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"Who knows of your gift child? Have you told another soul?"
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[Shade Shadows]
"Then again, who wants a few extra hours of their nightmares?" I chuckled, glancing over at him.
My eyebrows drew in when I noticed he wasn't where I thought he was standing only paces away.
Turning, I paused my dusting for a bit, searching for the master. How quickly could he have moved? He was here not a second ago.
"Master?" I called out.
I tried to see if he had moved to another row or just moved out of sight, craning my neck to take a peak whilst nervously clenching the dusty cloth. I searched for the brooding master but he remained out of sight, not bothering to answer my calls.
Could he have just left without even as much as a goodbye?
"Master?!" I called out again for the last time.
When only an echo and silence responded, I concluded that I had indeed been abandoned.
"Just like that," I muttered beneath my breath turning back to my dusting. He had no manners at all.
Relieving my thoughts from him, I kept dusting, recalling all he said to me.
He talked of the Harbor and trade done with men.
I pursed my lips trying to think of a way to solve my problem.
I had to learn where the items traded were packed and who took them to the port. Heck, I needed to know the direction of the port, I had no idea how to get there.
Letting out a loose sigh, I packed a few more books but I was lost in my thoughts, thinking of ways to end this torture. My days were numbered in this court, even if they had been slightly extended by the master.
This escape was going to be more complicated than I thought.
At least when I was back in the Night Moon pack I had a map.
Though I still had it, the routes were certainly different. And the map was limited to the packs I had to pass before reaching the seas from the Night Moon pack.
It would have taken us less time to get to the port there than it did from the Night Court. My rough estimate would be at least 3 more days added to the already week-long journey. Give or take.
Of course, if we had wolves we could shift into, the time estimated could easily be cut in half but sadly, Vale and I had no such luxury. I had no wolf and if Vale shifted her scent could be tracked faster than if she remained human.
If only we had another map, that would be helpful.
A loud caw got me spinning around, catching the sight of a bird flying through the high window.
I watched as the raven flew right by me, perching on one of the master's study desks in the library.
It hopped to the edge of the table, studying me with its beady eyes, head crooked to the side.
I let out a relieved sigh, leaning against the shelves and studying the peculiar bird for a moment.
"And....you've returned," I grunted, letting out a loose breath.
The bird only blinked back at me, studying me with as much intensity as I did it.
"Here I am trying to find a map to escape and you come back so willingly," I scoffed still trying to understand this bird.
"If you're trying to thank me, you don't have to stay. I accepted your gratitude already."
It simply adjusted its perch, moving to the side, before looking back at me with those black eyes.
Why was I talking to it like it could reply?
I shut my eyes for a moment, shaking my head and chuckling at the humor of it all.
Well, on the bright side, at least I had someone to talk to. Or something to talk to. Who would care if I was slowly losing my mind in private?
Taking a breath out, I took note of my surroundings.
"Where am I going to find a map?" I mumbled to myself, eyes trailing back to the Raven, who tilted its head, staring back at me.
I suddenly froze when something clicked.
"Wait-" I began standing upright.
The raven cawed as my gaze trailed my surroundings. I took a step back from the bookshelves, spinning around, taking in the full sight of everything.
My gaze snapped to the raven with a wide smile, "I'm in a library," I hinted.
The bird blinked.
"I'm in a library." I repeated with a chuckle, "The library. Valcanes oldest. Where else can I find a map of Valcane other than in a library?! There must be a map somewhere around here," I grinned moving closer to the raven as I spoke.
"I mastered the map of Night Moon Pack by heart, I just have to figure out the territory on a map of Valcane and from there, I can tell what route to use to get to the port!"
I gleamed at this now only a foot away from the bird and it watched me carefully not bothering to fly away despite our proximity.
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" I threw a fist in the air. Finally, something was coming together.
"Okay, okay," I tried to calm my excitement turning back to the Raven, "I'll just have to find a map right?"
My gaze trailed to the vast library
-"And how hard can that possibly.... be?" I trailed off gulping at the width of the library. I side glanced at the raven and it blinked again.
Taking out a breath, I went to a random section of the library.
"Here goes nothing." I breathed.
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"Nothing, nothing -nothing" I grunted, slamming a book shut.
I was sweating, glancing about for my next prey but my fingers were already shaking and my arms hurt from grabbing stacks of books.
I crumpled against the shelves letting out a deep breath. I had flipped through as many books as I could find but there were no maps of the valcane or even the Night Wolf territory.
To make things worse, I couldn't get the filing system that had been put into place. There were no clear sections. You could be reading factual history books one moment to books about myths and legends the next.
Opening another random book I flipped through the pages.
"Oh for the love of Selene!" I shut my eyes, slamming the book closed. I looked up at the raven, "it was about mates."
