The Chronicles of Ravensong

by Ravensong

1: The Phoenix's Grove

The Chronicles of Ravensong
The Phoenix's Grove

It was glorious! The wind in her mane and the sun on her back, sensations she had never felt before yet were oh so wonderful! Ashe, now Ravensong, reveled in the pure joy of flight. Grazioso, her raven friend, soared by her side. He cackled with laughter and her laughter was a chiming bell beside his. The Everfree forest spread out below them, Equestria a blanket of shades of green and gold and the royal palace a glittering jewel on one horizon and on another, beyond the forest, mists showing hints at lands beyond. The currents of the air traced their glowing tracks before her, updrafts, downdrafts, high streams and more, creating a map in the sky as busy as any made of the ground below. Raven knew she could pick any one of those glowing tracks and it would take her where she wished to go.

She twisted, her starlit dragon's wings hammering at the air, and snatched Graz in mid wing beat. He let out a harsh surprised caw as she pulled him into a power hug.

“Thank you, oh, thank you!” she cried out, letting him go.

His wings fluttered fast as he tried to stay airborne. “Didn't do... anything. Don't DO that!” He panted. “I'm not as maneuverable as you. How are you DOING that?!”

“I don't know! But it's awesome!” She squeaked.

Graz shook his head and caught a new air current, moving away. Raven followed, laughing as Graz grumbled about crazy ponies. Yet the sun was warm, the sky was clear, and he couldn't stay mad long. He started to laugh with her and they flew along, happy as could be. Graz thought about Lio, the dragon who had died and yet still talked to Raven and him. He silently sighed, she had helped Raven so much, but losing her was such a loss. She had been one of the rare good dragons.

His thoughts were interrupted by a strange twanging noise. Then a flash of brilliant orange, vermillion and gold roared past him and smacked straight into Raven's chest mid wing beat!

She let out a small scream as the ball of flames knocked her back and over, her wings flailing in an attempt to stay airborne. The flames suddenly spread out, tangling with Raven's wings and a second scream joined her's. The two shapes dropped before Graz had even enough time to call out to his friend. He dived after, the canopy of the Everfree forest closing in on them.

Through her sudden panic, Raven realized that the flames weren't hot. They didn't hurt. She looked wildly around for any air current that would keep her and the flaming thing from crashing. One flashed and glowed and she took it. Her wings billowed out and with a THUMP, they came to a stop. Her wings hummed as she treaded the air, her hooves just brushing the top leaves of the trees. She took stock of what was going on. The thing that had collided with her, was a bird. A bird on fire. That... wasn't right. Was it?

“You okay?” She asked. It went stock still and the flames died away, leaving a hawk like bird nestled in her hooves, but instead of browns and blacks, it was shades of orange and vermillion with golden eyes. It opened it's beak and let out a complex series of notes, a truly beautiful melody that made Raven gasp and Graz pull up short as he drew close. A small flash of light, flames glowing around the bird's head for a moment, and suddenly the bird's song was words.

“Help me, please, help my babies!”

* * *

They landed in a handy clearing. An overgrown trail passed through the area. In the direction of Equestria came the sounds of a creek, the laughter and bubble of the water a cheery and inviting sound. In the other direction though, the Everfree forest closed in on the track. It grew dark and as she looked that way, Raven shivered. Did it feel colder? Was.. that direction radiating cold? Raven shook her head and looked back at the pair of birds.

Graz was stuttering. Actually stuttering! Raven giggled. They both gave her a disapproving look. She blushed.

“B-but... you're... you're... a... wow. You're actually... a... “

“Please... you have to help me”

Raven sighed. “Yes, Graz. She's a phoenix.” She turned to the crimson and gold bird. “What's going on? What happened and why did you fly into me?”

Graz shut up, but he kept staring at the phoenix, jaw open. Meanwhile the phoenix turned golden eyes to Raven. “They're... it's... I can't get to my babies!” It sobbed but then pulled itself together. “I can't get to them. Please, you have to help me”

“I will. Look. What's your name? I'm Ravensong, but just Raven will do.” She grinned, hoping to give some cheer to this distraught mother.

