Feathers and Souls
On faded wings the color of death, it came.
Never sated.
Never satisfied by sacrifices of the past.
An omen of pure darkness. A mirage… until it wasn’t.
Ever present, and relentless in its constant pursuit.
That Raven. The one with a single silver tipped feather at its wing. A beast of pure blackness with an intent three shades darker.
Legend said if you were chosen, there was nothing next. You ceased to exist. Disappeared. But Raul knew the true horror behind it all. Of everything he dared never speak.
And right now, he was frozen to the very spot. Two beady black eyes and a sharp knowing gaze from between worlds had him pinned. The very depths of what was to come in the next three seconds the only future he would likely ever see.
He let the rocking chair creak forward, worn deck planks groaning in protest as if they could sense the terror swimming through his veins.
“Caw,” the Raven said, corners of its mouth just behind the beak curling upward.
Raul narrowed his eyes. “Don’t toy with me devil bird. I know who you are.”
“Then you know what comes next Raul,” a voice said, slipping through his thoughts.
His fingers dug into the arm of the rocker until the tips grew white. The smooth walnut finish passed down through five generations no help to him now.
The Raven lowered his head. “Do run… it’s been far too long since I’ve had a proper chase…”
A humid breeze caressed the back of Raul’s neck halting the drop about to dampen his collar. He let his gaze drift upward, over the shadow perched on the steps of the deck into the thick wooded tree line. There had to be something, anything to break what was about to happen. He pulled at the neck of his faded red and yellow flannel, tilting his head to the side for more air. “Time. I need more time.”
“You’ve had two decades…”
“I’ve barely scratched the surface of what’s here.”
“And yet I tire of waiting for you to fulfill your duty.” Feathers ruffled from beak to tail and the bird took two steps forward. Long pointed nails scraping across the smooth cherry finished wood. “Or have you forgotten the bargain you made for your wife’s soul?”
Raul rubbed a calloused hand over the three-day stubble of his face and leaned elbows out over quaking knees. “You know I haven’t.”
“Be that as it may… If I leave, a soul must depart with me. No exceptions, even for you.”
“No,” Raul yelled, leaping to his feet.
The back of the rocker slammed into the wood shake siding of the house.
“You can’t. I’ve done everything you asked. More.”
“The price for your freedom is another’s soul. There is no difference this time… You know that. Each delay you insist upon comes at cost. Another will take your place. That is… the only way.”
“Please. They’re all I have.”
“Choose, or I will not hesitate to select for you.” The raven narrowed hardened eyes.
Raul clenched his jaw so tightly one of his fillings popped.
The raven fluttered onto the rough wooden railing. “Who will it be Raul… Clock is ticking.” He scraped his beak against the timber, sharpening each side. “Leila? With skin of fine porcelain and twice the gullibility of her beauty.” Three more scrapes. “Bethany? Who has the fire of her mother but none of the willpower.” He stretched his wingspan to full breadth. “Or maybe,” he dropped his voice to a low whisper. “You will finally part with Sonya… Her sleek dark locks just as black as my heart. Temperament ripe for…”
“Stop.” Raul let out a steady stream of air through tight lips.
The Raven slowly folded his wings back in place, tilting his beak to the side.
Raul lowered his pointer finger toward the bird. “If I give you a name you leave this time for three decades. I don’t want to see you any sooner.”
“You delay and then dare make demands of me?” He lowered his head and stilled.
The Adams apple in Raul’s throat pitched up and down, but he steadied his voice before opening his mouth again. “You ask too much of me.”
“I never ask. And in five seconds, without a name your wife will know why that is firsthand.”
Raul let his head fall to his chest. When he finally spoke, the words that came out were almost nonexistent. “If you leave us for three decades… Sonya will go with…”
“Agreed,” the Raven said before Raul could even finish the sentence. “You would do well to remember why I still allow you to be… When I return. If you haven’t succeeded. I will take all of you. Damn the consequences.”
And as dark wings took to the skies toward the back of the house for claim of payment, Raul fell to his knees. Head buried in sullied hands, he choked out his next words. “Forgive me dear daughter. Oh God, please forgive me… You are the strongest among us. The only one who stands a chance in this Hell of finding a way out for all of us.”
*****
When Sonya woke, a sound that could only be described as a gritty whetstone sliding against the edge of a blade sharpened her eyes to the size of a single grain of sand.
Hundreds of small black birds, crows when she looked more closely, perched above her under a brightly lit dome. Their cold dead eyes staring down at her.
“Ah. You’ve awakened. Good,” a voice said from the other room. Remnants of the long burned out fire in the hearth offered more warmth than his tone. “Come.”
Sonya pushed up from the twin bed and slid away from the wall, pulling the gray wool knit shawl tighter over her shoulders. Where am I? She thought blowing air into the palms of cupped hands.
“The Ageless Expanse.” The words drifted into her consciousness just as gravely as the words he spoke aloud.
“Did you just…?”
“I will do it again if you continue to be difficult,” the voice said punctuated by the slide of stone once again over steel.
“Not even my thoughts are safe from you?” She let her words drift across the room in no more than a whisper.
“Everything about you belongs to me little Sparrow.”
Any hope Sonya still harbored crumpled like seeds left too long in the sun. She lowered a toe to the floor, but pulled back suddenly at the frigid greeting. “Is there no warmth to this castle?” She forced her foot flat against the stone, clenching her teeth against the chill.
“I wasn’t expecting your kind of guest,” he said pausing as she huddled against the frame of the door.
“Is that an apology?”
“Absolutely not.”
She took one step closer taking in the sight ahead.
The monster, seated on the edge of an obsidian dais flanked by dual ornately carved gargoyles, had taken on the appearance of a man. Jet black hair silvering at the temples settled to his collar, his hands, size worthy of a beast stopped mid run down the blade, and his eyes flitted to hers.
She inhaled sharply between her teeth at the spectacle of them.
The color of burning hot coal, what she imagined the fires of Hell would have looked like, had she ever seen them. With a sharpness behind his gaze as if nothing escaped him.
He cocked his head to the side, a piece of hair more resembling a feather floated across the mask obscuring the top half of his face.
“Is that for me?” She asked pointing toward the scimitar in his hand.
The murder of crows cawed from above.
She dared a glance upward at them, her breathing beginning to mirror the thrashing of their wings.
“Is that what you want?”
Sonya stumbled backward as the words tumbled from lips beside her ear. “Want from…” She bit the inside of her cheek, trying to call moisture back to her mouth. “Weren’t you just…” Her pointer finger lingered on the stage before falling to her side. “What are you?”
“In time Little Sparrow,” he said dropping the blade to the floor. “For now… you will learn to trust.”
“Trust?” She asked, anger finding her tone. “After what you did to bring me here? To my family. You expect trust?”
“And I will have it.”
“Trust is earned, not taken.” She folded her arms over her chest. “What am I to do here then? While you…”
He inclined his head. “Entertain me.”
“No.”
“I could make you.”
“Cowering is not in my nature. And I warn you. Force is not likely to create any semblance of confidence…”
“You warn me?” His eyes shimmered with something she could have sworn was a smile. He took a step toward her.
Her spine stiffened, but she stood her ground inclining her head.
The smell of metal oil floated through the air as he moved close enough to touch her.
“Tell me,” he said narrowing those sharp eyes. “Where is your soul weakest?”
She tilted her chin up, meeting his stare, every bit of a challenge behind her next words. “Why don’t you tell me. Raven.”
“Done.” He snapped his fingers.
And the last thing she saw before everything fell away was the corners of his lips curling upward into a smile straight out of her nightmares.
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