Raven Saga 01 - Raven

alive.
    “Lilly, please sit here with me for a while. At least until I fall asleep,” and I nodded as he closed his eyes while I sat quietly by his side.

CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

    Gabriel had been asleep for an hour when Jo tiptoed back into the room. When she saw that he was finally asleep, she ushered me out.
    “Come on, Lilly, it's time for supper. You must be starving? I know I am. But first, we've been given these clothes to change into,” she said as she handed me a small bundle consisting of a long red dress and black pumps. I noticed she'd been given a similar dress in green with a slightly different pair of black shoes. We quickly changed, before I followed her back through the maze until we found ourselves in what must have been the main dining 'room' within the caves. The ceiling was particularly high, but as there were no windows, it would have been very dark were it not for the hundreds of candles placed at regular intervals along the walls and along the centre of an unusually long dining table.
    I wondered how the Elders had managed to get all of this beautifully fine furniture all the way up the mountain but before I got the chance to ask, we were greeted by an abundance of friendly faces – all of the people that had been waiting for our arrival outside the cave.
    It was the first time I had managed to get a good look at them and I was surprised at how many normal looking people there seemed to be. Of course there were a fair few rather strange looking ones too. Some looked very old indeed, needing assistance just to move across the floor to their seats where they struggled to sit down, with their old joints creaking.
    I noticed a woman with bright red hair and skin so pale that I could almost see through it. I wondered if she was related to Rupert. She was chatting quietly to an older woman who appeared to have dark scales all over her face and when she reached for her chair, I saw that her fingers were webbed. As the candlelight caught her face, the dark scales appeared to sparkle. She noticed me staring and smiled kindly. I blushed and looked away, embarrassed.
    The last creature to walk in came as a bit of a shock. He was huge, about seven feet tall and covered from head to toe in fur. He looked like a giant ape, except that he walked exactly like a human and his facial features were soft. He was laughing at something someone had said in front of him. He laughed like a human too.
    They all sat at the table and Rupert called Jo and me over to sit at either side of the head. We had figured that Finley would be sitting there, assuming him to be the head of the Elders, but we were wrong. He was sitting a few chairs down from us, chatting quietly to Tabitha who grinned when she saw us.
    We waited a few minutes and then everybody stood up – apart from the really old ones. We followed suit and stood up too, waiting for something to happen. We didn't have to wait long. A very attractive young man appeared. Jo gasped at the sight of him and blushed, making me smile.
    “Good evening my equals,” he said in a deep smooth voice, “I trust you are all well? Please sit.” We all sat down and waited. “This evening we are honoured to be joined by two of Powell River's greatest changelings. Two very brave young women, Lilly and Jo. Welcome,” and then everybody lifted their glasses to us and we blushed crimson.
    “We also have with us another very special guest but he is recovering from a brutal attack. Fear not for him, though. The girls' grand-father Gabriel is recovering well and I believe he is currently sleeping. But we shall lift our glasses to him nonetheless.” And we all raised our glasses and said 'to Gabriel' before everybody began talking amongst themselves while Jo and I sat nervously to the side of what appeared to be the Elders' number one man.
    “I'm sorry I wasn't able to come down to help today. I have literally only just arrived back home. I have been away for a few days. But I have been told of the news and I know of your bravery… and yours Jo, too. Remarkable. Absolutely remarkable. So young and so brave. Excellent.” We smiled shyly and wondered who this man was.
    “Forgive my manners. I haven't introduced myself, have I? I am Carmelo. I founded the Elders many hundreds of years ago. It is a pleasure to meet you both,” he said.
    “It's an honour to meet you, Carmelo, but it's a little difficult to understand how you can be hundreds of years old,” I said.
    “I am