“Ph.. Phyra.” She took a deep breath, briefly ruffling her feathers. “I'm Phyra. And my nest is that way” She pointed with a wing down the trail deeper into the forest. “It's... it's a Solifugus and it's cut me off from my clutch. I... I tried to get to them... but... I couldn't.” Phyra lowered her head and groaned. “I... couldn't...”

Raven hugged her tight. “Well, I don't know what a... Sol...if...ug...us... is but we will help your babies.” She gave a very pointed look at Graz. “Won't we?”

He seemed to snap out of it. “We will? Oh! We will!”

“Yes, we will.” Raven said firmly. She knew what it was to lose parents, she wasn't going to let this mother lose her children. “Come on Graz... and Phyra, you wait here while we check out what's going on. Please.” She added quickly before Phyra could object. “We don't want it to know we're there.”

Phyra sighed. “Okay... you're right. Be quick, please!” She took off and flew into a nearby tree, hiding as best as she could in the branches.

Graz hopped a few times after Raven as she started walking down the track into the gloom. He took wing and landed on her neck. “Wait... a... moment.” He said when they were out of earshot of Phyra. “Did she say... a Solifugus?” Please tell me I heard that wrong.”

Raven sedately walked along a few more steps before replying. “No, that's what she said. What is it?”

Graz was silent for a while, the gloom drawing around the pair like a blanket with only the occasional bright shaft of sunlight spearing down between the trees. The chill intensified. Raven shivered, and broke Graz out of his thoughts. He fluffed his feathers. “Well... here's a clue.” He landed in front of Raven and pointed with a wing.

The forest gave way to another clearing. Raven gasped with the cold that blasted her and her breath came out in a haze of ice crystals. The clearing was covered with webs. They draped the trees and undergrowth, a veritable maze of webs. A tree stood in the center of the clearing, tall and alone, with Phyra's nest embraced securely in it's branches. The nest sparkled and shimmered, coated in webbing. She could barely make out the flowers and moss around the place, they were so coated in webbing and frost. Raven hesitantly reached out a hoof to touch a nearby rose, and touched instead a piece of web. It burned with cold.

In the same moment that Graz opened his beak to give her a warning a voice addressed the both of them. “Do. Not. Move.” It was a silken voice, male and deep. The harmonics of the voice told of dark places and the chill of the night in deep winter. It cut though flesh and froze blood. “I see you.”

* * *

Raven shrieked and bolted. Or tried to bolt. Her hoof was stuck fast to the web and the burning chill seemed to be radiating up her leg. As she struggled the voice started to laugh. It echoed around the frozen clearing and spoke of hopelessness and the inevitability of death. Raven's struggles lessened as she started to shiver uncontrollably. Graz let out a harsh caw and took off. He circled quickly back around to Raven and zoomed in on where her hoof was touching the web. Just before he would have connected, he pulled up sharply, wings beating the air furiously, and let out another, primal call. The frost melted back, then started to grow again. Graz screeched again, harder, and the webbing snapped. Raven shook herself, nabbed Graz out of the air, and took off, running as hard as she could out of the grove.

In spite of Graz's muffled complaints, she kept running. She smashed through the limbs of a fallen tree and jumped it. On the other side, she slowed, limping. Her leg was so cold that she could not feel it. She let go of Graz and tried to catch her breath. “Wh-wha?” was all she managed to get out before collapsing onto the ground.

“A Solifugus. It's... well. It's a type of spider.”

Raven looked over at Graz sharply, eyes wide with fear. “What type of spider TALKS!” She whispered shrilly.

“The same type that spun the webs in there... why'd you touch it?”

“I didn't mean to. I didn't know that was web.”

Graz sighed. “It's okay. Let's get that leg warmed up and decide what we're gonna do.” He hopped over to Raven and nestled down onto her outstretched leg, fluffing his feathers in an attempt to heat her leg up.

“I. Thought I was gonna die. Graz?” She whispered. Her eyes drooped. The exertion and the injury to her leg were taking their toll and sleep was overtaking her, her words slowing down.

“Hm?”

“Thank you.”

A little over an hour later she woke up. Graz was still on her leg, fast asleep with his head tucked under a wing. Her leg looked none the worse for her ordeal. She could feel it again. It was sore and felt like it had been stuck into a fire. She shook her head and decided to wake Graz up. She gently pushed at him with her muzzle. He stirred, fluffed up in the chill night air, and looked at her.

