The curse of a raven

Chapter 1

Strong winds blew the powdered snow across the mountainside making its presence known by staining the dark, looming rock. Feathers were ruffled by the wind, a small shape huddling itself further into a crevice in the rock to both hide from an unknown fright and keep itself warm in the lashing storm.

Footsteps crunched in the snow, eyes trailing down to the shadows moving about in the snow in an attempt to make their way up the rocky path of the mountain. The winged creature wrapped itself further in black and blue feathers, snow sticking to them and leaving small white spots across the otherwise dark feathers.

A scraping sound drew the small creature's attention to the rock face, fear crossing its dark features. "Hey there kid. What are you doing up here on your own" a gentle yet slightly accented voice asked.

The source of the voice was a dark skinned woman, her magenta hair scrambling over her shoulders like tentacles. The small creature whimpered and moved back. "Its alright. I don't bite. I promise" she smiled, revealing sharp yet bright fangs while sharp purple claws sunk into the rock to keep her balance.

"Who are you?" the winged creature asked in nothing more than a barely audible squeak. "My name's Omra. My friends are just a little further up the mountain if you want me to bring you up there" Omra explained, her lavender coloured tail wrapping itself around a dead plant which made itself known through a crack in the rock face.

The small creature nodded, its dark blue hair framing its face more than it already did. Omra outstretched a light indigo and pink scaled wing to it. It outstretched a small fingered  hand and gripped onto her wing.

She gently pulled it closer, giving it the option to climb onto her back. "So do you have a name little one?" Omra asked, the small creatures short arms wrapping around Omra's shoulders and gripping hard onto the tips of her long, wavy horns that stopped right next to her jawline, fingers hitting a golden piercing on her right horn. "Mystic" she squeaked, burying her face into magenta hair.

"Don't let go kid" she instructed before extending her hand up to sink purple claws into the sturdy rock. A few loose stones tumbled down the mountainside during the climb, being knocked loose by sharp claws that were repeatedly sunk into the rock as Omra carefully made her way up the rocky mountain.

When they were close to the top, a pale hand was outstretched which Omra linked one claw with, some additional force pulling the two of them up onto a slightly larger flat surface that could be reached easily through flight.

Omra looked over her shoulder to Mystic who was looking up at her with big fearful eyes, the dark purple almost glowing in the low light. "Is that her?" the pale man who had helped Omra up asked, his long amber hair blowing in the strong wind. Omra gave a small nod.

The amber haired man walked to her side, looking down at Mystic with gentle golden eyes. "Hey there. No need to be afraid of us. We won't hurt you" he assured. Mystic looked at his face, letting go of one of Omra's horns to reach up and touch the two slightly curved claw marks that ran up the middle of his right eye.

"Haha. Look at that. She likes your scar" the other guy laughed, running a hand though his spiky hair which couldn't seem to decide if it wanted to be maroon, white or aubergine and just went with maroon on the left, aubergine on the right and white in the middle. The amber haired male pinned his ears to his head, his two tails twitching at the tips and showing his irritation.

"Astruun! I've told you to stop laughing about my scar" he growled. A scaly tail wrapped around his waist. "Don't worry foxy, stay calm" Omra whispered, running her hands through his hair while simultaneously glaring at Astruun with an ice gaze.

Astruun sighed, his arms flopping at his side. "Sorry Kohaku. My mean side was showing" he apologized, raising his hand to rub the back of his neck. "Its fine. Now let's get back before we freeze our tails off" he laughed before a shiver shook his entire body from a particularly cold gust of wind. "Only the two of you have tails so I'd be freezing my butt of" Astruun chuckled, the crimson slits in his black eyes dilating as he laughed.

"Yeah, yeah, just get us down" Kohaku snorted. Omra rolled her rose coloured eyes at the boys playful bickering while crossing her arms. A burst of black caught Mystic's attention as she watched Astruun become surrounded in the dark light that resembled fire. When it cleared, the ground around him was scorched, the snow itself melted.

Astruun himself now sported two large black feathered wings, small horns protruding from his head and a thin, spear tipped tail that waved about. He walked over to Kohaku, leaving scorching footprints in his wake. Astruun placed his hands under Kohaku's arms. When he knew he had a secure grip, he flapped his large black wings and took flight.

Omra quickly followed, spreading her lavender and flamingo coloured wings and bursting into the air like a bottle that had too much pressure in it. Mystic tightened her grip on Omra's horns, not wanting to fall off a her feathers were ruffled by the strong wind that whipped her face.

Unbeknownst to the small group, the men that Mystic had seen approaching through the snow had seen them take off from their rocky ledge and had made their way there. A long haired man bent down, brushing his hand over the black footprints that had smoke rising from them.

"These are demon tracks" he mumbled, eyes narrowed on the footprints. Flapping behind him made him turn. "What have you to tell me archangel" he asked, narrowing his blue eyes on the creature before him.

Archangel stepped forward, their footprints leaving a soft blue glow. "Its about the fugitives" they explained, ruffling their feathers to keep themselves warm. "What about them?" he asked. "Three of them went out on a mission to retrieve the Raven that had been sighted in the nearby village" Archangel explained.

One of the women on the team snorted. "We already know that archangel. We saw them leave" she hissed, green eyes narrowing on the man and black claws sharpening. Archangel rolled their eyes. "If that is all then you are free to leave" the long haired man ordered calmly. Archangel saluted before flying off into the clouds, leaving the group alone.