Spirit guides. Ravens were spirit guides. They directed the dead to the next world, but that wasn’t all they could do.
“Trust me,” she told Fordham.
She grasped his arm and closed her eyes, and they walked into the raven melee, letting the birds carry them onto the spiritual plane.
48
The Raven Flight
The ravens disappeared, save for one lone bird, as they exited the physical and materialized onto a new plane. The raven looked at her, and she shivered with the realization that this was what she was here for. Not to survive in the forest, but to cross the spiritual plane.
“What did you do?” Fordham gasped.
“I saved us.”
She didn’t know what she had done. Not really. But she had done it. It felt the same as the time with Gelryn when she had unconsciously pulled him into the spiritual plane. Now, here she was again with a raven waiting for her command.
Before Fordham could ask any other questions, she smiled at the bird. “Are you here to guide us?”
The bird cawed, knowingly.
Kerrigan nodded, ignoring Fordham’s look of puzzlement. She couldn’t doubt herself. Not here. For some reason, she felt perfectly at ease. As if she had been waiting for this very moment, and she knew exactly what to do. “Can you take us to the caves?”
The bird cawed and then was off.
Fordham’s eyes were wide. She touched his hand, not quite real, not quite not. “Do you trust me?”
“Yes,” he said easily.
“Then trust me.”
And with their first step together, they followed the raven across the expanse of the plane.
That first step was the hardest. Her body felt encased in the energy of the plane. But as soon as they started up an easy pace behind the raven, they moved through it like free-flowing water.
She had never seen anything like it. The sky was the bluest blue, and the ground was the greenest green but not naturally so. As if the entire space had a blanket thrown over reality. What they were staring at was the clearest, purist, bluest form of the world below. None of it felt quite like walking, per se. At least, she didn’t feel the stretch of her muscles or the elements against her skin or get tired in the same way. Though she was certain that, this time, her physical body was coming with her. It wouldn’t have been much of an escape if they’d left their bodies behind for Darrid to ravage.
After a short time, the landscape at their feet began to change. No longer were they on the plane, but right ahead, they could see a raging river.
“That’s the South River,” she said. “I didn’t think we were that close to it from the forest.”
“That’s what you’re concerned with?” Fordham asked.
Kerrigan looked over at him. He was very pale. As if the weight of reality was pressing down on him. “Breathe, Ford. Just breathe.”
“I don’t understand what’s going on.” He took a deep breath and released it. “The adjudicators of the tournament told us to bring our medallion for the final test. I assumed it was a weapon.”
“It was,” she confirmed. “The ravens responded to the call from the medallion. They attacked the other competitors, and we were able to flee.”
“Flee,” he said blankly. “When I think flee, I think running out across the field we were in and finding cover.”
“Well, isn’t this nicer?”
“I don’t know what this is,” he said, gesturing to the barren landscape that overlay the physical world.
“The ravens were a distraction in the physical world. But for those who have access to the spiritual plane, they’re guides.”
“I know what the spiritual plane is, but isn’t that reserved for dragons? Isn’t that half the reason we bond with dragons to begin with? We’re stronger together with the use of the spiritual plane and our combined knowledge and might.”
“Yes, dragons are connected to the spiritual plane, but they’re not the only ones who have access to it. Birds, especially ravens, are traditionally omens of evil or ill intent. Not because the birds themselves are bad, but because they escort people from the physical to the spiritual… like dragons do. Only ravens shepherd the dead.”
Fordham looked ashy. “And are they doing that for us?”
Kerrigan looked up at the bird gliding in the air with no breeze and guiding them through the plane. “I don’t think so. I believe it’s just taking us where I asked it to go.”
“How do you know all of this?”
She furrowed her brow. “I don’t know, but I just do. I’m not an expert by any means, but I think it’s where I draw my energy for my visions and for that blast I had when we were being tortured by Clare. It’s where Gelryn pulled you when you were in testing.”
Fordham looked startled. “How do you know about that?”
She grinned sheepishly. “I’m nosy. So, I got tested.”