Ashes of Revenge

Night had fallen, and the small group hadn’t moved an inch. The only difference was that Richard had passed out, and Colt and Bram had fallen asleep. However, Raven was still awake, her gloved hand mindlessly running through the Farian’s dirty hair.

Slowly, she gently moved him off of her and onto Colt. Naturally, his hand detached from her clothes. She stood up and walked away from them, going deeper into the forest. Her body was still weak, but it was better than it had been.

When she felt she was deep enough, she stopped and looked around.

“I know yer here,” Raven said.

A second of nothing but crickets chirping echoed throughout the air.

“You called?” he said, purposefully fanning the back of her neck with his breath.

She tensed but didn’t react, instead, walking to a tree and bracing herself against it. “I know what yeh took from me tha first time I died.”

“And what is that?”

“The ability to sleep.” He raised an eyebrow. “Yeh cause those dreams to occur; I can’t rest even if I wanted to.”

He smiled. “What do you think I took from you this time?”

“I don’t know what yeh have taken. . . .” She looked down at her hands. “Tha fire,” she began with a softer voice than intended, “it drains me. . . . Doesn’t it?” After every time she used the power, she could feel it retracting back into her body, dragging her strength with it.

Death shrugged. “All power comes with a price.” He stepped closer to her. “Now, do you want to tell me why you really summoned me?”

A tense silence filled the air as Raven contemplated the outcomes.

“Fix his wings an' heal Colt,” she finally commented.

Death tilted his head to the side faintly. “What will I get in return?” He knew she would want to save Richard and Colt. Truth be told, he felt sorry for hurting the boy so much, but he needed the extra insurance.

Raven knew he had ordered Richard’s wings to be destroyed, just like he had ordered her to be thrown in the river. She knew he wanted to gain something from her.

“Nothin’. I fulfilled my end of tha deal; now yeh owe me somethin’.”

“That’s incorrect, my dear. We’re even so you asking for something from me makes us uneven.” Death walked up to Raven and only stopped when he was an inch or so away from her. He placed both of his hands on either side of her against the tree.

“You . . . owe . . . me.” Death cooned.

“I fulfilled my end of tha deal,” Raven gritted out. “Tha deal was to have tha King kill me, an’ technically, he did. I think I deserve to have yeh owe me somethin’. Yeh have taken things from me both times-” She stopped when she finally saw something in his eyes she had been looking for since they met: raw emotion. It made sense now, how he knew what moves she would make in order to protect Richard and Colt.

“Who have yeh loved?” Raven asked. She remembered the way he looked at Mundus’. “Did my species kill them? Yeh can bring ‘em back but not without takin’ somethin’.” She watched as anger flashed beneath his skin, and she knew she had struck a chord. The only issue was being able to strike it again. “Is that yer price for havin’ oll this power? Yeh can’t truly keep those yeh love with yeh? I can only imagine what havin’ this long life must be like when yeh have to watch everythin' yeh care about turn to dust.”

Death smiled, and his obsidian eyes somehow sparkled against the darkness. His hands left the tree, and he grabbed Raven’s arms. “Let me explain this in a way you’ll understand.” Death tilted his head to the side, ignoring her statement. “In that little board game you like to play, you move the weakest players up the board to sacrifice themselves for the more powerful pieces. That’s why you always win because you don’t try to save everyone.”

Raven moved her head away from Death until it hit the tree. Death leaned in again.

“You are a weak player. I move you up the board to take hit after hit so I can advance. I control you. You do as I say. Understand?” Raven remained still. “My dear, if you don’t answer, I will rip Richard’s wings out of his back and then Colt’s knives.” It was his turn to hit her chord.

“I understand,” Raven gritted out.

“What was that, my dear?”

“I bloody understand.”

“What is it exactly that you understand?” Raven pushed herself off the tree, but Death slammed her against it.

Raven stared Death in the eyes. “I understand that yeh control me,” Raven said through gritted teeth.

Death smiled, and his grip on her loosened. “Good. Now, I heal Richard and, you in return, owe me. Is that clear?” Raven nodded. “Also, if you try to analyze me again, I will allow my lovely Pets to play with the Shifter and Farian. . . . And then I’ll bring them back so they can experience it again and again and again.” She had villainized him; he was simply obliging.

Raven remained silent for a few seconds. She, of course, wouldn’t risk Colt and Richard getting hurt, but it was more than clear to her now that she had cracked part of Death’s persona. She had to suppress a smirk at the thought. Ok, she thought, I’ll play along and be the submissive Mundus yeh want. She would find a way to get him to stop hanging the only things she cared about above her.

