A Family of Crows

The Mud Queen

The rainstorm from the day before had made travel difficult, but the Farmer had no choice. He trudged through the drying mud, making his way to the town. The cloying air surrounding him made his journey feel even longer than it was, and the grey clouds above him muted the usually vibrant colors of the scenery around him. He entered the sleepy town, and made way to a small building near the town square. He rapped three times on the door, and was let into a poorly lit room. The Farmer was determined. He needed to find his daughter.
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Once upon a time, there was a very lonely queen. The queen had a vast land to rule over, but she had no subjects to live there. There were no farmers to till the land, no merchants to sell things, no mothers or fathers to take care of children, no children to be taken care of, and no royal court to advise the queen. This made the queen sad, because there was no point in being a Queen without a kingdom to rule. The queen knew that there were people outside of her lands, but a curse had been placed on her, and made it so that she could not leave her kingdom. So she was stuck in her vast land, without a single soul to keep her company.
One day, the Queen was thinking about how alone she was, and how she couldn't leave her kingdom, when she had an epiphany. No more, she thought, shall I be lonely. If there are no subjects in my kingdom, then I shall make some. So the Queen made little people out of mud, and with a spark of royal magic, brought them to life.
The first mud person that she brought to life was a little boy named Terah. When he was brought to life, he was full of energy, and began running all around her kingdom. But then, suddenly, he started to cry. This startled the Queen, and she asked him what was wrong. He said that he was sad, because he was brought to life without a mother or father, and so he was all alone. The Queen felt extremely guilty, because she had brought him into this world to save her from her own loneliness, only to curse him with the same fate. So she promised the young boy that she would take care of him, and that he would not be alone, because she was there to protect him. This made him happy again, and the Queen felt satisfied. However, she quickly became worried, for she did not have any knowledge about how to care for a child, much less so for how to care for a child made of mud. Since she did not have the knowledge herself, she decided to create some more subjects who did.
So, once again, using her royal magic, she created two more subjects out of mud. They were a Grandma and a Grandpa, named Marie and John. Marie was wise in the ways of raising children, and nurturing them to make sure they grew up to be kind and compassionate adults. And John was wise in the ways of preparing children, being able to teach them lessons that would make them able, successful adults. So the queen set them to their task of helping her care for the little boy Terah, and she once again relaxed. All was well for a while, in their little family, until one day Marie and John came to the Queen with a request.
She had created them to be old, so they would have the wisdom of many years, but that also meant that she had given them ailing bodies. Marie's back always ached, and John's knee was weak. They both had great trouble keeping up with Terah. Marie and John asked the queen if she could help them in some way. The queen was happy to help her subjects, and decided that the best way to do so was to create one more. So the Queen, using her royal magic, conjured a fourth subject from the mud, a Doctor named Sarah.
Sarah was gifted with the knowledge of the greatest doctors of all time, and the skill with which to use that knowledge. As soon as the queen gave her life, she went to Marie and John and helped them with their ails. Instantly they felt better, and were soon able to keep up with Terah as he ran and played around the kingdom. The Queen thanked Sarah for her work, and because Sarah lacked anything else to do, the Queen talked to her throughout the day, and the two became fast friends. The Queen was no longer sad, and her Kingdom no longer empty, with her little mud family to keep her company, and so she was content.
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All was well in the queen's kingdom. The Queen ruled her subjects of mud mercifully and gracefully. One day, while they were all out playing with Terah, a great beast, covered in scales and with talons and fangs as sharp as stone, from beyond the borders of the Queens kingdom, came crashing through. The Queen saw, as the beast approached, that its powerful talons could easily destroy even her strongest Mud creations. The queen tried everything she could to stop the beast's rampage, but to no avail. The Queen despaired, for she knew that she wouldn't be able to save her Mud creations, her subjects, her family. She saw that the beast had injured Terah, Marie, and John. Then she saw Sarah approach the beast, and cried out- she could not bear to see her friend die in a heroic but foolish way. However, Sarah was not just rushing in foolishly. With her Doctor's Intelligence, she saw that the great beast was not actually going on a mindless rampage, but that it was in pain from a thorn stuck in one of its paws. Just as the beast was about to crush her, Sarah plucked the thorn out from his paw and darted away. The beast instantly calmed down, hunkering down to protect the now-open wound. Sarah came back with her medical supplies, and treated the beast's wound. After Sarah was done, the beast fled the kingdom, and never returned.
