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Stopping dead in her tracks, the human girl looked upon the crumbled building before her. She stared at the place that she knew had once held so much life and said nothing. There was nothing to be said. Through her armour, she felt the heat from the sun above seem to grow even stronger. She felt her sweat sticking uncomfortably against her skin, shuddering.
She felt a shift of weight on her shoulder, the soft brush of feathers against her face and looked to her right. The raven sitting there was looking over the wreckage with unsettled eyes, flapping her wings in an attempt to escape it. The human quickly raised her left hand, pressing it against the raven’s feathers in an attempt to calm the animal. The raven closed her eyes, leaning against the human girl’s head.
The faint crackle of the final flickering flames was unbearably loud in the silent, dead ruins of their home. The girl winced at the sound of the flames, and instinctively touched a hand to her torso, wincing as she touched old scars. She shook her head, sighing, then looked to the side at the raven.
“Guess it’s just us now, huh?” she said, then sighed.
The raven said nothing but opened her eyes, staring at the girl with far more intelligence than many would expect from a simple animal. The raven seemed to feel this loss just as much, if not more so, than the girl.
“I know, I know,” the girl said, raising her left hand and running her fingers through the bird’s feathers.
The girl looked down at the satchel that hung from her shoulders. She reached a hand inside, feeling around before retrieving a small silver object from it. The object was metallic, and shaped somewhat like a horseshoe, though much smaller. It was tied to a loop of black string, and the girl dangled it before her.
Sighing, she returned the object to the bag, looking at the raven on her shoulder. “It doesn’t matter. We’ve gotta get this to the general.”
The raven hesitated, before nodding. Faintly, the girl smiled, before preparing to walk through the ruins of the village.
There was a rush of air as an arrow whizzed past her, impacting one of the few walls left standing.
“Yales,” the girl whispered, before quickly retrieving a crossbow from her satchel, loading a bolt into it and shooting it back at the arrow's source.
Her crossbow bolt impacted the arm of a horned, woollen bipedal creature clad in dark armour, severing it from the body. The creature growled at her, and the sound of heavy, marching footsteps began to grow louder.
The girl cursed under her breath, looking up at the raven momentarily, then shaking her head and starting to run.
The raven took flight, cawing, then flying in a different direction than the girl was running, while still keeping sight of her. The girl ducked behind a wall, looking back at a crack to see if the horned creatures had taken the bait. Seeing that they still seemed to be following her, she cursed again before continuing to run.
As she reached the outskirts of the former town, the raven rejoined her, flying alongside her. The girl heard the footsteps approaching, and ducked down as a volley of alleys flew towards her and the raven.
Looking back up to see another group of yales lying in wait for her, she ran to the side. She knew that there wasn’t much cover in that direction, but perhaps she could find a place where the cliffs could be easily climbed down, and ditch the pursuing creatures.
As she reached the cliffs, she realised that it was worse than she had remembered. There was no way to safely climb down. Only a large drop that would surely mean her death. And she was cornered now. She looked at the raven, hovering beside her, worry in the bird’s eyes.
Realising what she had to do, the girl quickly pulled the metallic object out of her satchel. She hung it around the bird’s neck, tying and securing it, then swallowed.
“Take this to General Reid,” she said, looking directly into the raven’s eyes. “It’s the only way. I’m sorry.”
The raven looked back at the girl, who was reloading her crossbow with one of her few remaining bolts. The raven’s eyes could see the insurmountable number of yales approaching. She hovered in place, staring at the girl.
“Go,” the girl said firmly, quickly looking back at the raven before turning back to take aim at the beings approaching.
After a moment of hesitation, the raven nodded, turning and flying in the direction of their base camp, as quickly as she could. Behind her, the bird could hear the faint sound of fighting. She didn’t want to think about it.
A strange, almost unnoticeable sound echoed around the raven. It sounded almost like a human clapping their hands together. The raven almost looked around to find it, but shook her head, knowing that she needed to focus.
This focus was broken when the bird noticed a strange blue glow coming from the object tied around her neck. The raven stopped in place and eyed the object tentatively as it seemed to rise up into the air. The bird blinked as the area around her became overtaken with a blue glow.
