Crow of Flame

Prologue

There is never a convenient time for terror to sink into your bones, never a good time for the trembling uncertainty too rip at your sanity until all that's left is empty, blood chilling fear. There are so many things that make people afraid, speaking in public, fighting an oppressor, or sometimes even walking out in the sunshine can be scary. The truth is, you never know what someone's trigger is.

Emmy hates bugs for example. She screams and cries at the first sight of them. When we were little, to get back at her, I used to make a buzzing noise by her ear just to freak her out. It made it all too easy to get under her skin. I'd agree with Emmy, bugs are the worst. But nightmares, I think, are the worst kind of torment a person can endure, because they're fear of your own making. They're your own brain playing cruel tricks on you, and they are relentless in their attack, and you can't even escape.

I don't think anyone really knows why people dream. Maybe, for me, it's some cruel trick of fate that the one thing that was supposed to be peaceful, never was. My sleep was almost always plagued by images of death and torture. Maybe it was divine punishment for some misstep in a past life, maybe it was punishment for a misstep in this life. Sometimes, when I slept, I wished death would carry me away just to feel the peace-filled nothingness that accompanied the ending of life.

I had been having the nightmares my whole life so you'd think I'd be used to the caged feeling they induced. But I had never gotten used to the trappings of my own mind, they were simply too terrifying to acknowledge. The nightmares about the lady in black came about once a week, and they were always the same.

I always saw the same lady. Grey eyes that looked hardened with malice and age, blood red lips, and skin pale as freshly fallen snow. She had raven black hair that fell in loose curls around her face and down her back. Her nose was small and rigid and it crinkled as she cackled at me, and she had sharp angles to her face. Her smile was serpentine and tinted blood red and those stone grey eyes gazed at me like I was a meal.

She was dressed in a flowing black gown that was fitted at her torso with embroidered golden swirls that flowed up her sides. It had no sleeves, but a neckline that went to her jaw in flowing lace. The skirt flowed to the floor in cascading gauzy fabric that trailed behind her clicking steps.

Her laugh was disjunct, cold and menacing. I couldn't tell if I was looking at an angel or death herself. Each sound from her mouth had a bite and they stung like fresh cuts. I took in my surroundings it was all I could do to contain the trembling raking through my limbs.

The room around us was made of sparkly gray stone with speckles of black and blue. There was a rectangle of light piercing through the darkness. There was a table to my right with what looked to be an array of tools of torment: knives, carvers, whips, and other things I didn't recognize. All of them were glowing blue, and I could have been imagining it, but I thought they made the room colder. What ever she planned to do, I bet it' was meant to hurt.

Behind her stood a door, seemingly the only entrance to the room. The only exit as well. I tried to make a break for the exit but I found that I couldn't move. I looked down and saw thick restraints around my ankles. They glowed the same blue as the tools and each time they touched my skin they burned. I tried to reach down to remove them I found that my arms were restrained above my head with similar frosty blue cuffs. I wiggled against the wall in an attempt to escape but my efforts were useless. And the movements made the cuffs burn my skin. Tears pricked my eyes.

My efforts were interrupted by the worst sound I had ever heard. A sound sharp enough to make my ears bleed. I met those stone grey eyes again as the lady in black dragged a fingernail down the stone wall. The shrieking sound of her nail on the stone was enough drive me to insanity. She stopped when she saw that she had my attention, a mean grin appeared on her face and she moved towards me. It was an effort to contain my shaking, I had to take a deep breath. I looked away as she stalked closer too me.

I felt boney fingers grab my chin, and I was forced to look at her. Up close she was even more terrifying, she examined my face like a jeweler would a diamond. She let out a curt huff of a laugh and opened her mouth to speak. I was hit with a gust of rose scented breath "Are you scared little one?". Her voice was like silk. "Don't be scared of me" she commanded. A fake pout taking residence on her lips. She dragged a finger down my cheek bone and smiled at me again.

"I'm not afraid of you." I lied.

She shook her head at me and laughed lightly, "My, what spunk you have little one." Her hand found my throat and before I could gasp she had cut off my breath. "You shouldn't lie, it's unbecoming." She held my gaze for another moment before dropping my neck and petting her hand down my hair.

My breathing went ragged as I gasped greedily for air, my heartbeat was irregular, and my eyes searched for anything else to look at. To no avail. I held her gaze for what felt like days. A strong male voice sounded outside the door. "Let her go or so help me universe!" The voice was distraught. The voice sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it. There was banging on the door that echoed in the room of pure stone. I shuddered at the vibrations.

The lady in black laughed and let go of my face. "Looks like you've made some friends, little one." I gave her a confused look. "It's ok little one, you'll understand soon, and soon the raven and the crow shall finally combat." I opened my mouth to say something, but the words left me and I closed it quickly. She brushed her fingers along my hair, pushing back stray strands. "You'll understand soon, little one. Just remember..." Her voice trailed off and her eyes glowed red,"The Raven of smoke and the Crow of flame shall change the course of realms." The red faded and she gazed at me with hungry eyes.

The banging on the door resounded again, and with a roll of her eyes, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a brass colored key with a pendant of a raven on the top. She lifted her arms up and put the key into the cuff holding my left arm above my head, and twisted it slowly. All the while never breaking eye contact with me. She repeated the motion on my right arm, and then crouched down to release my legs. I rubbed my wrists, looking at her.

"Am I the Crow?" I asked softly. She nodded, "Does that make you the Raven?"

She smiled at me, but it wasn't happy. It was the way a cat would smile at a mouse. "Such a smart little thing."

The banging at the door sounded again, and I suddenly remembered that she was my captor, not my friend. I nodded to her, developing a plan, before I resolved to leave. I needed to get out.

Before I could make a break for the door her hand was around my throat. I gasped for air and clawed at her boney fingers. I held her gaze, confusion and rage bouncing around my eyes. "I'll see you soon, little one" she crooned, as she ran a hand down my hair and released me.

I ran to the door only turning back once I got there to meet her gaze again. She looked at me with the playful ferocity of a wolf playing with a deer. Like a chase was to begin, and she would enjoy every second of it. I turned and opened the door only to be blinded by a white light that engulfed me completely. I screamed as I ran into the bright void.