The Oracle Part 2

 “It will be impossible. I’ve been cursed, young boy. Cursed with knowledge. Cursed with immortality. Strike me now, and I shall return. Strike me again, and I shall return just as the ravens feast on the dead.”
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Liuk looked down. He was a Raven. He was unsure if the woman’s words were spiteful or not. He was unsure if the woman was real at all.
“I’d assumed you to be a Raven,” Liuk questioned. 
“Not by choice.”
“Was it anyone’s?”
“Oh, yes.” The Oracle stared into his eyes, menacingly. Hers were pure black, just as Liuk’s, and he knew she must’ve been a Raven herself.
“How? I did not choose this fate. I did not choose to be subjected to the terror and violence of the Amovians and their Lumentian Knight-mares.”
The Oracle laughed, a throaty raspy sound that chilled Liuk underneath his skin. “We all choose our own destiny. Even me. By choice, I’ve ended here. On a rock, in the sea, beneath the lands and the sands and the oceans. I’m not here. But I am. Whether you believe me to be true or not.” She stared into his eyes, and he swore he could feel her gaze penetrating into his very bones. “I’m surprised you are not afraid of me, young boy.”
Liuk didn’t know whether he should be afraid or not. He furrowed his brow. Was she telling him something he shouldn’t know? “What do you mean?”
“The monkey chain around your neck,” she pointed with a weathered finger. “Your brother crafted that for you. The monkey is carved from the very shell of your youth.” 
Liuk didn’t know what that meant. Was she speaking in riddles? He did not dare to ask. 
“I’d lost it… as a boy,” Liuk finally said. “I found it today. And how did you know? It is unknown how the jewel came back to me.”
“Yes,” the Oracle said. “Unknown.” 

The Oracle Part 1

The Oracle was an old woman whose age was undeterminable under the wretched clothes she wore on her frail body. Her hair was black as midnight and her eyes devoid of any color, sunken and withering. Above her own face, she wore a mask, grey as a wolf’s winter coat with cracks running down the sides until one could almost see the darkness poking from beneath.  
When Liuk arrived at her den, the door was already ajar and golden sunlight found its way inside the dark cabin. He continued forward and slowly creaked the wooden slab open until pure light painted itself over every shadow in the room. It was only one room where old pickaxes and torches lay askew, and rotten oak pieces haphazardly thrown in corners. Dust caked every surface of every object, even the Oracle herself. 
“I’ve expected you coming.” The Oracle’s voice was old, but it spoke the truth that no other mortal could give Liuk. He needed her answers.
“You’re awake?” Liuk closed the door behind him, and they were both shrouded in the darkness of the room. Dust and cobwebs floated in the air. 
“Sit and close your eyes with me.”
Liuk knew better than to question the authority of the wise Oracle. He obeyed her command without question, and slowly found an open space on the floor to make room for comfort. The stone floor was icy, and cracks made it so he could feel grass and weeds growing between the crevices. As he traced his fingers against the stony pavement, he was jolted awake by the cold waters of the sea wetting his skin. The room smelled of salt and death.

Valerine's Thoughts

The whisperers of the night had claimed that when a siren resided among the clouds and the blue skies for too long, the orange suns would burn their sable hair and paint it a red like the fiery blazes of heat. Valerine had never been in the twofolk world and she did not believe the tomfoolery of the whisperers. In her youth, her mother, the great siren Vetraya had told her that the men above would do terrible things if she was not careful. Yet the siren had taken the form of a man and with that, she had also taken the man’s pure brute and strength and physical appearance, his strong legs and tanned body all of her own. She would be invincible.
 

Liuk Excerpt...

Liuk dreamt of strange girls, caressing him in the moonlight as they lay atop a sandy beach. Their eyes were lovely, their red lips soft against his own, their touch the lightest of feathers. Some were turned towards him beside his body, and he could feel their honeyed voices silently flowing toward him as the crash of the water burned against his skin. His vision was blurred but he could see through his disillusioned eyes that the girls were no ordinary humans; what should’ve been their legs were replaced with long scaly tails, like a fish’s skin flagging against the sun’s wretched burn. The laughter of these monstrous creatures of the sea drowned his ears… Her voice now corrupted his mind, a sinister melody playing over and over again.

 

Ferina Excerpt...

