I raced between trees as my stomach rumbled. The night sky descended upon the forest. My wings spread wide, my plumes were thick and strong, letting the wind glide past my slick black body and push me up. I dove under branches and fluttered past thick spider silk weaved between trees.

My eyes set on a boy. Never had I seen him in such a frenzy. He ran alone, the man with velvet eyes who always accompanied him was nowhere to be seen. I darted to Rose’s den.

She lived in a cove, an abscess in the face of the grand mountains. There she guarded the purple crystals and azure-blue pond. To enter, I dove through lily vines, then opened my wings, glided down onto her snout, and pecked her head. Her eyes fluttered open.

“There’s food,” I said. Unfortunately, wolves don’t speak Raven, but it was fine, we understood each other.

She stretched her legs and scratched the earth. When her paws and claws awoke, she ran out of the cove.

Outside, I flew high and a few minutes later, I picked up muffled huffs and puffs. I took a sharp turn right. There, I found the boy a little way off. His feet crushed fallen branches and old leaves. How could one be so noisy in a forest? Rose galloped close behind, jumping over decayed leaves and large roots. Her black fur absorbed the little moonlight, which pierced through the thick canopy of emerald leaves. Her head snapped to the right. It was time. I stiffened my feathers, took a few strong flaps to gain altitude, and wrapped my body in a black haze.

I caught sight of the boy and followed close behind. I gazed at Rose, her strides were strong and quick, yet soft. Her eyes glinted pale blue and her irises shined light yellow. She was graceful and majestic. I wish I had been born a wolf.

The boy ran without looking around.

Five, four, three—the haze dissipated; if this were any other animal, they would have noticed something wasn’t right. Ravens didn’t simply appear—two, one. Luckily, this was a human child.

Rose jumped; fangs bared. Four large yellow canines ripped into his jugular. The boy screamed. Blood sprayed onto ebony bark and stiff brown leaves. His eyes froze. Her head jerked up and down. She let go, kicked up her head, and swallowed the chunks of flesh lodged between her teeth. She plunged into his torso, her head jerked right and left.

Her snout, smothered in blood pointed to the moon. She howled, and the moonlight glinted off the saliva which dribbled down her jaw. Rose went to lie down where the earth wasn’t soaked in blood and motioned me to eat. I flew down and dug my claws into his eyebrow ridge. With my beak, I scratched his eye. But as I was about to take a bite, I noticed an untouched heart. How nice could she be? How lucky could we be to eat such tender meat all by ourselves? When would we get such a nice treat again?

I jumped down and settled atop his rib. It was still warm. I pecked at his heart. The meat was soft, although a bit chewy. There wasn’t much fat, yet it still made my mouth water. Truly a delicacy. The strong offal taste lingered in my mouth long after each bite. I wanted to savour the delicacy, but others might come and steal a bite. I couldn’t have Rose both hunt and defend my meal. I quickly finished the first half of the heart, but when I reached its core, I found a small multicoloured crystal. I had never seen this while watching Rose eat animal hearts. Then again, with the speed and ferocity with which she ate, missing something so small wouldn’t be odd. I clutched it in my beak, leaned back, and let it slide down my throat. It didn’t taste like anything, however, it did increase my appetite for the heart. The eyes, the flesh around the bones, bits of the stomach, and liver. Now, they all made me queasy. I turned back to the heart, croaked, and finished my meal.

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#

Rose had long left, and yet I remained perched above the decaying corpse. I didn’t know why, but I couldn’t seem to leave him. My eyes burned up at the sight of mealworms, flies, and wasps eating the bits of his flesh left un-licked by Rose. I spread my wings, extended my purplish-black feathers, and croaked. The pests didn’t care. I wanted to fly down and shoo them away, however, my wings hurt, and my stomach burnt. I shouldn’t have eaten that crystal.

“Brother, is that you?” croaked a familiar raven.

My sister was perched atop a nearby branch. Her son and husband were next to her. “Yes, what is it?”

“Summer’s approaching, so we’re on our way up north. Do you want to come? It would be nice to spend some time together.”

I shook my head and spread my wings. My stomach rumbled, and heat flashed through my intestines. I glued my wings back on my body, each time I spread my wings jolts spread through me. “Rose won’t be able to follow if I go.”

“We’re staying there for a long time. It’s fine if you come later. Don’t feel pressed.”

“I prefer it here.” This wasn’t a lie. Although the forest was warm and humid during summers, Rose’s Cove stayed cool. Plus, if a small crystal could wreck my stomach, I really had entered old age.

“Are you sure?” She tapped her son’s head. “He’ll soon reach level fifteen. Don’t you want to celebrate his coming-of-age ceremony? It would mean a lot to him.” She looked down at her son. His plumage was a hint lighter than mine and my sisters. “He’s curt to the point of silence. Imagine being worse than you.” She let out a small croak. “He doesn’t say it, but he thinks you’re quite impressive. And we never know, he might become a beast. Don’t you want to see that?” She looked at her boy with soft, motherly eyes.

“No.” I wanted to give her a proper reason, but I had started to see double.

“Let’s go,” I heard her husband say. “It’s okay.” He extended his wing and wrapped it around their son. “Your uncle isn’t very socially aware. Let’s go before it’s too hot.”

Two pairs of wings flew off. “I’ll see you in winter then.” The third pair followed.

My eyes followed them, yet I soon lost them in the blue above. The sky twirled. I looked back down in hopes the earth would ground me. Instead, wasps multiplied, and mealworms piled over the boy’s body. My feathers hurt. I had to turn and peck at them. More than a few feathers fell off. I couldn’t hold myself straight anymore and fell into a blueberry bush. Wings spread wide; my consciousness wavered. Was this the embrace of death? I thought I’d live to a ripe old age alongside Rose, but here I was dying surrounded by bugs and fruit. I closed my eyes. At least I had lived ten good years.

#

In between oval-shaped leaves, hints of cottonwood seeds painted pink by the early morning sky drifted through the sky. I stretched out my frozen wings. I twisted my head to the side.

I didn’t have wings, but smooth, soft human arms. I jumped up on human legs. I had become humanoid. Twigs pierced the soles of my feet. I sat on a dead trunk. My teeth clattered; I rubbed my hands on my arms. The soft skin became bumpy and tiny hairs stood up.

You have become a beast.

Beast system activated; a wish shall be fulfilled if you reach the god’s favour threshold.

You have no missions at this moment, gain the attention of gods or others above yourself to receive them.