“How you feeling?” Graz asked her.

“Okay.”

“Good, go back to sleep. In the morning, when the sun is up again, we'll try again.”

Raven nodded. “Graz, you don't have to.”

He chuckled, “Yes, I do.” Graz looked her straight in the eyes. “My family would never forgive me if I gave my word and did not keep it. Even worse to break my word to a phoenix.” He shook his head. “I would rather die than break my word.” He said softly.

“I understand.” said Raven, not really understanding. “Tell me about your family.” She laid her head down on the ground and peered at him.

“Ah Raven, you don't understand. But that is okay, you will one day.” He laughed. “My family.” He sighed. “I'm young for my kind, it's just me and my mother. Dad went on patrol one day and never came back. Well. Let's see.” He paused, thinking. “I'm from a place that we call Corvid. It's on the other side of the Everfree, at the base of the Amarantine mountains. We call ourselves Corvids. Some folk think all ravens are Corvids, but that's not true. Only us from Corvid. It's... something about the place we live. Remember I talked to you some about ravensong? What Lio named you after?”

Raven nodded.

“Well, only ravens that can sing the ravensong live in Corvid.”

“Oh.” She thought for a moment. “Do... you think some day... I....” Her voice dropped even lower. “I could meet your mother?”

“Of course you can.” Graz gave her as close to a smile as his beak would allow. “I am sure she would love to meet you.”

“Yay.” Raven whispered and drifted back off to sleep.

* * *

The first golden rays of the sun sent hesitant lines of light though the morning mists of their hiding place. Raven fluttered her eyes open and peered blearily about her. Graz was nowhere to be seen. Her ears swiveled around as she listened for him. In the distance came the sounds of a stream. It was likely the same stream that danced past Phyra's hiding place. And among the bubbling laughter of the water came Graz's grumbling. Raven got up, tested her sore leg and found it sound, and wandered toward the sound of Graz's voice.

She found him perched precariously on a rock in the center of the stream. His beak would dart into the water and back out, as though he was searching for something. He grumbled again about the cold water. In and out, his beak went as Raven watched. Twice he pulled something shiny out of the water, but Raven couldn't tell what the thing was that Graz placed carefully on the rock beside him. Finally her curiosity got the better of her and she called out softly to him.

He looked over at her. “Morning. One moment.”

Raven nodded and settled down next to the stream bed. She sighed, her mind occupied with Phyra, her babies, and that thing in the grove. She was at a loss as to how she was going to help the phoenix and her family. Especially since the very voice of the thing scared her so much. She was so preoccupied that she didn't notice Graz until he dropped two items onto the ground in front of her.

“Put those on.” Graz said, bringing her back to present. “Your ears.” He clarified.

It was what looked like a pair of earrings, but made so that the part that would dangle would just almost hang inside her ear. And though that was strange, the dangle was even more strange to her. She thought earrings were pretty baubles, but these were mere stones. Just stones. With holes in the center. “O...kay.” She said, uncertainty coloring her voice even as she put them on.

“They are for protection.” Graz said. “Long as you have those on, the Solifugus won't be able to make you despair.”

“Oh. But, how can stones with holes do that? They don't look magical.” Raven shook her head, feeling the stones bounce around inside her ears. She just knew she looked stupid.

“It is... um... old magic. It lets you hear what is real.” He looked embarrassed and almost shifty.

Raven noticed it. “What are you not telling me?”

Graz looked down. “Not right now. Later, I promise. Let's go rescue some chicks!” He looked back up at her and gave a grin.

She nodded her head and her face was set with grim determination. Graz fluttered up to his familiar perch on her neck, and together they headed back to the grove.

Raven walked sedately a little bit then sighed. “Graz, what is our plan?”

“Well, for one, don't touch the webbing. And... I have no clue. I've never had to deal with a Solifugus before. They were just... a tale. To scare hatchlings.”

“Did any of those stories say how to deal with them?”

“Um... fire? But we don't have fire and the phoenix couldn't stop it.” Graz fluffed up in frustration. “If it stood up to a phoenix's fire, what can we do to it?”

“Well.” Raven shook her mane, making Graz fan his wings to keep his balance and smoothing out his feathers in response. “Do you think you could get the webbing away from the eggs while I distract it?”