She thought she heard some faint laughter before everything went black.
—
Slowly, the raven opened her eyes, flapping her wings and standing up. She winced at how bright everything had seemed. Her eyes began to focus as she took in her surroundings. The sky seemed bluer than she remembered ever having seen it. And it looked like there was grass? This was definitely not where she last remembered being. Where was she?
“Well howdy there!”
Her head snapped up as a voice distracted her from her thoughts. She looked up seeing a creature that looked like nothing she’d ever seen. At first its woollen hind reminded her of the yales, but where the monsters’ wool had been very light, this thing’s wool was dark, almost black. And it had what looked like two torsos, with an upper half looking almost like a human and a lower half looking closer to an animal, something woollen like the yales but with the four legs of a horse.
It struck the raven that this level of analysis of her situation was something she couldn’t remember ever having had before. Slowly, she blinked.
“What… are you?” she started.
Her eyes widened. “Wait, I can talk?!”
The strange creature chuckled. “Well now, that’s a little rude, don’tcha think? I could ask you the same thing. And I’d hope you can talk!”
“No, no…” the raven began, flapping her wings and starting to rise into the air. “This is all wrong… What’s going on? Where’s Raine?”
The creature tilted his head to the side. “You alright there?”
The raven ignored him. “I… I need to get out of here. I need to find Raine.”
She started flying, looking around for something, anything familiar to her. But everything was… wrong. It was all so colourful, so bright, so… full of life. This wasn’t her home. And there was no sign of Raine.
She was broken out of her thoughts as she crashed into something invisible in the air. Quickly, she flapped her wings to stop herself from falling, managing to catch herself before she hit the ground. More slowly this time, she began to fly forward.
And again, she encountered something invisible that blocked her way. Though, since she wasn’t travelling at near the same speed, she was able to hover in place, as a blue glow lit up the invisible barrier. The raven’s eyes followed it as it revealed the shape of a dome surrounding the area.
“Having trouble, are we?”
She looked up to see another unfamiliar creature perched on a nearby tree branch, with a lower half that reminded her of the owls that would dominate the night skies at home, yet with that same, human-seeming upper half. The human half had what looked like black hair, pinned back against her head somehow. The colour and style of this thing’s hair reminded the raven of Raine. She tried to put those thoughts out of her mind, focusing on actually managing to respond to whatever this thing was.
“I, um, yeah…” she finally spoke, deciding to accept the fact that she now could. “I need to find someone… Do you know how I can get out of here?”
“Hah,” the strange owl-like creature said, staring at her. “Good luck with that. None of us have been able to leave since Yugo put up that dome to ‘keep us safe.’”
“Oh,” the raven said. “Does… does that mean I’m stuck here?”
“Unless Yugo changes his mind for some reason, I would presume that to be the case, yes,” the being replied. “How did you even get in here?”
“I, um… I don’t know,” the raven said, looking down. “I just woke up here. Look, do you think you could take me to this ‘Yugo’? I really need to leave.”
The creature stared at her, before sighing. “Fine. But I’m on to you. It’s awfully convenient that you just so happened to get through an impenetrable magic barrier, whatever you are.”
“Magic?” the raven said, then shook her head. “Look, can you please just take me to this Yugo guy?”
“I already said I would,” the creature said, shaking her head before taking flight. “As long as you can keep up, that is.”
The owl creature took off, flying towards the center of the dome. The raven followed her as closely as she could, taking notice of her strange, brightly-coloured surroundings. It was all so strange, so completely outside of anything she remembered ever having seen in her life. It seemed like a peaceful place, a place that didn’t know war, didn’t know fighting, or loss. It seemed like a place where people were happy.
She missed home.
Eventually, the owl-like being landed in a small clearing. The raven looked around, seeing no signs of anyone.
The bird tilted her head to the side. “I thought you were taking me to this Yugo guy?”
The owl creature met her with a dismissive scoff in response. “I’m sure he’s around here somewhere.”
“Yugo?” the owl creature shouted into the trees.
