• Chapter 1
    Raven and Thief




    “If you plan to catch me, you’ll have you move faster than that, Drowsy!” yelled a girl.
    She seemed to hold animal-like features to her, more raccoon than anything. Small gray ears poked out of her long, black hair as the fur covering her body was short, sparse and a lighter gray with black runic markings around her body. Her tail, of course, was fluffed and a pattern of black and gray. The raccoon child smiled deeply with and looked down, with deep yellow eyes, from a tree. Below her, was Dark Elf of odd features looking up at her darkly. The Dark Elf breathed in deeply as she pulled out a makeshift bow and a quiver of six arrows from her bag. Quickly pulling the string, she let loose an arrow as it hit her friend’s hair.
    “Nice shot, for an Elf I mean…” she snapped.
    “Don’t you dare call me one of those tree huggers!” the dark elf snapped back.
    “Yeah, whatever, can you help me out here?”
    “Only if you stop running off and give me my Birthday Present!”
    “First, how old are we again?” the girl asked holding her hand to her ear.
    “You already know! Stop teasing, Thief!”
    “Say it, or no present!” Thief said.
    “I’m one hundred eighty years old today,” she complained.
    Thief roared with laughter as she leaned up against the tree. Suddenly, the Dark Elf shot another arrow at her.
    “Alright, geese, you don’t have to go killing me, Raven!”
    “Happy now?” Raven asked.
    “I am content. Now, help me!” Thief complained.
    Raven jumped up and landed lightly above Thief. Looking down, she gave a smile and crouched down to pull the arrows out of the tree.
    “You may be faster than me, Rat, but when it comes to jumping, I have you beat!”
    “Says the one who didn’t even pass their Agility Exam!” Thief snapped.
    “Says the one who didn’t pass Archery 101!” snapped Raven.
    “Says the one who didn’t pass Summoning Ghouls and Will-o-Wisps!”
    “The one who didn’t even touch Basic Hand-to-Hand Combat!”
    “Will you two SHUT UP!!?”
    Raven and Thief looked down to see a boy, tall and thin, looking up at them with slightly bright blue hair with pink streaks in it. Both jumped down and landed beside the boy gracefully. Grinning they both tackled him and laughed.
    “What happened to your hair?” Raven asked.
    “Magic problems?” Thief added.
    “No, it’s called Madam Rosa’s Hair Change! It stays in there for at least four to six weeks. It also changes colors to match your mood!”
    The boy had to be no younger than fifteen, but he was already taller than Thief and Raven. He was lanky and perky as well as very intelligent. Ironically enough, he was a she. Rae had had a strange accident when he was little by combining spells with cosmetics, making him grow male genital, but still keeping breasts as well as his feminine structure. He just grew taller and had a bit of facial hair.
    “Rae, you’re weird,” Raven said randomly.
    Rae rolled his eyes and shook his head slowly with a slight grin on his face. He then rubbed his head and looked over at Raven.
    “Happy Birthday!”
    He then pulled out a cage from his robes and sat it in front of Raven. In the cage was an egg. Black with blue specks, the egg shook a bit in the cage.
    “This, I found in storage while cleaning the basement the other night. It was left to some kid years ago, but he forgot it. I think he’s dead now,” he mumbled.
    “Wait, you stole from the school and some dead kid at the same time?!” Thief snapped.
    Rae nodded and frowned feeling a bit guilty.
    “Should I return it? I mean-“
    “NO!! It’s great you would go that far to get something for Raven, but it’s just kind of funny! What is it?”
    “I’m not sure, but I found some information in the library,”
    Rae then pulled out a few rolled up pieces of paper and sat down on the ground next to the cage, which seemed too rattle more when Raven and Thief sat down as well.
    “The Raverous Pojourus or Black Phoenix is very rare, rarer than your average Phoenix. Known to be very evil, wild and an ill omen to many races and religions. Known for its ability to carry large sums of weight, size change and strong connection with its companion, Wrath, its common name, is chaotic evil aligned and not the least gentle. Wrath is also seen in Underground caverns, cities, and villages. Mostly seen in the mountains and haunted swamps, it is rarely seen in daylight. There have been little sightings of Wrath for over thousands of years, but are only seen in large flocks when hunting or when an epic change in the realm is present. They are also the symbol of decay, nightmares, sickness, and darkness. Another name for them is King of Carrion Birds.
