07-16-2017, 04:39 AM
...There was a second or so of dead silence, which seemed like an eternity.
"AAAGGGHHHhhh!!!" he screamed as he tumbled backwards toward the fire, his spork, cup and bowl twirling in the air and landing in the thin snow. He stopped short of the campfire, at the center of the clearing.
The Wolf stood firm, its eyes of burnished gold flickering from its solid onyx-black coat, blacker than the flickering shadows cast by the fire.
But not all of the shadows were from the Wolf.
Other forms began to emerge from the woods, Two Whitetail Bucks and two Does appeared, seemingly from nowhere, as did two Brown Bears. They were joined by four Owls; two Great Horned, and two Great Grey.
A pair of Canada Lynx appeared, as well as two great Wapiti.Two Golden and two Bald Eagles joined the gathering, as did four Caribou.
Directly opposite the clearing from the first black Wolf, a Wolf of the purest snowy white suddenly appeared, as did two Greys, one to the left, one to the right, forming the four points of the compass.
Then from above came the strangest sound. Bill looked up, and found himself staring into a noisy black whirlwind. It lowered into the clearing, tightened into a ring, and finally came to a stop, resolving into a dozen great black Ravens, forming a perfect circle on the snow-frosted ground, exactly halfway between the fire, and the gathered company at the edge of the clearing.
All faced outward towards the gathering, and seemed to be conversing with them. It went on for several minutes.
Then suddenly, all fell dead silent, as all the Ravens turned in unison to face Bill.
The Raven nearest him glanced about the gathering, nodded, approached the fire, and pulled out the skewer rod, its end glowing a dull red. It approached Bill, and the sight of that great black Bird approaching him with the glowing steel rod and that drilling, piercing stare, sent him from fear to terror.
But as he began to feel the glow from the rod, the Raven turned away, walked to a point halfway between its landing spot & Bill, and plunged the hot end of the rod into the thin snow,
And as it sizzled & sputtered, the Raven walked around and manipulated the rod, making deep scratches in the snow. The other Ravens gathered around, and used their beaks to clarify the marks.
Then the first Raven gave an "AAAKKK", and thrust the end of the rod into the ground. The other Ravens retreated, and the first one came up to Bill, went beak to nose in a hard stare, then went back to the scratchings. It pointed its beak at them, then turned its gaze back to Bill, letting out another "AAAKKK".
For all of his fear and confusion, the message was clear.
So he went from sitting to all fours, made his way forward, and looked down at the scratches in the snow...
