Year 2 – Shift 9 – Casual Friday – Raven
“No more beerholders, no more bullshit!” Raven seethed as she pulled her Bud Light-soaked fist out of a massive, twitching eye. “This fucking ends today!”
“Raven!” Simone stepped in front of her and planted her feet. “No! This is not the answer!”
Raven’s blood was ice as she stared down at the elf. “You know nothing of this world. Step back, or I will move you.”
“You won’t lay a finger on her,” Mark called from behind Simone. “That’s not you.”
Raven shoved Simone, surprising her completely and knocking her to the ground.
“Dude!” Cody bounded over to check on her. “What the fuck?”
Raven stalked past without another word and continued into the tunnel.
“Web!”
A large, sticky spiderweb closed off the tunnel in front of her. She slammed to a halt. Two breaths later, she spun to face Mark, who blocked her from going back. “Get out of my way, Mark.”
“No.” He kept his hands at the ready. “You won’t lay a finger on me.”
“Did you learn nothing?” Raven took a single step forward and saw Mark didn’t flinch, so she did.
“Probably not,” Mark responded coolly. “But you did.”
“You’re not a god, Mark.” Raven calculated as Simone and Cody flanked him.
“No,” he said. “I’m the last person who should ever be put in charge of anything, but Sara did anyway.”
Simone and Cody were just as surprised to hear it as Raven was. “What would she trust you with?”
Mark took a deep breath. “First off, ouch.” He reached into his robe and pulled out a scroll sealed with Sara’s personal management seal. “Next, I’m to deliver this to you if…ahem…‘I’m ever fucking out of it and she thinks going backward is going forward.’ So, here you go.”
Raven swallowed hard but didn’t let them see. She reached out, snatched the scroll from Mark’s hand, and examined it. It was just a normal scroll. She broke the seal, took a deep breath, and started to unroll it.
As she unfurled it, a small bag containing two seeds fell into her hand. Beneath it was a hand-drawn portrait of her.
An unfamiliar sting formed at the bridge of her nose, and her eyes watered. Sara had been working on something at the bottom of the stack on her clipboard for almost a year, stealing glances at Raven and smiling before being struck with fiery inspiration.
Under the picture was a note.
I didn’t erase a single line, because you are perfect just the way you are. If I don’t make it back from wherever I am, these are moon lily seeds. Please plant them together, so I can shine with you in the moonlight until my arms fall off.
Raven shuddered and froze. The fury in her veins melted into something much different, much deeper. This woman didn’t just mean the world to her. Sara was the world itself to Raven.
She knew the symbolism. It came from a conversation they’d had one late night while sitting in one of the amazing roof-garden pubs of old Etokuso.
The moon doesn’t reach the Plunderdark, Sara. I never saw it, and now I love it.
She couldn’t plant a moon lily underground.
“How?” Raven squeezed the seeds in her palm. “How did she know I would come down here?”
“Because she’s Sara,” Mark responded. “And because this is the second time you’ve run toward your past.”
Raven’s eyes widened before returning to their usual seriousness as she let the words sink in. “I’m not running toward my past.”
“Then what are you doing in the Plunderdark with a severely under-leveled party that blindly followed you in?” Cody asked.
“You shouldn’t have.” Raven’s edge was dulling fast.
“Oh, shut up.” Simone pushed past Mark to face her. “We’re the same, you and I, so I know what you’re doing, and it won’t help.”
“We’re nothing alike,” Raven snarled. “Do I have to remind you of the history of drow and elves? Or should I remind you that even in that body, you’re a human?”
Simone physically recoiled. “So, I guess that means you’re just a spider?”
Raven’s rage boiled over. She grabbed Simone by the collar and lifted her over her head. “I am NOT a spider! I fought to—”
Her rage melted as she understood. Raven lowered Simone to the ground.
“You fought to get the body that fits you,” Simone said. “I get that. Truly. But running home won’t fix things. I get that too.”
