Ol' Flint the Crow

Flint's Second Tale pt. 11

The entrance into the labyrinth was a tall stone archway covered in spidery vines. Carved on either side of the arches were mossy statues depicting humanoid animals making holy gesture with their hands. These idols were just a few of the innumerable gods of the Gok. Although corroded from the countless years left forgotten, the faces of the gods were no less frightful to look at. What made them so unworldly were their vacant glances. Their soulless eyes were unmoving and without any feeling in them at all.

Beneath them, were the small shapes of human worshipers dressed in priestly robes. In each of the human's hands was a knife and a wiggling animal with its throat slit open. Crumpled animal bodies were left discarded in a bloody pile next to the god's hooves or talons.

Fearful of what it all meant, my neck shrunk as I looked at Edvrick in concern. Even Nettle nervously crawled underneath the archway. Only Edvrick had no fear to speak of. Without a change to his calm expression, he strode past the entrance and kept moving amongst the stonewalls, trees, and vines that made up the maze.

When we found ourselves at the first crossroad, Edvrick nodded his head to Nettle. "Try to remember Nettle. Where must we go? Where's the temple?"

Giving him a sideways glance, Nettle inspected the two separating paths. She placed her nose to the dirt and sniffed at the ground for a moment, sending a cloud of dust up. Nettle crawled around in a circle until her back coiled. Her eyes boggled as she started down one of the pathways. Making her choice, the woman darted forward, yammering at Edvrick to flow. Whether on the right path or not, my friend followed her without hesitation.

I, however, was not at all convinced in the human's ability to lead us. "Edvrick! She ain't even in her right mind. The human's crazy! Can't ya see?! Look at her!"

She scurried along the path snapping twigs along the way. All the while, Nettle seemed happy beyond belief.

Pushing away at these branches, Edvrick could not help but smile at her. "She's such a sweet dear!"

"She's a nut!!" I screeched. "She'll get us lost in here! Think Edvrick! Think! No good will come to us by followin' some human!"

Edvrick sighed deeply. "So you still can't trust humans, Flint?"

I rolled my tongue to the back of my throat. Letting out a miserable groan, I fell silent. My head sank and bobbed underneath my shoulders from Edvrick's long, slow strides. This gave me a perfect view of his bandaged hand, still red with blood. The guilt was unbearable.

Holding my nose, I muttered, "Couldn't she at least bathe! She stinks. Makes no sense that I have to smell her as well as look at her ugly face."

Nettle suddenly turned around and stared at me. Her gloomy eyes ogled unhappily. She reached up and touched her blotched forehead. Going down, her fingers rubbed against the red lump on her chin where I had bit her. Next, the woman sniffed her tattered clothing. She reeled at the smell. Depressed and deeply hurt, Nettle's lips shivered. She quickly turned back around, darting forward without waiting for us.

"Flint!" Edvrick cried while running to catch up with her. "How could you? You hurt her feelings!"

"Pfft!" I scoffed.

We kept up this brisk pace for a good hour or so with the fog brushing against our faces. Water soon began to drip off my beak. Edvrick was out of breath from the thick air choking him. Wheezing terribly, he still managed to keep with Nettle's difficult pace. To help him, I brushed off his forehead with the side of my wing while balancing on his damp hair.