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“A war.”
TWENTY-SEVEN
RAVEN
Irun my fingers through the blades of grass beneath me as I stare up at the sky, hoping for the answers to come to me. A storm is coming. Awaris coming. Those were his words and they’ve been rattling around in my head ever since.
What is it Eldon said to me not long after I got here?
“In my vision, a war was coming, a war across realms, threatening all of existence. And the raven… she saved us all.”
I don’t like the startling resemblance one bit. Every day, I wake up free of the life I was living in Shadowmoor, yet the noose around my neck only seems to get tighter.
The clouds gently float across the sky, set on their destination, while I lie here, fumbling to understand which way is up. The mention of the word war has my gut twisting. I feel it in my bones, the truth behind those words, and I don’t understand why.
I’m sure the truth will happily come along and smack me in the face eventually. That’s how it’s been going recently, at least.
Fingertips ghost over mine as someone lies down beside me in the grass and I tilt my head to find Eldon getting comfortable on my left. He’s not looking at me, though, he's staring up at the sky with a sense of wonder that feels far more hopeful than my own.
Turning back to the blue background and smattering of white clouds that have now replaced the gray and gloomy weather we had earlier, I lace my fingers with his.
“What are you thinking about, Little Bird?” he asks after a while, and I smile at the nickname.
“Nothing. I’m pretending there is nothing crazy going on in my life right now and my life is as simple as this,” I explain, glancing at him out of the corner of my eye to see a smile tipping the corner of his mouth up.
“You deserve nothing less,” he breathes, warming my soul.
“Yet it’s an uphill battle like everything else,” I say with a sigh, dampening the moment with reality.
“It’s a good reminder that we’re living.” He lifts my hand to his mouth, peppering kisses over my knuckles as another deep sigh passes my lips.
“That’s true. I know I’m doing more than just surviving now, which is overwhelming sometimes, but the hurdles we’re facing aren’t getting any easier and I can’t help but question whether I’ve got the strength for it.” I don’t even know where that truth came from but the second it parts my lips, I know I mean it.
“I know, but if there’s anyone who can handle this life, it’s you. All of these trials are here to remind you how strong you are, Raven. That might sound shitty, but I promise I’ll be with you every step of the way.” His words don’t take away the uncertainty in my veins, I wouldn’t want them to anyway, but they don’t mask or downplay how I’m feeling either. They’re exactly what I need when I don’t even know what it is I’m searching for.
“Are we ready to trial some magic for my dove?” Zane asks, his shadow casting over us a moment later as he stands with his hands on his hips, a hint of concern in his eyes.
Eldon looks at me expectantly and I nod, still uncertain about it. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”
That’s all they need to take over my serene space from moments ago, helping me up to sit cross-legged in the grass, and they drop down with me to create a kind of circle between the five of us.
Zane is to my right, Eldon to my left, while Creed and Brax face me. The sun breaks through the clouds at that exact moment, a soft glow shimmering over us, and it warms my heart.
“Let’s start off small, shall we?” Creed offers, and I nod. “If I do some mundane magic, can you try to see if you can feel it in the air?”
I nod, not bothering with words. He goes through the motions of making a platter of cheese and crackers appear in between us all before I manage to let my hair out of my hair tie and twist it into a bun on top of my head. “What’s this black strand here?” Zane asks, making me frown for a second before I realize he’s pointing at my hair.
“Oh, I don’t know. I used my magic to refresh my hair color the other day but that strand just won’t change,” I reply with a shrug. He purses his lips in thought but eventually shrugs and focuses on the task at hand.
When the general magic doesn’t seem to connect or register with me, Eldon opts to shift to the bigger stuff. “My visions aren’t controllable, so I can’t bring one on, and my fire magic is a literal energy source you can feel from the heat, so I don’t think that will work any better. What about you guys?”
At the offer, Zane instantly goes invisible beside me and my breath lodges in my throat. It was phenomenal seeing him do it in the Gauntlet, but right beside me, and so casually, is something else entirely.
A shiver runs down my spine as I close my eyes, focusing on the purple orb inside of me and the energy in the air around us. “I feel like there’s a disturbance in the air,” I murmur, a sort of static-like feeling flickering against my nerve endings.
“Is that because Zane’s probably moved closer to you, though? I wouldn’t be shocked if he had,” Creed states, and a moment later, legs appear on either side of mine. He’s shuffled around to sit so I’m between his open legs.
“Fucker,” he grumbles at Creed, dramatically moving back into position with a huff, and I grin.
