Call of the Raven

by Shawn Reilly

  “Then you believe it’s true, there is an uprising I mean?”

  “There are ten known groups. They either oppose me or the laws in general. A few of them do represent a threat, but at the moment it appears I only need to worry about one group in particular and they are known as the Gothi.” Asher took one of the boots from her proffered hand and pulled it on over the thick pair of insulated socks.

  “According to Vince the Gothi practice an ancient religion. The core of their belief is that the Raven was and still is a superior being that should rule the world of ani-shifts. They tend to meet in desolate areas such as the Smoky Mountains, which is Vince’s region and in the Florida Everglades. My guess would be that was where the amphibian Watch was from. These so called Raven worshippers are not only growing in numbers, it appears they seek out anyone within the Union that has grievances with me, in hopes to turn them toward their cause.”

  “Then Vince is a good guy?”

  “Just because Vince is sharing Linn’s bed doesn’t necessarily mean I thought he was a bad guy. It was just a hunch I wished to confirm for matters of my own.”

  She deliberated the answer and nodded, then asked, “Have you been able to reach Ari?”

  Asher lowered his eyes and started weaving the shoestring around the latches on the boots. Already his feet were getting sweaty. “I’ve opened myself to him again but the feelings are a little overwhelming…and well it’s complicated.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “What I mean is that my idiot brother doesn’t seem to recognize the fact that I’m reaching out to him.” Asher exhaled loudly. Kennedy grunted and he sneered up at her. “Your behavior indicates that you completely understand his confusion. But I don’t have time to argue with either of you. Now go see to the twins. It’s almost time to leave.”

  Asher watched Kennedy leave before he allowed his eyes to travel over to where Nixon stood next to a bookshelf pretending to examine the title of an old classic. He knew Nixon had purposely been waiting to talk to him alone.

  “Did you look over the maps?” Nixon softly asked.

  “I didn’t need to.” Asher pulled the parka over his arms. He had waited intentionally for the moon to rise before setting out, but now he was growing anxious. “When I was younger Grant used to take me fishing and he told me about the cabin and said I should stay away from it.”

  “You mean because my father built it.” Nixon faced him. Asher had not failed to notice his somber demeanor since arriving back from the old healer’s. Straightening, Nixon walked across the room while Asher surveyed his face for signs that he remembered. “Have you always known about him?” Nixon asked.

  “What are you getting at?”

  With a flip of his hand, Nixon tossed something his way and Asher watched as it landed on the top of his art tablet with a heavy thud. “Kennedy found it next to Ari’s car. I thought it looked familiar and the more I looked at it, the more I remembered. My dad used to wear the same kind of badge when I was a kid. The last I heard he was on his way to Florida to run a fishing boat. Kind of a coincidence don’t you think? I have just one question for you. Have you always known about him…who he is to you?”

  Anger mounting, Asher picked up the badge. “You found a Raven’s crest near Ari’s car and you didn’t mention this before?”

  “I asked you a question Asher. Have you always known that we shared the same father?”

  “I’ve always known who you are to me. Grant wouldn’t let me forget that,” Asher spoke the words calmly but when his eyes landed on the emblem of the Raven, he could not control his rage. Angrily he threw the badge across the room, nearly missing Nixon who dodged out of the way.

  The badge smashed into a picture frame shattering the glass before ironically spinning to a rest next to the wooden globe bookend. Taking a deep breath, Asher dropped his head into his hands. “Despite what you may believe I didn’t remember him either but the trip to the old man’s brought things back. My memory was erased too.”

  “Was that before or after you removed parts of him from mine?”

  Slowly Asher looked up at Nixon but at the very sight of his anguish, he forced his brow to relax. “After,” he said in a gentler tone. “I never knew him nor wished to. Then one day when I was at a session at the old man’s he showed up. He had been sent by the Council to further my education in magic. That’s why he built the cabin, so he could be close to Brokenridge. That night I told you I would never allow him to hurt you again.”

