Wings Of a Raven

Chapter I - Broken Wing

Michael opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Coleman's face. The butler was standing over him holding a tray with a teacup and teapot in his hand. Stern was lying on the sofa in the living room. As soon as the butler noticed Michael trying to get up he put the tray down on the table and helped him sit up.

"Where is Abigail?" he asked.

"In her room, resting." said the butler placing a cup on the table in front of Stern.

"Is she all right?" he said looking around.

Before Coleman had time to reply Emily entered the living room and as soon as she saw Michael sitting on the sofa she quickly walked over to him, sat down next to him and put her arms around him hugging him.

"Thank you." she said in a breaking voice, "Abigail said you defended her from some thugs and then when you had the accident you protected her. Thank you."

"You have nothing to thank me for." he replied moving slowly away from the woman, he felt pain as soon as she hugged him but he didn't let it show " Nothing happened to her?" he asked again.

"Nothing, she's just a bit shaken up, but everything is fine. Thanks again, really." Emily said, smiling slightly in his direction and wiping the tears from her face.

Michael returned the smile, whereupon the woman left the living room saying she was going to see her daughter. On the way she passed Alba, who was just entering the living room. The women smiled at each other and passed without a word.

"Are you alive?" asked Alba standing behind the sofa, behind Stern's back.

" I still am." he said reaching for a cup of tea "First the werewolf hunters attacked Abigail and then the magin attacked us, we had an interesting evening."

"Abigail told me all about it, but she didn't know why you had an accident. All the girl heard was a loud crash and she claims she saw a blue bird holding her in its wings." Alba said.

"From what I remember, she fell asleep as soon as she got into the car, then a swallow flew in front of my car and I swerved off the road avoiding the fireball. Araedin was exhausted after the earlier fight, but came out of amulet himself to protect her." said Michael laying down on the couch "What about the car?"

"It's destroyed. You hit a tree." said Coleman "Do you need anything else?" he asked.

"No, not likely, thanks Coleman."

"It's quite late, you should get some rest." said the butler glancing both at Stern and at the woman leaning against the sofa.

"I could use some sleep, couldn't I?" Michael said rubbing his eyes with his hand.

Coleman nodded and headed for the living room exit, Abigail just looked at Michael and left with the butler without saying a word. Stern could hear them still talking about something as they walked down the corridor. He lingered as long as he could still hear them. When their voices fell silent, Stern stood up in pain. He sat up and tried to stretch, but could barely stretch his left arm forward without pain. He pulled his shirt off slowly, stood up and walked slowly towards a long mirror standing between two bookcases. His left side of his back was completely purple from waist to neck. He sighed and retreated to the couch. He unbuckled the belt of his trousers and sat down heavily on the armchair. He poured himself another cup of tea and reached for the phone lying on the table. The lock screen showed him a notification of fifteen missed calls: four of them were from Alba, five from Emily, two from Coleman, two from Leah, one from an unknown number and one from a contact recorded as *Dream*. He also got a message from Leah, who wrote that she had found something new that might interest him. Michael put the phone down, closed his eyes and sat in silence for a moment, then reached for the phone again and dialled the *Dream* contact. In the call history the most recent of these were attempts from Stern, unfortunately none of them were answered, the calls dated three, four and five months ago. This time it was someone calling Michael from that number. Stern called back. He heard only a few beeps, then a familiar, soothing female voice spoke back to him *Lilly here, if you can hear this it means I couldn't answer, but you can leave your message after the beep*. Michael didn't say a word, he hung up after a moment of silence. He took one last look at the phone and discarded it on the coffee table, then got up and walked to the window. He was in pain the whole time, but he knew that even if he wanted to he could not fall asleep. He stood staring at the window, the sky was covered with countless stars, the moon was perfectly opposite the window to the living room lighting up the whole room. Stern stood like that for a moment gazing out at the ocean of stars. He looked around the room and noticed a black guitar leaning against one of the bookcases. He walked over to the double front doors and closed them as quietly as he could, walked over to the fireplace, put a couple of woods inside from a basket standing next to it, put his hand on one of them, and then the wood lit with a blue flame, illuminating the room with a bright white and blue light. Michael picked up the guitar and sat down in the chair. He shook the strings slightly and, after a minute's contemplation, began to play *Cherry Wine*. He played with his eyes closed, felt the heat coming from the fireplace, felt something strange, something he couldn't explain. Michael Stern must have finally felt at home for the first time, sitting in his grandfather's armchair, playing the guitar he had received from him as a gift, sitting in front of the fireplace where his grandfather told him imaginary stories about magical places and creatures, only after time did Michael realise that these stories were not imaginary at all, they were Howard's experiences, but even then the young Stern did not know about the existence of magic and titans. He played the guitar from memory, he didn't even have to think about the right movements, his hands moved on the strings by themselves, while in his head Stern went back in time. He recalled memories of his parents, all the fond and good memories he remembered of this place. Michael's head at that moment was in a completely different place, a pleasant place, the only place he remembered being happy in his entire life. Since the death of his parents, he had never been as happy again as he had been before, but the question was whether he had really never been happy again, or whether he had simply not allowed himself to have that feeling. He finished playing and opened his eyes. A few minutes had passed as he played the song, but he felt like a few hours had passed as he returned to the days of his childhood. The good times. He stared dully into the wood burning in the fireplace, then a thought crossed his mind to check how Araedin was holding up. Titans are generally used for combat, but summoning a titan weakens its owner because the owner bonds with the creature they summon. Hunters generally have several different titans, but only summon one at a time, as two can weaken a hunter too much let alone three or more. In addition, titans do not die, if a titan is defeated it returns to its medallion, but it is exhausted and its next summoning in too short a period of time may not be successful as it needs rest. Araedin appeared in the car shortly after he was defeated, he was already exhausted after the fight and under normal circumstances he should not appear so fast again, but hunters are able to create a bond with their titans, a bond that allows the titans to come out of their amulets even when the hunter does not summon them, This is especially useful in cases where the hunter needs help but is unable to summon a titan, or in a case like this, where the hunter does not even have time to react, then a titan with a deep bond with its hunter can appear of its own accord. Araedin himself wanted to defend Abigail, but reappearing and taking more damage probably exhausted the titan.