City of Fire

Chapter Eight

"Ilona"

It started out with the talking bird...

It was a raven, perched atop a gravestone. Ilona looked around, not surprised to find she was in the middle of a typical creepy as hell graveyard, surrounded by broken and moss covered tombstones.

Typical...

The raven eyed her and she eyed it until she finally crossed her arms and glared at it.

"So, are you just gonna sit there or are you gonna spit something out?" The question was supposed to go unanswered but then the raven smiled.

"The Dominus is supposed to speak first," it squawked and Ilona blinked. "That is," the raven ruffled its pitch black feathers, "if you are the Dominus." It was mocking her; the bird was freakin' mocking her! She narrowed her eyes at it and resisted the urge to knock it off of its perch.

"Alright, I'll bite." She shuffled her feet, "What's the 'Dominus'?" The bird tilted its head, eyeing her with its surprisingly intelligent eye before answering.

"Not what," it snapped, "who." It shifted, its talon digging into the cracking stone and Ilona frowned.

"Okay, so who is it?" She asked and the bird made a chortling sound in the back of its throat. Ilona was momentarily confused before she realized what it was doing. The bird was laughing at her! Anger made her face flush and she glowered at it.

"Alright buddy, you got three seconds before I decide to punt you like a football," she growled and the bird eyed her, puffing its chest out before deciding to answer.

"You are, you twit, but whether or not you can obtain your full potential is up to you," the raven squawked before taking to the air to circle above her head, "The first thing you need to do is look for the family of stone. There the most cherished will lend aide, but only after being asked." The raven halted for a moment, hovering a few feet in front of her, "Remember my words and you may have a chance of finding what is lost, but will soon be found." Ilona frowned, really confused now but before she could say a word the graveyard started crumbling in on itself. Ilona lost her footing and as the ground disappeared underneath her she screamed as she fell into the crumbling ground but the raven's final words echoed inside her skull.

"Farewell, Dominus, may you see the turning serpent before it strikes."

And blackness engulfed her...

She sat up, her heart pounding in her ears and winced at the strong sunlight that streaked into her room. Groaning she rolled over, cursing underneath her breath as her sore muscles were jostled. Ignoring it she grasped the sheet, pulling it over her head but as she did so she heard a knock on her door. Sighing she pulled the sheet back down to see her uncle standing there. He had a smug smile on his face and she frowned.

"What?" She asked and didn't bother trying to hide her annoyance.

He knew she wasn't a morning person...

"I just thought that I'd come wake my little flower up just in time for school, I called you in late but you're still going to Community Service afterwards," his grin grew wider and Ilona groaned, rolling back over and pulling the blanket over her head.

"Really? I still have to go to that stupid thing?" She asked from underneath the blanket and she heard his soft chuckle as he entered the room.

"Yes, flower, now get up." He reached down and tugged on the blanket but she grunted and pulled it back.

"I'm a queen now, right? Queens shouldn't have to go do Community Service for something they didn't even do." Ilona quipped but her retort was lost on Darius who only grunted and tugged the sheet off of her.