by Shelly Pratt
She wondered if ravens displayed mimicking behaviours. Not that she would dream of asking him, he would probably die of embarrassment if she’d brought it up. She put her mug back down on the tray and he did the same.
“Can I ask you something?” she said.
“Yes,” he said.
“Why a raven? What was it about this animal that made my grandmother choose this as an alternate vessel for their souls?” she asked.
“I think it’s important to remember that your grandmother’s spell didn’t eventuate the way she had intended, but with that in mind, the raven was very much a symbolism of the words spoken as she uttered her spell of witchcraft to the damned. The words spoke of evil flying away, so the world could be rid of their souls. In uttering these words, the spell found a way of working its magic to suit the nature of the beast whilst still adapting a literal context to the words. Hence a raven was born. A creature that could fly, black as night – a symbolism of their dark nature and most importantly, the correlation between the bird and its depiction throughout our cultural history,” he said.
“You mean the negativity that surrounds the bird?” she asked.
“Yes of course. Throughout history people have always thought of ravens as the bearers of ill omen and death, in part because of the negative symbolism that their all back plumage brings. Throughout Europe they have been known to represent the ghosts of murdered people or souls of the damned. Your grandmother’s spell was actually an adaptation in itself, and the flaw of the spell itself was that everything these people were in their human forms translated to an animal known throughout our cultural history to possess the same traits. I’m not saying the raven actually has these traits – it is just the way the spell was interpreted as the curse set in. Culturally a raven had been known to perform great malicious acts and lead people astray, which of course draws a very significant parallel between the two. The flaw was that the spell also represented another cultural depiction, which was that the raven possesses super human strength and powers. I guess in hindsight it would seem like a poor choice of animal with the already dark negativity that surrounded such a bird.”
“She was too weak, my grandmother I mean, to carry out the spell,” she said to herself, “that’s why there were so many flaws with it”.
He nodded now, like he already understood the predicament of the whole mess and why it was flawed. Aiyana realised now with the pitch black sky outside that more time must have passed than she thought and didn’t realise that they had been talking for quite so long. She sensed he was done talking for the time being, but didn’t want him to leave just yet. He too seemed to linger, making no move whatsoever to leave her.
“Can I show you something?” he asked, taking her hand as he did so. She gathered the question was offered purely out of courtesy, although he had to have known that she would have said yes anyway.
She let him pull her up off the settee and walked with her hand in his to the glass doors that opened up on to the balcony.
They went outside, and even though she followed obediently, they both were remiss to let go of each other’s hand. He stopped and closed his eyes – inhaling the night air deeply as he did so – drinking in all the scents that blew across the wind towards him. His ears also strained to absorb the sounds around him and he seemed satisfied that all was well within their proximity for the time being.
He opened his eyes now and looked at her with such a look of wanting that she was sure her heart missed a beat. He pulled her long dark tresses out of the tie that had secured her hair off her face and he shook it loosely down her back. He stroked down her back and pulled her closer to him. That smell about him, so woody and earthy, it made her almost lose her senses as she tried to figure out what he was going to do next. He bent his head towards her and kissed her lips so softly. If she had any manners she probably would have tried not to make the groan that escaped her lips so audible.
Her eyes still closed from the kiss, she felt rather than saw him smile at such a reaction. He moved the kisses along her jaw line and trailed them down her throat. She was shocked when he nipped at her neck, softly biting the skin.
It didn’t hurt her at all, but it instantly put an image in her mind of a bird grooming another. She giggled inwardly at the thought, just as a strange sound reverberated from his throat. It was almost as if he was cooing and she could sense the happiness the emanated from him. Now she really did giggle out loud. She really didn’t mean to, but he was tickling her neck so!
“You’re laughing at me,” he said into her neck as he nipped her again.
“I swear I’m not, you just tickled me so,” she promised. He moved his lips to her ear and said in a rich warm voice, “Do you trust me?”
“Yes,” she said without hesitation.
He morphed so quickly she had to catch her breath as he launched himself into the air with her held tightly between his claws. It felt like she had just free fallen about twenty metres – her stomach doing all manner of flip flops.
“A little warning would have been nice,” she scolded. The raven that he now was seemed to delight in her tone and he cackled his now familiar call in to the night sky. He flew with her now, at great speeds between the city’s buildings towards the ocean and then followed the coast line north towards the edge of what was once known as Surfers Paradise. Tonight the weather was actually behaving itself, and whilst there were still clouds, the hung high in the sky so she could actually see all the lights in buildings as they glowed brightly.
