Tears of Raven

1

In the city of Roylat no one had ever heard of dragons in over 989 years. That was until a very clumsy girl stumbled upon one. Her name was Raven and she had spent her entire existence hidden away in her own shadow, searching the woods for any kind of wounded creature in need of a healer; no matter how deadly their poisonous was or how snappy they could get if touched, she was on a mission to take care of anything and everything that was broken, except herself.

Raven was scouting through the forest of Roylat looking for berries to eat for breakfast when she heard, loud as a cannon shot, the breaking of a tree. She halted, shivers running down her spine, signaling her something terrible was about to happen. Living in the wild had thought her many lessons, the most important being: if something is able to break an oak tree a thousand years old, you shouldn't linger around to find out what it is. The Whispering Forest was a place of wonder and had been her home since she could remember. In Roylat, every individual without a meaning of surviving was designed to work for the royal family for a meal and a roof over their head, essentially, a legalized slavery even though the Queen made it sound as if it was an immense honor.

It was not. Raven had seen what they did to their servants, how they were flogged and hanged every time one of them attempted as so much as steal one crumble of bread from the royal kitchens. She was born in those walls and had escaped as soon as she was able to fend for herself. She remembered the first time she had set foot in the Oak Forest. She had always felt cold in the palaces wall but as soon as her bare toes had touched the crunching ground, she had the sensation that the woods had closed behind her embracing her spirit in a silent promise to always grant her refuge if she never betrayed it.

And since then, she had always given back. She had healed, cured and taken care of every wild thing in need and nature had always returned her kindness with tasteful food, warm shelters and moreover, protection.

So when the mighty oak tree came falling down in a crushing cascade, Raven straighten up and head toward it, not a single string of fear in her beating heart.

The echo of a whistle broke the still silence and a small gray owl flew through boughs like a missile passing next Raven's cheek. In a quick turn, the petite bird circles the girl before settling on her right shoulder, biting her ear tenderly.

"There you are Zeus." Raven scratched the center of the owl's chest moving the feather around. Zeus was the fastest owl Raven had ever encountered, which wouldn't be a very peculiar quality for this type of animal, if it wasn't for the fact that it was almost completely blind. His two blue eyes were puddle made of endless starlight and constellation. Raven had loved him since the moment she had found crying under a rotten tree all alone and incapable of fending for himself. She had thought him to fly, to haunt and in return he had been a loyal companion, hooting at the first danger, alerting her whenever her human sensing would fail her.

Zeus opened his beak letting out a high pitch warning.

"I'm just going to check. I promise I won't take this one home, this time." She muttered the last part while scouting forward. The oak tree was only few feet away, so she had no trouble getting to the destination. As she was passing under an immense root with Zeus steadily hooting each step more alarmed and restless, Raven turned to Seattle him.

"Oh, Zeus, you are always scared but I don't see a reason not to go check. After all, we saw everything there is to see in this forest, I doubt there will be something unusual or scary-"the word died in her mouth and so did her bravery.

It was the late afternoon, the tree barely let any light peek through he branches but the Rosey rays that did pass through, reflected perfectly on a scaled tail. Raven gulped as the serpent tail slide away from her foot.

She had almost stepped on it.

Zeus lunched from her shoulder and begun screaming for her to go. It was his signal and he was not going to listen to a reason, but Raven couldn't stop. She was mesmerized and followed the tail that was attached to a pair of ink wings that faded into the most scarlet of red. The creature barely audible hiss made the entire forest take a step back as it rose his horned head and opened his double set of teeth, breading out a cloud of smoke that intoxicated our little adventurer.

His scales, were so smooth, Raven thought it to be liquid ink dripping all over it if it wasn't for the marvelous red shade to which the dark faded to. A masterpiece. A breathtaking creature Raven found herself attached to.

The nostrils flared and Raven knew, after Zeus last attempt to drag her by the hood, that she needed to get out of the way because the dragon was mad for some reason or simply angry, and it had set his eyes on her. there was no way she would survive if he got even one of his white fangs into her skin. Even the smallest were half her size and she was modestly tall to be a girl.

The reptile golden eyes narrowed and the long neck begun folding back. Raven had already seen that kind of movement; it was similar to snakes when they are ready to hurl and snatch their dinner. She had no intention to stay around to find out if she was right so she grabbed Zeus by the waist and begun running for her life.