The sound of beating wings suddenly made us look skyward. 

To my astonishment, another raven arrived and landed a short distance from where we sat. She was young and glossy, and by the looks of it hungry too. 

I croaked at her, inviting her to join us. Her head bobbed up and down and to the side as she eyed Vernon warily. She was right to be cautious at least, but I thought I would offer her some food. There was, after all, plenty and I knew what it was to be hungry. 

I tore off a piece of fish and skipped over to give it to her. I laid it down nearby, then hopped back to Vernon's side. She stepped towards the offering, then stabbed at it a couple of times before she scooped it up and swallowed it down. She cawed her gratitude. I delivered another piece for her. Again, she accepted. I felt proud for sharing my meal with a fellow raven and shook out my feathers.

Vernon's laugh startled me a little, and I eyed him questioningly. "Seems I won't be the only one getting his pleasure this evening." He raised his eyebrows at me then nodded over to the female bird. 

A few moments passed. Then the penny dropped like a Gnomergan bomb. Sweet Elune! He couldn't possibly mean that I would...No! I couldn't! My avian instincts started to scream 'why?' Why? Well, the prospect was just...wrong! 

Something else was prodding my conscience, but I knew not what, or why or how. Regardless, mating with this glossy lady raven was a definite no!

I turned my head towards the female and saw her looking back at me, expectant. Her eyes shifted to the fish, and she emitted a caw. I stayed put.

Vernon's big hand nudged me. "Go on boy, you started flirting with her, may as well go the whole hog now, she seems keen."  His cheeks flushed from laughter. 

Started flirting? I most certainly did not! I merely offered her -. I could feel my contours prickle as it dawned on me. I had inadvertently began a mating ritual. I shook my head, agitated, crestfallen. Why did I not think before I acted!

I flew onto Vernon's shoulder. That just made him laugh louder. "Why, boy! You shy now?" I huddled closer to his head, feeling both ashamed and decidedly nervous that I had misled the raven. 

I peeked out from behind his jaw to see her cocking her head in my direction. She cawed again and hopped closer. I inched back on Vernon's broad shoulder, hoping somehow to become invisible. 

The realisation of my desperate situation and pathetic attempt to hide was exacerbated further as a second female raven landed; directly on the spot which I'd just vacated when trying to seek refuge. That one too looked at me hopefully.

"Seems the Lakeshire Ladies are not just those of the human persuasion," the fishing supplier voiced, chuckling. 

The two females started cawing - quite persistent. Their rather amorous insistence had me starting to feel uncomfortable and hot. I had two options, dive into the lake to get cool, or pant.

 The former would not be a wise choice; I had glimpsed the eels in there, and they were vicious, no doubt quite capable of dragging me underneath. So, I started to pant, the only real option there was if I was honest. Birds do not sweat, though at that moment I sorely wished we did for I was unbelievably uncomfortable. 

My attention was drawn to the right as a breeze caused the shack door to slam then swing open a fraction. 

Ah! My third option! I wasted no more time excogitating my predicament and immediately flew to the shack door. I just managed inside before it blew shut a second time. 

From the safety of indoors, I could hear Vernon hooting with laughter. Quite why he found this scenario so amusing, was beyond me. 

A few moments later, he came into the shack with some of the fish in hand. "Not quite your type those ladies, I gather. Here then, raven, you can eat in peace. I'll leave the window open enough for you to get out if you want."

I looked up at him. I admit I was feeling foolish and his laughing at me just made me more embarrassed. As he closed the door, I heard the latch drop. Safety.

I pecked and tore at the fish. In my solitude, I tried to delineate why I was going through these strange emotions.

My head swam with visions of Alarii and her drawings; Jevon and how he admitted having feelings for her; that look in his eyes when his gaze met hers; the earlier exchange between Amy and Vernon. The horrifying prospect of - well, being intimate, I supposed, with the female raven. I shuddered. 

Then the wet-eyed woman flashed across my mind. Her face rippled before me as if I was watching through her in a clear pool.  Why did she haunt me so? Once more, a tightening in my chest followed the image of her suffering a sorrow I did not understand. I felt inexplicably connected to her pain. An overwhelming sense of something important was just out of my reach.

Other thoughts invaded my mind - unbidden and somewhat alien.  I believed I had always thought things through logically and practically. I was not prone to fancy and improbability. Somehow, that analysis felt dislocated. I flexed my wings, trying to rid myself of the confusion.

But, as I sat on the table strewn with fishing tackle and flaked fish, I started to ponder what I was not seeing. Something unusual about my circumstance; a puzzle of some description, critical to me, but missing pieces. All frustratingly unattainable.

A scratching sound pulled me abruptly from my thoughts. There at the window was the irascible Effcee; her yellow eyes growing blacker by the second as her pupils dilated, her attention on me unshakable. 

Her jaw chattered as a series of irritated clicks fell from her deadly maw. Her tail swished furiously back and forth. She tilted her head a little, and to my horror, she squeezed in through the narrow gap afforded by the open window. 

Her lithe body followed quickly, and I flew up to the narrow lintel above the door just as she pounced on the table. I was quite smug; I had outsmarted her. That did not last long, however, as her face conveyed a superbity of her own and I watched with growing annoyance as she started to devour the remainder of the fish.

I cawed my irritation, but she just continued eating, a look of victory in her oval eyes. This was unacceptable. I had had enough of being attacked by creatures; but now, I was suffering my food being rifled by a miffed moggy. 

I spread my wings and swooped down at her, screeching. My beak was a fair weapon in its own right, and I jabbed at the top of her head as I flew over. 

She hissed and yowled, a paw lashing out. She missed - ha! I landed on the opposite lintel and turned to stare down at her. 

Her hackles raised and tail fluffed out, making her look three times her original size. The yellow eyes burned fierce - absolute hatred flaring from them.

I watched with mild amusement as she lowered herself on her haunches, ready to pounce. As she launched herself in my direction, I flew over again and back to the original lintel. 

Her mew this time was laced with frustration. I cawed at her again. Once more she was poised on the table, her body shuddering as her muscles tensed ready for attack. When she leapt, I omitted an eerily piercing shriek.

This expostulation was entirely different from previous ones, however. I stared in disbelief as a sizzling blue bolt left my beak. It travelled with an excruciatingly lethargic momentum and hit Effcee square on her chest. 

The cat was catapulted backwards, her lithe body twisting and writhing in mid-air. Her razor-filled mouth opened soundlessly. When her feet finally met the edge of the table, time corrected itself, and suddenly she was racing around the walls, increasing acceleration with each circuit and yowling madly. 

As her body passed under where I still sat perched, I could see her fur was singed where the mysterious bolt had hit her. Her maniacal tour of the shack walls continued until I heard the door open. 

"What the blazes is going - ." Vernon's voice bellowed into the wooden room. A mew of relief and Effcee was out the door quicker than a mage could blink. Sweet Elune! Another erudite snippet of knowledge came to the fore.

"Bloody cat!" I heard Vernon rant. "Raven! Where are you?" 

I watched from above as his huge frame came into the shack. I cawed. 

He turned and found me on the door lintel. "Not exactly your day, is it lad?" he mused as he visually checked I had not acquired any further injuries. 

Shaking his head and grinning, he beckoned me. "Come on then; I think you'll be safer with me at home. Business will be slow today because celebrations are afoot, so, I will just close up shop."