Hush

Hush: Cavern full of souls

We found the raven shortly after, it sat perched on a low branch and tilted its head to look at us with a inquisitive beady black eye. 'Great Grandma trained them so well.' She threw a berry and I watched as the raven caught it and gobbled it up eagerly before letting out a satisfied caw. I picked up my eye and studied it, wondering what I should do with it now it was in my hand, it was certainly a strange sensation to be looking back at myself and at the same time looking down at my eye.

My face was stained in black and red, blood from different battles I noticed, my once beautifully crafted body was now stitched in various areas and my soft plush fur had gone matted, and looked strangely like I had real fur growing in patches where there was a lack of fake fur. My one eye that was attached still looked human like if not for its ruby demonic like pupils encased in a droopy eyelid, giving my a disturbing yet innocent look and one of my ears was partly missing and frayed. I realised upon self reflection, the journey through Requirden had turned me into a very tatty teddy.

'Look, you just put it back where it was and watch old Thwackonax's magic do its job.' She explained, interrupting my self scrutiny. 'That old coot really was a remarkable wizard.'

I did as she said and felt the magic fuse my eye back in place. I gave a sigh of relief, now able to focus entirely on what was around me in one place rather than two.

'Now listen up,' Shaya said with an air of formality. 'When you get back to Jack you have to be his light.' She put her hands on her hips and her wings flared slightly.

I nodded.

'You might have noticed yourself changing too,' she went on. 'And it ain't a coincidence, you were made for this. And the outcome is destined. The Shadow Master's time is ending.' She said simply. 'And once order is restored, the Elfane will rise and in a not so distant future, I will be the leader. So,' she said drawing out the word and stepping closer to me and her fingers fidgeting. 'I need to go with you, so that I can stand with Jack.'

I tilted my head in wonder at her words.

'The ravens will get us through to the Bellows without a struggle, they move in the shadows and can shift through the levels of Requirden with no need for portals.' I watched her as her form began to shimmer. She looked then at the raven on the branch that had been waiting patiently, and with a nod it flapped down and took me in its talons, just as Shaya shifted into the form of a raven herself. She hopped around a few times cawing then looked at the other one expectantly, before we took flight high above the forest, higher and higher we went until I couldn't bare to look below without a rush of vertigo. The world below was small, and the three of us lingered in the air briefly, before the raven that had me in its sharp clawed grip plummeted towards the land, an unnatural speed as its wings closed and it made itself almost like an arrow, beside us Shaya in her bird form was matching our speed and I closed my eyes as the stuffing in me lurched the nearer we came to an impact that didn't happen.

We went through the ground, or rather, the ground opened up for us to enter, and within moments the raven pulled up spreading its wings and slowing us as it flapped a little wildly until it steadied, and landed. It took me a few heartbeats of adjusting to being alive, to realise that the raven had dropped me on top of a corpse. Already in the decaying process, the being was stretched out on the ground, chains around its legs. I jumped off immediately and looked back to give the raven a disapproving glare, but it had already vanished.

'Welcome to the Bellows.' Shaya whispered beside me, once more in her human form. She sniffed the air and made a face. 'Not a place for the living at all.' She added quietly.

From somewhere far off echoes of tortured screams travelled to us. I was disappointed to see that once more we were in the depths of yet another humongous looking cave, dank and musky tinged with death and blood. The smells were all things unpleasant and I looked around, unsure what to do.