The Raven and the Wraith Book 2 (Completed!)

The Raven and the Wraith 2 Chapter 1

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Hi everybody! I hope you're here because you enjoyed Book 1 and want to see what Kiera and Rahvin are up to in the Other! Thanks for reading!

The Raven and the Wraith 2 Chapter 1

"You're going to eat that?!"

I️ looked across the campfire at Keira. She was staring at the small, rodent-like creature I️ had caught earlier. She looked like the idea of eating it was on par with the idea of eating a fat slug.

"Well, we gotta eat. And it bleeds red just like the creatures we eat back home."

She narrowed her eyes at me. "And that's enough to go ahead and eat it? You don't know what it is!"

"I️ saw some type of bird here eat one. And I️ can tell...I️ can tell by its scent that it's safe to eat."

Keira didn't look totally convinced, but I️ knew the fact that it smelled safe had helped. In the last 3 days of being here, in this inverted realm we knew only as The Other, she had come to trust the power of my incredible sense of smell.

I️ considered that once again. My sense of smell had been enhanced beyond words by the great black cat, but there was more. It was like my instincts had been enhanced. Like I somehow just knew by the way things smelled if they were safe to eat or not.

I️ also had been nearly staggered multiple times a day for the last 3 days by how familiar some scents were. Scents that I️ knew were native to this strange, inverted reality, and had never existed back on my home realm. So therefore they shouldn't be familiar in any way.

I️ pushed those thoughts down, not wanting to consider why this should be so.

"Well, it actually really does smell amazing!"

The look in Keira's eyes now that I️ was roasting the creature on a stick over the fire, filling the air with the scent of sizzling meat, had changed from disgust and suspicion to outright hunger.

We had been traveling all day with only two, short stops to rest and eat, trying to reach the foothills we could see in the distance before nightfall, and both of us were ravenous.

I️ had misread the distance somehow, and as the twin, orange suns had begun to set, I️ could see we wouldn't make it. I decided to wait till we were done eating before breaking this unpleasant news to Kiera.

Kiera was watching me as she ate. I could almost see the gears in her head turning. We had only known each other for a few weeks now, but she had already begun to read me with uncanny accuracy.

"We're not going to make it, are we?"

Her voice was steady, but I could still hear the undercurrent of tension. She had not enjoyed the last few nights out in these strange woods.

"No. We might as well just camp here tonight. I like the way these huge trees give only one direction for anything to approach us."

She set down the stick with the unfinished chunk of meat and walked over to gather more firewood. I could almost see the fierce determination in her every motion, and once again I found myself impressed with her strength and courage. I didn't know too many girls who would hold up so well in this kind of situation.

"Think those...things will come again?" She asked.

"Yeah. They seem fascinated with us. I think they're actually tracking us."

"Can't we do something to scare them off? Should I give them a bag of Razorlash?"

I considered that. Razorlash was what she called the small bags of lethal, powdered concoction of various herbs she kept as weapons. They were unbelievably potent, but I had no way of knowing what their effectiveness was here, in this strange land, against unknown creatures.

"That might just provoke them to switch from curiosity, to killing rage. Let's let them make the first move. If they do make a move against us at all."

Kiera frowned. "In my experience, things of the night are only curious for two reasons. They want to know if we're good to eat, and if we are dangerous. Letting them know we're dangerous can convince them we're not worth trying to eat."

I nodded. "Yes, but what if they're not actually inherently dangerous to us? What if they're intelligent beings and are just simply curious? Because they've never seen anything like us?"

"Well, skulking around us at night isn't an intelligent thing to do. How would they know we won't attack them first? It's the action of a pack of hunters. I think our campfire is the only reason they haven't attacked us already."

I remembered that first night, when we had heard the sounds of the creatures surrounding our camp. Kiera had immediately threw a huge armful of dry sticks and leaves on the campfire, making it flare up. And we had heard the things pull back.

"Maybe. But tonight is the fourth night. Which means they'll either attack us, or come talk with us. So let's wait and see what happens."

I wanted to wait because I wanted to make them come to me. I wanted to know the area around me when it came time to face these things. Kiera helped me as I gathered more firewood and started a second fire, close to the one we already had going. Now there was only one, narrow direction anything could approach us by.

Once the second fire was burning bright I motioned towards it. "Now, if they try attacking, we can shove em into the fire and point and laugh as they burn their weird buttocks!"

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