Bloody Raven in the Shadow

The depths of the forests

Heart pounding, Regina startled from sleep. The first thing she saw was the entry to the cave where she had slept. This was nothing unusual. Outside came the now familiar murmur of the river. Normally they wouldn't stay in one place that long, it was far too dangerous because they are wanted 'criminals'

."Didn't sleep well?" came the voice of the young witch Alice, who was standing on the other side of the cave and looking at her with a gentle look, in her hand some herbs which she had probably just picked.

The girl had loose, medium-length, black hair with light highlights, from which her pointy ears peeked out. She had green-blue eyes and wore a purple dress. Alice was many years younger than her and only about 1.50 meters tall.

The adult nodded stiffly. "It's been four days since our three friends disappeared ... still no sign of them ... I don't think they will come back." explained the younger one and stowed the plants in her bag.

"And the knights?" Regina asked

"They're still wandering around here, but they're getting fewer. I think they're giving up looking for us."Sighing, the adult got up and stretched, the tiredness still weighing heavily on her.

"Have you a plan, Queen?" Alice asked, while Regina walked to the exit of the cave, to let her gaze wander out of the cave over the summery forest in front of her. Her heels echoed against the gray stone

"If they haven't come back by now, there's a chance they've been caught. They might even be dead. We don't know. As long as the guards are roaming outside, it will be difficult to find another hiding spot."

"But we can't stay here either, they'll find us that way. Definitely." argued the youth.

The queen rubbed the bridge of her nose in frustration. "You're the witch! Can't you find a spell to track her down!" she snaps at the younger one, annoyed, the last few days were tugging on her nerves.

"I try to do that all the time, I'm only 16 years old, you need an experienced wizard like Harvey or Mary for something like that. It's also about my friends and my sister!" Alice hisses back angrily

Regina felt guilt.

"Sorry." She turned to the younger one, who now sat down on the floor and worked on her herbs. "I'm scared..." the adult whispered.

"I know, it's the same for me..." Alice said, briefly looking over at the woman with her green-blue eyes to give her a smile.

"I can do this. Please trust me."

"I'll try to find one of them. Maybe I can do it without magic. With the guards gone, I might have even better luck today."

The witch looked worried at these words. "Please don't disappear too," she whispers. Regina demonstratively lets a fireball circle in her hand. In this world anyone could wield magic, witches and wizards learned and taught this power full-time unlike many other people and generally possessed more knowledge and power. The difference to her and Alice was that the younger described herself through her powers and Regina did have the powers but got along well without them.

"You should trust me too!"

She winked at the girl confidently and jumped out of the cave.The sounds of the forest completely absorbed Regina. The faint rustling of the leaves dancing in the wind, the faint murmur of the river and the bright singing of the birds were all she could hear. The pleasant smell of the summer forest got into her nose and she started to run.

She stopped some time later at one small water. She crouched down and took a sip. Her reflection looked back at her in the river. The woman had long, brown hair, some of them fell over her shoulders because she always wore them open. On her neck she wore a chain with the symbol of a tree. It was, with the ring on her left hand, the only material things that really mattered to her. There was a small scar on her upper lip. She wore crimson clothing and a black belt. Dark circles could be seen under her brown eyes, the last few days had affected her more than she wanted to admit. Everything worked so well, without any problems they got here from the northeast, aiming to go further towards Adrik, which was west of Agaria, the country they were in at the moment. But one night, just after midnight, Mary, Harvey and Rin left the cave and didn't come back. Shortly thereafter, everywhere were soldiers , with the white coat of arms of Agaria, which represented a phoenix, incessantly walked up and down. All efforts to find her friends had failed so far. Regina found it difficult to sleep peacefully, knowing that her beloved partners might be dead.