Raven

"Who is she?"

"Where? Who?"

Garrick continued to gaze across the overly crowded, dimly lit pub at the young woman who had just entered the room. As a soldier for hire, he had seen his fair share of both pubs and women but there was something special--something odd--about this one; something drew him to her and her raven black eyes.

"I've never seen her before in my life," his drunken companion, Huxley, shook his head, dumbfounded.

Standing up, he spilled what little remained of his mead. "I must know who she is!" he declared with unabashed confidence.

The woman continued to slither through the hoard of people, her black eyes every so often flashing up to meet his own. Her stare seemed to paralyze him, make his legs grow weak, and his heart quicken pace.

A small coquettish smile from her was all he needed to follow her out into the night.

The hubbub of the pub was silenced behind him as he closed the door and the silence of the night enveloped him... suddenly he could hear everything--the hoot of an owl, the chirping of the crickets, and footsteps coming up behind him.

"There you are," he sighed as he wrapped his arm around the raven eyed woman.

She returned his embrace, her fiery red hair falling freely down her back, distracting all eyes from the simplicity of her grey dress with stains and tears.

Her lips found his and he was taken aback by her tenacity... but only for a moment. Tightening his grip, he deepened their kiss, losing himself in the darkness of the night... and in her eyes.

Pulling back for a moment to try and catch his breath and congratulate himself on what luck he seemed to have had that night, he wondered out loud, "Tell me: what is your name?"

There was that irresistible smile again. "Adelinde." Her voice was deep and smooth, not at all like he was expected after spending years with girls and their high pitched, bell-like voices.

"Adelinde," he tested the sound of her name on his lips... for he hoped he would be saying it again. "What brings you out on such a cold night?" He rubbed her arms. Despite the chill in the air, she felt as though she was on fire. His eyes grew wide with fright as he looked down at her. "Are you ill? You're burning up!"

She laughed for a moment, seeming to enjoy watching his concern over her. When she answered him, she ignored any of his fears of fever. "I came here looking for you."

It took Garrick a moment to listen to what she was saying to him. Furrowing his brow, he tilted his head to the side. "I beg your pardon?"

"You asked why I came here tonight." She shrugged her shoulders. "I came here to find you."

"M-me?" he stuttered, suddenly feeling unnerved looking into her black eyes--he could not see his reflection in her eyes... only a deep darkness that seemed to be older than time itself. Suddenly, her raven eyes were not so beautiful anymore. Forcing himself to sound braver than he felt at the moment, he puffed up his chest and demanded to know, "What the hell are you?"

She threw her head back and laughed once more.

Garrick watched in horror as the beautiful nymph before him ripped through her simple dress and twisted, wrenched, and contorted into the image of a terrifying beast, taller than the pub, and emanating a heat as hot as hell.

"Good god," Garrick cursed as his eyes took in the terrifying sight of the monster before him.

"I've been looking for you, dragon slayer," the creature's voice thundered through the night; Garrick could feel her words echo in his chest. "Now that I know where to find you, I'm sure our paths will cross again."

The wind from her enormous wings pumping up and down sent Garrick flying back onto the ground. Hitting his head on a rock, he blinked, forcing the stars from his vision as someone behind him screamed in fright, "A dragon!"

But before the alarm could sound, she was gone. The raven eyed girl disappeared into the darkness of the night, leaving Garrick with only a kiss on his lips and her promise to return for him... someday.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The writing prompt for today was "raven." I was planning on going the expected route and writing a story from a raven's POV of the world. But then as I brainstormed in my mind, I thought, what if the raven isn't an object but a way to describe something or someone... and so Adelinde and her eyes were born.

I've been writing a few short stories with these two characters over the last year or so. They have a funny relationship that goes back and forth between friends and lovers but here, in their first encounter, it looks like they're more enemies than friends!

This was just a quick little story I came up with after a long day of work and a promo at Burger King (work on a Saturday... GASP!). I hope you enjoyed meeting Garrick and Adelinde... I'm sure they'll be making appearances again and again.

a.r.w.