Ashes of Revenge

Chapter 30: A Life for a Life

Night had fallen, and the small group hadn't moved an inch. The only difference was that Richard had passed out, and Colt had fallen asleep. However, Raven was still awake, her gloved hand mindlessly running through the Farian's dirty hair.

Slowly, she gently moved him off of her and onto Colt. Naturally, his hand detached from her clothes. She stood and walked away from them, going deeper into the forest. Her body was still weak, but it was better than it had been.

When she felt she was deep enough, she stopped and looked around.

"I know yer here," Raven said.

A second of nothing but crickets chirping echoed throughout the air.

"You called?" he said, purposefully fanning the back of her neck with his breath.

She tensed but didn't react, instead, walking to a tree and bracing herself against it. "I know what yeh took from me tha first time I died."

"And what is that?"

"The ability to sleep." He raised an eyebrow. "Yeh cause those dreams to occur; I assume in an attempt to weaken me an' make me more susceptible to yer commands."

"What makes you say that?"

"Yeh made tha dreams worse since tha Mountains an' thus far I've done everythin' yeh've wanted."

He smiled. "What do you think I took from you this time?"

"I don't know what yeh have taken. . . ." She looked down at her hands. "Tha fire," she began with a softer voice than intended, "it drains me. . . . Doesn't it?" After every time she used the power, she could feel it retracting back into her body, dragging her strength with it.

Death shrugged. "All power comes with a price." He stepped closer to her. "Now, do you want to tell me why you really summoned me?"

A tense silence filled the air as Raven contemplated the outcomes.

"Fix his wings an' heal Colt," she finally commented.

Death tilted his head to the side faintly. "What will I get in return?" He knew she would want to save Richard and Colt. Truth be told, he felt sorry for hurting the boys so much, but he needed the extra insurance.

Raven knew he had ordered Richard's wings to be destroyed, just like he had ordered her to be thrown in the river. She knew he wanted to gain something from her.

"Nothin'. I fulfilled my end of tha deal; now yeh owe me somethin'."

"That's incorrect, my dear. We're even so you asking for something from me makes us uneven." Death walked up to Raven and only stopped when he was an inch or so away from her. He placed both of his hands on either side of her against the tree. "You . . . owe . . . me." Death cooned.

"I fulfilled my end of tha deal," Raven gritted out. "Tha deal was to have tha King kill me, an' technically, he did. I think I deserve to have yeh owe me somethin'. Yeh have taken things from me both times–" She stopped when she finally saw something in his eyes she had been looking for since they met: raw emotion. It made sense now, how he knew what moves she would make in order to protect Richard and Colt.

"Who have yeh loved?" Raven asked. She remembered the way he looked at Mundus'. "Did my species kill 'em? Yeh can bring 'em back but not without takin' somethin'." She watched as anger flashed beneath his skin, and she knew she had struck a chord. The only issue was being able to strike it again. "Is that yer price for havin' oll this power? Yeh can't truly keep those yeh love with yeh? I can only imagine what havin' this long life must be like when yeh have to watch everythin' yeh care about turn to dust."