The BLACK RAVEN

preface

William Blake POV

_"Master... Master, help me..."_

Thomas's voice was starting to get on my nerves. My anger had become uncontrollable. When I say something needs to be done, it doesn’t matter what happens; it must be done under any circumstances. And now, by disobeying my orders, Thomas had doomed himself.

He lay on the ground, his entire body covered in yellow, inflamed, and painful blisters, causing him to writhe in agony and howl like a wounded animal.

_"Tom, I warned you about this."_

I saw movement among the trees. I couldn’t let any sign of weakness show. I drew my wand from my belt, placed it on the ground a little distance away from Thomas, and knelt beside him. He was still weakly whispering pleas under his breath.

I held my hand about five centimeters from his face and muttered an incantation; Thomas's voice was now silenced forever. I picked up my wand and returned it to its place. Foolish boy. If he had just followed my instructions, none of this would have happened.

_"Someone who has to die will die anyway, right, Will?"_

I turned my head and saw Catherine. She had thrown my own words back at me. I stood up straight.

_"You always like to hide among the trees!"_

She laughed, loud and charming.

_"Darling, you know I can’t resist my curiosity."_

She stepped closer, just one step away from me. She stood on her tiptoes and, as was her habit, gently kissed my cheek. She stepped back and said, "This is the seventeenth one in ten years, William. This isn’t good at all."

It was the first time I had seen her so serious.

_"I know what's good and what’s not. How many did you go through before that boy?"_

Her lips stretched into a smile.

_"Exactly where I wanted to get to."_

She looped her arm through my right arm, delicately gathered her skirt with her other hand, and as we walked away from Tom's corpse, she said, "I thought since he lasted three years, he might last longer... You know, maybe the problem isn’t your apprentices."

I stopped. I faced her and said, "So the problem is me."

I stared into her eyes as seriously as I could. She still had a smile on her lips. She rolled her eyes and said, "What if I told you that all 39 people before Jake were much more talented than he was?"

I looked at her expectantly. I knew where this conversation was headed.

_"It’s not you, darling, but there’s certainly room for improvement in your teaching methods."_

As she gazed at Tom’s corpse, now some distance away, she said, "True, I didn’t like this one at all, but what if you had saved him? What if you had resolved the matter with just a punishment?"

She turned her head back toward me. A wide smile spread across her face. She stepped forward again, kissed my cheek once more, and disappeared into thin air. I hated to admit she was right. I had reached the same conclusion long before Thomas. I just hadn’t found anyone worthy yet. I needed advice. But not from a wizard. I looked up at the sky. Even though it was noon, the sun was weaker than usual. I looked at Tom’s corpse and then at the trees around him. I knew exactly who I needed to go to.