Crow Forest

Chapter Twenty Six

Parker's eyes burst open as a sharp force pushed down on her. She began to cough and splutter as water spilled from her mouth. Parker then rolled onto her stomach gasping for air. "Did I die?" She asked her voice quavering. "No, thankfully" Robyn breathed a sigh of relief. He pulled his long coat off and placed it around Parker's shoulders. "You need to be careful in future if you sense that you are in danger don't just keep pushing yourself stop and alert me" Robyn nagged. What was strange was Parker had seen him dive into the water. Why wasn't his clothes wet? "Yeah... sure" Parker breathed still shaking from the cold. "Oh, your coat you're probably freezing" Parker noted pulling the coat off to return to him. "No, I can't feel the cold or anything in that matter. Keep in wrapped around you" Robyn instructed as he then scooped the girl up in his arms.

"I can walk" Parker tried to reassure. "I'm sure you can but I don't want you to push yourself anymore" Robyn responded walking up the stairs and out into the hallway. "I think that perhaps you should take it easy for the rest of the night. Sit near the fire, read a book and eat something warm" Robyn suggested. "Sounds nice" Parker admitted. "You did good today. I'll be sure to check the temperature of the pool next time before training" Robyn reassured. The finally reached the lounge room. Parker could feel one of Robyns hand wave and the door magically opened by itself. He strolled her over to the couch and placed her down gently then turned away and began to light the fire.

Next to the fireplace was a few drawings that looked they were done by a small child. She hadn't noticed them before but here they were a drawing of a plague doctor and small girl holding hands. Suddenly Parker became intrigued in asking Robyn a question she hadn't thought of before. But whether or not he'd answer it was a whole other question. "Hey... Robyn?" Parker hesitated. "Hmmm?" He responded as a burst of flames came to life.

"Could you tell me about Sophie?" She almost whispered. Parker watched as Robyn froze in front of the fireplace. He looked almost tense at the presence of the name. "Why do you wish to know about Sophie?" He hummed his head falling down slightly. "I heard she disappeared into the crow forest house a long time ago... I just want to know if she was like me?" Parker sighed still watching Robyn on her side. Once again, a long pause from Robyn, "No... she was nothing like you. She was much younger and more naïve" he finally admitted.

"How do you mean?" Parker asked quietly shuffling forward eager to listen. Robyn turned his back to the couch and leaned back onto it. "Sophie was only a small child when I met her in the woods. She had been following me for a few days and I had tried to ignore the small girl following me in the woods but it was quite impossible" Robyn chuckled. "Why was she following you?" Parker inquired. "I don't know, She just took interest in me I guess. Sophie didn't have a great home-life so she took her self out in to the woods most of her days and that's when it really started. She followed me home one day and that was it, she made that her new home" Robyn sighed.

"She'd keep me company in the lab while I studied, learn about all the names of strange herbs and mushrooms found in the forest, followed me to where and back. I let her stay, guess I was really lonely till one day I had to leave to travel across the world for a few hours. I didn't want her exposed to magic to much due the effects it has on mortals. Turns out there had been someone talking to her outside of the walls. A demon named Tom had been ever so friendly with the child without my knowledge. If I had known I would have sent her somewhere safe... When I returned home what awaited me was a nightmare. I couldn't save her. Sophie was long dead" Robyn stumbled on his last words, he sounded almost tormented by the memory's.

"This Tom... is he-"Parker began but was instantly cut off. "Yes... Tom has seen you and has only one desire to bring me pain and misery" Robyn scoffed. The flames in the fire place crackled loudly making Parker bolt up. "Uh, sorry" Robyn muttered turning away. "You don't need to be sorry... It's horrible you had to go through all that but I think everyone suffers while they walk on this planet" Parker admitted slipping down off the couch to sit next to Robyn. "Oh yeah?" He hummed turning his mask to face her. "Yeah, No matter what. You can't really get away Scott free in life. It's full of twists and turns" she sighed.

"That's one way of putting it..." Robyn agreed. "We'll continue your training tomorrow. For now I want you to rest up" Robyn hummed pulling himself up to his feet. "Alright, See you tomorrow" Parker smiled pulling herself up back onto the couch. "See you tomorrow, sleep well" Robyn nodded exiting the room and closing the door behind him. Parker nestled herself down into the warm squishy spot. She wondered what she'd be working on tomorrow.