Sarah quickly got to work, tending to the various injuries of Terah, Marie, and John. The Queen helped her using her royal magic. In a few hours, everyone in the kingdom was all well. While the Queen and her subjects recuperated from the event, Sarah pulled her aside and asked the Queen if there was anything she could do to prevent future attacks like this. The Queen thought on that for a while, and then decided that the solution was one more subject: a knight, to protect the citizens of her kingdom. So, one more time, the Queen used her magic to bring to life one more mud subject. The knight's name was Ren, and he was a battle hardened soldier, gifted with the knowledge of all of the greatest martial artists and weapon masters. The queen set him to patrol the outside perimeter of the kingdom, making sure to stave off any threats to the safety of her subjects. Once again, the Queen felt safe and secure.
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As time dragged on, the seasons began to change. The days grew longer, and the sun was out for more time. The Queen enjoyed the longer days with her found family. But once again, something was troubling her. Since the sun was out for longer, her mud creations were starting to dry out. There was a small stream in her kingdom, but soon it wouldn't be enough to help her creations. The Queen was scared, because she did not know how to save her people. She was using her magic to keep them alive, but without water she wasn't sure how much longer she could go on. Then, her loyal knight Ren came to her, and told her that he wanted to leave the kingdom, and go look for water. The Queen had her reservations, but she was quickly losing strength, and saw no other option. She gave the knight her blessing, and he went on his way. The Queen and her mud people gave him a hopeful farewell, and they watched him leave on a mud horse the Queen had conjured for him. The days went by, and the Queen grew weaker and sicker, but the knight did not return. Still, she had hope. She knew he must have been searching hard, and so she tried to stay strong for him, so that his quest would not be in vain. She spent the days as she used to, playing with Terah, talking with Sarah, and enjoying the company of Marie and John. However, as the days grew ever longer, Ren the knight did not return. The Queen continued to hope, but she also knew that she did not have much time left.
At the height of summer, the day arrived when The Queen, while playing with Terah, fell, and did not have the strength to get back up. The Queen knew that her time was coming. Terah ran to get Marie, John, and Sarah, but there was nothing her Mud Creations could do. So, her subjects sat with her, and talked. They tried to make her as comfortable as possible. The Queen was happy, because she was surrounded by people she loved and who loved her, but she was also sad, because she had sent the knight out of the kingdom, and when he returned she would be gone. Still, she was glad the rest of her subjects were here with her.
Slowly, The Queen felt her magic start to fade. She tried to fight it as best she could, but there was no stopping what was coming, not anymore. As her magic became less and less potent, she realized that her creations would die with her. As soon as she had thought it, it came to be. The first to go were Marie and John. As the magic that brought them to life faded away, they imparted to her their last words, thanking her for their time as living beings. They turned back into mud with smiles on their faces, and peace in their hearts. The next one of her creations to return to the earth was Sarah, the doctor, her friend. Sarah continued making jokes right until the moment she turned back into mud, and her last moments were filled with laughter. Finally, there was only Terah left. Terah was scared, because Marie, John, and Sarah were gone. The Queen tried to placate him, and even while she tried to calm him down, she saw him slowly turning back into mud. The Queen started to sob, and Terah calmed down enough to ask her what was wrong. The Queen put on a smile and said that he was going away, and she wouldn't be able to see him again. Terah smiled back, and told her that it was okay. Even if they never saw each other again, they'd still have each other in spirit. The Queen wasn't able to respond before Terah had turned back into mud. The little boy she had spent so much time consoling had spent his last moments consoling her, and now the Queen was alone again. The Queen had not been alone in a very long time, ever since she had brought Terah to life. The Queen laid on the ground, thinking of her knight, Ren, who must have turned back into mud by now, who had died in a strange and foreign place, all alone.
The Queen then thought of her mother. She had not seen her mother in a very long time, and she slowly came to realize that she would never see her mother again. Wishing she could talk to her mother one last time, The Queen drifted off to sleep, and did not wake up again.
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It didn't take the sheriff more than a few days to find the farmer's daughter, but he was still too late. Near the back of the farmers property was a cave occluded by dense foliage. Through the opening was a short tunnel that led to a natural atrium, and there she was. Half buried in dried up mud. The coroner theorized that she had gotten trapped in the mud during the storm, and died of dehydration. Around her were crude stick figure drawings, and names to go with each. They carefully pulled the body out of the mud, being sure to not disturb the drawings around her.
They carefully walked back to the entrance of the cave, and near the opening to the outside world, the sheriff saw one last drawing.
A figure of a man on a horse, labeled "Ren".