The Raven and the Wraith Book 2 (Completed!)

The Raven and the Wraith 2 Chapter 9

The Raven and the Wraith 2 Chapter 9

The door led out onto those upper branches I had noticed earlier.  Branches full of hundreds and hundreds of Cha'el.

I stepped through the doorway and then stood very still. Hardly daring to breathe as I looked inside. Expecting to once again feel that merciless, bottomless hunger. A hunger that I now knew had burned bright in my center with a brilliant, blood red color.

The color of that door. The color of Melikah's eyes. And the color of those thin, red rivers that traced randomly everywhere in this strange place.

It was power. It was hunger. It was The Destroyer. And it made me feel so tiny and insignificant in its face that my knees were trembling and I felt like bits of razor ice were churning about inside my stomach.

Then I heard a slight sound next to me. A familiar voice, choked with blinding terror.

I looked over and found Kiera standing nearby. Standing in front of a dull gray branch, like she had just stepped through her own doorway.

Her face was sickly pale, her eyes were clenched tightly shut, and I could hear the staccato thunder of her heartbeat. She was a perfect picture of paralyzing fear, and just seeing her like that made my own adrenaline crash down my spine.

"Kiera?" I whispered.

It almost felt like my own voice, along with my rush of worry for Kiera, centered me. Like it pushed aside the coldness, like it placed me back on my own feet.

"The Hunter! It killed my mother! And it's hunting me, too!" She gasped, tears beginning to stream down her cheeks.

I pulled her into my arms, holding her tight. Letting her hear my heartbeat, letting her feel my warmth.

"You're safe. There is no hunter here." I told her.

"Well, except for me..." My thoughts spun to that dark, endless hunger inside of me, and I angrily pushed it down. I would never harm her!

I felt her lean into me, I felt her begin to trust that I was real. It made an unexpected warmth run through me, and I held her tighter.

"What is the Hunter?" I asked her quietly.

Kiera held herself very still. After five minutes I began to wonder if she had decided to simply ignore the question. Then she pulled back, looking around with eyes full of wonder and confusion.

"Where are we?"

I decided to allow her to change the subject, knowing it was never wise to try to force a girl to talk when they weren't ready. They usually did end up talking, but not about what you had asked, and then they wouldn't stop talking, until you were ready to kick yourself for pushing.

"The Cha'el city."

Kiera turned around warily, her body language seething with tension, then relaxed when she did not see the doorway she was expecting to see.

"How did I get here? Where did that...that doorway thing go?"

I considered the pull of magic I had sensed the moment I had stepped into the Branch. It had been equally familiar, yet otherworldly and vast. A very unpleasant combination.

"I think Cha'el magic carried us through a branch of our own past, present, and maybe even our future." I told her, watching to see how she would react.

I was dumbfounded to see bright fury glitter in her green eyes.

"They had no right! I was...I was flayed open in there, and then they dug around through my insides!" Her hands were clenched and her entire frame was taut, a fraction away from violence.

"They had no right! Somebody's going to pay!" She spat, then stalked away, heading towards the nearest cluster of Cha'el.

I hurried after her, wanting to see what she might do, but also not willing to let her get us into trouble we might not survive.

"Maybe we should hold on for a minute and come up with a plan." I suggested.

"Oh I've got a plan already. It involves lots of bleeding!"

I jogged next to her, my mind racing as I tried to think of what to say to get her to either calm down, or at least re-think what she was planning on doing.

"What about the Hunter? What if the Cha'el could help us stop it?"

She stopped so abruptly I yelped in surprise.

"What do you know about the Hunter?" She asked me, her words low and careful.

I felt a twinge of unease. This was a side of Kiera I hadn't known existed, much less expected to ever possibly be on the receiving end of.

"I've never heard of it. Tell me what it is and I'll tell you if I know anything at all about it."

She seemed to be gauging the truth to my words. I shrugged and lifted my hands.

"It's just me, Kiera."

She seemed to sag, then, her eyes filling with tears. "I know. I'm sorry Rahvin. You're eyes are so much like the Hunters eyes..." She trailed off as I stepped forward and pulled her to me.

I froze as I felt a sharp blade at my ribs.

"And what's with all this touching?" She said, looking up at me with a slight smile playing along her lips.

"Ah...well, you seemed to need a hug now and then."

"Ah. Here's Rahvin and the one he claims is not his mate."

I quickly let go of Kiera and turned to face Chan.

"Hi Chan. Perhaps instead of unnecessarily focusing on unimportant things such as who my mate may or may not be, why don't you help us understand what's going on with this place?"