part eight of the steampunk bear’s saga
At a council meeting for the ravens at the base of the eighth mountain, one of the ravens volunteered to fight the Rusalka. A pouch of the potent herbs that the steampunk bear had collected was wrapped around the raven’s talons. The ravens gathered around their companion and sang a song, full of caws and croaks and whistles. Then the raven flew away. The rest of the birds stayed close to the beach. They collected fish from shallow waters and they rested in a lagoon that they had found on the other side of the mountain.
The one raven who flew away traveled far until he saw the Rusalka in the rushes near a small island. She was surrounded by ospreys, great blue herons, and other birds. He swooped down at her, but she sidestepped him. She jumped into the water and swam toward another island.
The Rusalka began singing a love song in a minor key. Her voice was light and high. It reminded the raven of the voice of a girl he had once known before he had become enchanted and turned into a raven. The bird suddenly became entranced by the song and he followed the sound to a lagoon in the centered of the island. The area was full of ith palm trees and glowing white sand. There were no human structures there, either new or old and decayed. The raven wondered if humans had ever seen the island. The music became even more insistent, chasing away the raven’s thoughts.
The raven felt that he could fall in love with the light soprano voice. The song was echoing in his head, and he suddenly felt soft and sleepy. His heartbeat and his thoughts had been taken over by the Rusalka’s song. He flew closer and she urged him to land next to her. It ws then that he noticed the moving seaweed attached to the Rusalka. The seaweed seemed as if it were a creature capable of purposeful independent movement. Suddenly, the seaweed moved in a threatening manner, attempting to wrap itself around the raven and squeeze him until he lost all of his air. He awakened from his lovelorn dreams and quickly jumped away. He emptied the pouch of herbs on the Rusalka’s hands. She sniffed them as she resumed singing her love song. She tasted an herb and barely reacted.
The Rusalka stared into the raven’s eyes. For a moment, he stared into hers, causing him to put one foot into the seaweed trap. The Rusalka saw that and she pounced on the bird, who broke the gaze. The Rusalka and the raven grappled for a time that felt interminable. The Rusalka tried to bite the raven, but the bird sidestepped, and the Rusalka ate the residue of the herbs that were left on her hand.
Suddenly, the Rusalka fell asleep.
The raven flew back to the eighth mountain as swiftly as his wings would take him. The sky grew dark and dreary.
As the raven flew in the dark. he was unaware that he was being followed. He wouldn’t normally fly alone at night but he knew that, if he remained on the Rusalka’s island, he was in danger. She would not stay asleep forever.
Early in the morning, after flying all night, the raven landed on the beach where he left the rest of the ravens. Suddenly, he saw the Rusalka, covered from head to toe in seaweed. He was so startled that he flew at her, screaming. She swiftly swam away.
The raven found a pot full of fish. Where were the other ravens? Where was the giant bee and the steampunk bear and the mouse?
He began to search. All of a sudden, he heard a scream that was so loud that he…
to be continued
