by Hrafn » Mon Jul 16, 2012 7:48 am
The Sidhe woman rose to her feet, surprisingly stead for one who had been still for so long. She reached out for the mask, she had no need for it anymore and yet there was still a part of her reluctant to leave it behind. The unhealed wounds that the mask had once hid were gone now but a voice within her urged caution. She did not know how long she had rested in the desert sands or even where in the lands she might be. For all she knew her enemies might still be waiting and watching for her, she would not put it beyond the demon at the very least to have kept a vigil for her, he had always been one who enjoyed his revenge cold.
As she lifted the mask once more to her face she noticed something that had lain hidden beaneth it: a circle of blackened metal. A wry smile lit her face under the mask as she reached down and picked it up. "Well, well, well, I had not thought to see you again", she said softly, turning it round and around in her hands. Like her, the metal had been many things in its time: a fallen star, a crown of astounding beauty, a paladin's burden, a circlet of pain, a prison for a dark soul. And now? "And now you are nothing old friend". There was no power left in the metal now, whatever it might have once held was gone now, not even a faint echo remained.
She called the staff to her, the Art singing joyfully in her veins once again as her magic curled about the wood and drew it into her right hand. The woman took the blackened metal and curled it about the twisted and grasping top of the staff. She might have been reborn and given another chance at life, but there were somethings from before that she could not leave behind.
Now she was ready to face what the lands had become. The desert stretched out before her in all directions but only from the east did she feel the slightest pull, a gentle insistance that intruded upon her thoughts. It was as though she was tied to something by a thread beyond the horizon. Had she left something of power there in her former life? Did something formed by her Art call out to its maker? She did not think so but her curiousity was piqued and do she set off towards the pull.
Several hours passed before she saw another living creature. Only the grains of sand flowed and danced across the desert until she spotted a large bird riding the thermals far in the distance. As she walked, the Sidhe watched the bird as it circled and soared, no doubt it was waiting for some unfortunate creature to present itself as supper.
As it flew the bird stirred a memory deep within her, a memory of her childhood in the Sanctuary. She could still almost hear the voice of her D'Ni telling her a story of another bird...
"The raven is the oldest of birds by our reckoning, old and clever and oh-so-very cunning, a trickster and no mistake. But the raven, she wasn't always black of both feather and humour, no, not at all, once, in the first days, she shone brightly, putting even the peacock and the phoenix to shame. Once she was beautiful. Her feathers shone and gleamed more brightly than gold and were made of so many colours that even the rainbows could not count them or seek to match them. Oh yes, though she might be a dark and blackened creature now, once the raven was the most amazing of birds.
"But the raven of those days was a proud creature and once she was even heard to boast that she thought herself more lovely than the Goddess, more clever than the God and more brilliant than Their Brother. Such pride is a sin, my little dove, never forget that, the Gods do not take lightly to a mortal creature thinking themselves greater than They. The raven did not care, not when the owl and the mouse both came to warn her that her behaviour had angered the Gods, not even when the wolf and the lamb put aside their emnity to tell her to make her peace and plead for forgiveness. Instead the raven mocked them and took wing, crying to the heavens and to the earth that she was the finest of all creatures, that she had no equal.
"'No equal? But all must have an equal', the voice startled the raven from her flight. On a nearby branch dusty and plain bird sat, which the raven would have sworn was empty before. Its colour was unknown beneath the dirt that stuck to its feathers, its kind a mystery to the raven's eyes. 'If you have no equal then you can never find a mate, for a mating should be made of equals'.
"The raven nodded at the strange bird's words, a seed of doubt within her pride-filled mind, 'But where can one such as I find a true equal? The dragon has not my wisdom, the unicorn has not my grace, the griffon has not my beauty, no man, no beast, no bird can rival me. Shall I never find a mate who can be my equal?'
"'Each creature that you name is mortal, it has its span of years and dies in its time. What mortal creature could compare to you?' the other bird shamelessly flattered the proud raven. 'No, great Raven, no you must look beyond the mortal coil for your mate, you must seek the eternal, the unending, only there could you hope to find a mate worthy of your great beauty'.
