Murder of Crows is another short story I’m working on. Ultimately, I would like to do four short stories and publish them together in one book. But first things first—I am still working on the second book with a working title of “Kingdom Rules Volume II—The Lord of the Seas.” My aim is to have it completed before Christmas 2025.
This is the bones of the Murder of Crows with little meat on them yet.
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“What’s wrong my king?” said Belet. “Don’t you find me pleasurable?”
“Keep doing it. I just need to focus,” said Ranald Willcock III.
King Ranald was a tall, thin man, often drinking more than he ate. His long flowing blonde locks fell down to his mid-back, but unlike other kings of the time, his face was clean shaven. Deep set, inquisitive blue eyes, with lips that had no indentation, and narrow nostrils defined his face.
Blam! Blam!
“King Ranald,” said the familiar voice through the door.
Just what I need—another interruption.
“What is it?” said the king.
Belet popped her head from underneath the brocade sheets and looked toward the door. It wasn’t a well-kept secret; she was the king’s whore and did nothing to conceal herself.
“My King, uh, we have a problem,” said Raolin his advisor.
“And it couldn’t wait until later?” said Ranald.
“It needs your urgent attention.”
“For the sake of the gods. Give me a minute.”
Ranald turned and kissed Belet. “Stay here. Whatever it is, it won’t take long.”
“I should go, my King,” said Belet. “There’s nothing to do here.”
“Don’t be petulant. I’ll have prandium brought over.”
###
“You shouldn’t have brought this many men, my King,” said Usyn. “It will make him feel threatened.”
“And I don’t?” said the King.
“You know what a threat is and what is not. He assumes everything is a threat.”
“Why is he moving his head about in such a rapid manner with one eye focused on me?”
“He can tell you’re the leader of this group. You have its attention.”
The odd creature stood tall on an outcropping of rocks just outside the castle to the west, leaving the king and his entourage staring into Vesceron. As they approached, the half-human, half-crow came into sharper relief.
Its head was that of a crow, with a long beak and beady, red eyes. Instead of feathers, it had straight black hair that was scraggly at its end, which fell to the chest. An old bronze necklace, holding a discolored medallion, intertwined with the hair. It was taller than an average man, but nothing out of the ordinary.
“What is this thing?” said Ranald.
“It’s a Cruqkum,” said Usyn.
“Why haven’t I read or heard about this…Cruqkum?”
“Some say they don’t exist, that they’re just a figment of a man’s imagination.”
“This is no figment.”
The creature moved its head in rapid motion, turning a beady red eye toward the group of men coming closer. It let loose a loud caw.
“I don’t like this, my king,” said Raolin. “We’re too exposed out here.”
The king took a quick look at Usyn before turning his attention back to the creature.
Adding to the bizarreness of it all was what the Cruqkum wore. He wore a robe of grayish, nearly translucent material that fell to and draped the ground. Under the robe was a coat of the same material, which was held in place by a leather belt with a faded bronze buckle and words of its language written along the belt itself.
Beneath them was a long tunic—each item of clothing had tattered endings to them that hung down to the ground. It gave off the appearance of strips of cloth being sewn together to make the garments. Out of this material came two clawed feet that gripped the uneven surface beneath them.
Another caw came from its throat, louder than the first.
“Augur, what is it saying?” said the King.
“It’s feeling threatened,” said Usyn. “We need to stop.”
The group of about twenty men, mostly the King’s Guard, stopped in their tracks. Along the battlement, the king’s best archers took aim with nearby pots of burning oil.
It raised its large wings with robust feathers on the top but tattered at the bottom bringing into question the ability of the crow-man to get off the ground, let alone fly at some distance. The lifted wings sent a large swarm of black crows flying from behind the Cruqkum and toward the castle. The archers began to bob and weave, unable to target any of the birds directly. As soon as the Cruqkum lowered its wings, the birds turned and flew off in a perfect V formation.
“It dares threaten the King?” said Ranald.
“We threatened him first, my king,” said Usyn.
“Just whose side are you on?”
“You asked me to come with you. I’m trying to figure out what it is he wants.”
The Cruqkum raised an arm, revealing a hand that was nothing more than a bird’s claw. As he did, a robin alighted on the claw and turned its head toward the crow-man. With a nod, the bird frittered toward the men, flapped its wings and spun itself into a woman with raven black hair, menacing dark eyes and ghoulish white skin. If she was evil, her appearance confirmed it.
“This is a dream,” said Ranald, “of this I’m certain.”
“This is no dream,” said the woman, “but you’ll live a nightmare if you don’t do what is required of you.”
“Who are you to speak to the king in such a manner?” said Raolin.
“My name is Stizsis,” she said. “Your augur knows of me.”
Both the king and his advisor turned toward Usyn with heads cocked to the side.
“Stizsis is an angel of darkness,” said Usyn, “with the ability to change into both creature and human forms.”
Usyn focused his attention on Stizsis and questioned the woman. “What are you doing here? You have no claim on this land.”
“True, I do not. However, this creature needs to feed its young, so I brought it here knowing you have an abundance of crops.”
“How much?”
“A third of everything.”
No one gets anything out of my kingdom, least of all this purveyor of outrageous demands and the crow-man from the dark realm of things that don’t belong in this world.
“You’ll get more than a third,” said Ranald. “You’ll get the entirety of our swords and arrows.”
“You arrogant bastard,” said Stizsis. “You do not know what you’re dealing with.”
The king pulled his sword, and the rest of his guards pulled theirs and fanned out, with two standing alongside Ranald. Archers dipped their arrowheads into the fire and took aim at the woman and the Cruqkum.
Usyn, sensing the situation was at a tipping point implored Ranald and Stizsis to stop before hostilities reached the point of know return. “Don’t do this. Blood will flow like a river in the land.”
The crow-man let out a screeching sound and a cloud of black rose behind him. Stizsis raised a hand to the Cruqkum.
“Find another kingdom,” said Ranald. “You’ll get nothing but dead crows here.”
“This is the land of plenty,” said Stizsis with a hiss. “This is where his flock will eat.”
Usyn moved closer to his king and whispered into his ear words that chose a new tact. “Offer gold instead of the crops. Send them on their way with something of value.”
“Damn it all to judgement,” said Ranald, not bothering to remain quiet. “So, anyone can show up, make threats and receive a reward? That’s not how it works.”
“This is not a normal enemy. This situation requires drastic measures.”
“Did you not take the auspices?”
Usyn looked away toward the woman. “I did, my king, but they revealed nothing like this.”
“The gods didn’t speak into the templum?”
“I heard nothing.”
“Damn the signs, and you if you missed any.”
Ranald moved toward the woman and narrowed his eyes. “I will give you gold if you agree to leave.”
Stizsis laughed and shook her head. “What is gold to a bird?”
“You will receive gold or steel. Consider wisely what you will choose.”
The angel of darkness spun herself into a robin and flew the short distance to the Cruqkum who had its arm raised. The shrill chirps, followed by thunderous caws reached the castle walls. As they did, in the distance, a black cloud rose from behind the crow-man.
It had begun.
To be continued…