The Party                            

A clean, damp smell of the passing rain shower scented the air as the two girls stepped out of the shop.  Streams of sunlight began peeking through rapidly retreating clouds.  Across the street hung a huge banner wishing Lady Raven a happy birthday.  Beside a sleek, black car the castle’s driver stood waiting patiently. 

Sarah wasn’t nearly as surprised as Raven when the driver handed her a small box.  “Milady, this is from my family, wishing you many happy returns.”

In true Raven fashion, the box was shredded instantly.  Grinning from ear to ear, Raven held up the prize; a silly looking raven about three inches in height with its beak open wide.  She hugged the driver tightly, saying it wasn’t necessary but she really, really appreciated it.  “And tell little Jessie thanks, since I know you couldn’t pick out something this cool.”

Anybody else and Sarah would’ve thought they were forcing themselves to say something nice about a tiny gift.  With Raven though, she knew it wasn’t an act.  That little figurine would hold a place of honor on Raven’s nightstand for a long time.  It wasn’t simply that the hyperactive redhead loved anything that reminded her of her namesake, but also because Raven had a hugely sentimental side.  Probably because of her little problem, Sarah mused as she slid into the backseat beside Raven.  For at least a decade, Raven lived under the fear that the demon inside her would take over.  At least for now that problem seemed to be under control. 

The wheels of the car rolled slowly through the wet street.  Occasionally people on the sidewalks would holler out happy birthdays to Raven, which she always acknowledged enthusiastically.  After leaving the city limits, Raven used her magic to make the plastic bird fly around the car.  “I got a raven and you didn’t.”  The sorceress sang as the toy hovered just in front of Sarah’s nose.

“I have a Raven.  And mine’s much more annoying.”

Raven slumped back into the seat acting like her feelings had been hurt.  Cupping the tiny toy in both hands, she nuzzled it against her cheek.  “It’s okay Mr. Bopsey.  You’re my only friend.”

Sarah smiled out the window, confident she had the perfect birthday gift for Raven.  Somehow she managed to keep it a secret and knew it was going to be a rousing success.  Instead of the bakery next door to their shop, Sarah went all the way across town to have her present made in secret.  She knew nobody else was getting her one, and an entire cake all to herself would make at least three of Raven’s birthday wishes come true.

Finally the car pulled to a stop in front of the castle steps.  Raven didn’t wait for the driver to open her door, exploding out of the vehicle like her hair was on fire.  Which, incidently, it usually looked like it was.

“Wait for me.”  Sarah yelled as Raven reached the top of the steps.  Instantly Raven froze, but Mr. Bopsey continued flittering around her erratically.

“Hurry up, I want my presents.”  Raven demanded, stamping her boot.

Slowly and methodically Sarah unwound from the car, taking her time to thank the driver for seeing them safely to the castle.  Raven needed to learn some patience and it seemed Sarah’s job was to teach her.

The doors swung open and the twenty or so gathered friends and family yelled SURPRISE at once.  Sarah smirked to herself because this “surprise party” was the worst kept secret in Valentria.  She could see streamers hung from the ceiling, just as Raven demanded.  The boxes of gifts, with her own present sitting to the right, were situated in the middle of the cavernous room for ease of access, also as Raven demanded.  Revelers held their glasses raised in toast to the birthday girl, ringing the large collection.  Sarah saw all of this no sooner than she walked in the door.  What she didn’t see was Raven running straight for the gifts.  With a smile the young blacksmith turned, expecting to see her business partner faking surprise.  Instead, what she saw instilled her with a sense of primordial fear.  Only once had Sarah seen Raven act this way.  Or rather, seen the monster that shared Raven’s body act this way.

Standing just inside the threshold, Raven’s nose lifted into the air.  Like an animal, the redhead sniffed the air, her face swinging slowly from right to left.  Flames engulfed the redhead’s arms.  Her voice was clear, and each word hung in the air like an icicle.  “Where.  Is.  It?”