“Maybe?” He thought a moment, “If there aren't to many webs over the eggs, I could.”

“Then we have a plan.” Raven said, breaking into a trot.

* * *

Just out of earshot of the grove, Raven slowed. She moved as silently as she could, slowly inching her way to the edge of the trees. It took all her willpower to keep from shivering in the chill that held the grove hostage. She looked all around, trying to spot the Solifugus. Graz fluffed up again, trying to stay warm. Ice, webs, and more ice covered every surface, and the suffering of the plants was plain to see. Moss was turning brown and flowers were wilting. Raven stifled a sob for the beauty being destroyed by the cold. Still she kept looking for the cause of it all, the Solifugus.

Then she spotted it. The creature clung to the center tree in the grove, just underneath the nest. It was large, as big as a pony. It's carapace was white and blue, studded with ice and frost. The legs were milky clear, like ice. Eight frosted black eyes ringed it's head, and prominent mandibles with sharp claws on the end each dripping with what looked like liquid ice. The Solifugus was spinning more icy silk webbing, while it cast baleful eyes about the grove. It was obviously alert, watching and waiting.

Raven shook her head slightly and pointed with a hoof. Graz nodded and hopped from her neck to a nearby branch, free of webs. She unfurled her wings and took flight with a loud WHUMP. The Solifugus stiffened, fully alert, and watched her hover just inside the grove. It started to laugh. “Back again?” It's frost laden voice lashed out at Raven but the expected chill did not spear into her as it did last time. The rocks! They were working! Raven felt her courage rise and she winged closer.

“Yep I am! You don't belong here!” She called out to it, trying her best to sound as rude and bullying as the other fillies and foals in her old school. She failed at that, but still managed to annoy the spider.

“Who are you to speak to Cilrick in such a manner?” The spider dropped softly to the grove floor, mandibles twitching with anger.

“I am Ravensong. And. You.” She punctuated the word you with a hard beat of her wings. “Don't belong here.” She zipped back out of the grove to a tree laden with pine cones and snatched as many as she could carry.

Cilrick the Solifugus laughed, clearly thinking this annoying child had run, and started back up the tree. Raven winged back silent as an owl and, once in range, lobbed a pine cone at Cilrick. It thunked solidly, square on it's head. Cilrick flinched in surprise and turned, red entering it's frozen black eyes. “How dare you!” It hissed, full attention firmly on Raven.

Graz took that moment to skirt the edge of the grove to the other side of the tree. He headed up to the nest and felt his heart drop at the sight that met his eyes. The eggs were covered. The golden eyes barely showed under the layers of white that coated them. Cilrick hissed and sputtered, drawing Graz's attention. Raven was pelting him with pine cone after pine cone. She would stay in one spot just long enough to draw the spider close to her then she would zip away to another location. Now was the time. If he was gonna get to the eggs it was now. He took a deep breath, concentrated on the song, and let loose as strong a blast of magic as he could. The frost started to melt. His heart rose. It stopped melting, less than half of the eggs uncovered. His heart sank.

Cilrick stopped and turned. He looked straight at Graz and started for the preoccupied bird. Raven hit him with one, two, then three pine cones. He kept going, to Graz and the eggs. Raven screamed out. “NO!” Graz looked up, just as Cilrick crested the edge of the nest, and in his shock skipped a wing beat. He dropped and touched a piece of the webbing. His eyes went wide as he struggled, but frost was starting up his feathers and up his wing.

Cilrick laughed, mandibles moving eagerly. The claws dripped more liquid ice as he murmured. “Time to die. But don't worry, the cold only burns for a short time.” His voice was laced with the same deadly chill that first ensnared Raven and now crept into Graz's heart.

“GRAZ!” Raven screamed. She had one last pine cone. She drew back to throw it, but her eyes blurred with tears. Her friend. Graz was her only friend. No, he was more than that. He was family! Something deep inside her reared it's head and sniffed at her total desire to save Graz. The warmth of summer blasted into her heart and through her lips and she sang as she threw the pine cone as hard as she could. It burst into flames as it flew through the air at Cilrick.

