A Red Raven's Song

Chapter 1

The journey back to the Red Ravens' "home" in the province of Gyarth was comfortably long. James was glad to know the assassins had not lived so near his home this entire time. At the same time, however, the knowledge was disheartening. The further away from Leeaire their feet took them, the less likely James was to ever see his home again.

The boy was in good company at least, if that can be said of a band of hired murderers. Seven men had ventured to Leeaire and now six sat around him in the camp they had made for the night. Bull, the man James had killed, had been the only casualty of the night. They did not hold this against him. The men were saddened by his death, but they understood that it had been an accident and James was only trying to save himself.

The group had built a small fire in a clearing amongst a dense wall of pine trees. James could not help but admire the pleasant aroma formed by the mingling odor of pine and the smell of smoke and burning wood. The group circled around this fire now and began making the previously promised introductions.

The man to speak first, oddly enough, was the man whom James had first heard speak upon his own discovery. The gruff-voiced man was called Hyrem. The boy almost mistook it for a real name, until Hyrem explained that it was the name of the first man he had ever killed.

"That is an outright lie, my friend," a lean, younger man, if even old enough to be called such, with short-cropped and spiked yellow hair laughed. "The boy will learn eventually anyway, no use in lying." The man winked at James. "Hyrem was the name of a cat he kept as a boy. He mentioned the cat once and the name has been his ever since."

"As if you are one to speak, Buttercup." Hyrem's retort brought a roar of laughter from the other men.

"Mysteria!" cried another man.

"The Mighty Naked Ladies!"

"How about Wonder Bulb?"

"No, I like Naked Ladies much more."

James sat staring in confusion until he realized they were using the various names of a poisonous flower. "Is your name Crocus, then?"

The blonde man instantly glowed. "Oh, a well educated boy, I see. Finally! Yes, I am Crocus. Beautiful and graceful, but deadly!" His voice rose and fell with more life and whimsy than that of any normal man. He certainly seemed a flowery man.

"Crocus is well suited to the name, as you can tell. He is our little flower," Hyrem gave a mock smile and have Crocus's hair a rough tousle that nearly took off his head. "As well, he used the flower to takes his first life. What was her name again?"

Crocus grimaced. "Lianagi. She was my betrothed," he explained. "Marriage does not suit me and to be honest, she was a dreadful woman. Every time I saw her I would return home scored with bruises and bloody limbs. As you can imagine, I desperately sought a way out. It was then that I showed her my flower garden."

"I did not know we were supposed I tell our life story," Hyrem remarked.

"Bah, no one cares for your stories. It is bad enough that you made Crocus tell his." This came from a handsome man, likely about James's father's age, with long dark hair and clear blue eyes that shone bright in the firelight. "Let us move on."

The man stood, as if to make a speech. "My name is Archer. Surely my name does not need any explaining. I hailed from Leeaire, my lord, before I joined the Ravens. My only accomplishment in life is that I am damn good with a bow." With this the men all gave their share of "ayes" and the next man stood up.

This man was called Sparrow. He did not speak much, but only to explain that he was called Sparrow because he had jumped from tree to tree, giving bird calls to confuse his targets, once during a small assault between the provinces of Mayd and Gyarth.