Mark Of The Raven

Chapter Six: Control

We continued walking down the road for several more miles before eventually coming to a small town. The town also looked desolate so that could possibly mean that it had been abandoned sometime during the collapse. Of course, We were still going to check it to be sure. And we had to be careful. If there were resistance members here and they found out that I had abilities they might assume that I'm with the Cult. And in some ways, they are more hostile than the Colt is.. I suppose no one can really blame them considering all that has happened to them. But we couldn't be too careful when dealing with them.

We went from building to building but found no signs of life whatsoever. Most of the stores have been completely rummaged through and what was left was practically nothing useful to us. There are also a few cars around but but they were also missing parts so there was no chance of them actually starting without possibly exchanging parts between them. But in order to do that it would take time. Isaac knew A bit about cars, not that he had been taught about them or anything. More so living a life on the streets is what aided him in his knowledge. He had come through for us so many times so I could never truly doubt him when it came to mechanical issues that our group seem to find.

Apparently he had the same ideas as he began checking every car he could to see what parts he might need to make one of them work. Emery on the other hand went through every store she possibly could and hopes that she could find some new clothes but instead only found some raggedy shoes and one of the department stores.

" Why do you think they left his place? " Emery asked as she kicked some old boxes out of her pathway. " Probably were low on food, and were isolated here. And if the cult found them, they more than likely ran and just gave up the town to them" I answered as I looked around the small store we had found. " I guess the cult didn't see much value in this place as they are no longer here" I added.

" Well, when you live out in the woods, living off of God only knows what, I guess it makes sense. They don't seem to like civilization all too much" Emery pointed out as she picked up an old empty can of beans which was more than likely left by people camping out in here for shelter.

" Yeah..well, they aren't opposed to it either because that's how they got me" I answered, not really thinking too much about it before I said it. I knew it caught Emery's attention but she didn't say anything, and instead, continued to scavenge around.

" So, do you think all the cults had one of those..bird statue things? Like, do they all just have them and give themselves powers and stuff? " Emery asked as she made her way over to me and lightly tapped my shoulder.

" I don't know. It's possible, they have to be getting powers somehow so it would make sense that they got theirs the same as I got mine. But, I don't know how many statues there actually are. Hell, I don't even know if the power comes from the statue itself or..I don't know " I was confused, and I hated it. I hated every single time a question was asked that I didn't have an answer to because it meant I had made no progress. I needed to speak to Todd again. I needed to learn more but I don't know if and when that will ever happen again. Another thing I have no control over.

" Is it wrong for me to say that I kinda wanna invade one of their camps just to see if they have a statue?" Emery asked. And whilst I expected that to be where this conversation was going, I still didn't approve.

" Emery...I know you want powers. But, what if you get them..and you can control them? What if, you get them because you want to control them and use them for good..but then you realize that you can't. And that you are stuck with them. What if you end up being the same problem that you are trying to fight?" I explained. " Because that is the fear I'm living with every day. I want to make a change and make a difference. But, something tells me that change doesn't come from having power. Change comes from having the drive to do the right thing" I knew my words would go through one ear and out of the other with Emery.

And that is when we heard it. Shouting coming from outside the store. It wasn't Issac, it sounding like 2 or 3 guys outside, who seemed to be in a rush based on their tones. " We have to find them. They can't get away. They've already killed too many of our kind to be forgiven" one of the men said.

" Yeah well one of them has the mark. So they are dangerous. We can't afford to make mistakes here. That's the reason they have lived as long as they have. We have underestimated them" one of the others shouted.

"We have to get the hell out of here" I whispered to Emery who had crouched down beside me and pulled me down to her. " I know but.. we could also just take them out. They have to run out of people eventually..right? " Emery argued which shocked me a little. " You do realize how stupid that sounds right? It's the cult. They never run out of people. And we don't know if they have Issac or not. We don't even know how many are here right now. If we make one wrong move, we could jeopardize Issacs safety and I'm not willing to do that" I tried my best to reason with Emery who was listening but also trying to peak over the window ledge so that she could see who was outside. " Yeah but they are scared of you. Even if they had him, they probably know you could get to him before they could harm him. So they wouldn't try that I don't think" Emery whispered as she ducked back down behind the wall to meet with me face to face. " Besides..it's just a bunch of cultists" Emery's smile was followed by a loud explosion over our head, blasting glass everywhere in the store, sending shards through walls and empty counters.

" What the f**k? " Emery whined as a shadow casted itself over us both. On the ledge, a few feet above us stood a tall man, in a completely black outfit, a black trench coat that almost looked more like a robe if nothing else, and a long, rough black beard. His eyes were a piercing black and his head was completely shaven.