It hit the Solifugus square in the thorax and stuck. There was a massive WUMP and the flames grew, engulfing it. Raven and Graz both had to look away from the sun-bright flames. In seconds it was over, the chill gone. In it's place was the sweet fragrance of flowers and the sound of water dripping. Both opened their eyes and looked around. All the ice and webbing was gone, and a large puddle of water surrounded the base of the central tree. There was no sign of Cilrick. The green was coming back into the moss, and the flowers were straining for the light.

Oh such flowers! They were everywhere. Roses climbed the trees and hung in curtains over bushes. Every color of the rainbow was somewhere, in the ground or growing out of rocks. Flowers were hiding in bushes or twined around trees. The place took Raven's breath away at it's beauty.

Graz looked from Raven to the puddle to the nest of eggs and back again. His jaw dropped. “How... how...” Was all he could manage.

Raven shrugged. “I... don't know.” She looked at the eggs herself and saw four golden eggs. They looked none the worse for the ordeal. “You okay?”

He nodded, jaw still open.

“Er.” She was starting to feel uncomfortable with his reaction. “Should we go get Phyra?”

Graz's beak snapped shut. “You're right. Yes.” He gently poked at one of the eggs. “I'll stay here, just in case, and you go get her. Okay?”

“Deal.” She grinned and flew off.

He gently fluttered down to the puddle and looked closely at it. For a brief moment he saw one of the spider's baleful eyes form. It looked at him then disappeared. Graz took a deep breath, steeled his nerves, and darted his beak into the liquid. It was unnaturally cold, but he persisted and pulled a disc of metal on a cord out of the puddle. The liquid seemed to try to hold onto the disc, almost desperately. The moment the disc left the water, it seeped into the ground. No trace of the water or the spider were left. Graz looked at the disc, shuddered, and tucked it away for safe keeping.

He looked up from his task just as Raven and Phyra came back into the grove. Raven landed next to her friend with a question forming on her lips. Phyra went straight to her nest. She gave a cry of dismay that caught both Raven and Graz by surprise.

“Where's my fifth baby!?”

* * *

Raven totally forgot her question and both her and Graz sprang into action. They scoured the grove, looking for the fifth egg. It was nowhere to be found. Phyra sat on her nest. She refused to budge, refused to let the rest of her clutch out of her sight. Finally, Graz called a stop to the search. He sent Raven out to find some thing for Phyra to eat. Once Raven was gone, Graz went to Phyra and showed her the disc.

“Phyra...” He pointed to the dark metal. “Do you know this?”

Her eyes filled with tears. “They took one didn't they?”

Graz nodded.

“How did... you kill it?” She asked him. “I didn't think Corvids had that much power.”

He sighed, “We don't.” He looked off after Raven.

“Your friend. She's a pony.” Phyra said gently. “She couldn't have done it. She's not avian, even if she was named after your song.”

Graz was silent, lost in thought.

Phyra followed his gaze. “Who named her?”

Reluctantly he whispered one word. “Lio”

“Oh.” She paused. “Then my thoughts go with her. So young.”

Phyra did not have time to explain, at that moment Raven came back. She carried nuts and berries, flicking her tail irritably at an irate squirrel hanging to her tail, angry at it's loss of nuts.

She landed, a final flick sending the squirrel into the underbrush, angry chattering describing it's arc of flight. Then she dumped the food into the nest near Phyra. “It's what I could find.” She said. Her blue eyes were red rimmed, she had obviously been crying.

Before Phyra replied, Raven went on. “I'm sorry. If we had come by sooner. But we didn't. So.” She took a deep breath. “I don't know how, but we'll do everything we can to find your fifth egg.”

Graz gave his friend a proud look. Phyra smiled.

“Well, we start at my home. We'll need supplies and I know we can get what we need there.” Said Graz.

Raven grinned widely. “We can! I get to meet your mother! YES!” She lifted off and did a flip in the air. Graz shook his head and said fair well to Phyra. Than he took off after his friend.

As they disappeared into the forest mists, Phyra whispered to her remaining eggs. “Lio picked well, I think. Yes she did.”

Comments

[TEK101]

I'm glad you are writing more. This story is interesting, and I can't wait to see what happens next. very intriguing.

[Page]

ooh! dragonfire pine cones!
Now I'm curious as to what her magic will become. Will she have firebreath?
I want to know more!!

[Ravensong]

2187837 More is on the way... lots... lots... more