QUOTH THE RAVEN, " NEVERMORE "
Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore—
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night’s Plutonian shore!”
Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”
- EDGAR ALLAN POE
Isolde's POV
Stupid Esme. Why would she say something like that?
Now the implications of Akira actually liking me are dancing around my brain like an uninvited wedding guest.
Well, I couldn't deny the fact that Akira does stare at me a lot.
Maybe he is just fascinated with the fact that someone can be poor...
Damn it! I couldn't even focus on the instructions Inayat was giving us for our first-ever emission of magic.
"Trust me, it's really simple if you just have the right amount of focus. And it's okay if you can't grasp it on your first try, I took a whole week before I could emit a decent amount of blessed magic which says a lot about how hard it can be for some people," His voice sounded reminiscent as he came to instruct us individually.
He walked towards me first. "Isolde, focus on the feeling you got the moment you were blessed," he said lifting my hands in front of me and positioning them like prayer towards the sky. Passing me he went onto Dhara. "The very moment you felt something shift; when you came to a realization, what was it, Dhara?"
"What did the king say to you, Arthur? Was his crown heavy?" he added while walking towards Akira, "How bright was his light? How much did his flames burn, little light?"
Little light?
One by one, he went around the field where students stood at safe distances. All of us had our hands raised, ready to channel our blessings, to convert this boon into power.
"Don't be afraid of an outburst, children. You see the pillars behind you-" he said and we all looked behind to the pillars, "-are spelled to absorb any kind of high amount of energy emission. So let go!"
"Ok, let's begin, shall we?" and we began.
I looked around to see students, noble and commoner alike concentrating hard on channeling their blessing into an emission.
My treacherous eyes, however, found their way to Akira in a moment and I instantly recalled Esme's comment.
I don't know why I am so vexed by it. There is no way that was it was true. He ignored me like plague these days after we finished the assignment. He even changed seats.
He didn't even meet my eyes.
My thoughts of the red-head were broken by shouts of students trying not to trip on something. It would've been a funny sight if after a moment I wasn't doing the same.
Vines. They were green vines growing out of the land underneath the blond noble boy's hands. He looked panicked at the chaos unfolding amongst the students.
Suddenly the crystal on the pillar behind him glowed to life and the vines stopped growing.
Everyone stilled while Inayat continued with his instruction, "Now, Cephas, focus on your flow of magic again but this time try to have some control."
With that, Inayat took off his gloves and similarly raised his right hand and conjured shadowy smoke out of them that soon took the form of a Corvus. The smoke-born creature flew to one of the vines and sat on it causing the thing to start decaying. The harbinger of death had left only a bit alive near Cephas.
I looked at the display of magic with barely hidden awe.
Was that Inayat's blessing?
What a morbid gift..
I guess not every blessing is very blessing like, some looked rather like curses.
I started to focus back as wind was released out of another student's hand; blowing away some of the the ash around the decaying, dead vines.
The dust-filled wind swirled around the field casting gloomy shade like a cloudy day as I tried to remember the deity who came to someone like me; someone so insignificant. It said it saw me as a child; has been calling me since. What was special about me?
I remembered the rush of feelings it had caused me; feelings of grief, mourning, gratefulness. But above all forgiveness towards harsh nature, cruel Sol, Azrael Winter.
It gave me a true understanding of nature. It's judgment harsh and indifferent but held above all. Like alchemy, it gives us but knows how to take too.
It wasn't injustice, it was law. It had always been.
Something warm gathered at the corner of my eyes as I felt my breathing grow rapid with my heartbeat. My palms tingled.
I had done it, I was emitting my blessing!
However, my joy of accomplishment soon turned into horror when the freezing sensation on my palms came accompanied by a numbing pain.
The pain turned unbearable when I opened my eyes in panic.
My surroundings looked normal, students were busy with their emissions with Inayat helping them.
My throat dried up like the eastern infernal tundra even though my sight was blurry with water. The unshed tears rolled down as I remembered this dread. The same one I felt when the deity had summoned me to its alter.
It was calling to me again.
I tried to speak up but no words came out. I tried to move but my body was frozen. My frightened eyes darted around for help.
I saw the dead vines slowly turn an ashen green color as they start to move, this time without attaching themselves to Cephas's magic.
How did they come back to life? I thought Inayat inflicted decay upon them.
My wish to be freed from my paralyzed state became even more desperate when the zombified vines started to slither the distance towards my feet.
Someone, please look at me. Please help me.
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GLOSSARY
*Corvus: A Genus of birds from which Raven and Crows come from. It's also a constellation. Often associated with omen in mythologies around the world. They are depicted as the Harbingers of death due to their association with death and foresight in many folklores eg. Irish, Chaldean, Norse etc.
*Azrael: Azrael is the Angel of Death in Islamic and some Jew
ish traditions, and is referenced in Sikhism. He does not equate to Samael, who is the angel of death in Jewish lore but is depicted as malevolent. Azrael is said to be very polite in his invitations of death and is always kind to the would-be-deceased.
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