She had to.

“What do yeh want in return?” Raven asked with a sigh, playing her role perfectly.

“You’ll owe me a favor. It doesn’t matter what or when it is, but you’ll have to say yes.” Death stepped back from Raven and extended his hand to her. “Deal?”

Raven looked down at his hand. She was willing to sacrifice her life for Colt and Richard; she had proven that already. But this was different; there was so much uncertainty behind it.

“Is there any other way to save Richard?”

“No, this is the deal that I’m willing to make, so you either take it or don’t.” Raven looked down at his hand. “Deal?” he asked once more.

Raven slowly extended her hand to his but froze an inch or so away. Death didn’t take her hand by force or try anything; instead, he allowed it to hover. Raven felt her heart begin to sink, and she closed her eyes.

Her fingertips brushed against his, and her hand slowly slid into place. Death latched onto her hand, and an overall weakness washed over her.

Opening her eyes, she saw her hand and realized what exactly she had done. She had just signed away her life.

Death’s hand slowly slid out of hers, but she was frozen.

“Pleasure doing business with you, my dear.” He disappeared.

She finally felt herself breathing again, but the breaths were heavy. Her feet stumbled, and she nearly fell. Bile began to rise in her throat, and she clasped her other hand over her mouth. Not only was it to keep from throwing up, but from screaming as well.

The vomit and panic only went down with the thought of Richard’s wings being back and Colt being healed.

She ran back to where Richard and Colt were. Relief flooded through her body when she saw the deal had worked.

Raven was so relieved that she crumpled to the ground beside them. Reaching out, she grabbed Richard’s hand and pulled it to her chest. She closed her eyes and felt as Richard naturally pulled her closer to him.

She tried her best to forget what she had given away.

***

A sudden movement made Raven jolt awake. Sitting up and looking around, her eyes landed on Richard. He was staring at his perfect wings. Every ounce of strength or color that had been drained from him was back as well as Colt, who was just as awake and alert as Raven.

The Shifter was standing and holding onto a tree branch. His other hand was pulling the shirt down around his neck so he could breathe easier. The silver retreated from his eyes.

The sun was barely in the sky, but they could still clearly make out each other's silhouettes.

Richard looked to the side and saw Colt. He grabbed the boy, embracing him in a tight hug.

Richard placed his forehead onto Colt’s. “Yer ok,” the Farian said. Colt nodded, knowing if he were to speak, he would cry. Richard smiled in relief and slowly pulled away.

Colt smiled as he pointed behind Richard. He turned around, expecting to see Bram or Mark, but froze when he saw Raven, who was staring at his wings.

“Raven?” Richard asked. Raven looked up at him and gave a side smile as she nodded. She knew if she were to talk, her voice would crack.

Richard grabbed her and embraced her in a tight hug. Raven hugged back and clung onto him for dear life.

“I saw yeh . . .” Richard pulled away and looked at Raven. His shaking hands pushed strands of hair out of her face. “Yeh died. How are yeh. . . ?”

“I don’t know,” Raven finally spoke.

No one knew who moved first, but within the next second, they were hugging one another. Richard’s wings wrapped around them and pulled them closer. Raven buried her face into Richard’s chest and closed her eyes.

Slowly their grips on each other loosened until they were back to facing each other. Now Richard had a stern face, and Raven knew what he was going to say.

“What happened?” Richard asked Raven. “Yeh gave us yer stuff. Did yeh plan to-”

“No,” Raven interrupted, “I just thought those things would be more useful to yeh guys on tha road. . . . Besides, if any of that were found, it would put the plan in danger.”

“An’ what happened to yeh?” Richard asked Colt.

It took a fraction of a second for everything to hit Colt, tightening his chest and muscles. The most frustrating thing about it this time was he didn’t know why it was happening. “I don’t know. I was ambushed an’ captured an’ beat an’ then Raven appeared an’ she has this fire-”

“Ok,” Richard said before Colt could fall into a full panic attack. “How are yeh alive?”

“I don’t know.”

“What about tha fire?” Colt asked, his arms crossed over his ribs.

“It just appeared.”

“So yer sayin’ yeh have no idea how I’m healed or how you now have this . . . power?” Richard questioned as his wings twitched.

“Or how I’m no longer hurt,” Colt added.

