Ravens and Crows

Chapter 27 ~Wylan~

This time we walked back into the forest with Adam and Ronan. I still didn't remember going here before we appeared in the future, which was unnerving.

"Who is Nessie?" Kaz asked as we walked back.

Ronan walked backward to face us for a moment, but all he did was smirk and say, "You'll see," before turning back around.

"This should be deep enough." Adam finally said after about twenty minutes of walking. "And Ronan, if you're really thinking of creating a sea monster, I suggest you don't do it in the middle of the forest."

Ronan shook his head. "Such little faith in me, Parrish."

"So, you have that problem figured out?"

"Obviously," Ronan started to lay down. "If the thing is coming from my head, it is not going to be normal."

"Matthew's normal." Adam argued.

Ronan opened one eye to look at Adam. "Is he? Is he really?"

Adam tilted his head in acknowledgment. "I guess no one in your family is 'normal'." He moved his fingers when he said normal. "Go dream a monster."

Ronan saluted then adjusted himself on the grass.

No one said anything and the minutes ticked by. Adam would go here or there to move rocks around or press his hands on roots, but other than that nothing happened.

Then there was a booming caw from the sky and the ground shook.

Adam flickered, literally. He was there, then not, then there again. "Sorry," he said when he saw our wide eyes, "Happens sometimes when the line gets weak."

The ground shook again and Ronan sat up smirking. "They're coming."

"They're?" Jesper asked.

"Christ Ronan," Adam said. "You can't do what you're supposed to, can you?"

"The night terror was there anyway. Besides, Cabeswater said it was strong enough." Ronan defended.

The trees rustled and an enormous bird flew down. It had giant claws, two beaks, three eyes, and was blood red, but not like new blood, like dried blood.

"That's a new style." Adam said as the bird creature nudged him with its beak; a very peculiar behavior for something they called a 'night terror' in my opinion.

Ronan got up and patted the creature on the wing. "I was inspired."

"Is that Nessie?" Jesper asked, eyeing the creator cautiously.

"Nope," Ronan said. The earth gave another shake and a hissing sound came from the trees to our right. "There's Nessie."

A long blue snake slithered out of the trees. It was so big around that it would take both mine and Jesper's arms to wrap around it. It had jet black eyes, a black tongue, and big fangs.

"How long is that?" Nina asked.

"Good question," Ronan said.

Nina narrowed her eyebrows at Ronan. "You-? How-? Never mind."

"How is the snake going to help with the ships?" Kaz asked, eyeing the two creatures with suppressed awe.

"It's aquatic," Ronan said. "So it can swim and wrap around skips, or at least it should."

"Should?" Inej asked.

"It did that kind of stuff in the dream, so it should do it in real life. But there's always the off chance I didn't do it right."

"Do what right?" I asked.

"Dream." Ronan said like it was obvious.

I looked back and forth between the raven and the snake. Dreams. That was all they were. But they were real at the same time.

And most importantly, they were going to help us protect Ketterdam.

~-~

We waited outside the forest for another half an hour or so while Adam and Ronan said their goodbyes.

Jesper had reached his maximum waiting point long ago and was losing patients rapidly. Suddenly he ran his hands through his hair and groaned. "I know they're just making out, why is it taking so long?"

"Really, Jesper?" Nina crossed her arms and popped her hip out. "You're going to ask that question."

Jesper crossed his arms. "I'm not that bad."

Nina, Inej, Kaz and I all raised our eyebrows at him.

"Are you sure about that?" Inej said.

Jesper looked at me. "Traitor."

"Hey," I defended, "I said it was true. I didn't say it was bad."

This made Jesper smirked and Nina groan. "I'm so done with you two. Out of all of us, you two are the worst. Even after Kaz and Inej and their weird looking, touching, buying boats thingy they have going on."

Jesper smiled at this, Inej looked at Kaz, and Kaz glared at Nina. But I was surprised to find the comment made me frown. Me and Jesper would have been angels compared to Nina and Matthias. Nina wouldn't even have been the one to complain about me and Jesper's affection, it would have been Matthias.

It still surprised me sometimes, that he was killed. I really expected us to all make it. I mean we'd done everything else: breaking into the Ice Court, stealing tanks, getting Inej back, breaking into my dad's mansion, faking the Council of the Tides, getting the Grisha out, etcetera; living didn't seem impossible. In fact, it seemed probable.

But it wasn't.

Out of all of us, Matthias was the one who went along the most grudgingly, he had to most noble motive, he had the most to go back to.

At that time, I was the one with the least.

I didn't have a family- not one that cared about me anyway- I didn't have a purpose. I couldn't even find good work to support myself.

I was wasting away in a tannery, then I was working for Kaz pretending like I was a good barrel slum who wasn't running away from their past.

Matthias had a family, a country, Nina, a purpose.

He had something to go home to.

But he didn't get to go home.

In the forest, it started to snow.

"What the fuck?" Jesper said catching it in his cupped hand as it fell. "It doesn't know in Ketterdam."

Nina stretched out her hand and some snow landed on it. She smiled at it sadly.

Ronan appeared from the depth of the forest. "Which one of you fuckers thought of snow?"

"What do you mean?" Inej asked.

"The forest plays off your desires and feelings." Ronan explained. "If you want it to snow, it will."

"I didn't think of snow," Jesper said, the skin on his arms prickling from could.

"Me neither." Nina said, still looking at the snow in wonder.

"I didn't think of snow," I said, then looked down at my shoes. "But I did think of Matthias."

I could feel Nina looking at me and I felt ashamed. I had no right reminding her of the loss of the love of her life.

I flinched as arms wrapped around me. I looked up to find Nina hugging me. "It's okay." She whispered. "I miss him too."

I wrapped my hands around her too.

This one chapter got sad all the sudden...whoops. Super behind on drafting my chapters but whatever. Till next week. -RW