" You must be Valorie" The man smiled down at me, noticing my marks and reached down and picked me up by the back of the neck, lifting me off the floor with incredible strength.

" Oh no you don't " Emery growled as she rose up and reared her fist back before delivering a punch with all the force she could muster right into the man's groin which caused him to drop me back to the ground. " See, I told ya..they are just cultists" Emery smirked as she proceeded to kick the man who had now fallen to the floor on his hands and knees, directly in the face. Emery then went to gloat a little more by placing her foot on the back of the man's neck but was kicked off of him and across the floor by another figure who had stepped out of the window. This was another man who looked the exact same as the previous attacker, only he didn't have a beard.

Emery groaned as she tried to make it back to her feet " Did...did you just kick me in the tit?" Emery questioned as she slowly made her way back to her feet. " What? " I asked, in disbelief that Emery was shaking this attack off so nonchalantly.

" He just titty kicked me.." Emery hissed. The man did not seem amused as he stepped down from the window and onto the floor and began making his way towards Emery.

" Alright" She smiled as she raised her fist up, ready for combat. " Let's do this" Emery without hesitation took a swing at the man but missed wildly, and was met with a firm punch to the gut. " Damn.." Emery began coughing, I could tell she was hurt but was doing her best to shrug it off. If nothing else, she was a warrior in her own right but I knew this fight would not end well if I didn't intervene. " I ran over to the man and proceed to hit him as hard as I could in the back of the head with my forearm which did not phase him whatsoever. Instead, he just turned to me and smiled the most evil smile I had ever seen. Emery took advantage of the distraction and kicked him directly in the groin, which, much like his friend, he fell to the ground in pain.

" I'm telling you, they aren't that smart" She smirked confidently as she stepped over the attacker and walked with me to the store entrance. We couldn't see anymore cultists but that didn't mean they weren't there. " Use your powers to see if there are any more of the creeps.." Emery demanded but I simply responded with. " What? When the hell have you ever seen me do that? I don't even know if that's how that works " I explained to which Emery shook her head. " You have freaking night vision though" she answered to which I closed my eyes in frustration. " There is a difference between night vision and seeing through walls. And also, its not even night..that wouldn't help us here" I angrily whispered at Emery who seemed not too convinced by my answer. " Well you won't know until you try " She added to which I finally gave in. " Freaking fine. I'll do it if for no other reason than to prove a point".

I kept my eyes closed and tried my best to picture myself being able to see behind walls. But this had no effect. I could however feel my arms beginning to tingle. I tried even harder to concentrate but my concentration was broken up by Issac's screams. I opened my eyes just in time to see him running down the street, screaming something about a giant bird man.

Both me and Emery rushed to his side and looked down the street to see a rather tall figure, wearing a bird skull mask at the end of it. He was not moving, instead, standing perfectly still, almost scarecrow like. He was covered in black feathers but looked very humonid. He also didn't seem to have clothes on which didn't matter all that much considering the feathers covered most of his entire body. He did however have human like legs, which made him a creature we had never encountered before. " What the hell is that.." Emery asked, expecting us to somehow know the answer. " I don't know..it's creepy though. Do you think it's a cultists? " I asked to which Issac replied " No. But I was walking to find you two and then he just appeared behind me. It freaked me the hell out so I ran" he explained which amused Emery. " You ran from a bird man? " She chuckled lightly. " Damn right I ran from him. He is freaking huge. I don't know what the hell he is gonna do" I continued to stare at this creature who did not move nor did it speak. It just watched us from the other end of the road.

" Well maybe we should talk to it? " Emery suggested, looking at both me and and Issac. " I'm not talking to that damn thing" Issac proclaimed. Without even noticing I was doing so, I began to approach the bird creature. And no matter how close i got, it stayed perfectly still. It did not seem threatened by my presence whatsoever. " What..what is your name" I called out to the creature but it did not respond. " Did..Todd send you? " I asked, but still recieved no response. " My name is Val..and me and my friends are only here to get supplies..and then we are going to leave. I don't know if you are with the cultists or not..but we don't want any trouble" I explained and the creature remained quiet. I was now a few feet away from it. If it wanted to attack me, it easly could but it wasn't. The eye holes where eyes should have been, were completely black, void of any presence.

" Are you going to speak? Can you speak? " I asked, not being sure what to expect from this creature and yet not feeling too threatened by it at the same time. And finally, it decided to speak.

" My name is Astrid. And I am here to save your t**s"