The Art of Raven's Shire
A gallery of art inspired by the stories of Raven's Shire
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Raven's Shire Fairies Tales
Prayer to a Forgotten God
Ember
shivered in the dark waters. The muck squished beneath her as she lay
among the reeds staring up at the bottom of the thick layer of dark
green algae that lay on the surface of the water. She was humming
softly to herself a sound which was both beautiful and sad, a sound
which had lured many men to their death. But on this morning it wasn’t
loud enough to escape the surface of the water so only the fish and
turtles came to listen.
“You can’t keep going on like this you
know,” a cheerful voice bubbled beside her letting Ember know that some
obnoxious happy little nix had come to join her.
“Its been two
thousand years,” Ember sighed not bothering to turn her head to look at
the happy little fairy. “Two thousand years today,” she sighed again.
“That’s the day when I lost everything. It’s a long time; even by our
standards and I’ve gone on like this since then. So why couldn’t I
continue on like this?”
“Okay than,” the nix allowed as she put her
face above Ember’s forcing the former fire goddess to look her in the
eyes. “You shouldn’t go on like this,” the nix informed her. “People
don’t live very long; they forget things, forget us, it happens and we
need to move on.”
But Ember wasn’t listening as recognition came.
She reached up and touched the nix’s blue colored hair. “Anga?” Ember
asked in wonder. “You’re the air and the sky.”
“Not any more,” the
nix who had once been Anga told Ember. “I’ve accepted my place. Now I’m
a nix. And lets be honest being a nix is a lot more fun then lying in
the muck at the bottom of a lake. You're not a turtle or a catfish
after all. Its been two thousand years today since the last prayer was
offered to us. It's time to move on.”
“Fire, Fire dance with my food
and make it taste as sweet as your song,” a small voice whispered sadly
from the shore of the lake causing Ember to close her eyes.
“Granted,” she whispered softly.
“That
wasn’t a prayer,” the nix once known as Anga informed Ember. “It’s true
that people asked that of you but now children just sing that as a
goofy rhyme when they’re playing games and this child didn’t even use
your name.”
“She called for Fire. Why should I care what language
she spoke to me in? And it was a prayer,” Ember disagreed. “The child
isn’t playing. Listen to her weeping, she’s sad and alone in the deep
dark forest. It’s a wonder that one of the other fairies hasn’t already
devoured her. And she’s obviously starving; I can feel her hunger from
here.”
“So it's an accident,” Anga pressed.
“Not for much
longer,” Ember grinned as she poked her head out among the reeds
at the edge of the lake her dark red hair contrasting against the green
of the algae, but the girl didn’t notice for the tears in her eyes. She
was tiny from poor nutrition, her hair the color of pale flax. She was
obviously the poorest of the poor. Descended from those who had once
worshiped Ember before being conquered by another people. She was by
all appearances a pathetic creature. But Ember could see beyond those
appearances and what she saw caused her to grin her fire yellow teeth
flashing against the morning light.
“What are you planning?” The nix whispered as she came up to join Ember.
“I’m
planning to gain my first follower in two thousand years, to take back
part of what I lost,” Ember explained as she approached the child
grabbing a large fish as she went.
“Have this” Ember called to the
child as she tossed her the trout causing the girl to jump with
startled surprise. She stood only for a moment looking at the offered
gift before she fell on it so hungry she began devouring it raw causing
Ember to blanch.
“You asked me to dance with your food,” Ember told the child. “To make it taste good, so you should cook it.”
“I don’t have any fire,” the child told her nervously.
“You
have no need to worry about that,” Ember told her. “From now on all you
need to do is touch something and say Palo, Palo and it will burn as
much as you want it to. No matter what it is.”
“Palo Palo?” The girl
repeated causing the fish in her hands to sizzle and cook instantly.
Yet despite how hot it grew it couldn’t burn the child for nothing
would ever burn the girl again.
“Exactly,” Ember smiled.
The Forgotten God Trains a Witch
The
frogs began croaking from atop the dark green algae as night fell over
the forest and everything came alive like the moment a performance
begins and the audience grows hush to listen to the orchestra. The
crickets started chirping and the fireflies danced into the night.
By
their light and the light of the moon and stars the nyx who had been an
ancient goddess of fire known as Ember, whispered secrets into
Sennett’s ear as she brushed the young girls hair.
The howling of
wolves joined the nights chorus as it echoed through the forest. Ember
could feel Sonnett begin to shiver with fear as their song grew louder.
“We do not fear the wolves,” Ember told the child. “For they serve
the Forest King and he fears fire, fears us too much to ever anger us.
You are now the thing the wolves fear,” Ember explained as she worked
through a knot in Sonnett’s hair. “It is with your help that we’ll take
back our kingdom, take back what was lost to us,” Ember smiled gently
as she thought of what might come to pass.
A thousand years before
the people who’d worshiped her had been conquered and the gods of the
new people had come to supersede her. So it was that Ember had come to
dwell in the forest; nothing more than a spirit, a fairy, a shadow of
what she had once been.
“Vanity,” the ancient goddess explained to
the young girl, “is one of the best ways to bring about a person's
downfall. For in the end it is vanity which drives us to try to achieve
greater things. If someone does not seek or fall victim to vanity than
their downfall will be easy for they do not care for themselves or
greatness. Your greatest power however will come from desire, from
love. For through love comes trust and through trust comes an
opportunity for power.”
“Close your eyes and envision a palace
rising up around you; envision the people who mistreated you,
mistreated us becoming your servants,” Ember whispered gently as she
put her lips to Sonnett’s ear. “Imagine having everything you desire,”
Ember whispered to the orphan who had only days before been starving
alone in the forest. “Imagine all the power in the kingdom. Being safe,
being warm, being adored forever,” Ember sang gently into the girl's
ear.
How? Sennett asked as she envisioned the perfect life.
You're going to marry the king, Ember whispered to her.
But how? Sennett pondered uncertainty. He is already married. They have a young child.
“In
five years time, when you are ready, he will no longer be married,”
Ember assured her as she brushed her fingers through the girls hair.
“When you’re ready none will be able to look away from you for you’ll
hold everyone in your spell.”
| Rumpelstiltskin and the Knight
Rumpelstiltskin and the Fox
Little Red Riding Hood
Discription of the Whispering Forest
The Forgotten and the Future Wicked Step Mother
The Hawthorn Tree Teaches a Girl
Rumpelstiltskin
The Girl Has a Child With the Tree
Fairies Bosom
Wood Wife and the Baker
Forest Kings
Bunnik
Forest King Spreads Illness
Forest King Goes Hunting
Saga of a Nix
The Sealkie
An Old Child |