“Is that you, Grace?” a faint voice responded, coming from somewhere behind the trees. “I’ll be there in just a second.”
The raven hovered awkwardly in the air for what felt like much longer than it probably was. She looked at the owl creature, but the owl-like being seemed to be making every effort to avoid looking at her.
Eventually, a figure emerged from the trees. Like the other beings that the raven had seen, he had both a human-like torso and an animal-like one. His human half had curly dark hair that fell near to his shoulders. Contrasting this, his animal half had a coat of very light, snow-white fur, as well as a fluffy tail that drooped behind him. He padded towards them on four paws.
This new being’s eyes widened upon seeing the raven. “Oh?”
He smiled, looking down at her. “Hey there! You must be new here, right?”
“Oh, um, yeah,” the raven replied, trying to not show her surprise at this large creature standing before her. “I am.”
“Well, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Yugo, and this is Grace,” he said, motioning to the owl creature that had led the raven here. “There’s a few more of us around, but I’m sure you’ll see them soon. What about you?”
“Me?” This was not a question that the raven had been expecting, and she struggled for words. “Um, what do you mean?”
“What’s your name?” the owl-thing, Grace, the raven reminded herself, said, with a tone of suspicion that made the bird feel uneasy.
What was her name? Did she have a name? She’d never really had one before - Raine had always just called her raven. Did she even need a name? They were asking her for a name, though, so she supposed she should probably answer them.
“Uh… It’s Raven,” she decided.
She could get used to thinking of herself as Raven, she thought.
Yugo smiled down at her again. “Well then, Raven. Why don’t I show you around? You can get to know the place!”
Raven paused, her eyes widening. “Um, I just remembered. I actually came to you because I kinda need to leave. Now. Or, as soon as I can. You see there’s a war, and I need to get back to my friend because I left her, but there’s kinda this whole invisible wall thing around this place and I can’t get out and Grace said maybe you could help so…”
Yugo’s smile faded. “Raven… Look. I’m willing to help you out any way I can, but…”
He sighed. “That barrier is the only thing keeping us safe. I’m sorry, but I can’t take it down.”
“Safe from what?” Raven demanded. “Wherever this is, it’s all peaceful and nice. Why do you need a dome to keep you safe?”
“There’s… a lot of bad things out there,” Yugo said, looking away. “I’m sorry about your friend, Raven, but I can’t risk everyone else’s safety just for you.”
Raven looked away. This couldn’t be happening. She had to leave. She needed to leave. She needed to get back to Raine.
She turned and flew away. Back towards the barrier. The barrier that she knew wouldn’t let her leave. But, she had to get out. She had to.
She slammed into the barrier and…
Nothing happened.
It continued to block her way, a giant hand extending from it, grabbing her and placing her gently on the ground.
She tried again.
Nothing changed.
She tried again, and again, and again to get past the barrier, this one obstacle keeping her from her friend.
And nothing changed.
She didn’t even notice the sun setting, wrapping her wings around herself and perching on the ground, against the barrier, staring at the other side.
“Uh, Miss Raven?”
She didn’t even register the voice, lost in her own thoughts.
The voice tried again. “Miss Raven?”
This time she turned her head.
It was harder to make out at night, but it looked like the woolly creature she’d seen when she first woke up.
She looked away. “What do you want?”
“Well, Yugo told us about what happened to you,” he said, Raven able to hear the sound of his footsteps getting closer.
She let out a caw of frustration. “Of course he did. I don’t need your pity, okay? I just need my friend.”
The creature approaching her sighed. “Well, I don’t know what I can do about your friend. But I thought you might want this back.”
Raven turned around to see him holding out a metallic object hanging on a piece of string.
She flapped her wings excitedly. “The artefact!”
Flying up to it, she grabbed the string in her beak. “I didn’t even realise I’d lost it.”
“Thank you,” she said, looking down. “You… didn’t have to give it back to me. But you did. And, maybe now I can use it to help me go home.”
He chuckled in response. “Hey, it’s the least I could do. ‘Sides, what else was I gonna do with it?”
“I dunno, I was about ready to pocket it,” another voice called from the bushes.