Everyone at the gathering stood frozen, except for two.  Felicity and Rebekah moved to stand with Sarah, standing on either side of the trembling blonde.  It was Rebekah who broke the worrisome silence by whispering, “Sarah, what exactly is in that box?”

Sarah barely uttered, “Ca…”, before Felicity’s hand was cupped over her mouth.  Bekah and Stephen moved as one, hurling lightning bolts at Raven.  The sorceress was knocked through the front doors and over the steps.  Instead of checking on her little sister, Felicity reached out with her own magic and slammed the doors shut, locking them at once.  Stephen grasped his left hand over his throat, and his magically enhanced voice rang through the castle.

“The banned substance has penetrated our defenses.  This is not a drill.  I repeat; this is not a drill.”

“What is going on?”  Sarah demanded as Felicity worked with Rebekah to place a warding spell over the front door.  Flashes of fire and heavy booms shook the castle as the monster at the gate sought entry.

Felicity spoke more sharply than Sarah had ever heard.  “Your present.  That stuff isn’t allowed in the castle.”

Huh?  Sarah was confused, and more than a little scared.  She had seen Raven surrender control to Malleus twice in the past, but it never happened this quickly.  And how did Liz know what her present was?  “All I did was buy her a cake.”

“Don’t say that word, Sarah.”  Bekah’s admonishment was echoed by massive thuds as Raven unleashed a particularly long barrage of fireballs against the castle.

Abruptly Raven’s rampage stopped.  Sarah used the moment’s peace as an opportunity to point out that she’d seen Daniel’s car driving up a few miles behind them.  Bekah shrugged her shoulders, “Darn shame about that.  I always liked him.”

Felicity’s normally olive colored skin took on Raven’s alabaster qualities as blood rushed from her face.  “You have to go save him Bekah.  You’re the only one who can stop her.”

Bekah was having none of that and shook her head.  “There is no way I’m going out there right now.  Besides, it’s not my fault.”

Both sisters turned to stare expectantly at Sarah.  Sarah in turn stared back at them like they had both lost their damned minds.  This had nothing to do with her; Raven left sanity behind long before Sarah ever thought about opening a shop with her.  With a nod, the two sisters advanced on Sarah.  Sarah tensed, ready to fight.  Liz and Bekah had magic, sure, but Sarah had grit and an unwavering sense of self-preservation.  Then any fight about who would be sacrificed to the crazy woman was rendered meaningless by the sight of Daniel sailing through one of the thankfully already broken windows.  He landed on his back and bounced a few times before skidding to a halt in front of Sarah.  Raven decided at that moment she’d had enough of being quiet and resumed her assault.  Over the explosions, threats of much more painful abuses of magic were promised to whoever had brought that nasty stuff into her castle could be heard.

Dusting himself off, the handsome doctor stood and kissed Sarah’s hand gallantly.  “So who brought the forbidden food?”

“I did.”  Sarah answered abashedly, feeling that she should’ve been warned since everybody else seemed to know cake was banned.

“I thought you liked us.”  Daniel flashed a roguish smile to let Sarah know he was teasing.

Relieved that Daniel was both alive and in surprisingly good spirits, Sarah took a deep breath to calm down.  She noticed that despite a raving psycho just beyond the magically barred doors, the gathered party goers seemed far less concerned about the situation than she did.  If they weren’t frightened- Daniel excused himself for something to drink- then Malleus probably hadn’t taken over Raven’s body again.  Still this latest tirade by her business partner was unsettling because, well, Raven happened to be an extremely powerful sorceress with a proclivity of blowing things up when she was angry, or sad, or lonely, or just bored.  Sarah decided she should do something because this latest episode of Crazy Raven seemed to be gathering strength.  Through the broken windows she saw dark storm clouds rolling up fast, lightning flashing along their underbellies.

