The raven

The only thing he could think about was water.

He crawled with his arms through the mud up to a river. While he was drinking he noticed a faint glimmer in the dirt underwater. He digged with his hands to discover a wonderful jewel that shone with a dim black light. When he held the treasure in his hand, he felt a rush of emotions. He jumped from excitement to euphoria to exhaustion to depression and finally numbness. He froze and fell into the river, completely paralyzed.

While the waters carried him, he dreamt of a dark room where the walls were covered with black blood and crawling filth. A little girl entered through the only door in the room. He couldn’t move nor speak as she stared at him with her eyes wide open. Without moving her mouth, she said:

She lied to you and played with you, but I will never be like her.

Who’s that? Where am I?

He didn’t need words to talk to her either, she heard what he thought.

Remember, remember… There is only one to blame for all that happened to you. She has tried to ruin your precious soul, but you endured and you can still embrace life: take my hand.

As she spoke, her words became harder to understand.

Oh, well, we can do this another time. Now wake up, you’re drowning.

He opened his eyes as the river carried him, pushing him underwater. He could die if he only chose to let go. Death was what he had wished for so long. But he refused, he felt the urge to live, not just for revenge, he truly wanted to live. He tried to swim for the surface to recover his breath, but his arms were too tired after all the crawling.

He grabbed onto the roots of a tree, using all the strength he had left to recover his breath. Then back he went on the rushing waters. Peeking above water he saw the waterfall that was up ahead. The river dragged him down. His arms gave out. He didn’t have much air left.

Then he heard a whisper. It was the little girl from his dream speaking out of the jewel:

Embrace darkness or fall into oblivion like the rest!

Yes, save me, whatever the cost.

He pressed the stone against his chest until it sank into him. He began to change. Black plumes grew throughout his body, large wings pierced through his back, tearing his flesh open.

When he reached the waterfall and began to fall, he was no longer himself. He flapped his wings to slow down the fall, if only partially. He hit the waters below, stunning him into a dream, the first after years of vigil.