Chapter Thirteen
Just before dark that very same day, the boy, playing outside for the last remaining hour before his bedtime, received an image from the Raven. It was a disjointed image, as though the Raven simply wished to show the boy some of his day. After a small pause, the boy realized that this is the Raven's way of simply saying "Hello, here is my day, how was yours?"
Unexpectedly, the Raven alighted atop a branch in a tree only a few feet from where the boy was searching for some of the healing plants his grandfather had told him about in the morning.
"Well, hello, Mr. Raven." the boy says, curious that the bird would come so near to him. The Raven, ever precocious like so many of his kind, stared a beady coal black eye at the boy and says in a scratchy voice,. "Well, hello, Boy." Shocked, dumbfounded, and speechless, the boy can only stare at the bird, wondering if he actually just heard the bird actually speak to him? "Yes, yes, I speak two-leg." says the bird, matter-of-fact, reading the boys thoughts with what the boy could swear must be a smile on the Raven's face. "But only you have the totem, so everyone else does not understand us." the Raven says, explaining.
The boy, shaking his head in wonderment, finally says, "Wow! That's amazing! It's very nice to meet you… um, Mr. Raven." The Raven, perking up, says, "Ah, not Mr. Raven. I am called Kooraw." At this, the Raven caws, "Koo-raw, koo-raw." "You see?" he asks. The boy is again too speechless to answer, and only nods his head in agreement. "Amazing…" he says again. "Well, Mr. Ra, I mean, Kooraw, I should go in! My grandfather is reading me the story of "The Greatest Assassin in all the Realms", the boy says proudly. "And I don't want to be late, because I want to find out who he is." explains the boy after seeing that the Raven ruffle his feathers at his last statement.
"He is not you? Surely you be." the Raven asks. "Me?" the boy says with a little chuckle. "No no, I'm not him, he lived a long time ago! Before I was born." the boy explains patiently. "No no, you are he, is he not?" the Raven asks, cryptically. "Um.. I don't, that is, I guess I don't understand the question." the boy says quickly, "But, maybe we'll talk later?" the boy asks hopefully. "You will be, and talk with me." the Raven says in another strange rhyme. "Tomorrow!" the boy says, waving as he runs off. The Raven simply stands upon his branch and nods his head knowingly.