Page 21 - Solstice Art & Literary Magazine 2020

knew. He didn’t want to tell the crow at all, but if he simply tried to hide his thoughts, she would be impossible to calm down. Her injury would do little to tame her temper.
I can’t leave you, and you know that. I am you and you are me. We are one and the same. Refusing to merge doesn’t change that. It’ll just make things harder.
“I told them he had no chance.” His voice broke, and he turned away.
You can’t hide from me. I am you.
“Stop it!” He breathed deep, trying to keep from shaking. It was difficult in the cold. He drew the cloak around him. Hunger gnawed at him, but he was too tired to get
Ignoring her words, he reached out to brush her broken wing. A spike of pain shot up his own arm, and he drew back. The wind lashed out, cold seeping through his cloak. He shivered and hunched over. The crow croaked at him, and he lifted her and settled her in his lap—though not without hesitation.
Don’t be like that. You can’t let me freeze to death. It would kill you.
He laughed harshly. The sound scraped against his throat. “Kill me? You almost got me killed tonight. Crow boy, they
said. Demon. They turned against me because of you.”
She lifted her head, beady black eyes boring into his. They knew about me for a week before tonight. They turned against you because that little boy died.
up, and foraging would be near
impossible in the snow. He said, “They wouldn’t call me a demon if it wasn’t for you. Sam was the
trigger, but you were the cause.”
Nothing can be done about it. I am—
“You are me, I get it. But you’re also a crow, and I’m not.”
Crow. That’s what you call me. I have a name. Why don’t you use it?
“You know why.” He turned away and closed his mind. She cawed at him, but he ignored her. Eventually, she fell silent. The woods were still, the only movement being the snow drifting down around them, a shadow under a tree.
“ There was no perceptible change in the boy, and his pursuers grinned in satisfaction, thinking there was no way for
him to escape now. Then the boy moved.”
1
2
1 COPPER/BEAD BANGLE • HALEY LETTS
Jewelery • 1x4
2 UNTITLED • EMILIA PANEK
Ceramic • 5x5x5 • IHSAE Selection