Page 11 of A Siren of Beasts

This had the raven sitting up as tall as he could on his delicate little legs. His shiny black eyes fixed on me as if surprised I would speak to him. Why I was so confident that this bird was male I didn’t have a clue, but it was something I knew in my gut.

“I’m new here, got shipwrecked and somehow ended up here, in Drento, at a village. For some reason they got one good look at my eyes and called me a monster,” I shared with a sigh, shaking my head at the fact I was talking to this bird like he could understand me. “In the accident I got hurt pretty bad, so I’m not sure I can travel too much further. Any chance you know of a place I can hide out for the night?”

With another flick of his wings and a good scratch of his beak against the rock, he took off aiming right for me. I ducked but he circled and landed on a branch above me, shaking his tail feathers letting out another caw. He took off again circling my head then darted deeper into the forest, only to perch and look back at me flapping his wings with a more insistent call.

“What the hell,” I muttered. “Not like I’ve got any other options at this point, might as well follow the thing.”

Getting to my feet I trailed after the bird. He was a good little guide never flying too far ahead, making sure I could see him even as the woods got darker. When mist started to curl around my ankles I paused and looked around, finding the stuff covered the ground everywhere I looked. Peering over my shoulder, I saw a clear line where the mist wouldn’t cross, as if some invisible wall was there.

“Where are you taking me, hmm?” I called to the raven.

His response was to make a sound that eerily sounded like a laugh as he flew back to me and circled my head, continuing to laugh. When he decided to keep leading me on, he grabbed my cloak with a foot and tugged before releasing me. Now I was absolutely convinced this raven was taking me somewhere but was it going to be somewhere safe?

Never had I been so thankful for being able to see in the dark as well as I could. The forest was now shrouded in perpetual dusk with flickering light when a strong wind rustled the trees. Instead of feeling fearful I got the oddest feeling of familiarity, as if I’d been here before but couldn’t remember it. Pausing once, I thought I saw something darting through the mist but when I fixed my gaze on the spot it was gone. Taking a moment to scan my surroundings, I got the feeling that something was watching me, but the world around me was silent—too silent.

My guide let out a sharp caw drawing my attention back to him. I smirked and walked up to where he was perched, his feathers all fluffed. “I’m sorry, are you offended that I’m not paying attention to you?” I asked, and without a second thought reached out to brush a finger down his chest.

Bending his head, he nibbled at my finger gently and let out a little warble as if pleased I was petting him. Seems I’d been right, he clearly didn’t like being ignored. “I have to be careful in woods like this. You never know what dangers might be lurking out there. While you are a wonderful guide, I’m not sure how much help you’d be if I got attacked by a bear, wolf, or something worse.”

He squawked at this, batting my hand away as if I’d offended him. Turning his back to me, he shook out his feathers and started to clean the spot I’d been petting.

“Goodness, seems I’ve found myself a rather sensitive raven companion, haven’t I?” He seemed to glare at me over his shoulder then returned to his work.

I chuckled and covered my mouth as more laughter tumbled out. It was hilarious to me that I was standing here having a conversation with a raven, who I’d clearly put out at my opinion of him being unable to help if I was attacked. Without a doubt I believed he was taking me somewhere, but I wasn’t sure what I would find when I got there. What I did know was if I wanted to get to our destination sooner rather than later I needed to soothe my feathered friend’s feelings.

“It was wrong of me to assume you wouldn’t be of any help if I was attacked. You have proven to be highly intelligent so I’m sure you would find some way to use those skills to come to my aid,” I offered.

He paused in his cleaning to look at me with a speculative gaze. Turning to face me once more he gave a little sneeze and scratched his nose with his foot. With a flick of his wings, he settled in that spot as if waiting for me to say something else. “Will you please continue to show me the way to a place where I can rest for the night?”

Opening his beak he yawned and shook out his feathers, before taking a flapping jump to my shoulder. I started and flinched, thinking he was going to attack me but when he just settled there and poked at my cheek I relaxed. “Does this mean I’m forgiven?”

He nuzzled his beak into my hair giving me little nibbles like he was preening me. “I’ll take that as a yes. Should I keep going straight ahead?” I asked.

