The Raven and the Wraith Book 2 (Completed!)

The Raven and the Wraith 2 Chapter 2

The Raven and the Wraith 2 Chapter 2

We settled down side by side, with our backs up against the trunk of a massive tree, and both of us closed our eyes and allowed ourselves to drift.

It wasn't sleeping, exactly. But it was restful, and we were both capable of waking up and springing to action instantly, if necessary. Both of us knew that the creatures would wait till the dead of night before approaching us. Anything that was awake through the night would always wait till it's prime hour before taking action.

As the fire began to die down I kept my eyes half-lidded, letting my thoughts wander. I knew my eyes would be slightly glazed, my muscles lax. Giving the illusion that I was drifting to sleep. It was an advantage if you could make your enemy underestimate you.

A twig snapped in the darkness behind me. For some unknown, and very unpleasant reason, it reminded me of the sound of a bone breaking.

I rolled my eyes at the obvious tactic, deciding that I wasn't going to attempt to trick these creatures.

"Ok, you and I both know you're doing that on purpose. So you might as well stop twitching around out in the darkness and acting all creepy and stupid and stuff." I called.

Then I heard that same strange, melodic pattern of sounds again as the other nights. This time, though, I listened intently. And then I carefully repeated the sounds back, as accurately as I could.

There was instant, complete silence in the darkness about me. Then a flurry of those strange sounds came from nearly every side.

"What is it?" Kiera sat up next to me, her eyes wide.

I saw she held a pouch of Razorlash in each hand and shook my head at her.

"They're talking to us. So no hurling silly satchels of powdered pain out into the darkness, k?"

She furrowed her brow. "Those weird sounds are how they talk??"

"Yup. In fact, because I just now replied to them in their own language, they'll likely finally approach us. To talk."

"Yeah. Or to pummel us vigorously. Cause you said the wrong thing."

I considered my luck and nodded sagely.

"Yeah, that's always a possibility."

She opened her mouth to reply, then her eyes widened and her entire body tensed up. I fought my instincts to grab for my blades as I saw what she was looking at.

Just beyond the flickering circle of firelight I saw eyes. A single glance told me there were at least ten of the creatures staring at us.

They were eyes that glittered in the night, reflecting the colorful lavender and burnt-red light that the fire gave off. Their faces were angular and delicate, with high cheekbones, and pale skin. They radiated a haunting beauty, an otherworldly beauty.

Then one of them stepped fully into the circle of firelight. He was my height, but very slender. The casual grace to his every motion and his tall, thin, pointed ears instantly reminded me of the great black cat.

He looked at the two of us, then opened his mouth and made that strange, melodic sound again. Now, facing him, I could read his body language. It was a question.

I lifted my hands and shrugged, choosing an obviously confused expression. "Sorry. I don't understand."

The creature looked thoughtful for a moment, then, moving with exaggerated slowness, it reached to the sheath hanging to its side and pulled a long, thin blade. It looked pointedly at me, then carefully set the blade down between us and stepped back.

"See? They just want to talk." I said to Kiera, understanding this laying down of weapons as a universal sign of peace.

I stood and moved slowly as I pulled my throwing knives out and set them on the ground, then stepped back from them.

The creature nodded as if satisfied, then lifted a hand to cover its mouth and closed its eyes. It stood still and quiet, like it was meditating. A few moments passed, then I saw a faint, blue nimbus of light begin to glow on its hand. That light drifted to cover its mouth, with thin wisps reaching up on both sides of its face, to cover its ears.

Next to me I could feel Kiera tensing up. I could see one of her hands straying down to the knife at her side. I understood her nervousness, this creature in front of us was using magic in some unknown way. But my instincts were at ease, I sensed no direct danger from this being, even though it was clearly weaving some form of magic.

"It's ok. Relax." I whispered.

The creature snapped open its mysterious, almond-shaped eyes, looking at the two of us. It could obviously see how nervous Kiera was. Both Kiera and I were stunned when it opened its mouth and spoke to us.

"Yes. Please relax. We do not harm visitors who come in peace."

It's voice was still melodic, a soft whisper of sound upon the night air, with a complex lilt to the words. But we understood it immediately.

"Your magic allows you to speak and understand our language?" I asked.

It nodded. "Yes. My name is Chan."

"I'm Rahvin and this is Kiera."

Chan looked over at Kiera, then back at me. "Ah. Your mate."

I heard Kiera let out a slight choking sound and I shook my head, perhaps a bit too vigorously, feeling my cheeks heating up.

"She's not my mate. We're just friends."

It chuckled, a gentle smile easing the harsh, angular beauty of its face. "If you say so. Where are you from? I sense that you are truly visitors here."

I considered this. How to explain the unexplainable? That we were from a realm that was fully opposite this one, but still intrinsically linked?

"Hmm, yeah...We are from another realm. A place like this one. But opposite. Here, magic flows like water and the ground is not solid. Where we're from, magic is rare, and must be forced into action. And the ground almost never moves."

The creature nodded slowly, seeming to accept my words, even though it didn't look like it understood.

"Come with us. You should meet our queen."

It's words were not spoken as a question, or left any room for discussion. I felt the independent, inner part of me react immediately, a surge of anger hardened by familiar stubbornness. I pushed it down, knowing these strange beings could very likely help us on our quest, and quietly set about getting ready to go.

As Kiera and I put out the fires the creatures watched with intense, unblinking curiosity. Kiera finally couldn't stand it any longer and turned to face them.

"You act like you've never seen someone put out a fire before!"

I smiled, suspecting Kiera's fiery attitude might get an interesting response from these solemn, focused creatures. The only change I saw was a general narrowing of the eyes at her, but Chan stepped closer to her.

"We've never seen creatures like you two. And the only times fire is used here in any way is when great spells of destructive power are being woven. So to see the two of you so calmly working with fire for no apparent reason beyond simple heat and light is quite...amazing."

I could see how Chan had struggled to find the appropriate word for how they viewed us working with fire. And the tone of his voice has been ever-so-slightly tighter than before. I began to suspect that this might be the equivalent of these beings whooping and hollering in awe.

"It's just fire." Kiera said slowly, her mouth moving even as her mind processed Chan's words and all the possible implications.

Chan shook his head at her, his smile genuine, but still tinged with a bit of shock.

"To you it's "just fire". To us...well only our greatest spellweavers have worked with fire. And there are less than five recorded uses of fire in the last ten thousand years of our race living here."