My eyes snapped open just as shadows rippled across the sky. They streaked past me in swarms, and dark figures sliced through the air, blotting out the light.
Where I stood, darkness reigned.
Above me, the shrieks of ravens blended with the terrified cries of men. They came in clouds so thick and black that the sky itself seemed to rot. They circled in a grim, writhing mass. Together, they appeared the living embodiment of death. Fitting, really, for ravens did hold the reputation of being harbingers of death and messengers of sin.
But to me, they were beautiful.
There was no reason to tremble before these men anymore. Now, they were the ones cowering and weeping in fear. Amid their pleas for mercy and the unraveling of what little remained of their humanity, I felt a calm unlike anything I had ever known. A peace so pure it bordered on the divine.
My eyes drifted over the chaos, to the men being torn apart, stripped of skin and limb, and a dark joy bloomed in my chest. A fire burned within me, reveling in the ruin, feeding on the fear, sharpening my sense of self until I felt more alive than I ever had before.
And as each man fell, my strength only grew.
“Odessa…”
I turned at the sound of a gentle voice.
My eyes found a woman. Small, delicate, trembling. Fear and uncertainty painted her face, yet, my ravens had not touched her.
Expressionless, I tilted my head toward her. The onyx tears still streamed down my cheeks, soaking my cloak, pooling steadily at my feet. The more they fell, the more power roiled within me.
I took a step toward her and she recoiled instinctively. I paused, locking eyes with her once again.
“Odessa, is that you?” she said, her voice breaking.
Her words hung in the air, empty and distant. Still, there was something. A tether, a faint sense of comfort that stirred at the sight of her. She wasn’t a threat. No hostility came from her, only sadness, fear, and a thin thread of anger.
I stepped forward. She retreated, but I followed slowly until she stopped. Now we stood only a breath apart. My black, empty eyes searched her face. I saw her fear start to fade, replaced by something else, something she quickly masked.
I didn’t move, only watched her. Closely. Curiously.
She trembled beneath the weight of my stare, but didn’t turn away. Discomfort tightened her features as she stood her ground. When our eyes met, I felt nothing from the darkness. No pull, no hunger. It had passed her by, uninterested.
Its attention was elsewhere. On them. On the men.
Soon, the pull returned. It was faint at first, then turned relentless. The darkness called to me, its voice low and familiar, like a mother’s whisper. I followed without hesitation, offering myself to it once more. Then it swallowed me whole, greedily.
It moved. I followed. Nothing more.
My eyes drifted from the woman’s face as I turned to the destruction around me. The sky writhed with ravens, countless wings slicing through the air. In waves, they moved as I willed. When I told them to spare nothing, my faithful familiars obeyed.
It was then when I saw it.
A creature. Its eyes tracked me as I approached. There was no fear inthem, only patience, as if it had been waiting. I offered my hand, and slowly, it kneeled.
I brushed my hands over its hide, leaving dark smudges on its fur. It didn’t move, like a shadow waiting to be claimed. I climbed up carefully, settling onto its back. Once mounted, I straightened and looked out over the wreckage. I sat like a dark anchor in a sea of ruin.
There was nothing left for me here.
I urged the creature forward, heading toward the open plains beyond. The darkness within pulled me in that direction. It longed for something, for somewhere, and I couldn’t fight the draw. It was all that mattered now.
We lunged forward, cutting through the battlefield, the ravens rising in our wake, chasing the call of the darkness ahead.
33
We rode day and night,through storms and sunlight alike, the ground shaking with the drum of massive limbs. Nothing mattered but reaching the place where the darkness called. Time slipped away and it was impossible to measure. The world had blurred, shades of black and white smearing the line between night and day.
Still, we pressed on.
