Raven of Water

Chapter 25: Reunions

I gasped as awareness returned to me. I was standing in a forest not unlike the one I'd been in moments before, but it was slightly cooler with different bird songs. And it was no longer night. Instead, it was a hazy, rainy day where the sun bathed the world in a brilliant blue glow. Confused, I walked in small circles to get my bearings while straining my ears and shuddering.

So cold.

I pulled the jacket tighter around myself, wishing it was warmer but grateful for what little heat it provided.

"Kai?'

I didn't know why I called for him as I stumbled barefoot through the thick foliage. Perhaps it was because I'd somehow used his magic to get here? The sticks and rocks pricked my feet, but I strangely couldn't feel them.

Had hypothermia set in? Probably. That was the last thing I needed...

"Kai!" I called again, tripping my way over to a log where I sat and caught my breath while resting my ravaged feet.

Around me, I noticed the birdsong shift to more urgent, frantic notes as a large raven settled on a thick branch across from me. Its dark eyes regarded me intelligently.

Could that be him?

"Kirroz?"

Part of me felt ridiculous talking to a bird, and the creature cocked its head to the side before taking flight. I thought it was going to fly away until it fluttered its wings before me then, in a flash of magic, transformed into his shirtless Kai wearing linen pants and a wide fur around his neck like a scarf. If he was made cold by his lack of shirt, he didn't show it. I doubted that Kai even needed clothing when he was in his element here in the woods.

"It's you!" I said, springing from the log only to be stopped by his confused expression and the lack of recognition in his eyes.

When he spoke, his words were in odd English that it took me a moment to comprehend. "How do you know my name, human?" The tone was halting, his voice husky and disused.

"Kai. It's me, Lex. You know who I am."

Upon noticing my confusion and the way in which I spoke, he switched to words I could better comprehend, though his lilting accent remained. "I do not know you, though you look like one of the humans who has newly settled this region. They come into my woods and disrupt my peace. You come into my woods..."

Slowly, realization dawned on me. This wasn't the Kai I knew. It was the Kai I had known.

"You... you don't know me, Kai?"

The raven shook his head, and it was then that I sensed the forest finally reacting to my presence. The plants reached out to me, trying to greet me. Trying to feel me. Kai noticed, too.

"You are a witch." It wasn't a question, but his words had me nodding in agreement.

"And you are an elemental. I think the woman that you've seen here doesn't yet understand she is a witch."

"You are a human colonizer, yet you know who I am? You smell like me. But you also smell like someone else, like ash," he said, appearing skeptical as his tongue danced awkwardly over the English syllables.

I wanted to step nearer to him, but something here was different. This was a time that I wasn't meant to be in, and I didn't know precisely how I'd gotten here or what I could safely say to the raven in front of me. Time travel was tricky magic and dangerous business.

When I said nothing, the man pressed. "Do I truly know you?"

I choked back tears as I nodded.

How could I explain to him that I knew him from a different time?