“No, I don’t. I have no idea how any of us are ok.” She rubbed her finger against her nose. “All I know is I woke up with a healed chest. Then we got yeh, fell asleep, an’ when we woke up yer wings were back an’ Colt was healed. I’m just as in tha black as yeh two are an’ askin’ me tha same question over an’ over again isn’t going to make tha answer magically appear.”

Her foot tapped against the ground, and she spoke before they could continue to ask questions she couldn’t give them the answers to, “What now?” She redirected the conversation like she had had to do so many times.

“I sent a letter to him,” Colt remembered. They turned and looked at him. “I told him what had happened an’ to come over, meet with us, an’ then go from there.”

“How long ago was that?” Richard asked.

“I don’t-”

“Over a week,” Raven said.

Richard’s face fell; he had been imprisoned that long?

“Then he’ll be here any day now,” Colt said.

A twig snapped, making all of them turn to the side. Their eyes landed on Bram, who was slowly walking to them — not believing that Richard’s wings were back. He had woken up earlier than them to collect more supplies for the exhausted group.

Richard and Bram smiled at each other, and they embraced one another in a hug.

“Good to see yeh,” Richard said as they pulled away.

“Oi’m glad yer ok.”

“Thank yeh.” They both nodded to one another with genuine respect.

“We need to start gatherin’ more supplies,” Raven said. “Bram, see if yeh can find our horses. If they were released, they would have hopefully stayed relatively close.” Bram nodded, faintly bowed, smiled at them, and walked away.

Raven looked over at Richard and Colt, and though no one said anything, they knew what each other were thinking: they didn’t want to split up. Raven motioned with her head behind them, and they all began to walk.

Richard allowed the tips of his wings to drag on the ground.

“How are my wings back?” Richard pried once more.

“I don’t know,” Raven said. Her hand brushed against her nose.

Richard could tell that something was off. “Raven-”

“I wish I knew,” Raven said. “I wish I knew how yeh wings got fixed or how Colt is better or how I have this bloody fire!” She was getting more and more upset. “But I don’t! I don’t know!”

“Raven. . . ,” Colt said.

Raven looked at him and saw that his eyes were looking at her hands. Looking down, she saw her hands were on fire. Closing her fists, she tried to get the flame to go away, but it wouldn’t.

Cursing under her breath, she shook her hands. Suddenly, both of her arms were grabbed, one by Richard and the other by Colt.

Richard and Colt looked at each other, and their free hands slowly extended over the fire. Raven tried to pull her hands back, but their grip held. She struggled more.

“It’s ok,” Colt said.

Raven stopped struggling and looked at them. “I don’t want to-”

“Yeh won’t,” Richard said. He didn't know how he knew that, but he did. Colt remembered the fire encasing his body, but only the rope being burned.

Raven’s eyes slowly trailed to her hands and saw Richard and Colt lowering theirs’ into the fire. Their grip loosened on her arms, but she didn’t move.

Their hands finally lowered into the flame, and they both breathed out when they weren’t burned. Their palms touched hers’.

Richard and Colt knew how she felt about fire in general and suspected she wasn’t fond of this new power. The only way they could express that they didn’t care or weren’t afraid of her was to show she wouldn’t hurt them.

Raven breathed out a sigh of relief that the fire wasn’t hurting them. She knew Death had given her this specific power to mock her, so she was grateful he hadn’t made it harmful to everyone.

The fire extinguished itself, and the group remained.

The power scratched under her skin and pulled energy with it.

“See,” Richard said, “yer not gonna hurt us.” Raven nodded, and her hand slowly left theirs’. It was only then that everyone noticed their hands were shaking.

Raven’s hands quickly dropped to her sides.

“We uh . . .” Raven trailed off for a second or so. “Supplies. We should look for supplies.” Though she hadn’t said it, they knew what she meant. They nodded, saying ‘no problem’ to her unsaid thanks.

They took a few steps forward.

“Oy!” the familiar weird accent said behind them.

They turned around and saw Bram walking towards them.

“Yeah?”

“Oi found yer guys’ hworses.”

They followed Bram back to the campsite.

When they finally arrived, they saw all their horses with everything still with them. Raven saw Death sitting on Herbert, but she forced herself to smile at her horse.

Raven began to pet Herbert’s nose, and he nudged it against her.

A familiar metal sound entered her ears, and she turned around. Richard and Colt were pulling Raven’s possessions out of their bags.

Richard was holding her sword; it flat against his hands. Her hand wrapped around the handle, and she slid the blade into her sheath, feeling the familiar weight of it on her left hip.