Raven absorbed what she said and fought not to break beneath the weight of the tears on her cheeks. “Mark was right. We can’t beat them. But my mother can.”
“The same mother who sent your sister to kill you?” Simone cocked her head. “The same mother who made you an arachne because you loved a woman?”
Raven’s fingernails bit into her palms. Cold calculations drove through her mind, and it felt like it used to. When she had more legs. When she was used to seduce men.
“Fine.” Raven nodded. “But I’m not doing nothing. We need firepower, and I know exactly who we can trust.”
“Who?” Mark asked as he dismissed his web. “Brzzzk?”
“Ha!” A genuinely shocked sound escaped Raven’s lips. “Brzzzk rejected the drow soul. He might be a badass, but I embrace my culture outside of the murder and deceit. No. I have another idea.”
Raven turned and started descending into the depths again.
“What is it?” Mark’s voice followed her.
She stopped and looked back. They had all followed. “I’m going to Hazbruhharassin. Simone will be killed once we get inside the eighteen-mile perimeter, Cody will be a drider toy, and Mark…”
“I don’t care.” Mark shook his head firmly. “I’m going. They’re going. If there’s a chance to get the mirrors, then we’re in. Sara is one of us.”
“One of us?” Raven didn’t understand. “After all this—”
“Motoh Grayter,” Simone started. “We launched a full-ass mission to save him.”
“And don’t forget me,” Cody added.
Raven’s anger cooled. “I…”
“You,” Simone reminded her. “Didn’t Sara charge into the dark to get to you?”
Raven was speechless.
“When I say one of us,” Mark said, “I mean Etokusopudlian. I would chase Sara down to stop her from doing something stupid for you too.”
“And they can kill me.” Simone stood firm. “Or try. We might not have the power to beat them, but we have brains that were so traumatically cracked that we had to find creative ways to survive Earth. I think we’ll be okay here.”
“I can’t die either,” Cody said. “So, we’re with you. Until the end. You aren’t just Sara’s partner. You’re our sister. You’re family.”
Raven sighed in frustration as tears dripped from her face. She was about to scream, but her knees gave out, and she fell to the mossy, rocky ground of the Upper Northdank.
She buried her head in her hands and let go.
Simone fell to her knees and cradled Raven in a warm embrace. Her sobs were violent and sharp. She gasped for breath and bawled even harder.
Sara had been the only person to just let her exist beside her. Everyone else had expectations and demands, but Sara had none. If Raven crossed a line, Sara called her out.
This wasn’t a passing fancy or a seductive mission. This was love, and Raven was broken because she couldn’t do anything to help.
Why did she always look to her mother for answers, even after cutting contact and escaping? Too many times, she had asked herself what Falsari would do.
No.
Going back to her mother was a mistake, but Raven had other family she could certainly call upon.
She pulled back from Simone’s embrace and got to her feet. “We’re taking a detour.”
“Lead on,” Simone said.
Raven followed the same path for another ten minutes before they reached a fork in the road. “Left is Hazbruhharassin. Never go that way. In a mile, the patrols start. The scouts are ruthless and tasked only with killing intruders.”
She pushed down the right path until they came to the ruins of a small town. Raven stopped at the entrance and turned to address the group. “This can still go very badly, but just let me do the talking.”
“If shit goes down,” Cody said, “we’re gonna throw down. I hope you know that.”
Raven nodded slowly as she headed into town toward the one building that wasn’t a total wreck. “You aren’t the only ones.”
She stopped in front of the massive wooden door and knocked. After a few seconds, it opened.
Mark, Cody, and Simone’s jaws instantly hit the floor when they saw the wide-brimmed purple hat and its legendary feather.
“Raven!” The man opened the door wider to let her inside. “I’m so happy to see you! Come in! Who are your slaves?”
Raven motioned the group inside. “They’re my friends.”
She turned back toward them, the man and several more drow mercenaries behind her. “Meet my uncle, Karl Axel Foley.”
The man smiled and dipped into a flourishing bow.
“Welcome to the Memin Bears.”