CHAPTER 20

Coman landed very hard in a field of lilac, lavender and purple geranium flowers. The second he touched down, he staggered up to his feet and looked around as he got his bearings, rubbing his right arm since it was understandably sore from his less than graceful landing…

"Raven! Intelligence! Are you girls alright?!"

Apart from the birdsong and the gentle breeze that caused the flowers to sway faintly, Coman heard nothing. Looking around cautiously, he tried to get an idea on which way to head, but was met with the sight of a seemingly endless carpet of purple flowers all around him.

"Raven?! Intelligence?!"

But there was still no response. Bending over to pick up his staff, Coman looked around one last time, and then started walking...

'It'll do me no good to just stand around here,'though Coman. 'The one person who could explain what to do is Gods only knows where, and Raven…poor Raven. This is all so very new to her and all of this hitting her all at one time can't be good for her. I've got to find them both if I have any hope of helping her…and of finding my way out of here…'

Coman continued on his trek, and eventually he began to see other things, namely huge blooming wisteria and magnolia trees in the distance. As he got closer to the towering trees, Coman swore that he could also heard wind chimes floating in the air. He stopped in his tracks to listen for the direction the chimes seemed to be coming from and then when he placed it, began walking in the same direction. It turned out to be a smart move on Coman's part, for it wasn't very long afterwards when he came upon a clearing in the wooded glen, and knelling down to tend to what appeared to be an animal of some sort was once again, a young girl who looked just like Raven, only she was wearing a purple cape and set of purple boots. The young girl turned at the sound of Coman rustling through the flowers and smiled warmly as she rose gracefully to her feet.

"Hello Mr. Coman," she greeted. Coman smiled lightly.

"Good day. Forgive me if I'm interrupting something."

"Oh no, not at all." The purple-cloaked 'Raven' then noticed that Coman was favoring his hurt arm and tenderly reached out to take his arm. "It looks like you've had quite a trip. Please…"

She gestured at the large flat boulder only a few feet away from her. "Come sit by me."

Coman smiled again, for the girl's pleasant demeanor was very comforting and inviting after his mini ordeal. The two then went to sit on the boulder and the young girl smiled once again. "I have met one of Raven's emotions before I winded up here," started Coman. "Her intelligence as she introduced herself. I assume that you too are a part of Raven, yes?"

"That's right. You could say that I'm Raven's affection, the part of her that allows her to be kind and considerate towards others as well as to feel love towards others." Affection then beamed slightly. "All that I am, all that you see here is thanks to people like you, and Ms. Gayla, Mr. John, Mother and…"

Affection's voice trailed off, and a wistful look appeared on her face. Coman nodded to convey his understanding. "I know. We all miss Azar terribly, Affection. That is why I'm here. I had used the Mirror of Azar to help Raven get in better touch with her emotions, to get a better handle on how to deal with her grief. However, we never imagine to stumble upon all… of this…not in a million years."

He then placed a hand on her shoulder. "And I need your help. Intelligence says that it was a mood swing that happened a few minutes ago, and it somehow launched me here. But I have no idea where "here" is."

"Each of Raven's emotions has a place inside of her to call her very own. The mood swing it seems threw you into my home. There's a chance it could've thrown Intelligence here too, or into one of the other emotions' realms."

"And Raven…?

Raven stood in front of a building that was both colossal and intimidating in appearance. The building in question resembled that of a security fort, complete with looming sentry towers, barred windows, a marshy moat and a rusty wrought iron portcullis. Raven then began to take in her surroundings, for the fortress's landscaping (if you could call it that) was even more menacing-looking. Everywhere that she looked, Raven could see nothing but bare trees, prickly briar patches, and piles of dry dead leaves and fallen branches all around…

"Where in the name of Azar am I?"

