An Omen Of Crows

Prologue

Saki awoke to the sound of angry call of a crow. She stumbled, trying to stand up. Where was she? A minute ago, she was... She was doing what, exactly?

The sunlight sifted through the trees, a faded orange glow haunting her gaze. A crow was at her feet, looking at her through its squinted eyes. Was it dusk, she wondered, or was it dawn? She had no idea. 

The crow squawked at her, jumping around. Looking through it's expression, Saki glimpsed something spark in her mind. A memory? Her thoughts tried to grasp it. But, at the sound of heavy footsteps trampling through the underbrush, the crow took flight, a feather landing at Saki's feet.

She didn't have time to contemplate what had happened. Something- no, someone- dangerous was coming. Her hands went to her knives. Wait, she had knives? She glanced down. They were knives alright, but without a handle to grab onto.

Instinct swept over her. She didn't need a handle. With a cast of her arm and closing her fist, two of the blades thrust forward, slicing through the humid air, towards the source of the footsteps.

She didn't touch the knives. How did they fly? How did they...

The scream shook away her thoughts. A young man stumbled forward through the brush into Saki's line of sight. A silver blade was embedded deep into his thigh, crimson blood dripping from the wound and staining his black trousers.

"Who..." he whimpered. Confusion and terror clouded his eyes.

Saki's heart skipped a beat at the sight of this man. He was barely older than her- wait, how old was she again?

But her instincts ignored her bubbling emotions. Her hand moved on its own, and the blades ripped upwards, tearing into his abdomen.

The man's screams echoed throughout the forest as his blood let loose, spilling onto the ground and foliage below him. He fell onto his knees before collapsing on the ground, writhing in agony.

Saki rushed over. What had she done? But, she realized that she had no sympathy for the man that was bleeding out in front of her.

She raised her hand. Her bloodied knives slid out of the man's body, hovering in the air.

"What..." Saki said. Blood dripped off of the levitating knives.

Behind her, she heard a strange cackling of brush, followed by a sickening smell of smoke.

Saki whipped around. She was face to face wity a young woman in crimson dancer's clothes, her face veiled. Her long, ebony hair was tucked into an unruly braid. But that wasn't what Saki noticed.

Her arms were covered in flames, shining brightly, her skin untouched by their blazing heat that Saki felt even from afar.

"Who..." Both girls stammered at the same time.

But the dancer wasn't confused for long. "Oh, well who cares? You're on our side apparently. We'll talk later. Right now, we need to get out of here before that guy's friends come."

The flames leapt around her skin, but she was unfazed. Saki's eyes widened in a mix of fear and sheer confusion.

"What, you've never seen a Fireling before?" the dancer scoffed. "Well, stay here if you want. You can fend for yourself, apparently."

Suddenly, the forest erupted into angry shouts and a flurry of footsteps.

"I think we're surrounded," the fire girl sighed. She muttered a phrase under her breath that Saki didn't understand, but she assumed it was a swear. "Well, let's not kill flies!"