Turning to Liz, the only person she felt would give her an honest answer, Sarah asked exactly what was going on.  If Raven were allowed to continue on like this for much longer, or if she really got serious, Sarah knew Liz’s magic wouldn’t stop her.

Liz smirked and pointed to Bekah who was busy shaking the presents.  “When Raven turned six, Bekah decided it would be funny to bribe an imp to hide in her birthday stuff.  It burst out and scared Raven half to death.  She was inconsolable for the better part of an hour.”

“Why would you do that?  And what’s an imp?”  Sarah looked at Bekah.

Bekah shrugged her shoulders.  “It was fun, and this is an imp.”  Light danced off of Bekah’s slender fingers as she twisted magic around them.  After a moment, a much smaller version of the portal Bryson used to traverse realms opened.  A creature about a foot high walked through the opening.  It had long pointy ears with hair growing out of them, green wrinkly skin covered in warts and a nose that was way too long for its stumpy body.  Its only clothes were an extremely dirty leather cap and a loincloth made out of a type of fur Sarah didn’t recognize.  Snorting loudly, he let loose a thick wad of sickly green phlegm at the floor.

“Wha’ ya want?”  Impatiently the imp wiped his nose with his hand and glared at Bekah.

“To show Sarah what an imp is.”

The imp turned livid.  “Then why na’ draw a picture ya' troggin twitter.  I gots better thangs ta do than be at your’n call.”

Bekah picked up a small, exquisitely wrapped gift and offered it to the imp.  “Thank you Gork.  You can leave now.”

Eyeing the package, Gork snatched it out of Bekah’s hand.  With a final spit he stomped through the portal, a trail of profanities trailing after him.

What an exceedingly pleasant day this has turned out to be, Sarah muttered as she wiped imp snot off her shoe.  It was frustrating having to play catch up with all of Raven’s psychoses, but at least this one she could understand.  Having that creature pop out of anything would send her screaming for the nearest exit.

As a guard came to dispose of her present, and maids unleashed enough perfume to cover the smell of a sewage tank, Sarah turned back to Liz who was finishing the rest of the story.

“The next year, we got her another birthday thing, and no sooner than she saw it sitting on the table she went absolutely berserk.  Even by her standards that was legendary.  She ran out of the castle, everything she passed catching on fire, and made it to the forest before anyone could stop her.”

Sarah was disturbed and impressed.  The only forest she knew of was miles away, on the outskirts of Valentria.  Raven had run that far when she was seven years old?  She told Liz so, but Liz laughed.

“Not that forest, Sarah.  The one between the castle and the city.”

“But there isn’t a forest betw… damn.  All of it?”  Heavy rain started falling through the broken windows as Sarah put two and two together.  A scared, seven year old Raven had wiped out an entire forest.

Bekah moved as a bit of wind brushed them with rain.  “2.7 klicks of woodland, gone in about two hours.  She can’t stand to see it, smell it, or even hear about it.  You never thought it was weird the bakery next to your shop never has any for sell?”

Sarah turned and stared out the window as fireballs and lightning lit a tempest darkened sky.  So Raven wasn’t hurt, or in danger.  She was throwing a temper tantrum.  Sarah nodded, her inner resolve turning to steel as she figured out what she had to do.  She called Raven’s name loudly, only to have the sound drowned in a peal of thunder.  She tried again and a disquietingly chipper voice answered above the maelstrom.

“Yeah, Lil’bit.”

“Stop that.  The bad stuff is gone.”

Instantly the sky cleared and the random explosions stopped.  “Okay.”

Elspeth appeared at Sarah’s left shoulder.  Clapping the blacksmith on the back, she nodded appreciatively.  “I’ve never seen anyone able to do that, Sarah.  Well done.”

Stephen and Daniel echoed Elspeth’s sentiments.  Liz still wasn’t convinced Raven had calmed down, but released her magic seal on the door.  Only Bekah remained silent, staring at Sarah.  Her eyes darkened with the same storm Raven had dismissed moments before.