THE CROWN OF CROWS

AWAKENING

Where did it go wrong? What did I do that I had to die?

A painful tingling sensation spread across every fibre of his being, every cell spoke of agony and resurrection. Might as well stayed in the crevice he died in, though he wanted to embrace life instead of death. And death was coming for him at alarming momentum.

Then he opened his eyes, light and darkness came in as a muffled pack of voices, whispers... Some of the whispers told him to live, to move, to open his eyes and see the word. Others whispered of death and hell, of demons and ghosts of the past that might haunt him in the near future. He was in a cave, a cold, dark cave as he concluded whilst cocking his head. With an excruciating push, he got to his feet. He overlooked a magical circle at his feet, drawn in crimson blood and smelt corruption in the air.

He sniffed, followed the pong about half a hundred meters into the darkness of the cave. But the dark never bothered him, his eyes adjusted right away to the point where he saw the inside of the hollow as clear as the day. Further on, he stumbled into a dozen corpses, strewn across the place, mutilated, mangled and maimed like a butcher's shop. The smell was bad, but the blood was worse. The bright crimson red had darkened with time, and his feet swam in a puddle of gore. He was barefoot, and his legs were shorter as well as his arms and body. He was younger, a kid.

Thirteen corpses were counted and he swore that if he'd continued into that cursed hole, he would have found many more farther. He decided to avoid any hassle with whatever was living in there or whoever might have done that atrocity and fled outside.

It took him some time, but as he followed the sounds and calls of animals, he finally made it out. Shimmering light blinded his vision, sweet scents of flowers and honey filled his nostrils. He trailed what seemed to be babbles and burbles coming from a stream or brook until he unveiled a rill of clear water running in a snake formation. The waters that rippled softly mirrored his angelic face of a kid.

His hair was of silver-white, fine threads rich in albinism like his eyebrows and eyelashes. Blue sapphires were sculptured in the shape of big, round eyes. His skin was as white as snow and the sun gently kissed him as he patted his face.

I'm so pretty, he said to himself. But whose body is this? He fondled his chest in the hope he'd feel pointy breasts and hard nipples, though he found a flat torso. Even the boyhood he found between his legs spoke of a male kid.

He leaned over, admiring his newly found beauty in somebody else's body. I wonder how old he is? He asked.

A voice in his head answered.

"The estimated age of this host is close to thirteen years of age."

He was stunned at first. "Who spoke?" he looked right and left, up and down.

"I am a fully mechanical and spiritual working process otherwise also known as a helper, a dictionary, encyclopedia, vocabulary, computing system and much more. Does this answer your question, Master?"

Master? This voice does seem to be only in my head. Is this like a game where I can have a little fairy helper or in this case a female voice in my head? It surely feels surreal.

He closed his fingers in a fist and opened it again. He went on five more times before noticing some black dirt underneath his nails. A duo of deer were drinking at the other side of the rill and further down a grey spider as big as him frolicked in the shallow waters. He'd never seen a spider grow as big as that, neither did its species match with any one of his knowledge.

"Computer? What kind of spider grows that size?"

The female voice in his head answered right away. "This species of spiders is the third evolution of the overall Arachnid. The third Arachnid is called Arachnideus. The second one is called Aracheus, the fourth evolution is called Marach and the fifth and last evolution is called Deusarach. The Arachnids typically live in tropical forests with abundant food and fresh water. This territory is the perfect habitat for these types of creatures. Their alimentation consists of practically anything they can get their fangs under, which compensate their growth."