Ol' Flint the Crow

Miss Bleak's Tale

Scurrying down the opposite side of the hill, Bleak yelled to Samuel. "Oi! We have to keep moving! Nero Rapids is not too far off."

Breathing heavily, Samuel scanned the surroundings below where a river, partially shrouded by the dense forest trees, flowed in the distance. The minstrel could just barely make out a campsite where the boaters offered rides down the rushing water. Miss Bleak said they were seeking the aid of a boatman named Hobbs, an acquaintance of the bird.

Recalling the twentieth verse of Flint's song, Samuel, with bated breath, chanted the words...

And after saving the life of an innocent kid,

Held captive in the tentacles of a river squid,

Kindhearted Flint, with the help of a drunken boatman,

Took the shivering boy back to his awaiting clan.

They thanked him profusely and offered him gifts so grand.

He kindly refused and left in search for a new land.

Drifting away, the drunk sailor and heroic crow

Went on to certainly run into many more woes.

...The minstrel snorted in aggravation as he shuffled his feet on the uneven mountain slope, knocking over a pile of loss pebbles as he did. A hero would not have slaughtered an unarmed man he thought to himself. In the popular children's song, Flint was portrayed as a sad but hero figure for people to emulated even if he was supposedly a fictional character.

"Watch it!" the barmaid yelled out after being showered with the stones Samuel kicked. "What's wrong with you?"

Gnashing his teeth as he gazed at the noble's sword Bleak took with her, the flute player could no longer keep his disdain to himself. "That bird murdered him! The noble was defenseless, and Flint killed him in cold blood!"

Not wanting to stop their march to the river, Miss Bleak looked over her shoulder now and then as she argued with Samuel, "It's not like that! I know it seemed cruel, but the duke would have been a threat later on if Flint hadn't killed him. What the crow did was a... necessary evil."

Regardless of her unwavering loyalty towards her old friend, the bartender shook her head in doubt. Samuel heard the woman's uncertainty from the way her voice tremble. Bleak press her lips closed causing them to turn a bright crimson color.

"Necessary or not, what Flint did was uncalled for and horrible!" Samuel muttered as he avoided falling over a loose rock.

Twisting her ankle on a pothole, Miss Bleak cursed out loud in frustration. She immediately halted their march and turned around to face the minstrel.

Limping on her aching foot, she said, "The sooner we get to the Nero Rapids the sooner we will be one step closer to meeting Richter Valentine, the one who can take out the heartache worm. You may not appreciate that Flint is going out of his way to help you, but could you at least shut up for a moment?!"

The barmaid ended the conversation and resumed their descent down the mountain. She refused to look at Samuel until they reached the bottom of the hill. Her eyes remained transfixed on the uneven path to avoid another fall.

Still curious about where the barmaid had been while Flint and he had gone off ahead without her, Samuel had to ask, "What happened to you back there? You were gone for so long. The crow seemed very angry when you both came back."

Grumbling as she swatted a tree branch away, Miss Bleak mumbled in agitation, "That's my business!"

She paused for a second and changed her mind. Maybe would be better to just answer the question and be done with it. The bartender started to speak.

~

The barmaid had run for a great distance away from her friend and the minstrel. Sweat fell from her brow in droves as she smashed the grass with her boots. The horizon was filled with smoke coming from the village. Standing on the edge of a precipice, overlooked the town, Bleak gasped at the state of her tavern. It was nothing more than a smoldering mound of burning logs.

All the villagers, looking as small as ants from Bleak's view, were in a frenzy as they tried to subdue the fire. The flames had spread from the bar to their own homes which they had lovingly built with their bare hands. The bartender could vaguely make out an old woman standing over the charred body of her dead son. Her hands wrapped around the boy's neck as her wailing traveled through the sweltering air.

In the midst of the panic-stricken inhabitance, riders in fine attire rode grimly among them. Like vultures in search for meat, they prayed on the innocent civilians. When one of the townsfolk walked a little too close to their massive horses, they would mercilessly strike them down with their weapons.

Angry shown from Miss Bleaks face as she watched Tabitha's nobles harass the villagers. They were once her neighbors before she abandon them. Her heart boiled as she lifted the crossbow in her shaking palms.

Hearing the sound of hooves galloping in her direction, she ducked down to avoid detection. Three riders passed below her perch as she lay prone among the thorny weeds. Taking a dangerous chance, she peaked off the edge and saw three nobles circled around each other. They all had old scars on their fair faces.

The leader, clothed in elk furs, spoke in an authoritative voice saying, "We will part ways here lady and gentleman. I will go directly east. Duchess Mary, you will go northeast while Baron Kilmer will travel southeast. The Princess has sent all other scouts south, west, and north. Remember, she wants the bird alive! Let us venture forth."

Whistling to their steeds, the trio departed from one another traveling their appointed route. Miss Bleak coughed from the dust the nobles' horses kicked up as she left her hiding spot and followed the duke. He was headed in Flint and Samuel's direction. Cursing herself for her wild goose chase, she ran as if a blood thirsty demon was after her. They needed to be alerted before the noble could find them, but how could she reach them in time?

Sprinting until her legs stung, the thought of the nobleman hurting Flint burned in the bartender's mind. She sped up her pace in desperation. Feeling an object colliding into her shoulder, Bleak darted her eyes to the ground at the creature that had hit her. Lying on the ground, Bleak's feathery friend shook his aching head. Flint stood up and snarled at the barmaid.

"Damn it, Miss Bleak!" he cursed as his eyes glowed in rage. His beak quivered ever so slightly at seeing that his friend was safe. This caused the bartender to seize the tiny beast into her strong arms as she smiled in happiness.

"Get off me!" Flint said tearing away from the bothersome woman. "There will be none of that! We need to get out of her before Tabitha catches us."

Remembering the duke was still perusing the crow somewhere up ahead, she quickly explained the situation to Flint. It was difficult for Flint to understand what exactly she meant since she was still out of breath, but what he could gather from her wheezing and coughing was that a noble, on horseback, was nearby.

"Good gods!" he exclaimed thinking about the minstrel awaiting his arrival. "Mr. Samuel's going to get himself gutted! This is all your fault Bleak! If you hadn't left, we would have been on Hobbs' ship already! You better hope that flute player's alright because I've about had enough of your idiotic treks by your lonesome!"

Swearing at his friend in frustration, the crow flapped his already spent wings to rescue the minstrel from the bloodthirsty duke. Huffing along with the bird, Miss Bleak chased the swift crow as he zoomed among the trees.

~

"Flint may not act the way you expect him too," Miss Bleak said after concluding her story, "but he cares enough to protect you from danger. He's helping you with the killer worm in your heart for crying out loud. Could you at least try to show him some respect, please?"

Shaking his head at the thought of the bird actually concerned about his safety, the minstrel touched his nose to see if it was still bleeding. No matter is opinion of Flint, he needed the crow to take him to Planker Creek where the surgeon lived. Samuel kept silent after this.

Once his weary feet landed on level ground, the minstrel breathed a sigh of relief. Bleak beckoned him onward to the boater's camp not much further away.