Raven went back to study the stronghold before her. While the building gave off a strong sense of unfriendliness, it was also rather strange that its drawbridge was lowered and the portcullis to the main entrance was raised up. It was almost like someone wanted Raven to go inside…

"Yeah, I don't think I want to go in there," murmured Raven. She turned around and began walking down a path that was littered with dead leaves, the sound of her crunching footsteps echoing in the otherwise eerily silent air…

"Turn back…"

Raven's head whipped around to the source of the disembodied voice so quickly, it was a miracle she didn't give herself whiplash. Glancing up into the gnarled branches overhead, she spotted a lone raven with blood red eyes. But animals, let alone ravens couldn't talk…

"Turn back…" it repeated in a soft, child-like and eerie voice.

"What the…?!"

Just then, two more ravens flew down and perched on the branches near the first raven, each one as peculiar and creepy as the first.

"Stay away. Danger ahead. Turn back."

Raven looked at the trio of birds suspiciously. Who or what was it that they were trying to warn her about? Or were these creatures trying to set her up for a trap instead? Better yet, why did something about these birds seem…familiar?

"TURN BACK! TURN BACK! TURN BACK!"

Raven shrieked and bolted back towards the fortress as the ravens took on a more terrifying appearance. Their dark plumage now looked haggard in appearance, and they had razor sharp teeth that lined the inside of their bills. What was even more frightening is that the birds now sported not one but two pairs of red eyes. Raven raced across the drawbridge and through the entrance of the fort, narrowly missing getting run through and through when the portcullis suddenly came crashing down. As she struggled to catch her breath and control her racing heart, Raven swore she saw something move out the corner of her eye and just caught the sight of someone slipping away down a darkened corridor...

"Hey, wait!"

Raven took off towards the corridor and grabbed one of the wall torches for illumination, then cautiously proceeded further. She soon wished she hadn't, for the interior of the fort was even creepier than its exterior and outside grounds. Numerous chains and locks secured every door she passed, and she could hear the nervous breathing of someone echoing in the empty hallways...

"H-hello? Is someone there?"

The panicky, shallow breathing sounded like it was starting to move away from her, so Raven ventured deeper into the belly of the building. Soon she heard footsteps racing away, and Raven followed suit.

"Wait a minute! I need to talk to you!" But the footsteps only increased in pace.

"Stop! I need your help!"

Raven rounded the corner with such reckless abandon that she collided into someone who was coming from the other direction. Her torch fell to the stone floor and into a puddle, which quickly extinguished it. "Hey! Watch where…" snarled the mysterious being, whose voice trailed off suddenly. "Oh," she murmured upon seeing Raven's fallen form. "It's you."

Raven could tell (or rather assumed) that this was another emotion of hers standing before her. She then heard the girl sigh exasperatedly. "Are you going to take my hand or what?" she huffed.

"Oh!" gasped Raven, who clearly couldn't see it in the darkness and she blindly reached out for it. When the two made contact, the emotion lifted her off of the floor. Raven squinted in the dark, but she still couldn't make out any of her identifying features.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to crash into you like that," replied Raven. "But I was trying to keep up with you."

"Keep up with me? Oh, you mean Neurotic."

"Neu…rotic?"

"Another word for 'anxious' or 'fearful'. She spooks easily, you see. Scared of her own shadow, that one."

"I see. Well, uh, maybe you could help me then. I was trying to speak with Sadness before this mood swing thing threw me in here. You think you could…"

"Show you the way to her? Yeah, I don't see any problem with that. Come on, I even know a shortcut."

Raven nodded and it was only then when they neared another wall torch when she finally got a good glimpse of the emotion who was leading her away, and noted that she was wearing a red cape and pair of boots.

"By the way, which emotion of mine do you represent?" asked Raven. The red-cloaked emotion looked over her shoulder and grinned, her crooked smile revealing what almost looked like fangs.

"Let's just say that I'm the part of you that doesn't take no nonsense from anybody. You got an emotion giving you trouble, I'll show you how to handle her. Trust me…"