"'The Gods? They are not my equal. See my shining feathers, how could any mere God compare?'
"'No look beyond Gods, They are not truly undying. What remains even when the Gods die?' And with that the dusty bird took flight to leave the foolish raven to ponder his words.
"Days passed and the raven still pondered, she looked this way and that, once she even tried to find the strange bird to question him further, but neither the birds of the air nor the beasts of the fields seemed to know where the he had gone. She even flew down the fishes and serpents that lived in the seas and oceans but they had not seen the dusty feathers of the other bird either. But as she perched and preened herself, admiring her reflection in the sea, the answer came to the raven. 'The ocean! Gods may come and Gods may go but the ocean remains. Perhaps the ocean can be my equal'. And so the raven flew over the ocean, and dived down deep into its waters. But the ocean was cold and did not return her embrace, its waves continued to pound and its waters swirled about the raven, chilling her to the core. 'No, the ocean cannot be my mate for it is cold and has no heart to love another'.
"Again days passed and the raven flew through the skies, ignoring the cries of its winged fellows to set aside its foolish quest and make its peace with the Gods. But the raven knew what it sought now and paid the other birds and beasts no attention. Instead it perched upon a great oak and looked across the lands, 'The earth is eternal, it may suffer as the Gods play their games but it endures. I know it has a heart for no matter how it suffers, still it brings forth crops for the living and a final home for the dead. The earth shall be my love and never shall I lack for an equal'. The raven flew over the far and wide lands, displaying its fine feathers and its most clever tricks. But the earth gave no sign of acknowledgment, the seasons passed across its face as it always had and the raven's beasuty went ignored. 'No, the earth cannot be my mate for it is blind and cannot see another'.
"The foolish raven flew to the highest mountain and wept that she would never find her equal or a mate to love her. But her tears never fell for they dried upon her feathers before they could fall to the unseeing earth, touched by the warm rays of the sun. The raven raised her head high and met the unwavering gaze of the sun above her. 'Oh bright sun, you have the eye to see me, you have the fiery heart to love me. Oh glorious sun, you shine as brightly as my feathers, you are as beautiful as me. You are my equal, you shall be my mate'. With a powerful beat of her wings she left the mountain behind, seeking only the blazing embrace of the sun above her. Higher and higher she climbed till the muscles in her chest and wings ached and the ever-burning orb of the sun was all she could see, 'I come, my love, my only love, my bright and shining equal'. She would not stop, clawing across the air, taking great gulpping breaths to take her ever closer to her goal. The heat of the sun reached out to her, touching her feathers, and where it touched sparks erupted, tiny flames sprang to life, hungrily spreading across the multi-coloured wonder of the raven. With a single cry of pain the raven reached its destination, its beak brushing the sun in a single chaste kiss before it fell to the far, far earth below.
"When the raven came to itself again it found itself a much changed bird for no creature of flesh was ever meant to reach so far. Its fine plummage was black as soot and never again would its once-fine colours grow. Even its beak, with which it has stolen its single kiss, was dark as coal, from tip to tail the raven was as black as the night. Never again would she boast of her beauty or her grace, never again would she be more than she appeared to be. The raven is not so prideful now I think".
The woman laughed as she thought back to those younger, more innocent times. Peels of laughter were swallowed up by the seemingly endless sands as she walked onwards and thought of all she had been and all she had done.
The woman with eyes of liquid gold. The woman who had been cleansed by a phoenix. The woman who had been condemned by a demon. The woman who had been called mad and murderess and heretic.
The woman who had once been the dove but was now and forever the raven.
The Hrafn.
With a smile on her face she turned her masked face skywards and felt the touch of Intop caress her. Good morning, my love, she said laughing still.
If I could change your mind, I wouldn't save you from the path you wander.
In desperation dreams, any soul can set you free.
And I still hear you scream, In every breath, in every single motion.
Burning innocence, the fire to set you free.