Corbeau

Chapter Six: To Scream or To Not Scream

Raven's breath hitched. She managed to hide the ugly bruise she had gotten by wearing some leggings, but she completely forgot about the ones at her arms.

"Oh I just tripped," she replied calmly. "Clumsy me," she laughed. Blythe looked suspicious, but just brushed it off.

"So anyways I was wondering if you could join the decoration committee," she said. "We need more members for the upcoming Halloween dance." Raven thought about it. She wondered why Blythe would want her on the committee. Maybe they couldn't find anyone else, she thought. A little part of though wanted to believe that Blythe asked her because she genuinely wanted her on the team. She decided to join, after all finally building up social relations might prove to be useful in the future. Especially if she needed notes to catch up on in case any shimmering business disrupted her studies. She was warned about this particular issue but so far other than being late and tired to school for the past two days, she seemed to be fine.

"Sure, what do I have to do?" Raven hesitated, she was still quite socially anxious but she tried to get over it.

"Simple, just sign here and show up after school every other!" she replied cheerily. Blythe seemed actually excited that Raven was going to join; she wondered why.

That evening she didn't have any Shimmering duties; Abraxas said she could take the day off from training too because of the hardships they went through yesterday. She was relieved that she could finally catch up with her school work. Her aunt was also back from her medical training, but said she had to leave again the next day. Raven shuddered, medicine was definitely a course she was not too fond of taking during college.

The next day halfway through school she remembered that Abraxas had wanted to meet up promptly on Wednesday after school, the same time she had the meeting with the decorating committee. On one hand she didn't want to disappoint Blythe, but on the other hand Abraxas had seemed quite serious about this- and he was never really serious about anything unless he meant business. Sighing she made a mental note to apologize to Blythe tomorrow for not showing up.

Raven and Sky met up with Avor after school and were off to Avalon. As they entered the training ground, Abraxas was waiting for them along with a familiar, grouchy face- Mendel.

"What does he want this time?" Sky rolled his eyes. None of the kids were too fond of him. Avor had to cringe at the fact that he was his uncle.

"Ms. Cadwell I am here to inform you that the next week and a half is crucial for your training. You will have to come back regularly and strengthen yourself with Master Abraxas. I suggest you may even have to skip a few days of your studies for extra practice." Raven didn't quite process what he said for a moment, but when she did, she was enraged. How could they make her skip school? She was struggling to keep up already and if she had more training then it would just make her fall behind even more.

"I understand this may seem a little difficult," he continued. Difficult? Raven thought, this was downright absurd. "But it is urgent you must complete training before the 31st of this month," he concluded.

Abraxas sensing her confusion explained further. "The 31st signifies the coming of Halley's comet. You must be there to secure the portal along with a few other professionals to ensure that Corbeau does not manage to escape," he stated.

Mendel looked wary, "they know about Corbeau?" he asked with a stern voice. Raven gulped, she forgot that they weren't exactly supposed to know.

"Yes, they were bound to find out sooner or later," Abraxas replied.

Mendel had a pensive gaze. "Very well; then you must understand why it is vital that you must show up everyday for training." Raven nodded. It wasn't going to be easy, but on the bright side this would all be over by Halloween. She just hoped everything would go back to normal right after.