  “So you wiped the memory of what he was, a follower of the Raven from my mind, but not the abuse.”

  “There couldn’t be a chance of you ever taking pity on him.” Asher closed his eyes, tried to calm his breathing but as he continued, his words sounded harsh even to his own ears. “He followed the Raven and you are a fowler! Do you not understand the significance of that to me?”

  “Actually I don’t and I never will. But what you’re saying is you thought he would use me as a weapon against you because I can change into a Raven. Still, if that was the case, why didn’t you just make me forget what I was, and send me away to some orphanage? You didn’t have to keep me around if you didn’t want anything to do with me, even if I was your little brother.”

  Nixon approached his desk. His face was blank, unreadable, but the emotions that circled within his eyes, Asher knew well. Nixon needed answers. He needed to know the truth.

  “Let me see if this will help you to understand at least from my standpoint. After I cleansed your mind of him,” Asher explained, “I began to take on your memories and pain. My mind has always been unstable, but mixed with yours afterwards the Council feared I wouldn’t be able to carry on my duties as Keeper. So my memory of him had to go. The Council wanted me to forget, so I forgot, but Grant on the other hand wouldn’t let me forget you.”

  “You’re my brother Asher,” Nixon cried. “How could you make me forget that?”

  “There was no reason for you to remember me.” Quickly getting to his feet, Asher headed for the door with all intentions of leaving the room and the conversation behind.

  “You don’t fool me Asher,” Nixon called. “You didn’t fear me becoming a Raven as much as you just feared me in general, your little brother, someone you could potentially care for. I needed you and you knew it, and that’s the only reason you made me forget because you didn’t want me to.”

  Turning back Asher met Nixon’s watery gaze. “And just like you did today,” he went on, “when you chose to go alone to the old man’s, you left me behind without a care or concern. But that’s okay, because I don’t need you anymore, Asher.” Pushing him out of the way, Nixon stepped out into the hall and headed for the stairs.

  “Nixon,” Asher called but he kept walking. “Don’t let your hatred of me get in the way tonight. I need you there for Ari.”

  “And I’ll be there for Ari,” he called back, “just like he’s been there for me.”

  Chapter Seven

  Thousand Lies

  The wolf ran with the back part of his feet raised up off the ground. This manner of movement allowed him to run faster—stealth like. With his strong muscles and long legs he could run for hours without getting tired. Slowing down to a lope he began frantically searching for the scent in the snow and air. Smell being his strongest sense, he soon picked it up once again and quickly resumed his prior speed.

  They had taken Ari by snowmobile leaving Brokenridge behind to travel through the dense trees of Yellowwood National Forrest. The towering pines with their snow laden boughs reminded him of a scene from a Christmas card, so serene and picturesque that he briefly forgot his purpose for being in the woods.

  Fur as black as night, orange eyes glaring, Asher moved swiftly. Neither the cold, nor the foot of snow hindered him. He climbed higher, leaping over snowdrifts and fallen trees until he was successfully standing on top of a large hill, panting out puffs of white mist. Under the glow of the crescent moon he saw a cabin hidden among the trees
in the hollow below, black smoke bellowing from its chimney.

  Parked outside were six snowmobiles and a four-wheel drive with a winch on the front. He guessed that was how they tricked Ari by pretending to be good Samaritans. That would be just like his brother to be so trusting. Asher tilted his head upward and howled, and then pricking his ears he rotated them from left to right, like a satellite dish. Alert and quiet he waited until faintly he heard it, the sound of Ari’s dog-form howling back. He was all right, just a little tired and cold.

  Asher closed his eyes and allowed the relief to momentarily wash over him. He tried desperately not to cry. Seldom did he allow such emotions to surface, but this time it was different. Ever since accepting the bond again, Asher was highly aware of his brother’s spirit and the sadness within Ari was overwhelming. Another howl penetrated Asher’s consciousness leaving behind tiny mental goose bumps. This howl had not been sent by Ari.

