Chapter 53 Back to this

When Raven got up in the morning, she felt like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Storm had asked a million questions about Raven's life before she met Grandfather Dorin but Raven couldn't remember much, just those tubes and Rika's short life thanks to Devitt. Storm assured her that nothing had changed, as always Storm was on her side, ready to conquer this new strange planet. Now all she had to do was figure out how to get Devitt away from her. He kept trying to talk to her and she kept refusing to accept anything he had to say. She was mad at him for what had happened all those years ago, but she was also angry at herself for feeling anything other than hatred for him. That pull he had on her was still working, she wasn't sure if she wanted to smash his face in or just wrap her limbs in his until that warmth Storm talked about encased her. Devitt tried again during the morning, instead of going through her head, he cornered her by the coffee table.

"Can you at least talk to me Raven?"

"There is nothing to say, you killed my sister and took great pride in it. We have nothing else to discuss"

Finn pinched the bridge of his nose, more than annoyed but he would try at least to keep it to himself. "So we're back to this"

"Yes we're back to this"

"Can you at least let me explain?"

"How can you justify what you did? You killed my sister for no good reason!"

"I have a good reason, you just won't let me explain!"

"You know I can understand why you killed Rune, he was a traitor. And I can even begin to understand why you killed Diego and Deyente, but tell me what did Rika do that offended you so badly Devitt? Looked at you funny?"

"You know you are such a hypocrite Raven"

"I don't know what that is!" The frustration was mounting, she felt it behind her eyes and the pulse in her tail, badly she wanted to release it and smack him right in the face with it. Even Raven knew that having a tail on this planet wasn't normal so she hid it away with magic, but pulse by pulse she wanted to let it loose.

"It means I'm not the only one who killed, remember Juza?"

"He desrved to die"

"I don't disagree Raven, but you're not exactly guilt free on this account. I killed your sister, but you killed my Father"

"That scum deserved to die!" Raven couldn't handle this conversation anymore, she needed to get away from him before the magic exploded from her body in rapid bursts. If she was around Devitt much longer he would be joining his Father in death.

Later that night...

Raven, where are you?

In the woods hunting

Are you ok?

I'm fine Storm, just need time to calm down

Raven had said nothing about the exact words she had shared with Devitt, but Storm knew that she was upset. As soon as she got through with work, Raven just vanished into thin air quite literally and Storm had been trying to contact her ever since. Now that she finally got through, she was more willing to just leave Raven be. She had done the exact same thing after each of Devitt's kills, hunted in the forest, trying to make sense of everthing.

"Thought I'd find you here"

Raven didn't bother answering, she just rushed at him burying her shoulder into his well defined stomach, his feet being lifted from the mossy ground as she spared him into a tree. Her fists swung at him, connecting with flesh and crunching bone. Devitt wasn't so content on letting her get away with hitting him, he reacted in kind, smashing her supple body with all the force he had. Raven wasn't interested in using her magic spells, she just wanted to hit him, she needed to feel his bones crunching under her fists, the blood oozing onto her flesh. Devitt was just trying to keep his distance from her, she was like a wild animal finally unleashed. He threw her to the ground, her body sliding across the dirt. She was on her feet in seconds, those heavy body blows reigning on his body, the pain chorused through his body but he knew that Raven was feeling the same amount of pain. He didn't like hitting her, but he wasn't going to let her use his body as a punching bag.

"Stop it!" Devitt held her back with his shield spell, it didn't hold for long because Raven just pushed through it, exactly what he was hoping for. The second she got close, he grabbed her skull in his lethal grip, pushing the exact memory of what had happened that night.

Raven couldn't breathe, the images flashing in her skull like a movie. She was there but she didn't see anything from her point of view, but from Devitt's. A scared young Warrior with his Father, trying to find his right of passage. He didn't want to be here but Juza had made him. It was the only way he could hope to become a true Warrior. Raven felt it, that deep need in his bones, he wanted his right of passage so badly. Back in Juza's day, the killing of a Hunter instantly made you a Warrior, drinking of the Hunter's blood made you feared by all. Hunter's had grown smarter since Juza's day and now the only way to find Hunters were the confined ones. Juza had read the stones, they predicted the two girls in the tubes would become Hunter's. Devitt didn't want to kill two trapped girls, he preferred the hunt. He stopped when Juza blew the wall in, he saw it so clear in his head that he almost threw up from the dizzying effect. He stopped when he saw Raven, those silver orbs burning a hole straight through his body, he couldn't breathe, she was so beautiful that being an enemy didn't register. He longed to touch her, wanting to know if her skin was as smooth as it looked. Juza told him to hurry it up, kill one of them so he could have the other. Devitt sensed it in Raven, how much she cared for her little sister, and he knew that if he didn't kill one Juza would do what he was famous for in Warrior circles. Raven let out a scream as the images flashed violently in her head, she finally saw what Devitt was trying to tell her all along, he was saving Rika by killing her. Juza had his own plan for the two girls, he was going to brutilize the young one over and over, keeping her alive with magic just so Raven could watch her suffer for all eternity, every torture method cutting into her heart. Devitt did the only thing he could, he took Rika first knowing that Raven would kill Juza. Like he suspected, as soon as Rika went down, Juza was next. All that was left was letting Raven make her escape, the images of Grandfather Dorin planted in her head by the young Warrior. Raven let out a gasp, trying to get the air into her lungs. All this time, Devitt was true to his word, he had done it for her the only way he knew how.

Finn took his hands off her skull, the memories stopping instantly. He heaved in a breath, he had forgotten how much magic it took to replay memories. When he regained himself, he was ready to face Raven and her questions.

The only problem was Raven wasn't moving.