Ashes of Revenge

Chapter 9: Voices

Raven was in the same chair at the same table she had been sitting at for the last couple of hours. Her fingers were pressed firmly against her temple, and she hadn't blinked or taken her eyes off the map in what felt like ages.

Richard lay passed out on the floor, and Colt was sleeping in the bed. The thought of sleep hadn't crossed Raven's mind once, and she was somewhat ok with it. The question Richard had asked them had been racing through her mind on replay. Both ways had pros and cons; it was finding out which one had the more dangerous drawbacks that were the problem.

Her burned hand was delicately tracing the trails of routes in which to travel to reach the Castle. Distant noises of the Monstros roaming and hunting outside crept into the small room. Whether it was wind or the noise of her finger gliding over wood or distant noises of those creatures she didn't know, but she did know what sounded to be whispers crawled throughout her head. It sounded as if fifty people were whispering directly into her ear – all saying different things at different times. Maybe it was the start of a headache? She had had auras due to a migraine, so maybe this was a late side effect of a hangover?

Added to the . . . voices, she knew any hour, the sun would rise, and they would have to make a decision. The thought of staying here another night almost made her sick.

Raven looked away from the map and to her ring that was resting on the table. The jewels sparkled against the dark atmosphere of the room, and she found the burned side of her lip curling up. Out of all her possessions, her rings and sword were her most prized.

Picking up the more colorful ring, Raven examined the perfect artifact. Her thumb traced over each jewel: red, blue, purple, black, and green. Despite the blue gem being the most prominent, her focus was drawn to the green jewel. Her attention was always drawn to the emerald.

She flipped the ring into the air and caught it before she tossed it up again. It ascended and descended in a calming beat.

A noise caused her to lose concentration, and the ring tumbled to the floor. Raven stood in panic, her darting eyes scanning for it. When she spotted the ring, she quickly scooped it up and placed it on her non-damaged thumb.

The whispers silenced.

The murmur echoed throughout the room again. Raven looked over at the source: Colt. He mumbled words as his hands latched onto the blanket around him. Blades extended from his hands as he turned more. Raven immediately became thankful she wasn't in bed.

She grabbed her sword and slowly placed the flat part of the metal on his chest.

Colt sat up quickly, his blades countering the sword and shoving it away. Raven stepped back and allowed Colt to take in his surroundings.

He stumbled to the window, pressing his forehead to the glass. For a few seconds, he kept his eyes closed as he mumbled to himself. Ok. Ok. Ok. Ok. Breathing in, he spoke, his voice quiet and tremulous, "Did I wake yeh?"

Raven leaned against the wall and sighed. "I wasn't asleep."

After a few more seconds, he shoved himself away from the cool window.

Raven looked at Colt's eyes and saw one was a shiny silver quartz, while the other was a dark graphite grey. She pointed to hers.

Realization washed over Colt, and he quickly closed his eyes. When he opened them again, they were dark brown and blue again.

"Did yeh sleep at oll?" Now his voice was gravely as he woke up more.

Raven raised an eyebrow as her response.

Colt rolled his eyes as his blades descended into his skin again. "Yeh really should sleep."

Raven had no response, too tired for sarcasm. She placed her sword back against the wall and collapsed into the chair.