The Crow Master

The light was blinding that night. Every Crow in sight could tell that this was, in no way, a good thing. The light wasn’t coming from Celeste, like it should have been. This time, the silvery angelic light was coming from the hill top of one of the largest Murders in the world; the Varis Murder. For miles around, the child’s scream that erupted from the hill top as the light grew brighter could be heard, echoing off the village buildings below and ending in the distance.

A second voice, younger still, could be heard yelling after the other:
‘’Sulka! Get away from him! It’s not real! She’s not real!’’

Other Crows were racing to the peak of the hill to see what the commotion was about at this point, but all they saw when they finally arrived, was a young girl, tiny black feathers tied into her hair and almost goofy child wings attached to her back. She was on her knees in front of another young Crow, only this one was a boy, and his feathers looked like they had been bleached white, his face was just as pale as his tiny wings and his eyes were open wide, as if terrified by something. The young Crow girl beside him was sobbing mindlessly at his side as the newly arrived adults gathered around her and her best friend.
How could this have happened? Weren’t the Masters of Night supposed to protect them from Nightmares? Had they abandoned her and her Murder? Why would a Nightmare come here of all places anyway?

‘’Kuu…’’

The girl looked up at the sound of her name, turning her tear stained face up at the warm, yet worried face of the old woman who had called her. The Murder elder.
‘’Kuu, you know what must be done.’’ She said softly. ‘’Something has happened to our Master. Normally I would not trust such a task with an inexperienced child, but there is no one else who can do this. It must be a child that finds him. He will hopefully take pity on someone who has loved and lost.’’

‘‘But - Why me?’’ Kuu managed to choke out between sobs.

‘‘No one else has your power, the power of imagination, the power to make what should be non-existent come to life.’’

Kuu wiped her eyes with the back of her sleeve and her forehead creased into a frown. ’’But, I’ve never-’’

‘’Worry not, Celeste is with you. Just ask her for her assistance in your time of need and she will aid you.’’

Kuu suddenly felt the cold rage she’d felt earlier when the Nightmare had attacked her friend who had tried to protect her.
‘’I asked her for help tonight.’’ Her gaze wondered down to that of her friend, who’s eyes were still wide as the other Crows gathered around him, their own faces bearing looks of horror.
‘’She really helped me.’’ Kuu muttered coldly.

‘’Kuu, time is running short, soon another Nightmare will come, you know there is never only one.’’

Kuu suddenly snapped her gaze up to meet that of the Murder elder, a look of sheer terror on her face. Not for the Nightmares, but of the task that the old woman was asking of her.
‘’No… You can’t send me away! I’ve never even learned to fly yet!’’ She cried, sobs escaping her again as fresh tears streamed down her face.

The elder’s face had turned hard as though she was determined that this scene that Kuu was putting on would change nothing.
‘’Kuu, I’m not asking.’’

‘’No! Please! Why can’t it wait until I learn to fly?’’ Kuu cried desperately.

‘’Kuu, don’t do this.’’ The elder warned softly. ’’You knew this day would come.’’

‘’But I thought it was just a dumb story! Just a fairytale!’’

‘’Our tales and legends are nothing to scoff at, young Crow! Now-’’

‘’No! What about Sulka?’’

The elder’s face seemed to soften for a moment. ’’We’ll look after him, don’t worry.’’

There was something about the way she said ’we’ll take care of him’ that Kuu didn’t like though. What was that supposed to mean? She was too afraid to ask.

‘’Now, Kuu, I’m sorry but-’’ The old woman started.

‘’Wait!’’ Kuu yelled, remembering one more thing. ’’What about Omen? You know I can’t go without him, right? He won’t want to leave here, he said s-’’
Kuu stopped her desperate outburst as the elder held out her right arm and a purple tinted black Soul Carrier landed gracefully on her outstretched arm, keeping it’s wings unfurled majestically. Kuu glared at the bird hatefully.
‘’Traitor.’’ She accused.

Regret could be seen in the bird’s eyes at this remark.
‘’She talked me into it.’’ It muttered.

‘’Now that you have your Soul Carrier, you are ready.’’ The elder told Kuu, almost seeming to be talking to the bird as well as it glided down from it’s perch on her arm to Kuu’s shoulder.
After the bird had a gained it’s balance again, Kuu slowly rose to her feet. She seemed to have given up the fight and was ready for whatever the elder sentenced her to.

‘’Young Crow,’’ She began, interrupting the mutters of the other adult Crows that were gathered around them.

Kuu wouldn’t look at any of them. As the elder spoke, she only had eyes for her best friend, Sulka, still lying on the floor at her feet.
‘’I hearby, from this moment forward, banish you from this Murder until you have found an appropriate substitute for our Crow Master.’’

The crowd around them all gasped in disbelief and the muttering began again, only louder this time.
Kuu said nothing. There was nothing to say to that really, was there?
She knelt down before her friend one more time and ran a hand over his frozen face.
‘’Sulka, I will find the Master that abandoned you to your death and he will pay.’’ She said, only low enough for her and her Soul Carrier - who was still perched silently on her shoulder - to hear. No one saw her snatch up one of Sulka’s bleached white feathers from his hair as she turned to leave her Murder forever.
‘’Mark my words, Crow Master.’’ She warned under her breath. ’’You will pay.’’
And, wiping the last of her tears from her eyes and clutching Sulka‘s feather close to her heart, she disappeared from the view of her Murder, a look of pure hatred on her face.