A Raven's Darkness (Book 1)

Chapter 31: Melkin And Wane

Raven's Point Of View:

It was nighttime and we finally could see the Craven castle in sight. It dwarfed mine but was smaller than the Bunard's castle. Racon whispered to me, "Her fear is intense." I walked over to talk to Sandra, who was kind of away from everyone. "What's wrong, Sandra?" Sandra was Racon and Rater's aunt and Luciano's mom. She clutched her Craven robe. "How did you notice?" I shook my head. "Racon told me you were fearful." She sighed. "I wasn't supposed to come back here without my daughter, Luciano." That was odd. "Who ordered you to do this?" I had a feeling Sandra let Luciano stay with Sozar for a reason. She looked away, nearly in tears already. Did someone beat her up? "Cynthia." It was almost as if her name was a bad omen, and I felt that something was about to happen. I heard a noise of a twig breaking and I quickly blocked Sandra with my arms. I looked toward the noise and slightly lowered my arms. My mark was going off, but not in a bad way. I looked to Racon and he smiled. From the bushes, popped up the one I never thought I would see again. Rater. He traveled with two men, one about a year older than me, and the other was in his twenty's. Rater smiles instantly and locked onto me. He walked fast and pulled me into a hug. I hugged him back with a smile. "Where have you been?" I teased. He pulls me back and looked over me, which made me uneasy. "Are you hurt?" I was shocked. "I was, but I'm okay now." His eyes stopped searching for wounds and he let me go in embarrassment. "Who hurt you?" It was then that I noticed his black hair was spiky now, and his eyes were blue (instead of red). He looked much better. His blue eyes started to change to red. Oh, the anger power. That was his originally. I forgot he switched with Racon for his original power. "It was an accident really I-" He punched a tree to his right. "Who, Raven?" I nervously looked down, unwilling to say. However, Racon stepped up. "I did." Racon! Rater turned on Racon with such anger, I could only compare it to Cynthia's hate toward me. Rater picked Racon up. "You are unworthy! You believe by protecting her, you can hit her like a toy every now and then? Huh?" He slammed Racon on the same tree and it was breaking. Carter pulled his blade. "Must I break you, child?" Rater's anger only grew. I was afraid that he would use his power. But, I couldn't stop it now.

"How dare you hurt Raven? Do you believe yourself worthy of her love when all you do is hurt her?" He slammed Racon again against the tree. It broke. Racon went down to the ground with Rater still holding onto him. "Answer me!" Rater screamed. Racon looked at him with his brown eyes. "I am unworthy of Raven." Racon! I clutched my chest in worry. Rater let go of Racon. "That's what I thought, little brother." I was surprised that Racon let Rater push him around like that, but Rater looked stronger now somehow. Carter put his sword back up. The young boy who traveled with Rater, said, "Maybe you should let me do the talking next time." I chuckled, despite my worry, and the boy smiled at me. He was a funny guy but only appeared to bug Rater. Racon stood and dusted wood off of his clothes. He shook his head. Rater turned to him. "Remember who can really take care of Raven here. If you hurt her again, I will have no choice but to banish you." I got angry as well. "Rater, you cannot tell him w-" Racon held his hand up. "It's okay, Raven. I agree to your terms, Rater." Was he not listening to my feelings? "But Racon!" He shook his head with a sad look. "I can't hurt you again, Raven." I sighed. Rater extended his hand. "Shake on it." Racon paused, looked at me, and shook. "It's a promise." When did Rater become such a jerk? Racon stayed away from me since. I was sitting on a stump, Racon was standing far away and looking at his castle, Sandra was quietly talking with Carter (every now and then Carter looked at me with worry), the two new guys were chatting, and Rater walked over to me after that whole thing went down a good twenty minutes ago. "Go away." I replied, possibly too rudely. Rater sighed. "I'm sorry, Raven. My anger just got a hold of me." I slowly thought about forgiving him. I paused. "I forgive you, Rater." He smiled. "Thank you." I nodded. He chuckled and I looked up at him quickly. "Well, I thought that our reunion after like five months would go better. But, I ended up ruining it." He sighed. The memories of us dating came back to me. I promised to marry him and we both remember this now. Why was he just ignoring it?