Helion Rising

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

By the time the sun had started to set I was walking into a coffee shop in the heart of the City, and the Raven was with me. But I hadn’t been the one to find her, she had found me. We had spent the past hour strolling about and chatting idly about trivial things. Every now and then she’d tug lightly on the brim of her hat, I had yet to see her wear anything other than her large brimmed hat and almost white coat. She glanced at me briefly, flashing me a smile before gesturing to the booth in the far corner of the shop. The shop was warm, cosy and smelt of freshly ground coffee beans. 

The Raven soon joined me and placed to piping hot mugs of hot chocolate on the table; one had marshmallows and the other did not. She gestured for me to pick one. I grimaced at the mountain of marshmallows on the one and took the other. “You’re just like your father,” she chuckled, with a relaxed sigh she leaned back against the sienna coloured booth. “But that is a talk for another day. Now, tell me, what does Nathaniel want now?”

I observed her while taking a tentative sip of my hot hot chocolate. “How did you know he sent me?” As I spoke, I slowly craned my neck to get a glimpse of what was beneath the shadows cast my her hat. 

“I know everything, remember? Also, he sent you. If he’d sent that...buffoon in your place Nathaniel would never get his information.”

Once again, I stared at her in silence before smirking, “If you know everything, you must know why I’m here.” The smugness left me as soon as I took a sip of hot chocolate and scalding liquid burnt a path to my stomach. I had no choice but to gap like a fish and sit sheepishly with my tongue hanging out my mouth to cool down. 

The Raven’s shoulders heaved slightly as she chuckled once more. “A little birdy told me your Order has gotten so slack that a corpse managed to escape.” I gapped again; this time from awe. “Tell Nathaniel 1) I had nothing to do with it. 2) If it mysteriously vanished with absolutely no traces of outside interference the being’s body had been summoned back.”

“Back whe-”

“That’s not his concern.” There was a finality to her tone that told me no amount of coaxing would get her to tell me more. I had gotten what Nathaniel wanted but there were so many other questions I had for her but would it be worth wasting my breath? Would she tell me what I wanted to know? It was her turn to observe me. I gazed about at the orange walls of the coffee show and at the many, many oil paintings of sparrows that littered the walls. By the time The Raven had broken the silence with a heavy sigh my hot chocolate had turned luke warm. “Ask away kiddo,” she said but by the way her lips pursed into a thin line, I knew I could ask but she may not answer.

Suddenly given permission to ask anything I was stumped. Do I ask her about my parents or my past or about how she got her name; there were so many things I wanted to know and learn for that matter. For one, magic. Just then I was startled by a waving hand in front of my face and the Raven muttered “finally,” when the faraway look disappeared from my eyes. I grinned sheepishly and gulped down the last of my drink. With a deep breath, I asked my first question. “Is my brother real?” 

The Raven seemed to freeze for a moment before setting her own mug on the table, she gazed down slightly then looked up. “That, is a question for another day.” I was ready to protest but thought against it. My next question was about her hat.