Raven Saga 01 - Raven

little time to let the information sink in. We were on a long and arduous journey to meet with vampires and witches? It sounded crazy but I knew that Gabriel knew what he was doing.
    “Are they all really old then, Gabriel?” I asked wondering why they were known as the Elders.
    “Many are very old, yes, although they will not appear to be old to us. The vampires, for instance, are immortal. They appear to be young and beautiful, when in fact they have been in existence for many hundreds of years. Some of the witches are the same. But those of them that are like you, half human, half animal, they look old because they are old. But they all have something in common. They are the Elders and they are called the Elders because they are full of wisdom and knowledge about almost everything,” he answered.
    “How did they become the Elders?”
    He smiled then and told me that he had been invited to join them, but only when he feels ready. This surprised me. I was not quite sure why it should shock me so much because Gabriel was a wise and honest man, full of advice for anyone that needs it. A pillar of the community. But I was shocked nonetheless. And worried. It's a long way from his family. A long way from me. And when would he decide to join them? I hoped that it would not be for a long time to come.
    But Gabriel continued to answer my question, not concerning himself with the worried look on my face, “All of the Elders are beings that have been strong and reliable members of their own communities who want to help on a larger scale. They are a kind of authority for people like us. They make rules we must follow, just like our own governments do. There is a large number of groups of Elders found throughout the world. All living in well hidden communes, like the one we're going to visit in the mountains.”
    I listened intently and wondered what kind of 'people' they would be, and how many of them would be there. But the thing that really caught my attention was the fact that they make rules that must be followed by the likes of me – anyone that is not entirely human. The only rule I knew of at that point was the fact that we needed to keep our true selves a secret from the rest of the world. Cringing at the memory, I recalled how I'd already broken that secret when I'd accidentally revealed my true form to Oliver. I was lucky that he'd agreed to turn a blind eye to the truth.
    We continued to motor along the calm waters in silence for a while, myself deep in thought about the rules and the Elders while Gabriel contentedly hummed to himself. Looking down into the depths of the river below, I was surprised how clear the water was. Although inviting because of its clarity, it looked icy cold and I wasn't in the least bit tempted to jump in. Our boat made large ripples behind us as we chugged along, and I watched for a while as it mesmerised me, taking my mind off what was to come.
    Looking up from the water, I noticed a number of small green islands around us. I assumed they were uninhabited but I was probably wrong. Knowing what I knew then, I changed my mind and decided they were probably full of vampires and werewolves, all waiting for fresh blood and meat to feast on. The thought made me shiver, and I decided I needed to cut down on the horror I'd been watching and reading lately. Gabriel watched me and asked what I was thinking about.
    Grinning, I told him that I wondered who, or what, lived on the islands surrounding us. I didn't expect him to know the answer but he did. I should have known. He usually had answers to everything.
    “Only a few of them are inhabited full time,” he said, “most are used on the odd occasion by passers by like us. But there are a few islands that have small communities of special creatures,” he added, “who would prefer that we avoided them entirely.”
    “Why would they want us to avoid them?”
    “These creatures do not want to be tempted by what they shouldn't have, which is why they live far from civilisation.”
    I noticed that he neglected to say what kind of creatures they were and I decided I didn't want to know... at least until we had passed through and were well clear of them.
    Changing the subject, I asked Gabriel why we were doing this journey by boat and on foot. “Isn't it possible to reach the mountains by car?”
    He laughed then and reiterated what he had said before. The journey itself was a learning experience. Something that was an important part of