I rolled my eyes, siding to the floor, and wiping the light sheet of sweat across my brow.
I was never going to find a map at this rate. And I had to get back to cleaning before ea master walked by.
There were too many books and they were all randomly spaced.
The vastness of the library was much too great. I hadn't even moved from the first row and I was sure I would have to leave soon.
I looked up at the perched raven, "You wouldn't happen to know which one in these gazillion books has a map of Valcane?" I huffed.
The bird blinked, and I scoffed, rolling my head forward in my folded arms with a soft sigh. I buried my face into it, trying hard not to crumble within. Despair seemed to slowly creep in despite my best efforts.
What was I thinking? Nothing came easy for keffer. Just when I found a solution another problem reared its ugly head.
"I wish one of us knew," I whispered.
The bird cawed. And I grunted, nodding at nothing in particular.
It cawed, again and again, causing me to look up at it. It was almost as if it waited for our eyes to meet before taking flight, my head whipping in its direction.
I watched as it sped past, getting lost within the rows.
I got to my feet, not understanding why I felt like I should follow it. Did it know the way? I paused for a second, unable to divide.
Another claw caused blindly walk in its direction, unsure of what I was doing, or how sane I was at the moment.
Perhaps it was desperation, perhaps it was hope.
"Raven?" I whispered. My voice was low, reminding myself there could be other masters lurking about.
I heard the ravens caw up ahead once more. Straining my ears, I listened for each one.
I knew it was crazy following a bird. For all, I knew it was circling the place till it finally flew out the window.
It had stayed perched on the table for a few hours now, it had to go home sometime right?
When silence loomed I stopped in the middle of a row, glancing around again, resisting the urge to regain my sanity,
"Raven?"
A moment passed and I almost scolded myself for being so gullible when I heard its faint caw once more in the distance prompting me to hurry in its direction.
"What am I doing? It's a bird for the love of Selene." I muttered to myself, walking through a narrow pass shelved on each side.
Breaking through the opening, I entered another center.
Here I spotted the raven flying above, circling a few times before it lowered.
My gaze followed its every flap, perching on what looked like a table. It was too dark to see in this center.
I grabbed a torch from one of the sides, placing it on a nearby hanger, my eyes widening at what I saw.
It was a large table sprawled with numerous papers and scrolls. I approached, gaze trailing the papers, unable to believe my eyes when I saw what they were filled in by-
Maps.
Hundreds of them, just laying about.
My jaw dropped, scanning the table where the Raven perched. Grabbing one medium-sized piece of paper with a section of Valcane on it, my fingers trembled in disbelief.
I quickly cleared a section of the heap of papers, finding a piece of the largest map at the bottom of a massive paper where the whole continent of Valcane was drawn out, the sea and even the land of men from what I could tell.
I glanced at the raven and it looked back up at me with its beady black eyes.
Slowly and carefully, I picked it up.
It didn't caw or fuss almost as if it trusted me. I brought it up to my face, my heart pounding within me.
"Y-You can understand me Raven, can't you?" I whispered.
It only blinked.
My gaze narrowed on it, "I know you can, or you wouldn't have found this and guided me to you."
It only blinked again.
I pursed my lips, doubting myself for a moment when it suddenly cawed loudly, ruffling its feathers.
A wide smile grew on me.
"You can." I reasoned.
Deep down inside me, I knew there was something special about it. The peculiar mark on its forehead. A white-spotted Diamond.
That was unnatural, unusual.
Like me.
I brought it back to the table and it hopped off. Its eyes trailed the map as if in satisfaction.
"You're a peculiar Raven aren't you?" I asked softly.
It hopped forward on the papers, seemingly studying it.
"Raven.." I trailed off mostly to myself as I watched it curiously.
"It's not right to call you by your title." I thought back to how I disliked it when people called me Keffer.
"If you truly wish to stick beside me, you will need a name."
It turned to me at this and I held a breath in. It looked right at me, its wings folded neatly behind it. Head tilted to the side as if awaiting my decision.
"Uh.." I panicked for a moment, unsure of what to say. I had never named anything living before. My eyes trailed to its peculiar Diamond-shaped spot.
"Diane?"
It instantly cawed twice at this name. Almost like it wanted it.
"First try and you like it?" I chuckled, surprised. It cawed again, this time taking flight.
I watched as it circled high above before flying down, perching on my shoulder.
I froze in surprise. The warmth of the creature heated my shoulder and left cheek.
"Diane it is." I grinned.
My eyes trailed back to the maps, "okay, let's see what you've found Diane."
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I hope you enjoyedthe double update just because I couldn't post on saturday! Leave a comment to let me know your thoughts!
Chapter [17.1] The Other Mate is available on Patreon!
Preview of chapter [17.1] THE OTHER MATE is down below!
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