Bloody Raven in the Shadow

Like a little fish in the lake

Alice sat by a campfire. They had traveled west together for three days. The shock of Regina's death was still deep in her bones. It was unbelievable, the woman she had looked up to for so long was dead and it was her fault. Whenever she closed her eyes, she saw the woman.

The girl dropped her head on her knees. She was exhausted. It wasn't just the loss that didn't give her a moment's peace, but also the thoughts of her sister and what she couldn't decipher. But she had made a decision. When she got to the capital of Adrik, she would see a healer. It was her only hope at the moment, which might give her answers.

Alice looked up, letting her gaze wander to Mio. The wolf-dier sat across from her on the other side of the fire and calmly ate a fish they had caught. She had hardly touched her own. Mio had dark skin and tousled, short silver-grey hair. Two pointed wolf ears looked out from their head, the tips of which were dark gray. A cuddly tail slowly moved up and down, a sign of the dier's lively personality. Particularly striking were the two-colored eyes, one of which was gray and one brown. Freckles could be seen on their face and shoulders. Mio wore blue clothes with silver runes.

"Do I have something on my face?" they laughed and looked up after Alice had stared a little too long.

She shook her head in surprise. "No sorry I was just thinking" she apologized and reached for her fish.

"If I may ask, what are your goals?" Mio looked at her curiously and bit off the fish again.

"I want to see some magicians in the capital... I'm looking for answers," the girl answered restlessly, hoping they wouldn't ask any more questions. In fact, the wolf-dier nodded slowly and finished their meal.

"We should get to the gate tomorrow afternoon, it shouldn't be difficult to find wizards then." Mio stretched, smiling, and then got up.

"Where are you going?" asks Alice in surprise, it was the middle of the night.

"I'm not tired, I'm going to roam around for a bit more, not that you get eaten by the bear in your sleep. You're so small, he just needs a bite and little Alice is gone," joked they.

Perplexed, she stared at Mio, they wasn't that much bigger than her, maybe just a head. Then the girl got up too

"I'm not tired!" she explained calmly.

"You're resting. I don't know you well enough to ask, but I'm not blind. You hardly ever sleep or eat. I'll stay close, just lie down for a bit." There was severity in Mio's tone.

The girl bit her lower lip. they were right, even if it annoyed her. Alice gave in with a sigh, sat back down on the ground and watched them disappear into the bushes. The leaves were all slowly turning red, the wind was getting cooler, the days shorter. Autumn had begun. How quickly time passed.

Without realizing it, exhaustion overwhelmed Alice after only a few seconds. She slept a dreamless sleep until Mio woke her up early in the morning.

"Get up! It's going to rain soon, we should hurry!" the Dier explained beaming and their tail swung back and forth excitedly. Was they really sad that it was going to rain? Didn't really seem like it.

Alice stood up in silence, still feeling paralyzed by sleep.

"Here, breakfast!" Mio handed her an apple. Half-awake, she flinched momentarily, thinking of Rin, her sister, who was also a piece of such fruit.

"Don't you like apples?" they looked at her questioningly.

Embarrassed, she grabbed the food and said nothing. Alice hadn't known Mio for long, but even that person was worried about her. She was just a burden.