Colt extended his hand to her, the two rings in his palm. Grabbing the rings, she placed them on her fingers.

Richard handed her the beloved board game and pieces. Her thumb ran over a select few players. She turned around and placed the game into Herbert’s bag.

Finally, Richard grabbed her other ring and grabbed her hand. He slid it onto her finger.

With that, she felt complete once more.

“I’m keepin’ tha box,” Colt said.

“Yer ridiculous,” Raven said.

“Thank yeh.”

“Wasn’t a compliment.”

“I’m takin’ it as one.”

“Can we not have one conversation between yeh two that doesn’t involve fightin’?” Richard begged.

“What kinda question is that?” Raven asked.

“Of course, we can’t.”

Richard smiled and looked at Colt and Raven. For the first time, he wasn’t annoyed by their fighting. While in prison, he found he actually missed the banter. He missed them. He didn’t even care about his wings being back, only that Colt and Raven were.

“What?” Raven asked as she smiled.

It was only then that Richard realized he was staring at them. “Nothin’.”

Raven and Colt looked at each other, slightly confused.

Colt reached into his bag, pulling out a bottle of alcohol that was half gone. He took a sip of the drink and almost threw up. He couldn’t tell if it was because he hadn’t drunk anything in so long or because the drink was terrible, most likely a combination of both.

Richard grabbed the bottle and took a sip of it, almost throwing up as well.

Raven grabbed the bottle and took a huge swig of it. Though she almost vomited immediately, she continued to drink, not having had one in too long.

Once the bottle was finished, she dropped it onto the ground and leaned against Herbert, feeling sick and regretting everything.

Death grabbed her shoulders and moved his thumb up and down, reminding her he was there.

Bram walked up to them again and smiled at seeing Raven with all her possessions back and the group happy and together once more. “He ois here.”

The group nodded, looked at one another, and walked off.

They had a lot to discuss.

***

Colt, Raven, and Richard made it back to the small camp. Colt sat down and began to prepare the weapons. Richard and Raven continued their slow pace - Raven knowing he wanted to talk to her.

Sighing, she looked up at Richard and observed his overgrown black beard.

“Yeh need to shave,” Raven said, kicking a stick.

Richard looked down at Raven, who was looking down at the ground. He knew something was wrong.

Raven reached down and grabbed a jug of water that had been recently collected. She covered her hand with her sleeve, grabbed his jaw, and tilted it to the side. Her other hand rose the jug and poured some water onto his face.

As the liquid ran down her arm, images of the bloody water forced their way into her mind.

Laying down the vial, she flicked her wrist, causing a dagger to slide into her finger - doing her best to ignore the images. With one hand still grasping his face, she raised the knife and placed it at the top of his beard. Carefully, she dragged the blade down.

Drip: pain.

“Yeh know Colt an’ I don’t believe yeh?” Richard asked.

Drip: drowning.

“I know,” Raven said as she brought the knife down once more. “I’m not askin’ yeh to believe me.”

Drip: blood.

“Yeh know yeh not tellin’ us hurts us?”

Drip: loneliness.

“I know . . . but if I were to tell yeh - not that there’s anythin’ to tell - I would hurt yeh more.”

Raven poured more water.

Drip: lost.

“Yeh know yeh can talk to me?”

Drip: darkness.

“Yeah. But yeh know me, I won’t. . . . Go ahead, ask.”

Drip: fear.

“I saw yeh get stabbed. I know yeh died an’ yet here yeh ar,’ givin’ me a shave. My wings were destroyed an’ now they’re back.”

Raven moved to the other side of his face.

Drip: death.

“I don’t know how or why I’m here, but I am, an’ I don’t know how yer wings got better or how Colt is better. I wish I did. . . .” The knife came down one more time.

Drip: Death.

Richard grabbed the collar of his shirt and rubbed it over his face.

Raven sighed and flipped the knife in the air, thinking about the events that had occurred due to the water.

“We should prepare,” she mumbled, continuing to flip the blade. “Yeh look nice, by tha way.”

He ran his hand over his smooth skin. “Thanks.”

Raven nodded and flipped the knife, continuing to walk with Richard following.

She now knew what Death had taken from her this time: her composure. First, he had taken it away while asleep, now when awake. Every time she saw the fire or touched water, the images appeared.

The fog cleared, and she knew when she killed the King and took the throne, Death would be there. With the open deal, it became apparent how easily Death could get her to help the Monstro Kingdom.

Death owned more than she had thought.

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