At first, he didn’t understand what Kiara was telling him, but he soon learned how to speak and hunt and was about to open his wings for the first time. Standing next to him was Kiara, who was now a few feet taller than him, with her wings outstretched.

“The first thing you want to do is push.” That’s confusing! What am I supposed to push? Raven thought to himself. As if Kiara had read his mind, she answered his question. “You will be pushing your wings against the scale cover. Then your wings will be free!” Kiara liked acting like an adult, but he knew she was still a kid who enjoyed using her wings. Raven tried to push his wings, but they wouldn’t move. He pushed harder and harder, and finally, he felt the thin film break up. He stood up as tall as he could and stretched out his wings. He could feel a weird tingle in them, as if living water was flowing through his parched scales.

“Kiara, why are my wings different than yours?” he asked, noticing how their wings different. His wings were black with larger feathered wings and smaller membranous wings, while Kiara had pale colored, smaller feathered wings and larger membranous wings.

“That’s because you look more like our mom, Arowen, while I look more like dad.” she said. Raven wondered how similar he looked to his mother for a brief second, before returning to the joy of the moment. Kiara unfurled her own wings and swooped into the sky

“Eventually you will be able to do this!” She called down as she executed a perfect backflip mid-air.

“I can’t wait!” he called, before bouncing into the cave to show his father. When Raven got to Falcon’s cave, he stopped short. In the middle of the room was his father, gasping for air. In the far corner was a hideous creature, who held a knife in one hand and a spear in the other. In the opposite corner, was another one of the creatures. He was covered in blood and his skin looked like sharp diamonds. This creature was busy digging through his father’s stuff. Raven squeaked in surprise, he had never seen anything like these creatures before!

“Make one sound and you’ll join your father.” The first one hissed as he moved toward Raven. He tried to move or get out of the way, but the hideous creature blocked his escape. “Come quietly and I won’t hurt you.” it said in a quiet voice. It reached out to grab him, and Raven saw his escape. Quickly he darted away from the arm and flapped his black wings at its face. The monster must have not known his wings were open, because he stumbled away in surprise, from the entrance as Raven darted out into the open.

“Father was killed!” he shouted at Kiara, who was still in the sky. Raven heard a thunderous roar from the caves. Raven turned to face the cave and stumbled backwards to avoid the monster’s spear.

“It’s a Grous!” Kiara screeched from the sky, as she dove towards the two Grous. She landed on the smaller one and it stumbled under Kiara’s weight. Kiara finished it off with a sickening snap of the neck. “We have to get out of here! NOW!” She screamed at Raven. Kiara ran forward and snatched him up in her arms. Before Raven had time to stop her, Kiara was up in the clouds, flying over Elsywer. What my luck! Raven thought. I’m one year old and I’ve already lost my parents! The siblings flew for days. Slowly, Raven learned how to fly, under the guidance of his sister. The siblings began sleeping during the day, so they could avoid detection at night. At dusk, they would take turns hunting, before flying on again. This schedule went on for days. Soon, days turned into weeks, and weeks into months. Finally, after a year of traveling, Raven and Kiara found a place to settle in. Raven was happy about their new home and the siblings left behind the sorrows of their previous life. Well, Kiara did. Raven was seething on the inside. If he was reminded about his parents, he exploded.

Kiara continued to teach Raven, as her father had. “See these leg bones?” She asked, tapping them on the model, “These were the bones Dad lost in the raid on their village, the battle I was born into.” She looked at him to see his reaction, but Raven had left. Why does she always have to bring up Dad? Why can’t she see I haven’t gotten over the murder yet? Raven was upset that he didn’t have any parents and he sometimes tried to blame it on Kiara. “Raven?” Kiara’s claws tapped on the floor beside him as she sat down next to him. “I’m sorry I reminded you of them.” She sighed before continuing. “Now that you are two years old, I think you can fend for yourself. You’ve learned to breath fire, and you are a master flyer.”

“Why are you bringing this up?” Raven spat “I wouldn’t have to fend for myself if you had found the Grous before he killed dad! I would be better off that way! But you weren’t good enough and now we don’t have any parents!” Raven immediately felt sorry for what he said and curled closer to his sister. “I’m sorry.” he said in a small voice. “I didn’t mean to say it like that.”

“It’s ok,” Kiara replied, patience and love filling her voice. “I know it’s hard. Remember when I left for a week on the unsuccessful hunting trip?” Raven nodded. When the two had first arrived at their current home, Kiara had left for a week to go hunting, but returned with nothing. “Well, I was actually trying to find the Grous who killed Dad.” Raven was speechless. He knew his sister so well, but yet she had kept this secret from him!

“As I was saying earlier,” She continued, “I think we should move to Possibility. The town is full of different species, and they have guards to keep out the Grous. The lord of the city is hiring guards, and I sent in an application. I was accepted.”

“So, I can grow up and go to school and make friends and-” Raven was so excited that he forgot his anger, his parents, and his hardship. Raven was ready to live in an actual city, not just a cave with his sister. “When are we leaving?” he asked eagerly.

“Anytime! Just make sure you pack your dagger and bow. I’ll see if I can find someone in the city to help us move in.” Raven shot towards the ceiling of the cave and did a quick flip before flying into his cave, whooping with joy. Raven squished through the hole at the top of the cave, where his room was. It didn’t take long for him to pack everything and when he was done, Raven sat back and looked in awe at the sparkling rocks that were stuck to the ceiling of the cave. After a moment, Raven got up and looked around. He was sad to leave this cave behind, but he knew it was for the best and the town is just below this mountain! It isn’t very far away. He thought to himself. He dropped his bags down the hole and heard a crash as the landed on the ground

“RAVEN! Don’t throw your stuff!” Kiara yelled from another cave. He looked away smiling, and a shine caught his eye. The entire cave was glowing, but his was different. It reflected the light. Raven looked closer and realized that it was a bracelet. He grabbed it, wondering why he had never noticed it and shot down the hole into the main cave.