It had only been mere minutes before her eyes widened again. But this time, she found herself underwater, fighting to breathe as she inhaled the cold liquid and choked beneath the waves. She closed her eyes again, and the deep pool had shortened, now beneath water only as high as her ankles. She lifted herself from the wetness, looking around bewildered as her throat burned from the inhalation of unwelcome water. The room was opened to a blood red sky, casting the lights against the lapping waters and reflecting itself into a crimson haze. Her hair was soaked, her silk dress dripping in the moonlight and pasted against her skin. She stared ahead, columns looming holding the last of the earth above her until she couldn’t see the ends of the skies any longer. As she continued along, her bare feet sloshing against the watery grounds, she came across a strange statue, no taller than her knees. She knelt to peer at the carvings; it was a raven, grey from the stones that created it. It’s wings were spread, beak opened in mid-caw. 

Valerine Excerpt...

 Valerine hated birds. She despised the way they chirped and cawed in the morning, so deafening she could even hear them from under the depths of the ocean’s surface. And now, as a human herself, walking on two legs on the sandy grounds of the Quatik Lands, or so they called them, at an eerily early dawn hour, the birds were louder than ever. They crowed in the distance, singing songs of lovers old and new, of lost kings and dead babes alike. Lerine could almost understand them, but she promised that her Siren’s Song was far superior than any tune the little beasts could muster from their nasally throats. She was the best singer in all of Pavilion, or so she believed herself to be. Yet she suddenly remembered that her beautiful aquatic body was not of her own anymore, but of the man they called Edmind, a low-life pirate, and a commoner’s son at best. His grubby black hair was unruly atop his head and her voice—his voice—a true travesty, an unfamiliar presence from her soft lips. Valerine hated it. It was low and rough and completely impractical for a Siren’s Song.

My Character Descriptions!

Akadia Haile:

Sole daughter of Lord Aerion Haile and Lady Osyri Haile. A gentle and soft-spoken girl considered to be the most beautiful Lady in the realm. Throughout her youth, Akadia has been able to sense and alter things with her mind (for example, being able to shift the fire from a candle to the right upon a flick of the wrist, or having the ability to speak to strange ghosts and dark shadows in the night.) Akadia does not know where these slight powers come from, but she is aware of the fact that anything having to do with magic has to do with the Raven Mages of old--dark sorcerers prohibited in all of the Kingdoms.

Iylan Kazamir: 

Secondborn son of the King of Amovian, King Byor. A skilled sword-wielder and dashing fellow, he is said to be a humorous boy and a singer of songs in the night. He takes keen interest in the whereabouts of Lady Akadia. This blossom of romance does not happen by chance; King Byor is suspicious of Lord Aerion's doings recently and wishes to spy through the girl. However, Iylan takes delight in his accompaniment of the Lord Aerion's daughter and soon things change.

Cassium Kazamir:

Firstborn son of King Byor and successor to the throne. However, he does not wish to seek power or to be the king. He is said to be silent and grim on many days, though his fiery hair is a stark contrast to his dejected character. A strange sickness dominated his life since youth, yet the Garium of old specially crafted has aided his troubles. The Lords and Ladies adore the boy who is said to be adept in all areas of combat as well as skilled in his histories of the kingdoms. His life also becomes entwined with the late Akadia, although strange happenings occur when he comes across a man claiming to know his true origins.

Valerine Valencia: 

A Siren Princess of the Misty Kingdom in the seas, she is said to have the pale skin of the moon and the blood red lips and cheeks of an apple (hence her nickname Valerine Apple). She seeks revenge for her late sister slaughtered by pirates in a brewing storm. She knows of the dangers above in the twofolk world, but with the Bone Magic of Sirens and her Siren's Song, she wishes to uncover the truth behind her sister, Vallyn Valencia's children. 

Liuk Loirwyn:

With the blood of the Raven Mage's rooted back centuries ago, Liuk is subjected to the harsh enslavement conditions on the island of Helvtika. There, he works with other lost kin of Ravens to work and uproot the ancient and powerful Garium substance, said to be magical ointments to heal and protect the twofolks, but dangerous to them in their natural state. After a devastating witness of the fall of his close kin, Liuk, enraged, escapes Helvtika with a strange girl named Elegy. His decisions lead to ultimate rebellion and war with the Ravens.

Ferina Citifar:

Long lost princess of the Cursed Kingdom of Vriatrea, a place independent of the main kingdoms (more on this on my next post). Her events transpire long before the events from above when Raven Mages still lived in harmony and peace among the twofolks. In her youth, Ferina is plagued by a terrible demon named Tavekh, or the Cursed God, who hides within her minds' dreams and thoughts. After attempting to exorcise the haunting God, her kingdom itself is subjected to scorn and scandal, cursed for eternity.

Hey guys~ 

These are only short character descriptions for my book series Carnage of Ravens. I hope you enjoy reading these, but I know the majority of it doesn't make complete sense yet! I'll release a more dedicated description about the book's summary soon. 

Things are subject to change!