Ol' Flint the Crow

Flint's Tale pt. 3 / A Chill in the Air

...Back in her room, I huddled in my cage; something I hadn't done since I first arrived at the castle. Returning from her sword fighting class, Tabitha washed her face in a basin made of fine china and looked at me with a curious expression.

"What's up Flint?" she said not realizing my predicament tearing away at me.

I didn't look at her. If I did, I wouldn't have been able to say what needed to be said.

"Why did you do that?" I said, almost choking up in the middle of my sentence. "What could have possessed you to find joy in the death of an innocent family!"

"What?" Tabitha chuckled with a confused grimace. "Those three were not innocent Flint! They were traitors to the crown. Did you not hear what they were charged for? They were planning to kill my mother and father. You really think that they were innocent people?"

Tabitha scoffed as she walked up to my cage to pet me. I pulled back from her and moved to the far end of the birdcage.

Exhaling in frustration, she rolled her eyes and said, "Besides, didn't you see the way their legs dangled underneath them. They spun and twitch in the funniest way. Heh, heh!"

Anger burned inside of me as I growled, "Tabitha, please! You have to know that what your parents did ain't right!"

"You used 'ain't' again..." she corrected me.

"Forget about how the hell I TALK!!!" I screeched. "Damn it! Tabitha, can't you see that your parents are nothing but killers!"

"Flint, stop," Tabitha replied as she narrowed her eyes.

"Your mother and father are horrible people, without mercy!"

"Stop!"

"...Just because they live in a castle, they think they're civilized. Far from it, I say! They are tyrants! Monsters! Murderers!"

"SHUT UP!!!" Tabitha screamed as she yanked my cage with her quivering hands.

With a mighty toss, she threw the cage and me against the yellow painted walls making a loud 'clang'. I could barely believe what had happened until pain shot from my back as the broken bars of the cage stabbed my wings. Yelping from the sharp pricks, I gripped my wings and shook on the white carpet.

In deep regret, Tabitha ran to me and cried out, "Flint! I'm sorry! I did not mean to do that!"

As her fingers reached to grab me, I darted away and glared at her with my eyes wide in terror. Her expression was that of perplexity as she clenched her hands together. She breathed heavily and took a step back.

Placing her hands above her head, she sighed and exclaimed, "Flint. I've been very busy training with Kathrine. I'm tried and still tense from fighting, and I rather not listen to anyone disrespecting my parents. It does not bother me if you think what I did was wrong... I understand your reasons... I really do! However, I would appreciate it if you keep my mother and father out of it. Got it?"

I lifted myself up from the floor and gave her a pitiful look. My beak was bent over, and my eyes were red. Limping to the windowsill, I flapped my injured wings and leaped on top.

"Flint?" Tabitha asked in distress. "Where are you going? Come down from there."

I did not say a word, instead I hurdled myself out into the crisp morning air as Tabitha let out one last plea for me to stay. Where I was headed was meaningless to me, I just needed to leave. My wings dripped blood on the buildings of Dermid City as I swung them up and down rapidly.