  Crouching down out of sight, Asher began scanning the area around the cabin until just beyond, near a large pine, he spotted a single wolf. Once again the grey howled, in all things a warning. Since the wolf apparently knew he was there, Asher stood and sniffed the wind. He picked up nothing, no sign that the wolf was real.

  The screeching of a falcon sounded overhead and Asher cursed. The tiger and the rodent brats weren’t too far off. He commended them at least for catching up. When he looked again the wolf was gone.

  Shifting back into a man, a sudden wind caught Asher off guard and whipped his hair madly about his face. Even in his fur lined parka, the wind was frigid. He quickly pulled up the hood drawing the string tight around his neck, and taking fingerless leather gloves from his pocket, he slowly pulled them on. He noticed tracks of his wolf form leading up to where he stood and bitterness welled inside of him.

  For ten years he had resisted the urge to shift, as his powers only proceeded to grow stronger. Now thanks to a bunch of outcasts, the persuasion to change would be even greater for him in the future, especially during the next full moon. And this night, Asher knew that he would need every ounce of his magic—magic that was decreased in the transformation process. Nixon descended from the sky and changed back before his feet could successfully touch the ground. Landing on his knees, he quickly got up and hurried toward him.

  “They probably know we’re here now,” Asher said in a low voice as he approached.

  “You think?” Nixon shivered pulling his leather coat together with his bare hands. It seemed so like him to wear such a garment of vanity despite the cold. “I figured with you and Ari’s howling session they already figured that out.”

  Asher snarled, “I needed to communicate with him.”

  “They must not care if he’s in dog form then.”

  “Obviously not,” Asher answered sarcastically. “Hopefully, they didn’t pick up your screeching.”

  “I don’t believe it’s the fowlers, we should be concerned about.” Nixon said.

  Asher sensed tension in his voice, so he arched his brow, and urged Nixon to speak his mind.

  “About two miles back on the service lane,” Nixon told him, “I saw a whole herd of parked snowmobiles. I took roost in a tree and since I was waiting on Kennedy to catch up, I decided to watch the road. Sure enough a truckload of people showed up. I’d say two, maybe three to a snowmobile.”

  Asher could hear them now approaching through the trees. He had been so adamant in his anger for having to shift he had failed to consider a backup plan just in case the old man did betray him. Jaw tightening, Asher’s only thought was he hoped they killed the old man in the process, for he surely would now.

  Sounds in the trees alerted him that someone was nearing. Asher instinctively started to take cover until he realized it wasn’t the snowmobiles yet, but instead it was Kennedy in tiger form. Seeing them, she came to an abrupt stop and shook the rats from her back.

  They shifted simultaneously and headed for them. The twins stayed back a few steps, taking shelter behind Kennedy for protection. Asher had made a promise to her not to punish the boy since he had come out of hiding long enough to aid in Ari’s rescue, and he planned to hold true to that agreement, for now.

  “How far back are they?” Asher barked in a cloud of white mist.

  “Seven minute’s maybe, but they’re staying close to the road,” Kennedy said. “I counted ten snowmobiles and seventeen shifters in human-form. Two are women.”

  Asher nodded, contemplating the information as Kennedy gathered the twins at her sides to keep warm. Their coats appeared to be too small, buttons straining at the top, and left open entirely at the bottom. They wore no gloves or hats on their heads. Their pale faces were red. Cade’s lips were turning purple and Casin, still ashamed over the whole peeing incident, averted her face entirely. In her barefaced stare, Kennedy’s anger was apparent. It circled her body in a heated wave. She saw no reason for him to have involved the twins.

  “Shift back, follow the plan,” Asher told them.

  “What about your magic, Asher?” Nixon asked.

  “I still have plenty left,” he replied. “Don’t worry about me. Just do as I said.” Asher started to close his eyes to concentrate, when he caught Kennedy’s frown of disapproval. Taking a giant step, he got up close and personal, his face just inches from hers. “If you doubt in the least you will be the only one putting the twins in danger. Is that understood?”

