The Raven and the Wraith Book 2 (Completed!)

The Raven and the Wraith 2 Chapter 12

The Raven and the Wraith 2 Chapter 12

"So...she isn't real."

Chan looked at me in confusion. "What do you mean isn't real? Why would you say that? Didn't you just see her, talk with her?"

"Well, yeah, but you just said she only rarely visits your world, and in different forms. So she isn't really here, like you and I. Or any of us."

Chan looked thoughtful, his dark, slanted eyes distant, reminding me of a cats eyes as it dozed in the sun, lost in its own inner world of dreams.

"I don't believe I'll be able to explain our Queen to you, as your world is clearly so different than ours. But I do know this. She has ordered us to attend her in her chambers, which last happened over two thousand years ago. You two must be special indeed."

Chan walked out onto the thin stairway, then turned to face us, seemingly thoroughly unconcerned with the fact that he was perched on a tiny sliver of tree, hundreds of feet above the forest floor.

"Follow me. Kiera, if you wish, you may close your eyes and allow my senses to guide you. It should be far more comfortable than relying on your own."

Kiera looked like someone had just suggested she jab a sharp stick into her eye and stir it around.

"Close my eyes while walking out on that?! You must be sick in the head."

I figured if Chan had whiskers like a cat he would be twitching them in irritation at the moment as he scowled at Kiera.

"Not simply close your eyes and walk. Close your eyes and rely on my senses, and follow me."

Kiera looked to me. I shrugged at her. "If he's willing to help, you could give it a shot."

"Right." Kiera muttered as she closed her eyes. "What's the worst that could happen? Fall to my death? Sure why not."

Once Kiera stood quietly Chan closed his eyes and lifted his hand to his face. He extended two fingers and placed them on his closed eyelids. Then, after a moment, I saw a faint, purple glow surround his eyelids.

He pointed his two fingers at Kiera and opened his eyes. I saw the purple aura flick from his eyes to hers, and she yelped like a puppy that had burned its nose.

Her hands flew out as if to stabilize herself and she slowly crouched down, her breath coming in short, sharp gasps.

"Relax. You're seeing the world through my eyes now." Chan told her, struggling to hold back a smile.

"You see the world like this?! That's...that's whacked! How can you deal with it?"

"Something was hit? How was it whacked? And there's no deals made, this is simply how our eyes work." Chan sounded so puzzled that I couldn't help but laugh. 

"You think this is funny? You try it!" Kiera snapped.

Chan abruptly stepped over and placed a hand on Kiera's shoulder. Kiera immediately yowled in shock and twisted away.

"Hey! I'm not a hands-on exhibit! Don't touch!"

Chan growled in frustration. "I'm going to guide you across the Path. Just relax."

Kiera snorted. "Relax. Right."

Chan grabbed her shoulder and pulled her towards the thin stairway, his jaw clenched. I could see he had enough of her antics and was ready to physically drag her across the Path.

"Kiera. I'll follow right behind you. Trust me." I told her quietly, walking behind her with my hand on her other shoulder.

"Whoa! More unnecessary gripping and handling!" She yelped.

I could tell she didn't like any of it even a little bit, but she had relaxed slightly when she felt me walking behind her. The three of us made a strange, shuffling progression across the bridge, accented by Kiera's constant, quiet chanting of "ocrapocrapocrap."

Once we were on the deck that surrounded the tree palace, I saw the faint glow around Kiera's eyes fade away. I looked back behind us and saw a huge group of Cha'el standing on the far side of the stairway. They all looked quite amused.

"Well, we at least we put on a good show..."

Kiera opened her eyes, letting out a long, relieved sigh as she found her vision back to normal and that she was no longer on the narrow stair bridge.

"A show?" She asked, turning to look back.

A few of the girl Cha'el waved at her, their faces lit up with laughter. Kiera blushed and looked away.

"Great. My first impression is one of a blind retard who's too scared to walk around way up high." She mumbled.

"That's not all..." Chan grumbled, leading us into a doorway on the massive tree.

I looked up once we stepped inside, my senses reeling. This place, this living entity, was shaped like a tree. I somehow knew it grew out of the ground here, like a tree. But those were the only similarities between this twisting, arching behemoth of a place and a tree.

It was so vast, so full of pulsing life, that I could no longer view it as just a tree.

"This place...it's not a tree. It's...it's part of all of you."

Chan smiled at me. "Yes. That would be a somewhat accurate way to describe the palace. But it still is a tree, also. The Branches are interwoven throughout all of us."

Chan headed down one of the hundreds of winding, curving, seemingly random hallways, taking so many different twists and turns, with some so narrow my shoulders brushed the sides, that I was thoroughly confused where we might be and how to get back to where we started.

I looked inside, trying to see if my instincts would be able to guide me back, if I needed to, as they always did anytime I was moving through an unfamiliar place. I felt a prickle of chilly unease as I felt how empty those instincts were here. I knew there was no way I'd be able to find my way out of this place without help.

"The Path we take here is chosen by the Tree itself. It only goes forward, you can never retrace your footsteps here."

I shook my head at Chan, unnerved to realize he had somehow known what I was trying to do.