Raven - Stage 2

12 wolves stay where they are

Only a moment later, you realise that you are not alone here.

You listen, and you can hear hushed voices. After a moment, two figures appear, spectral and ghostly: the moonlight seems to go right through them. They are murmuring to one another. You strain to catch some words -

“Can you open it?”

“You know I can open -”

“- it’s closing it that could be a problem.”

“Leave that to him.”

The raven caws. This time you understand it.

Open.

You look from the spectres to the raven, and back again, trying to understand what this means. As you continue to watch, one of the spectres approaches you. You freeze, a sense of fear washing over you - but it soon becomes clear that it can’t see you. Or if it can, it shows no signs of it. It lifts a paw, and you see a wound on its lower foreleg, one that hardly seems to have begun to heal before the figure is once more opening the scar with its fangs.

A drop of blood falls onto the stone in front of you.

“Aperio,” the figure murmurs.

You shield your eyes as there is a blinding flash of light, and you feel a sudden rush of wind speeding past your fur, gone just as soon as it arrived. When you open your eyes, the ghostly figures have vanished, and the stone below your paws has split in two.

On the fractured halves, you notice a strange carving.

AWAKE.

4 wolves enter the clearing

You step into the clearing. As you pass the first stone that had laid in front of you, it begins to glow. The raven caws again, still on its perch in the trees, as the glow spreads to the next stone, then the next, continuing until all five are glowing softly.

A sound begins to flood your ears - chanting.

.̷̛̝͍̘̀̉͐̐̄̀ͅ ̶̢̛̺̪̅́̃͊̐̉͊̈́̇́͘͠.̶̛̳̗͇̱̲̘̠̲͓͈̹̥͌́͐̈́͑͋̈͝ ̶̞̲͖̬̳̮̠̻̻̐̎̀̆.̵̻̟̩͓̰̼̠̙͙̦̎̿̔͌̀̏̀͛̀͐̉̕ ̷̛̰̻͈͉̰̩͇̺͖͈͉̝̎̀̾͒̋̉̎͜͜͝ḁ̴̢̬̟̗͒́̄̃̔͠͝ ̸̡̹̣̟͕̟̤̏͆͜ṵ̵̖̺̩̙͕͉̗͙͙̼̩̮̳̯̽͋̏̀̈̈̉̅́͠͠ ̷̛̠̮k̸̡̨̢̺̻̟͍͙̙̥̻̣̳̃̀̀͊̍̉̆̍̕̚̕͝ͅ ̴͚̰̞͖͈̆̀ͅa̶̞̤̩̳͚̱̪̠͍͓̘͇̲̝̜̒͊̑̄̍̀̉̇͘̚͠͝ ̷̣͈͙̩͇̺̲̺͓̝̕.̴̜̉͋̓̓̈̂̓̇͘͘͝ ̸̧̧̗̦̭̲̝̬͔̱̭̖̥̟͝͠.̸̥͎͍̄̀̓͆̂̉̌̂͛͘ ̸̰̟̝̳̭̝̯̲͕̰͈͖̬̂̈́̓̒͆͋̊̌͛̃̉͘̚͠.̶̨͈͎͖̯͕̩̑͛̏̃͗̈́̊ ̴̜̞̹͚͙̞͉̜̣̇̒́̚

