Page 12 of A Siren of Beasts

It sent a shiver down my spine, but I wasn’t afraid. More like an echo of a memory that I couldn’t grasp hold of, which left me more confused than anything. Reaching out I pressed my hand to the picture and closed my eyes, hoping I might be able to catch that feeling again but it was gone. Letting out a sigh, I found my raven was now on my wrist watching me with interest.

“Do you know who drew all these?” I asked.

He bobbed his head in answer, making me blink. It was the first time he’d just answered my question outright making it blatantly clear he knew what I was saying.

“Does that person live here?” I tried again.

Another head bob as he made his way back up my arm to my shoulder.

“Well, I hope I get to meet that person at some point, I feel like they will be able to give me answers. Problem is, I’m not sure I even know what questions to ask,” I grumbled.

My stomach at that moment let out a rumble breaking the sullen mood I’d fallen into. My raven squawked and launched off my shoulder and out the window. Seemed my hunger unsettled him. Heading back down to the cooking area, I looked through the cabinets and found a pot and other cooking items I would need. Not having to cook or provide for myself in ten years I knew I was at a disadvantage, but I should be able to come up with something.

Just to be sure I lifted the hatch where the root cellar would be but all I found were roots. This hadn’t been used in an incredibly long time. With a sigh, I shut the root cellar, grabbed a knife, and headed out the front door. There had to be something around here that I could work with. Although my cooking skills might not be the best, growing up I was always sent to do the shopping. I knew what ingredients to work with, and since a whore house in the slums didn’t make all that much money, I foraged a fair amount.

The forest was dense and hardly any sunshine filtered through. Add in the fog and it made it more challenging to search the ground. Well, I suppose it would be for most people, but my ability to see far better in the dark helped immensely. I spotted an acorn on the ground and looked around for the tree that it fell from. The telltale leaves of the tree I was looking for were turning color with the season. Making a pocket to hold the nuts in my dress I gathered a ton of them, knowing once I boiled and roasted them they would keep for a while. As I collected, I noticed a plant that had a root bulb that was tasty to eat and dug it free with the knife.

Taking the spoils of my hunt back to the house, I washed everything and set the nuts to boil. If they weren’t soaked overnight, or boiled, the toxin in them could make you incredibly sick. Grabbing the basket I’d taken from the village, I set the pieces of wood in the stove and even found flint stones at the bottom. Stepping back outside, I grabbed tinder then packed it around the logs and began the process of getting the fire started. Double checking to make sure the chimney wasn’t blocked, I struck the stones causing sparks to fly. It took a few tries but I had an ember that started to glow and grew brighter as I breathed life into it.

Soon enough, the fire was going and I stepped back grinning at my success. The overwhelming feeling of pride knowing I could still look after myself was everything. Up until I was fifteen, I’d done all the chores around the whore house. Washing all the laundry, starting the fires, cleaning, scrubbing floors, and helping to prep the food since we couldn’t risk me burning it. Personally, I felt the mistress of the house didn’t give me clear enough instructions. We were going to find out soon enough if all my book knowledge did me any good.

With the nuts on the cooktop, I chopped the root bulb, which made tears spring to my eyes. Sniffling, I kept wiping them with the back of my sleeve. While the nuts and root were a good start I needed something else to put with it all. Checking the fire, it had died down into a moderate blaze situated deep in the stone alcove. Not much in this house was wood so I felt I could risk letting that boil as I went outside.

This time I looked up hoping to find a nest, not that it was hatching season but you never knew. Drento was a whole different country and there could be many things that were different. As I walked I heard the sound of a river and grinned.

Maybe there were fish in the river.

Breaking through the bushes that blocked my access to the water, I found a large river with quick flowing water. It was wide enough that if I needed to cross it I’d have to swim. Since I didn’t know how to really do that, I’d have to find a spot where it was shallower. Stepping up to the water’s edge it was clear enough even in the dim light to see plants swaying in the current and fish that were facing upstream fighting against the current. Glancing at the knife in my hands I wondered if I would be fast enough to use it like I had the fishing spear. The spear had a rope tied to it that helped pull it back, this knife did not. Standing, I tied my dress up above my knees and entered the water up to my calves. The fish scattered at my entrance but I waited, hoping they would return when the perceived threat was gone.

