A Forest On Fire

Hour One

Elliot's heavily falling footsteps resonated through the deserted, reticent hallway; the distant chirping crickets and a cold, sharp gust of the night air alerted her to an open window only a few paces away. The flame from a candle that sat below on a desk cluttered with papers flickered. A raven landed on the edge, folding its stiff, mechanical wings with a grinding crunch as it let out a thick, black cloud of smoke from a pipe on its plated back.

"Get in if you're coming in, then," Elliot muttered to the robotic fowl.

The raven let out a scratchy, piercing squawk that only something metal like itself would be able to produce from its rusty vocal cords. It hopped off the windowsill and landed on the desk with a metallic clunk, sending some of the papers flitting downwards to the ground. Gov. Phorus closed the window before the wildly swirling snow spread its frigidness indoors and looked down at the expectantly staring bird. "Well? What do they want, Ballast?"

The raven shook slightly as it straightened itself and opened its beak; at first, only static poured from the speaker at the back of its throat, but a man's frantic voice broke through. Elliot recognised this voice to belong to Abraham Volleh, someone whom she had worked with a few times prior. Mr Volleh was nothing more than a simple business man who owned a mine not far from Fluie on the outskirts of Chlealiva. The message that erupted from the raven went as follows:

"Governor Elliot Phorus, I'm sure you remember me: Abraham Volleh. I do hate to bother you only a short time after your previous favour, but it seems another problem has arisen." Abraham chuckled nervously. "You see, this time, it's to deal with my mine- I'm sure you're aware of how very important my mine is to me-, but, more specifically, it's to do with my employees. You'll have to speak with them if you want to get more information, and I'm afraid some of them will get hurt if this continues on any longer. I'm quite busy at the moment, so, if you'd be so kind as to stop by and sort this out, I'd reward you greatly."

Ballast closed its beak and cocked its head, awaiting Elliot's response, but, instead, the governor stared ahead at a door at the end of the hallway which began to slowly creak open. "Blackwater, if that's you, don't be so damn childish and just open the door," she snapped, quite fed up with Lydia's antics after having lived with her for so many years. Lydia's head slowly appeared in the gap between the wall and the door, and a wide, forced grin stretched across her face.

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop, Governor, but shall I buy the tickets to Chlealiva?" Lydia's monotone voice sounded.

Elliot frowned with annoyance at the sight of her. "Why are you so damn strange all the time?"

"Anyone would be if they were like me," was the creature's response.

"I don't think anyone is like you." She turned to the raven to speak her response but stopped. "How long had you been standing behind that door, Blackwater?"

"How long had I been standing here in all or in the dark?" Her eyes scrunched up with a smile Elliot couldn't see, as Lydia's face was half-covered by the door.

"Off with you, beast. Fetch the tickets," Gov. Phorus ordered.

Ms Blackwater's smile only grew, and Elliot was glad it had been covered by the door. "No need to be so harsh, Governor," was the last thing she said before slipping off into the dark hall.

Elliot let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and wondered how she was able to sleep at night knowing that something such as Lydia was only rooms beside her. She considered herself lucky that Lydia had as much self-control as she did; most of the creatures like herself didn't have half as much. Gov. Phorus recorded her response to Abraham and shooed Ballast out the window and into the wintry forest, watching the small puffs of smoke dissipate into the dark sky as the raven impelled itself away from the building.

After bowing and picking up the papers that had fallen upon the raven's entry, Elliot continued on her walk through the house. She flung the door open and nearly spit out the tea she had in her mouth when Lydia leant forward, smiling that horrid, mockingly servile leer. "Christ, Lydia!" Elliot shouted; the wariness of waking the others in the house fleeing her mind for a moment.

"It's done, Governor," Blackwater stated, holding both of the tickets in her hand. "The train leaves at 7:45 A.M."

"How the hell did you manage that so quickly?"

Her hand fell to her side again. "We've lived together for two and a half years, and you still haven't figured me out." Lydia's smile dropped and she feigned sadness. "You really should pay more attention, liere."

Elliot pushed passed the creature, but, even as she walked away, she could feel Lydia's eyes following her. That's what she was made for- intimidation, shedding trepidation onto others like a lizard sheds its flaky skin. Once the governor had reached her bedroom door, she let out a shaky sigh. She took a glance down the hallway where she had come, and the only thing that sat in the darkness were the two train tickets resting on a bookshelf.