quickly grabbed a hold of the doorjamb to keep herself and the kittens steady. Screams could be heard echoing throughout the city.

"Yaya!" Cerno cried, climbing to his feet and starting toward the gate.

"No, Cerno!" Edna yelled, quickly putting the basket down and giving chase after her grandson. She grabbed him before he could get the latch undone. He seemed to scream in pain as she grabbed him.

"We have to help her!" Cerno yelled, fighting against her. "Nan! We have to help!"

"You will get inside and let the adults help!" she instructed, turning and carrying the fighting child back inside, her own heart racing in fear. "It's best for us to stay here and not get in the way!"

The city was filled with commotion but Nan Edna forced Cerno to stay seated on the bed. Nan's little house sat the furthest in the city from the mansion and only had two rooms—the bathroom, and the main living space which contained a kitchen, a tiny dining table, and a queen-sized bed. It wasn't too often that she got to take care of her grandchildren, so she didn't have any toys or children-appropriate books to keep Cerno busy. And with Susaloo hiding under the bed and his family—especially Sheja—potentially in danger, Cerno was getting restless.