Mark Of The Raven

Chapter Seven: A New Accomplice

I'll be the first to admit I was surprised when those words left the creature's mouth. But it didn't seem hostile. Emery and Issac slowly approached behind me, I could sense their hesitation and it was justified. This Creature...Astrid was intimidating and mysterious.

" You are here to save..us? Who sent you? " I asked and received no answer. " What does he want? " Emery asked cautiously and I answered, " Well he says his name is Astrid. And he is here..to..save..us? But that's the only information he has given me".

Astrid continued staring straight forward, not looking at me or the others. " I am here to help. You summoned me" He replied finally, but this only brought more confusion. " I don't remember summoning you. Much less, I don't even know how to summon you.." I explained and again, he didn't reply. He just stood there, almost as though he was working off of scripted responses of some sort. " You summoned me in your time of distress. I am here to aid you, and, the blonde, and, the scared man, from the pursuers". Of course, Issac took exception to this.

" I am not scared, I mean, I was scared but have you seen you? You are horrifying" Issac called out as Emery proceeded to chime in " And who the hell do you think you are, defining me as just the blonde? There is more to me, ya know? " Emery and Issac, despite the offense taken, we're calming down in Astrids presence which seemed to help the situation.

" I do not care" Astrid responded which only angered the siblings more. " Okay, now I just want to punch him" Emery started to approach Astrid but Issac held her back. " He could still be dangerous Em..you don't need to be swinging at really tall creepy bird man-creature things".

" I am coming with you on your journey to the west. I will not require food but am fond of what you call " Taffy" Astrid answered which confused us even more. " So you don't need food but you like taffy..how would you even chew it? You don't look like you have teeth.." Emery pointed out to which Astrid replied " And you have a brain but rarely use it. We are one in the same". This again, made Emery attempt to take a swing at Astrid but luckily, Issac managed to hold onto her.

" I'm beginning to think that we don't need him " Emery scoffed as she shook Issac's grip loose. "I think he should come with us" I finally spoke up much to the dismay of both Issac and Emery. " If he was with the Cult, he would have done something to us already. So that leads me to believe that somehow..I did summon him...or at least that he is tied with the Mark. And perhaps, I can learn more about my abilities by having him come with us. Plus, we need all the help we can get" I added which I knew wouldn't change the opinions of the siblings. But, something deep inside of me told me that I could trust Astrid.

" Fine, he can come. But if he continues to insult us..we are going to have a problem" Emery scolded and turned around and began walking, being followed by Issac and then me and Astrid.

The way that Astrid walked was in itself weirdly uncomfortable. It wasn't quite as smooth as a human, it wasn't quite as awkward as a penguin, it was just, uncomfortable to watch. His legs would raise up and then would plant down hard onto the road, creating a crushing and scraping sound from what we could only assume was his talons. I could tell it annoyed Emery and Issac but Astrid had to move and this was something we would have to deal with.

" So, I created you? " I asked Astrid as we walked side by side. " No, the vision created me" He answered quickly and calmly.

" How did the vision create you..exactly? " I still could. Not quite understand how the vision would be able to create things like weapons and creatures. There had to be something I was missing.

" The vision can see all things. All things that are beyond the comprehension and understanding of this reality. But it can also pull things from other places" he answered which still didn't make too much sense to me but it had been more information than I was previously working off of.

" So the vision can see alternate realities and pull things from those realities into this one? " I asked to which he nodded.

" I find it hard to understand or control anything to do with the vision. I'm not even entirely sure it's something I'm supposed to have. And I keep thinking that is why I'm having trouble" I explained. Sure, I could do some basic things here and there but that was only because it more so happens on its own and I kind of allow the power to take the wheel.

" The Vision chooses you, you don't choose it. If it wants to bond to you, then that is what it will do. Though, controlling the vision is impossible. It exists outside the fabric of control. It is something to be worked with and utilized but never controlled" he explained.

" So I'm never going to be able to make it work the way I want it to?" This was a bit of a disappointment. What is the point of having a power that you can't even use?

" You will be able to achieve amazing things with the vision. But only if you embrace what it is. You must work side by side" he answered. His answers were calm and collected and he sounded so sure of what he was saying but it still sounded impossible for me to do on my own. I had no idea where to begin. And it's not exactly like the cults had all that much control over the powers considering they had become corrupt at some point.

" Well, I need to figure out how to work with it soon. I don't know if you know or not, but there is a war coming soon. The cults are taking over more and more by the day. And if they aren't stopped, I don't think anyone is going to be left that isn't a power-hungry psychopath" I explained but Astrid didn't seem too phased by that.

" They seek power when they already have it. But they only tap into certain parts of it, and not its full potential. This is why they will never succeed" He answered, as I stared at the road in front of us. " Yeah..well they have tapped into enough of it to cause some real problems" I replied. Even if they were only using ten percent of what the vision is capable of, it was still a major problem. And God forbid the day one of them taps into the full potential of it.

This country has been left annihilated because of them. And that is why we chose to do something. That is why the resistance continues to fight against despite losing ground every single day. We knew we had to step up and take charge. We had to fight back. And when Emery and Issac learned of my power, they knew it was quite possibly the key to stopping the takeover once and for all. But, if Astrid is correct, then there is very little I can do in helping if I don't learn to work with the vision..or whatever that actually means.

" So when we do get to the resistance..how are we supposed to hide bird brain over here? " Emery questions as she kicks a small pebble off the road. " That is a good point. He will stick out like a sore thumb if we don't figure out a plan" Issac added. They made a good point. How could we possibly hide him? He was too big and too..well..himself to really disguise him as anything.

" Astrid, is there any way that you can"- my question was interrupted when I looked to my right and saw a young man, around our age, with deep black hair, pale skin, and black clothes walking beside us in place of Astrid.

" Who the hell are you? " I panicked which made Issac and Emery quickly turn around to meet the same new face as me.

" You said that I would stick out, so I changed my form" the man answered. It was Astrid's voice..it..just didn't look like Astrid.

" You can change your form? " Issac blurted out in shock to which Astrid nodded. " I can do many things, if I couldn't, then I wouldn't be able to keep you safe very well" Astrid answered. He looked rather handsome. And short of his eyes being pitch black, he looked completely normal.

" Well...I guess that solves the obvious issue.." Emery grumbles and then turns back around quickly and continues walking. Issac slowly turns back and tries to catch up with Emery. I don't know if it was jealousy or something else, but Emery had been acting differently as of late. She use to be a bit more thoughtful with her actions but now, she was careless. Mind you, it usually worked out for her regardless either way, but one day it might not, and that was a concern. And another big reason why I was glad to have Astrid here with us now.

" You are just full of surprises aren't you? " I playfully nudged Astrid who kept a calm face and continued staring straight forward. " You have no idea"