She had never thought of her city as being pretty before tonight but now she had a whole new perspective of it and she knew she had Eilam to thank for that. It made her wonder if he had taken her to see the beautiful side of the city in hopes she would change her mind about breaking the spell. Perhaps hoping to make her realise how much better their civilisation would be without the ravens. If that was the case though, there was one large problem - she knew that she wouldn’t be better off without him.
She tried not to think about the curse right now and just enjoy the moment she was sharing with him. The wind blew bitterly against her cheeks so that they stung, but she didn’t care at all. Nothing could ruin this moment she thought, right before it started to rain. Well there was that. Cursing, she felt Eilam’s wings shift which made them dip down lower towards the ocean and complete a half circle so they were heading back in the direction they had come from – back towards her home.
She was disappointed her scenic tour over the city seemed to be coming to an end, but relieved she could soon get some dry clothes on as her teeth started to chatter from her rain soaked garments. The rain just ran straight off the back of Eilam’s feathers and didn’t seem to bother him at all and she knew he was only going back for her.
With a last glance over the ocean, they headed inland towards her building. As it loomed ahead, Eilam flapped his wings hard to gain the altitude needed to make it to the top floor where he dropped her lightly on her feet on the balcony. As she turned around to face him he morphed back into his human form and came as close as he could to her body.
He bent his head and touched his forehead to hers then, gently stroking his thumb down the side of her face.
“Is this what it feels like to fall in love?” he asked her.
“I don’t know,” she murmured, “I’ve never been in love before, but it sure feels like it”.
Chapter Six
Aiyana was trying to busy herself with some of the designs she was corroborating on for a German Entrepreneur who was paying her a handsome sum to come up with some original ideas for his business venture. The only problem was she couldn’t keep her mind on the job.
There was something bugging her, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. It was kind of like when you’re talking to someone and you completely forget what you were going to say, and it’s only once the person has left that you fully remember what it was. It niggled at her to the point she felt like screaming and she didn’t know why she
felt this way after such a great evening with Eilam.
Flying with him was magical, wonderful – like nothing else on this earth. She had felt free and happy – for once in her life, completely content. So what was it? She tried to run her mind over every single snippet of conversation they had had together so she could see if that would trigger a memory or a feeling.
Their conversation was running like an old movie projector in her mind, and as she got closer to putting her finger on just what was bugging her so, she started to get a real feeling of unease. Like a curtain suddenly lifted, it dawned on her.
Cybele – there just wasn’t something right there. In the back of her subconscious her brain hadn’t just accepted Eilam’s explanation of the events that surround their meeting - probably based on what her sister had told her earlier and she had unknowingly held on to this fact which was resurfacing now in the form of doubt.
She was going to have to pay her sister another visit. This time she wasn’t going to wait around all night for her, she would just rock up after her shift had finished.
****
There was a little coffee shop that was open twenty four seven across the road from the bar where her sister worked. Aiyana sat in a small booth, steaming hot coffee in hand as she watched the front door of the bar. It wouldn’t be too much longer now until her sister’s shift finished and then she could ask her what she needed in order to get some peace of mind.
The bell above the entry door to the coffee shop chimed and three young males walked in. They would have been around her age, maybe slightly older and all wore the same style of clothes that was fashionable with young males these days. It certainly didn’t allow for any form of individuality and Aiyana quite often thought it was kind of like dressing Barbie dolls – all being made to look identical to each other. The fact they were all dark haired and of similar height only accentuated the conforming styles of clothing that society was putting on their shelves and selling to the public.
They approached the counter and placed their order and waited quietly whilst it was being made. Aiyana only paid them the slightest bit of interest, for she was a woman on a mission and she only had eyes for the pub door across the street. She checked her watch – eleven forty three pm. As she drained the last dregs of her coffee, she saw the door swing open and her sister step out. Show time.
She left her booth and headed for the other side of the street, not realising that the three young men were paying her slightly more attention than what she had given them. They watched her cross the road and fall into step behind her blonde haired sister. Such a contrast between the two, but finally they had found the right daughter. They left their coffees untouched and headed out of the café so they could follow her.
The night sky was exceptionally cool tonight. For once, the clouds had completely disappeared, and in doing so removed the blanket that normally kept a layer of warmth lingering over the street’s surface. The three men weren’t cold; however they could see the breath of the women in front coming out in a foggy mist as they walked along. They were careful not to follow too close; their orders were only to gather information at this point. When Aiyana called out to Cybele the men stopped in their tracks and swiftly moved into a concealed doorway of the closest apartment building. They tuned their ears into what was being said between the two sisters.
“What on earth do you want now, Aiyana?” complained Cybele.