    Breeding is also rare, but more common than the average phoenix. Only one egg is laid and protected by only the father whom is slightly smaller and less violent. Mothers have the tendency to eat their young and their mate during periods of sudden changes of rage. The egg is protected for two years then abandoned after the father has either died or has chosen to just give up with its efforts. The egg is usually the size of a large ball or basket. It slowly grows with the bird inside of it growing as well. When soon ready to hatch, the bird will give out painful cries to the ear and the egg will vibrate. Soon, the egg will then explode in a silver shower of flames-“
    “Wait, explode?!” Raven snapped.
    The three of them quickly looked down at the egg in the cage as cries could be heard and a few sparks started to pop out of the egg. Thief breathed in deeply as she stood up. The other two followed her movements and stepped back.
    “How bad of an explosion?”
    “It says at least six to ten feet,”
    “Should we start running then?”
    “That sounds good!”
    Thief quickly jumped up in the tree as she hopped from branch to branch with Raven and Rae right under her.
    Seconds later, there was a small rumble and then a shatter like glass breaking. Rae and Raven hid behind some bushes as Thief was well hidden in the tree above them keeping watch.
    “Was that it? Rather unexpected if I say so myself,” Thief asked.
    “No, we should see a flash of bright light as well as rancid smell of rotting meat afterwards,” said Rae while flipping through the pages of his notes.
    Suddenly, an earth shattering boom then a flashing light in the distance as Rae and Raven ducked under the bushes to avoid any flying debris. After a while, they pulled their heads up and looked around. There, before them, sat a rather simple looking raven. Of curse, it seemed a bit bigger than the average raven, yet it had blood red eyes and gave off a bit of steam from its feathers. Fluffing up a bit, the raven gave a beckoning croak towards Raven and her friends. Standing up slowly, Raven inched forward.
    “Wait, Raven, what are you doing?” Thief snapped.
    “I’m going to see if it’s okay of course! It might be wounded,” she snapped back.
    “I highly doubt that since it was the one that caused the explosion,” Rae sighed.
    Raven ignored her friend’s complaints and walked over a bit more. The raven glared at her as it cocked its head to the side. Suddenly, it gave another croak as it opened its black beak.
    “He’s hungry,” Rae said amused.
    “What do I feed it?”
    “Well, the book says rotting meat and carrion, but it also has a thing for sweets too,”
    Raven smiled at this as she pulled out a bit of cake from earlier. Throwing a bit of crumbs within the raven’s beak, the raven quickly gobbled the crumbs up and flew on to Raven’s shoulder pecking at the bit of cake. Raven laughed a bit and hand fed it a bit more. Thief climbed down from the tree as Rae stepped in front of her and leaned on a tree.
    “Cute, in that…twisted demonic bird kind of way,” Thief sighed.
    “Oh come on, give the little guy a break! He’s still a baby,” Rae grunted.
    “He? How do we know for sure that the bird’s a he?” Thief snapped.
    “Males have red eyes, females have purple. The bird’s a male,” he said with a slight glare.
    Thief rolled her eyes as she leaned on Raven a bit and helped feed the bird.
    “So, whatcha’ gonna’ call it?”
    Raven looked up at the trees, then down at the ground as she pondered on what to call her new companion. She smiled then looked at the bird right in the eyes.
    “Drow,” she whispered.
    “Drow? Why?” Rae asked.
    “Stupid, Dark Elf is too long of a name for a bird,”
    Raven laughed again.
    “No, it’s because Raven is another name for a Black Phoenix and I already have that name. So, why not he have my race name? Drow,”
    Raven then walked off with Drow on her shoulder whom was busy clucking and eating cake. Thief and Rae looked at each other slightly.
    “She’s an odd one,” Rae murmured.
    Thief gave a side look at Rae and went into fits of giggles.
    “What?” Rae snapped.
    “It’s funny. You calling someone odd,”
    “And why is this?!”
    Thief did not answer, but instead ran after Raven and followed the Dark Elf back up to the orphanage. Rae blinked with confusion as he rubbed his fingers through his hair. He finally then ran with a start to catch up with them.