  She nodded quickly, submissively, so he stepped back and shifted into wolf form. When they still refused to move, he barked a warning which distressed the twins into an instant transformation as two small dark lumps dropped to the ground. The boy was a black rat, the girl a brown rat but all he could make out was two pink noses sticking up out of the snow.

  “I will for Ari, no one else,” Kennedy stated angrily. Transforming into the tiger, she lied down on her stomach in the snow to allow the twins to climb on her back. Soon they were lost in the thick coat of orange fur.

  With the sound of the snowmobiles fast approaching Asher descended down the hill with the tiger quickly behind him. After a scan of the skies, he saw Nixon circling above the wind, where the fowlers inside would have less of a chance to pick up his scent. He was where he was supposed to be so Asher centered his attention on the cabin.

  He could only imagine the wicked scheming that was going on inside. It took every ounce of his control not to blast it into a fiery inferno. Ari was inside and he had to get him out before he could take care of the enemy.

  Near the edge of the trees, Asher dropped down in the snow to wait and watch. The tiger crept silently around to the side of the cabin. She chose a spot next to a woodpile and lied down. Scurrying off her back the two rats disappeared behind the wood only to reemerge once again along the base of the structure. The boy was good at finding his way into secured places. And if he couldn’t find a way in, then he would make one by gnawing through the wood with his incisors. The girl would be his lookout.

  Several more snowmobiles arrived sending out large clouds of snow as they skidded to a stop, parking randomly in no apparent order. Asher spared enough magic to encircle his wolf body. That way he would be protected from the men spotting him and the weather as well. He needed his muscles limber if fighting was required. He hoped fighting would be required.

  His eyes scanned over the dismounting men and two women looking for signs of confidence or power which to him would indicate leadership. And then he noticed him, a wide shouldered man wearing an ankle length leather coat with the hood pulled up over his head. He climbed off his snowmobile, stretched, yawned loudly, and pushed people out of his way as he walked.

  Asher remembered the wide frame, the arrogant swagger to his stride, the power he tried to instill to those he felt insignificant. The man was his father—the one responsible for his birth, and his name was Zareth Ross. The same DNA flowed through his veins and yet he felt nothing. Asher had never truly known him, only of him, until the day he showed up at the healers.

  His eyes lifte
d to the bird circling above the cabin. He was supposed to take position next to the chimney stack where the smoke escaping onto the night air would cover his scent. He was supposed to keep watch but instead, the falcon veered in the opposite direction and headed for a large pine. Ross headed for the cabin door while the others hung back in intimidation like cowering puppies under the authority of a dominant litter mate. Hind quarters up, head lowered, Asher began creeping quietly forward.

  He, on the other hand was far from being afraid.

  ***

  Ari’s dog ears pricked up as he listened to a phone conversation between the lead fowler and an unknown individual. After several minutes he soon realized the hold up. The fowlers were waiting for someone to arrive.

  He had assumed that they had abducted him with the purpose of drawing Asher away from the sanctity of the manor, but the more Ari listened, the more he became convinced that something else was about to go down. And if that were true, Asher was out there with the others, and Ari feared for them.

  Tuning in to a new sound, Ari knew this one well. Just a week prior he had woken in the middle of the night to the same grinding noise to realize that the twins, after being banished to their rooms by Asher, were tunneling through the wall in effort to reach him. The twins had never liked thunderstorms much.

  Looking high and low, Ari sought them out. He spotted Cade’s pink nose peeking out from behind a wood box and was both shocked and angry to see him. There was no grating, nothing but black ash on the brick floor, and it was there that he eventually spotted Casin. With her big brown eyes intensely focused, she appeared to be watching the men in the other room. Ari knew it wouldn’t take long for the fowlers to catch the twin’s scent, since they were natural prey to most birds. Shifting, Ari tugged at the rope around his neck but to no avail.