Raven Saga 01 - Raven

She didn't even try to stop me. I carried on walking until I got to Gabriel's house. When he opened the door and saw me there with her dead body, I know he thought it was me. I knew he thought I was responsible. I could tell from his eyes. I laid Neleh's body on the bed and I left. Gabriel was crying by her side and he didn't notice me go. That's when I decided to go back and see if I could catch her myself, but as I walked back through the forest, the most horrendous pain started in my back. It lasted for hours and hours and I couldn't do a thing. I couldn't move. I've never experienced pain like it,” he said.
    “You were growing the wings,” I added and he nodded.
    Sammy explained that he knew perfectly well that he could never return to the town, nor go anywhere near civilisation. Already people thought he was a killer and if they saw his wings, it would have just made things even worse. They would see him as the devil himself.
    “Sammy, I'm so sorry about what happened to you. But we must tell Gabriel the truth. He will believe you now.”
    “Perhaps he will but I can't go near the town. Not like this.”
    “But you did when you rescued me,” I said hopefully, “Why did you do that?” I asked, not having realised the implications before.
    “I couldn't save Neleh but I'll be damned if I let anything happen to her sister,” he said, with a smile.
    I leaned my head on his shoulder, “Thank you”.
    Sammy told me that occasionally he would fly or walk a little closer to town, keeping himself very well hidden where he would listen to the conversations of hikers, just to feel human again. One day he had heard two women talking about a young girl who had returned to live with her grand-father in Powell River. “When they mentioned Gabriel by name I knew it was you,” he said.
    “Sammy, did you know that my mother had died too?” I asked.
    He nodded, “She was murdered too. I think that was the spell Vivian was casting that day. She was trying to get rid of your mother and she succeeded. I'm so sorry, Lilly. If only I had managed to stop her.”
    I reassured him that it would have been impossible. Nothing could have stopped her. Nothing at all.
    For the next few hours, Sammy and I talked about what life had been like for the two of us over the years... me growing up in a kind of prison but not realising it until recently and him living in his own prison, hiding in the forest. We felt like life would begin to change again for us both, now that we had found each other. He was an important part of my family and I had to convince the rest of my family that this was so. But more importantly, I had to convince them that he was no killer. That Vivian was responsible for much more than just taking me and my father away from them.
    But first, I had to get home.

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

    “Hold on tight, Lilly,” said Sammy as he put his arms carefully around me. His wings flared out to his sides and with a simple jump we moved skywards. Although terrifying, flying through the dark night was exhilarating.
    The higher we flew, the colder the temperature became and I found myself shivering to such an extent that my teeth began to chatter.
    “Don't worry, we're almost there,” Sammy said softly above the sound of his moving wings. I couldn't look down for fear. But soon enough, we were home. He swooped down, staying within the confines of the forest. I recognised the area and knew I was close to home.
    As we came to a standstill, he gently released his grip on me. “Are you all right?” Nodding, I hugged him tightly and told him that soon we would all be together again.
    “How can I contact you though?” I asked, wondering how he would know when it was safe to return.
    “I'll come back and meet you here again tomorrow night as soon as darkness comes. I'll stay hidden until I see you. Until then, Lilly. Keep safe. Good luck speaking to the rest of the family.”
    I nodded as I watched him gracefully leap off into the sky again. I could hear his wings gently beating in the wind and wondered if, one day, I would be able to fly like that. I hadn't forgotten that I might possess the gene that could give me wings of my own. Or furry paws. But I was still waiting, nervously, for it to happen.
    “Gabriel, Gabriel... wake up,” I said, gently shaking his shoulders as he slept peacefully, blissfully unaware of what had just happened to me.
    As he came to, he suddenly sat upright and asked, “Lilly, are you all right?