Ancient words you don’t understand -

̸̷̨̢̛̛͎͎͙̭͚̹͕͓̥̩̺̟̠̤̳̥͍̱͙̭̜͕͂̎̔̍͑̐́͛͒̆̋͋́̌̐̉̚ͅͅ.̴̨̡̪̜̟̣̫̣̜͐͑̂̈́̕͠ ̴̝̻̩͖͋͐̾̑́.̸͈͈̩͔̠̪͎̩̤͕̱̎̆̎͑̌̀͝ ̸̳̥̰̬̇̉̆͊͛̎̄̑̐̄̆̃̌͛̌.̶̼̘̱̝̭̟̯̻̲͚̤̻͓͋̀̓͑̄̉͑̂́̓̒̈́͜͝͝ ̴̡̨̣͓̙͙̠̰̩͙̺̣͗͒̍e̷̡͎̘̥̹͇̖̔̊͆͒̒̑͜͜͜ ̷̧̗͈͎͇̩̠̻̗͙͉̪͂̉̇̀̑ͅĺ̸̞̼͈̟́̋̈́̉̈́͂ ̷̞͈͖̠̋ą̸̺͍́̔̽̋͗̈́̄̽͘͝ ̸̜̤̦̻͙̫̖̺̿̆̀́ȓ̴̢̛̛̛̪̖̹̪̪̼͎̖̱͕̲͕͍͉̉̏̿̾̑͐͆͝ ̶̢̙͇͇̦͈̆͐̌͘ų̸̛̞͙̤̬̗̯̝̋̂͌̒́̓͋͗̿̎̕̚͝͠ ̸̡̨͖̠̣̤̂̓̓͗͘͠͠l̷̡̨̲͚͖̗̞̜̮̠̓̌̕ ̶̧̧͈̞̯͔̲͈͙̭͉̏̈͜͜.̷̲͔̦̼̞̳̣̎̃̎́͑̿͆̄͛̓͆̈́̚͝ ̴̛̺͖̻̩̏̽͌̈́͊̒̓̔͆͂͘͘ͅ.̸̗̜̙̹͚̤̓̃̒́̆̄ ̷̺͉͊̊̒̐.̵̧̳̝̤̬̦͕̩͍̬̣̪̥͘ͅͅ

̸̢̛̳̝̟̩̬͇̯̦̆̋͌̍͌͌̀̎̿̈͊̕͘͠

̶̱͎͇̼͇̦̭̪̗̭̗̼͖͔̔̂̈́͗̎͋̏̽̚͠͠.̵̡̡̧̤͙̫͖̤̗̲͈̇̈́̈́̇̍̈́ͅͅ ̵̜̅͑͊.̸̡̻̪͈̙͊̈́̌̂͘ ̴̛̘͍̯͈̪͚͈̟̘̝̌̃̓̐̓̄̚̕͠͝.̷̧̤̰̩̰͕̯̘͙̥̃͜͝ͅͅ ̷̧͔̼̜̖̲̮̺̄̽̅̿̆̃̔̒͋̾n̴̢͙̳̺̼̦̊̑͗̽̉̑͌͗͊̄̋ͅ ̶̧̭̺͍̜͙̭̗͊̀̽͛̓̾͆͒̃̌̚u̷̳̗͓̮͗̽̾ ̸̛̜͒́̈́̂̉̉̑̇s̴̱̞͎̩̒͆̉̈̅̿̿̑̕͜͝͝ ̵̨̼̮͉̻̪̦͕̻̳̦̀̎̓́̈́̌̀̐̓k̶͈͎̃̍̂́͒͊̕ ̴͚̲̥̲̘̮̟̞̞͈̯̲̺̊͑̋͒̽̄̊͊̓̐̉̉͠͠ę̵̧̢̡̜̩͈̩̪̱͎͕͍̜͕̿͗̊ ̶̢̮̞̫̦͈̣̣̮̳̞̝̏̈́̀͛͘͜s̵̹͚͒̈́͐̄̿͋̕ ̸͚̺̺͔́̐̓͌̿̍͋̋͊t̵̝̯̠̟̜̀ ̸͇͋̀̕į̸̛̹̙͕̻͚̦̺̝̲̝͙̦̘̈́̀̂̽̐͊͋̈́̉̈́̋͘ͅ ̴̭̫͕̾͛̑̇̊̉̽̄̄͗́͘.̸̝̻͎͖̗̣͇͉̈́̀͑̋̌̔̈́̔ ̷̧̧̨͚̞͎̤̬̟̰̱̻̬̎̀̌̂̇̎̃͑̈́̈́ͅ.̶̧̛̪̞̉͗̎͊͋̀͝ ̸̟̝̼͓̮͓͎̪̳̪̈́̄̚.̵͖͚̗̼̤̮̼̰̈́̎̉̔̎͑̒̍̽̾͑̕̚

The earth below your paws starts to rumble.

The chanting grows to a crescendo, and you try to back away, but try as you might, you can no longer cross the threshold marked by the circle of stones.

You look back to the raven in desperation as your head begins to sear in pain, and it stares back with its one seeing eye. It watches you in silence as you sink to the earth, closing your own eyes.

Whispers in your ears lead you into darkness.

I tried.

You went too far.

This wasn’t how things were supposed to be.

AWAKE.