“I want to know what happened with Eilam, and I’m not leaving you alone until you tell me,” she said. Cybele’s sigh could be heard quite audibly by the men and they were most intrigued to hear more about Eilam.
“What did he say to you?” asked Cybele.
“Just that he was looking to break the curse, not for himself, but so that the power can be taken back from the dangerous ravens,” said Aiyana.
“So let me ask you this, Aiyana. How did he know that you were the one who could help him?” she asked, her rapid fire question coming out with a quick burst of steam from her mouth.
She thought about it for a minute. “Well he first heard about a rumour about a descended daughter with the same witch bloodline who could break the spell cast by the original witch,” she answered.
“Right; and how was he to know that this person was you?” she said, waiting for her to connect the dots in her head.
“He didn’t,” she said finally.
“Bingo! Feel used much? Cause I sure as hell did,” she snapped angrily.
“What happened?” Aiyana asked.
“Let me guess. You went to see the niece, right? Harmony?” he sister said, eyebrows raised, mocking her as though she knew all the answers but was enjoying her being in the dark all too much.
“You mean her ghost, don’t you?” Aiyana said as she rolled her eyes.
“Whatever. The message would have been the same,” she smirked.
“Yes, I did,” she replied.
“So, you know how to break the curse?” her sister said.
“Yes, I have to kill him,” she said.
“So do it, you’ll be doing the world a favour anyway. Piece of advice for you, Sis, don’t be lulled into a false sense of reality with him – did you ever consider he’s just putting his charms on you so you won’t break the spell? Anyway, why don’t you just ask Eilam seems you two are so close, I’m done here,” she said and then turned on her heel and headed off into the bowls of the dark city before Aiyana could ask her any more.
She stood abandoned on the street corner, left to muse over what her sister had said. If Eilam didn’t know which sister had the ability to help him then it would seem he befriended the wrong one first; which led her to believe that perhaps not everything about her relationship with him was what it seemed.
Would he stoop that low though? Was it possible that he was pretending to be in love with her just to get what he wanted from her? For the first time in her life, she suddenly felt betrayed and humiliated. She felt like she’d been used and she had fallen hook line and sinker for his charms.
It was probably no accident she had seen him all those months ago. He had wanted her to see him because she had something he wanted! He was using her! And who knew what would happen if she killed him in his raven form, perhaps he would still remain, but as a human only, so perhaps it was worth it for him. Aiyana had expected to come away from this confrontation knowing all the answers to everything, but now she found she had more questions and doubts than ever before.
Her thoughts suddenly went into overdrive and she knew she had to confront him before it drove her mad. She turned on her heel and headed back in the direction she had come to where her motorbike was parked and waiting for her.
In her haste to leave, she completely missed the three dark haired strangers hiding in the shadows of the nearby building.
****
All birds possess a gracefulness – the way they can manipulate the elements so that their flight seems almost effortless. This was the way the three men travelled back towards the mountains. Gone were their human forms, instead replaced by ravens who dominated the sky by flowing on the strong north-easterly breeze that had blown in from the ocean. Occasionally when this breeze faltered they would give their wings a flap upwards, and each time their black feathers would conceal the moon from the world below. It was about to rain any minute, but this bothered them none, for the oil on their feathers would make the rain drops run right off their backs. Besides, they weren’t about to shelter now, being so close to the nest.
No, Einar would wish for them to return the minute they had news of the witch’s descendent. He was their leader, and was named for such. Einar itself means ‘one warrior, battle leader’ and he must be obeyed above all else, for he was the first to be turned by the curse.
For Einar, though, it wasn’t a curse. His life before becoming a raven was one of poverty and crime, but he wasn’t the sort of individual who wished for a better life or wanted out of the incessant roundabout that was prison life and living on th
e streets. Instead he relished his role in society, loving nothing more than being the tormenter of people and just taking what he wanted without having ever given a second thought about it.
The night the curse had taken hold of him he had been sleeping in an alleyway out the back of the ritziest hotel on the coast. This night on a late winter’s day was cold and miserable and black clouds had hung about so low to the ground that a fog moved mysteriously through the streets. It was this fog that seemed to creep up his body from his toes all the way up and over his head, and in doing so brought the curse of the raven.
At first Einar didn’t know what was happening to him and had initially thought that he had taken far too many of the prescription pain killers he had in his pocket. He awoke in the alleyway, a hot sweat ensuing him. He felt euphoric though, kind of like when you’ve had way too much pseudoephedrine and your body reacts accordingly. He stood up in an instant and tried to control his breathing, feeling like if he didn’t go for a really big run right now then his heart would explode. He almost started to panic as the adrenalin coursed through his blood and he let out a scream that sounded like a bird calling out in anger.