Page 7 - FS January

-07

Using raven-speak, Raelynn explained to the corvids the problem and her plan to solve it.
“I saw six teenagers bullying children on the playground. They knocked the younger kids down,
broke their toys, and took their snacks.”
The dark quintet muttered their dismay.
“I witnessed the teens trip a little boy. Then, they kicked him several times while he lay crying
beside the seesaw,” said Raelynn Raven.
The five natural-born ravens clacked their beaks.
“I went over to the teens and asked them to stop,” she told the unkindness. “But their leader said,
‘Mind your own business.’ After kicking the child again, he added, ‘Or you’re next.’”
The corvids Raelynn gave bread crumbs to every day shook their heads.
“His comrades stepped closer to me. They repeated, ‘Yeah, you’re next.’ Then, one of the teens
added, ‘You’d better not mess with us. Tig and his crew don’t put up with interfering.’”
The unkindness croaked softly.
Raelynn Raven tilted her head in the direction of the elementary school. “I’m going to the play-
ground to deal with Tig. The other teens are followers. If I can frighten him away from the chil-
dren, his friends will leave as well. But I need help.”
The quintet squawked their desire to help Raelynn.
“Then, it’s settled,” said Raelynn as she leaped into the air. Using the branch’s height and gravity
to her advantage, she flew toward the playground with just a few flaps of her wings.
Raelynn Raven alighted on one of the monkey bars in time to see Tig and friends shove a girl off
the sliding board ladder.
“Stop,” she shouted.
Shocked to hear a bird speak, the teens left the girl alone long enough for her to run to the swings.
“A talking blackbird! Now, there’s something you don’t see everyday,” said Tig. “Maybe we ought
to catch it.”
Lady Raven
Raelynn knew he’d be the first one to move against her.
“Or kill it,” he added. Tig bent over to pick up a stone.
Raelynn Raven croaked a distress call. Her unkindness responded in kind. She knew ravens and
crows defended their territories. She also knew when a fellow corvid was in trouble, ravens, crows,
and blackbirds would sometimes come to the assistance of a bird outside of their family circle.
Fortunately, today many corvids answered Raelynn’s call.
With Raelynn Raven in the lead, the growing throng of corvids mobbed the teens. They dive-
bombed Tig and his comrades, chasing them not only from the playground, but down the street.
Determined to halt the bullying of younger children, Raelynn Raven relentlessly pursued Tig. When
he broke off from his friends, she pecked him on the head several times before shouting, “Do not
return. If you do, I will claw out your eyes.”
Then, with teens dispersed and warning issued, Raelynn and her unkindness returned to the
playground. Joined by the other corvids who’d answered the distress call, they continued raucous
croaks and reconnaissance flights for another hour.
Using her best raven-speak, Raelynn thanked the ravens, crows, and blackbirds who’d helped.
Many corvids promised to patrol the area and keep an eye out for any trouble.
Task completed, Raelynn and her unkindness winged their way toward her cottage. The natu-
ral-born ravens flew with the same vigor they’d had in the morning. Raelynn did not.
Exhausted by the energy needed to unleash transformation magic, maintain raven-shape, and fly,
she was barely able to stay aloft. Seeing her falter, the five ravens she fed every day took turns
flying beneath her. The quintet did their best to bear some of her weight.
At last, Raelynn and her unkindness landed in the mushroom circle. Too weak to stand, she laid on
her side in the soft soil of the clearing.
The natural-born ravens raised their wings. With wingtip touching wingtip, they formed a cir-
cle around Raelynn Raven. Vocalizing a complicated chorus of beak clacks, croaks, and cries, they
slowly moved in a clockwise direction. The quintet was still singing their raven-song when Rae-
lynn slipped into unconsciousness.
***
Raelynn woke clothed in her ebony dress. Someone had pulled Raelynn’s coat over her to protect
her from the night time chill. They’d also tugged her knit hat on. As she sat up, she saw five ra-
vens standing guard.
“Thank you, my friends,” she whispered.
Her unkindness rushed closer. They pressed their faces against her, gazed at her with wise eyes,
and muttered quietly. Then, the ravens stepped back.
Raelynn stood. Tired, but now able to move, she made her way back to her cottage door. Before she
stepped inside, she scanned the huge oak tree in her yard. Among its branches, still watching her,
were five natural-born ravens.
She’d been wrong earlier in the day. Raelynn Raven wasn’t the only one with both air and magic in
the hollow places of her raven bones.
She now believed every raven was a child of magic.

Magazine Title