After a few minutes they were back, putting up a fight against the water that was trying to shove them back down the way they’d come. Something about this spot had them stuck though and no matter how hard they swam they didn’t get far. Tensing up my body I darted as fast as I could, plunging the knife into the water spearing one of the fish on my blade. Scooping upward so the fish couldn’t wriggle off I backed up to the shore.

“How about that for a first try?” I yelled triumphantly.

Turning I froze, all the joy I’d been feeling vanished at the sight of five creatures that had boxed me in against the river. They were small, only coming up to my knees, their skin was leathery and seemed to glisten like it was wet. Bat-like wings were on their backs with sharp talons on the tips that matched the talons on their hands and feet. Their eyes were huge and glowed with a reddish tint as they snarled at me, flashing their needle-like teeth.

One’s long thin tongue flicked out as if it was licking its lips. Glancing down at the fish, I flung it off the blade in their direction. One of the creatures darted forward snatching the fish out of the air, blocking the others with its wings as it tore into the fish. Shrieks of outrage came from the other two as they tried to steal the fish, just as the other was creating a tussle. The sounds that came out of their mouths made my ears hurt with how high pitched it was.

When I made to move away, it pulled their attention from the fish with a snarl. Taking a step back out of reflex when one snapped its wings open and lunged at me, my foot slipped on a rock in the water sending me sprawling. The water was a soft landing thankfully, but the bigger problem came as I was swept down river.

Fuck, I was really beginning to fucking hate water.

seven

My new Shiny was hungry.

Shiny couldn’t be hungry—that was bad.

Shiny needed food so I could keep her in my nest forever.

Normally, I never ventured out of the Hollowed Forest, the sun was too bright for me. But when I’d felt something powerful coming close I couldn’t resist seeing what it could be. As I searched for it, I found Shiny limping her way through the forest. She hummed with power and her scent was sweeter than any soul I’d ever stolen in my existence. It called to me, sang in my mind, clearing some of the madness that had been trying to seep in over the years.

I’d been so careful to only eat souls from humans, even if they weren’t as fulfilling as the monsters I normally fed from. Eating a soul from a monster sick with madness would only make it happen faster to me. I was strong in magic and mind, which kept the madness from taking hold of me. Then one day I’d lost my ability to shift out of my bird form, leaving me at a severe disadvantage. Adapting was the only option but the more time I spent with Shiny, the more I felt I might be able to regain my true form—well, one of them.

She’d seen it pinned to the wall in my nest room. The image woke something in her, making her power pulse, shocking me with a jolt that even now had my thoughts coming back. It had gotten so bad I hadn’t realized I was thinking more like a true raven than what I really was. Being stuck in this form had started to become my normal, causing me to lose my ability to speak, shift, and use my magic.

With every touch or stroke of her skin against my body it recharged my powers and threw off the hold of the madness. This was why Shiny must stay with me. She was mine, I found her, and I was going to keep her with me always. Once I could access more of my magic, I could connect with her and speak into her mind as I waited to gain back my true form that I missed. Then I’d tie her soul to me so she’d never escape and all the other monsters crawling through the forest would know better than to mess with her.

I’d show her I’d be a good mate and protect her. Todesrabe were among some of the most feared monsters of this land, or they had been before the madness happened. All those who were weaker succumbed to the madness without being able to put up a fight. Now all those left with memories of the past started to lose themselves like I did. None of us really remembered when the madness started or how, we were still reeling from the devastation of losing our queen. Where there was once a perfect ecosystem of monsters with coherent thoughts and actions, it had crumbled into mindless beasts that craved the taste of flesh. A hunger that never seemed to end no matter how much you ate.