Isildilia.(Book 1 of the White Lily trilogy)

Chapter 2- A street meeting.

(Picture- the city layout) 

   From its position, sight was not a problem.

Right now, the only thing it cared about was the stability of the winds and being discovered by the humans. A sudden up-gust threw it off balance and it had to struggle to steady itself again. The winds here were so different than anywhere he flew before. They were quite chaotic.

It flew above one of the greatest human cities, Aliera. It was a city built in a series of rings. There were three perfect circles of walls, each with a larger diameter than the last, situated inside each other. But the fourth however, was not part of the original city layout. It grew out of the third at an odd angle. It was a loop budding off, rather than a completely separate ring. The fourth wall was much shabbier and, he noticed, was host to the smelliest of humans. The humans' nests were so close together you could easily peck your neighbour, compared to the other rings which had bigger, more spread-out nests.

There were low-lying hills in all directions which could serve as both an advantage and a disadvantage in a battle. One could see for leagues around for any attack, but they were also exposed in the open from all sides. The nearest big river was half a day's flight away. But he knew the humans were tricky, and were able to survive here through unknown magic means to get their water.

He drifted towards the very centre.

The Aleria palace was the biggest man-made structure the raven had ever seen, nestled in the very heart of the city. He dropped his altitude and flew lower, but not so low that he could be seen just yet. The towers were tall, spiral columns, capped with grey and blue slate roofing. The numerous windows were all different sizes and shapes, as well as plenty of statue, most of which were of people. It had a large, cobbled courtyard, which was lined with sentries, all standing deadly silent. He observed that there wasn't one green leaf in the whole structure. No grass, no trees, no plants of any kind. Typical of the humans.

The innermost walls surrounding the palace were infested with human guards, so he spun away from the sentries and headed further outward. What he sought was further away from the palace. He knew that from an earlier spying mission a few days prior. From his position, humans looked no bigger than ants that he would pick off for a snack. But up close they were the greatest threat to his existence. Trying to find one in particular was going to be very difficult, not to mention dangerous.

A faint smell caught his attention. Amongst the filth and stench of the city, came a faint waft of something...different. That was what it needed to aim for. He finally saw it.

There was a young, female human, at least seventeen summers from his experience. She wore a dress of periwinkle blue that had been stained by mud and grime and worn out around the edges. Her fur was long and brown, tied into two plaits that started at each ear but merged into one once it reached the back of the head. She also carried a large leather bag tied round at her waist. He went lower still to get a closer look, to confirm that this indeed was the person he was looking for. However he didn't consider how low he was flying.

An arrow narrowly missed the joint of his right wing.It didn't cause any damage, but the panic caused a few small feathers to drop out. That was close. He cawed and swerved quickly to the right to avoid another volley. A horn was sounded from one of the walls; it was too dangerous to stay any longer. Turning around on the winds, he headed west, out of the city to converge with his master.

Isildilia heard an alarm call and looked up. The call was short and the clamour of the men on the nearby wall died down very quickly. Whatever had caused the alarm, it clearly wasn't worth their effort or pay. It didn't take long for her mind to pass on the thought.