The bushes rustled, and another of those creatures emerged. This one had shorter black hair, also tied up like Grace’s had been, though in a different style. Her lower half had fur like Yugo's had had, but this fur was sleek and dark, with a long tail flicking in the air behind her.
The woollen creature Raven had been talking to sighed. “Hailey, I told you not to come out ‘til she was comfortable.”
“Sorry Perce, but she’s gotta meet us sometime. May as well make it now,” the dark-furred being replied, putting her hands against the back of her head.
Another voice called out from the bushes. “Oh sweet, does that mean I can come out too?”
The woollen one sighed again. “I guess so.”
The bushes rustled again and another avian creature appeared. This one had purple feathers covering his lower half, which ended with a pair of long, spindly legs. He didn’t land on his legs, however, continuing to hover in the air. In fact, Raven thought that his legs looked like they’d been injured somehow.
“Heya!” the new creature said.
Raven took a few steps back. “Um!”
The woollen creature sighed again. “Sorry about this, Miss Raven. But, I might as well introduce us since they’re here now.”
He pointed to the dark-furred one. “That’s Hailey.”
The purple-feathered creature. “Ezra.”
And finally, to himself. “And I’m Percy. Nice to meet you.”
“Uh, you too?” Raven responded, nodding slowly.
She clicked her beak, speaking under her breath. “Might as well get this out of the way now.”
“What… are you?” she said. “Sorry if that’s rude, it’s just… I’ve never seen anyone like you.”
Percy paused, as though he hadn’t been expecting the question.
Before he could answer, Ezra interjected. “We’re centaurs. Cranetaur, panthertaur, etceterataur.”
“And I’m a sheeptaur, Miss Raven,” Percy said, nodding.
“I see,” Raven replied, figuring it was better just to go along with it. “Look, I know this is a lot to ask, but… do you guys think you could help me get past this barrier? I really need to get back to my friend.”
Ezra looked down at her. “Are you sure you want to go back? Yugo said you were fighting in a war. I know what wars are like… Do you really want to go back to that?”
Raven tilted her head. “You’ve been in wars? Is that what happened to your legs?”
Ezra flinched, glaring at her, then sighed and shook his head. “I said I know wars, not that I’ve been in one.”
“Right,” she said, looking away. “Sorry.”
She closed her eyes. “But I do need to get back. If I don’t, then my friend…”
She trailed off.
For a moment, there was silence, and Raven contemplated just flying away from the situation.
Then, Hailey spoke up. “Look, I… know what it’s like to have someone you want to go back to. I’ll help you out, squirt.”
“Thanks,” Raven replied, not having expected such a quick agreement. “But um, squirt?”
“Eh, it’s a nickname. I’ll think of a better one later,” the panthertaur replied.
Raven let out a small trill.
Percy smiled down at her again. “I know I’d be happy to help you too, Miss Raven. And I’m sure the others’d be too. Right, Ezra?”
Ezra looked away for a second, his face indecipherable, before turning to Raven, smiling. “Yeah. I think that’d be okay.”
“Thanks, guys,” Raven said, “But I don’t know how much it matters. I don’t know how to work this artefact, and Yugo said he’s not going to let me through the barrier.”
“I’m sure we can convince him to change his mind!” Percy replied, beaming down at her. “He’s a really nice person, and I know he’d want to help a friend.”
“Besides, I was getting pretty bored getting cooped up in this valley, anyway,” Hailey added, chuckling.
“You can say that again,” Ezra said, grinning.
“Friends…” Raven repeated. “Are we really friends? I only just met you guys.”
Percy laughed. “Well sure! You seem nice enough. I don’t see why we can’t be friends.”
Raven paused, looking down. She’d… never had friends before. Her and Raine had only had each other, for as long as she could remember. It was… nice.
She looked up at them. “Thanks, guys.”
“It’s nothing,” Ezra said, then paused, turning away, before looking back and smiling. “Now, let’s go find Yugo. Right guys?”
After a general chorus of agreement, Raven picked up the artefact in her beak, then followed these centaurs - no, her friends - to find her way back home. Whatever the future might hold, she felt a little better about it.