With an affirmative caw, I continued forward. My little friend became quite deft at getting me to go in whatever direction he wanted me to with pokes, tugs, and caws. Just when I was convinced he was leading me nowhere, and had been leading me on a wild goose chase, I spotted something in the shadows. Backed up against a natural ridge of stone was a home. It was abandoned with moss and vines growing up the sides which helped it to blend into the forest.

“Would you look at that,” I commented with a huff of laughter. “You really pulled through, didn’t you?”

With a raucous caw, he launched off my shoulder and flew through the open space on the second floor that used to be a window. The home was made of stone and was in a style I’d never seen before. It had pillars holding up the second level that extended further than the first creating an overhang. As I got closer, I saw the first level extended out to the right further providing lots of shelter. Carefully, I made it up the steps worried they might crumble, but for how old the home looked everything was holding up well.

Entering the space, I paused to gasp. Trinkets of all shapes, sizes, and value were littered everywhere. Some even hung from the rafters and tinkled together as the soft breeze entered through the windows. It would seem that my raven friend had brought me back to his home, or nest I suppose. Although it seemed like someone had to have used this place before him because there was furniture in the common room set up near the massive fireplace. Walking over to it I ran a hand along the mantle that was at the same height my head was. The space was big enough for me to walk into it, stretch my arms out and my fingertips wouldn’t brush either side.

There was already some wood in the hearth but it was coated in dust, proving it hadn’t been used in quite some time. Every surface had baubles covering it as if he’d wanted to make sure everyone saw how skilled he was at finding things. Or rather, stealing them when people weren’t watching. There were gems, blades with handles that had opal or other iridescent stones in them, coins I’d never seen before, molten glass in various colors, shapes, and sizes to name a few of the things I found on the table.

Moving from the common room into the space that extended out there was a cooking area with a hearth, a washing area that even had a hand pump for water. Walking over to it, I checked to see if the handle worked and to my surprise it moved easily as if someone used it regularly. While the house was dusty it wasn’t as filthy as I would expect for being occupied by only a raven. After a few pumps, water came gushing out and I let out an excited whoop as I reached out a hand cupping the water. It ran clear and when I sniffed it there was nothing to indicate it was foul or came from a tainted source. Sipping a little of the water, it was just as delicious as the stream.

Splashing some of the chilled water on my face, it felt good after all the walking. Gulping down as much as my stomach would let me, I resumed my exploration of the house. Past the cooking area was what looked to be a library of sorts. Books in many languages I didn’t know how to read filled the shelves. This room looked well taken care of, the shelves dusted and the window closed with shutters protecting the space from the elements. In the center of the room was a stuffed armchair with a small table next to it. There was a book resting on it but looking at the cover I couldn’t read what it said.

My raven flew into the room and perched on the back of the chair, looking rather pleased with himself. Smiling, I reached out and let it glide down his back. “You did well, my friend, this place is rather amazing.”

His feathers puffed at the compliment and he let out a triumphant caw. When I turned to leave the room he flitted over and took up his place on my shoulder once more. Heading back to the common room I stopped at the bottom of the stairs and looked up. “You’d tell me if there was someone living here other than you, right?”

A cooing warble was his response as he nudged his silky feathered head against my neck. Reaching up, I stroked him and started up the stairs. There wasn’t a door to the room but a curtain of rich red fabric with gold threading stitching in a pattern of geometric shapes. It was heavy enough to keep out any draft from the open window in the room from affecting the rest of the house.

If I’d thought the common room was full of trinkets and shiny things, the bedroom was ten times worse. Piles of things were scattered around, making it difficult to walk. It made me think of the stories I’d read about dragons hoarding gold and priceless gems. In the center of the room was only what could be described as a human sized nest. Truthfully, you could probably fit two humans in it if they were curled up. It was made out of various fabrics, feathers, furry animal skins, and pillows.

“What is this place?” I whispered as I stepped further into the room.

Art sketches were tacked to the wall with various knives and other sharp objects. They were images of fearsome monsters with jagged teeth, claws, and some even had barbed tails. If the villagers wanted to call something a monster this is what I would have pictured, not me. I walked up to one that caught my eye. The creature had the skull of a raven with glowing red eyes, it wore a cloak of feathers that came up over its head, but I could see hands with long claws at the end of them. There were also feet with claws that were shaped more like a typical raven. There was a break in the cloak that showed a fairly humanesque body under it. Almost like the wings had transformed into the cloak which covered the body.