Mark Of The Raven

Chapter Two: Sibling Rivalry

I didn't have all that much time to finish that bag of chips Emery had so happily tossed my way before she was rushing me out of the door and down a darkened, rocky path that followed the creek. We were heading to Issac's location who was tasked with getting us a car so we could get as far away from this horrible place as possible. And Issac, did not dissapoint. As we approached the end of the path, we came to a small truck stop on the side of a long and desolate road which seemed to stretched for miles into the darkness.

Issac, with his leather ever so reliable black leather Jacket and muddy Jeans was leaning against a moderately rustic sedan which whilst didn't look in the best shape, more than likely could get us far enough away before breaking down.

" What the Hell Issac?" You were suppose to get us a ride..not a damn potato " Emery scoffed after laying eyes upon our new escape plan.

" This is the best I could Em. Unless you'd rather walk, shut up and get in" Issac hissed at Emery and nodded at me before heading around to the driver's side door and opening it much to the dismay of Emery. " Wait..I wanna drive" She said as she rushed to the driver's side and tried to push Issac away from the door.

" If you drive, then I might as well just walk or take my chances back at the village because you will crash before we even make it a mile down the road".

This was a little curious to me. Not because they were arguing, this was something that happened quite often, but more so with the realization that in the entire time I had known them, I don't believe that I had ever once seen Emery drive.

" I'm not even that bad" She growled as she angrily stomped her way around the car back to the passenger side where I was holding the back door open. " Can..we just go?" I tried to plead, hoping that I could break this up so we could finally put some distance between us and the hell that would be coming our way soon.

" Yeah whatever" Emery relented as she got into the passenger side front seat, Issac taking his own seat behind the wheel and starting the car. Though the car struggled at first, it did eventually turn over and we began our journey down the long and winding road.

The ride for the first hour or so was pretty quiet. The silence was both welcome and slightly nerve wracking. We all wondered when they would catch up to us.

My train of thought was interupted however due to the strange clicking noises I was hearing from the front seat. " What are you doing now Em?" Issac sighed in frustration as I would assume the noises bothered him too.

"I'm trying to get the damn radio to work" Emery replied as she continued fiddling with the controls. " We don't need the Radio, it's distracted. Just like the noises that you are making right now" Issac sighed again which did not seem to have any effect on Emery. " Well it wouldn't be so damn clicky if the car you got wasn't built in the damn stone age. I swear, what the hell did you think was "-

" CRRRRSSH" A loud crash was the first thing I heard, following by the sounds of breaking glass, metal twisted and screeching across asphalt. We had been hit. And I could only assume we rolled because I was now upside down with my hands dangling above my head.

" Is everyone okay? " Issac called out, struggling with something in the front seat. " What the hell hit us? " Emery groaned as I heard a slight click, followed by a loud thud, which was Emery falling down from her seat after unbuckling herself.

" Could it be them? " Issac asked as he too removed his seat belt and landed with a loud thud. " I have a feeling we are going to find out soon enough" I answered as I removed myself and landed hard on the roof of the car. I didn't have any serious injuries, mainly just scrapes and cuts from the glass. I managed to crawl out of my door window, where I found Emery and Issac waiting for me.

The cars had been totaled but we didn't see anything or anyone that could have caused the crash. And that more than likely meant that we were in some serious trouble. " We need to prepare ourselves. It's gotta be- " out of the darkness, a dark shadow swooped across the road, hitting Issac and knocking him into the air, propelling him over the other side of the car and landing on the road. Before we could even react, another Shadow swooped in and hit Emery, knocking her off the road completely and against a tree. She landed hard, and though I wanted to check on them both, I knew I had to be ready. It was them. They had come for us, and I had to do something or we erred going to die here. I could not let that happen.

Raising my hands out in front of me, I closed my eyes and could begin to see images of the darkness surrounding me. The night had become illuminated and I could see almost as though it was broad daylight. My attention was brought to a dark figure standing on the road a few feet from the car. It was watching me. It did not seem as though it would attack as it had done with my friends, but it was still unpredictable and that was a problem.

" Did you really think you could get away with it" a voice called out to me, and I could only assume it belonged to the figure, and our attacker.

" Did you think that you could steal from us, that you could take our most sacred weapon, kill our elder, and that we would just let you go free? " the figure called to me again. I knew it was more than ready to kill me but it was biding its time. It wanted to see the next move I made. I was a threat to it, minor, maybe, but still a threat.

" I did what I had to do. I don't know...I don't know how much you know about what is coming. But things have changed. And this constant hunting, is only going to drag us all down. There are more serious matters at hand. The Elder knew this..she could have prevented it and yet did nothing. She had to die because she allowed this to happen. I know, you probably don't understand me..or..maybe you just don't believe me. But I don't care. I've made mistakes but what I'm doing right here..right now..this is the right thing to do" I answered. The figure didn't move. It stayed perfectly still, watching me. It wanted me to make the first move but I refused. I knew that if I did, it would only make things worse. There was no way that he was the only one here.

" And you are the savior? No, you are a theif. And a murderer. And you will pay for what you have done. If the world is damned then damned it shall be. But I shall not let you walk from this place. You do not deserve our mark" his tone was becoming even more aggressive and I knew if he kept this up, he might actually attack first.

" This mark chooses who it wants to wear it. And it lost any confidence in your people..it chose someone knew. It chose me" I knew this would only anger him more. And much like I planned, he lunged forward at me, but this was his first and biggest mistake. Once he was in range, I took a deep breath and opened my eyes, propelling feather- like shadowy daggers from my arms, connecting every single hit into him. At first, I thought that somehow he had managed to survive the hits, but as he approached even closer, his body collapsed on the ground beneath my feet. I wasn't sure if he was dead, or just incapacitated, his kind were always tricky in my experience, so I dared not to get to close to him. I kept my palms pointed at him, ready to fire again if need be. But the only fight he had left within him, was one last single gasp of air that he finally released, which only brought me relief.

" f*****g thank God" I exclaimed as I ran over to check on Emery who was beginning to move. " I'm fine..I'm fine Val..just..just check on Issac" She requested to which I nodded and Ran over to Issac who was also beginning to make it back to his feet.

" I'm fine. I promise. I'm just..well..ya know..that sucked ass" he laughed as Emery stumbled her way over to us.

" Well now what are we going to do about a car? " Emery asked as we all looked down the road and then back at the lifeless figure who had destroyed our ticket out of here.

" I guess we are walking" I sighed.