Fly, you raven

Furan is not a particularly wealthy country, nor is it very big. Located south west on the continent, there is nothing particularly special about it. It's king is not particularly powerful not are it's inhabitants particularly happy or unhappy. It has both ocean and forest, both mountains and valleys. The one thing that sets Furan apart, however, is it's rich history and the fact that so many of it has been recorded- and these records have been saved from the days of the High Queens until the present day.

It is no great miracle, therefore, that Furan spends a lot of it's income and energy on the conservation of these records and the research that can be done based on them. For they do not only contain the memory of Furan itself- they contain the memory of the entire continent. Its largest library is of course located deep inside its capital city, but several smaller libraries can be found all over the country.

The village of Arum is one of the many smaller villages of the country. Located on the border of the forest, it is rather small and its population consists mainly of elderly ponies- the young often flee the boring life to find work and enjoyment in the capital, only to return when they have retired themselves. The pride of the village, however, is its small library which contains some of the oldest books of the country's rich collection.

The librarian was one of the few villagers who could say he had spend his entire life in Arum. Becoming the librarian at a relatively young age, he had never felt the need to leave. Now that he was older, he was so accustomed to his daily routine that he didn't even want to imagine a day without it. Fellow villagers sometimes gossiped that the day something changed in the library, he would certainly suffer a heart attack.

They were proven wrong, however, on a morning in early summer. Like every morning, the librarian started his day walking along the rows of books to make sure they were all in order for the rare occasion someone came by to do research. During his entire life, it had never been out of order, for the librarian always made sure everything was put back properly.

So when he turned around the single corner in the library to find a girl on the floor with countless of books scattered around her while she was reading a particularly old tome, his first thought was that surely he was still sleeping. He soon realized he wasn't however, for when the girl spotted him she quickly jumped up, grabbed the book she was reading, put it in her leather bag and dashed out of the library.

After a moment of confusion, the librarian ran out after her- as fast as his old legs could carry him. He arrived in time only to see her disappear into the woods, however.
“Help! Somebody, help!” He screamed, realizing one of his books just got stolen. Instantly, two guards from the police station next door came running towards him.

“Mr. Librarian! What happened?” One of them asked as he put on his cap.
“The... the book! She stole a book!” The librarian gasped, completely out of breath from running.
“Who did, mr. Librarian?” The librarian pointed in the direction of the forest.
“A girl! A pink girl! She had thrown over all books and when she saw me she took one and ran off into the woods!”
“We will find her for sure, mr. Librarian.” The guard nodded before he took off after his colleague into the forest.

The forests of Furan aren't very deep- because after a kilometer or so in, you encounter a large cliff, which is the natural border of the country. About a hundred meter below you, the forest goes on and on, a place that belongs to nobody and where nobody lives. That does not mean that the dense forest on top of the cliff should be overlooked- the large trees have grown unchecked for years and years, feeding off the prana that was once abundant.

The guards of Arum had made a point out of getting to know the forest- partially because there wasn't much else to do in the quiet little village. As they rushed through the forest they were therefore certain that they would quickly catch whoever had dared to disturb the peace of the little village.

They galloped as fast as they could as they followed the tracks the pony had left. She hadn't even been very subtle about it- hoof prints were scattered over the forest floor, leading them directly to the pony. The canopy of trees prevented the early morning sun from entering the forest, but even in the faint light the guards knew their way as they sped along the track. It didn't take them long to spot the girl as she ran in front of them.

She cursed the forest as she almost tripped over a loose branch on the forest floor. She had not foreseen the old librarian would actually send the guards after her this early in the morning. But here in the forest, she could do nothing but run, until she reached the cliff. She heard her pursuers coming after her- there were three of them, every single one more familiar with the forest than she was and not burdened by an old tome in their bags.

Well, she had no choice now. The forest prevented any other ways of escape until she reached the cliff. Urging her legs on, she ran as fast as she could while avoiding any trees and bushes, which was sometimes hard at the speed she was running.
“Get her!” She heard one of the guards yell when she was forced to change directions due to a particularly large tree blocking her path.

They were catching up. The difference between her and the nearest guard was now only a few meters, and she could feel her legs slowly getting weary. She had to reach the cliff soon, or she'd be in severe trouble. A fallen tree showed up in front of her and she knew she had no choice but to jump over it. She jumped, but as soon as she left the ground she knew she had miscalculated. She barely made the jump, but she didn't land properly and fell on the ground.

Within moments she was back on her hooves, but the guards had used this precious time to catch up and surround her.
“Stop it right there!” One of them yelled as he came towards her. She dashed forward to a hole in-between the two other guards and while they were quick, she was quicker and managed to escape once more.

While the guards turned and screamed, she refused to look back and ran on. Her lungs began to hurt and her legs had a hard time carrying her, but there was no way she could stop now. If the guards caught her... it was not like she wouldn't be able to escape, but it would be troublesome indeed, and she'd probably lose the book, something she couldn't afford now.

And then, out of nowhere, the ground below her gave way. For a split second she felt like she was floating in the air, and then she felt the pull of gravity.
“She fell!” She heard the guards say. As she looked down, she could see the tops of the trees were pointing towards her, softly swaying in the wind as if they fought over who had the honour of catching her. She grinned.

Her wings spread out and caught the wind as she forced them down. She went down for a few more seconds before she was able to lift herself into the air again. The sky was her domain and hers only- at last, she was free of her pursuers. Before flying on, she couldn't help but glance back at the three guards who stood on the edge of the cliff, their mouths open. She winked at them and then turned around to continue her journey back.

It felt good to feel the wind under her wings again and to let her legs rest. The forest stretched out under her like a sea of trees, uninterrupted for miles in all directions. If she didn't have the morning sun to guide her, she'd be completely lost because everything below her looked exactly the same. Everything was just so green... So unlike the pictures she had seen, where the western forest were like clouds of purple prana.

Even when flying, it took her more than half the morning to reach the other side of the forest. She was tired from reading the entire night and from running from the guards, so she didn't move as fast as she had hoped. But finally, when the sun was nearing its highest point in the sky, she saw the trees thin out and make way for some meadows. She was lucky she ended up almost next to the little abandoned cottage they had found- she had assumed she'd still have to fly a while to find it again.

As she landed in the clearing in front of the little house, she heard the door open. Of course, her sister had waited for her, as she always did. If only she'd spend that time a bit more useful... But she knew her sister would be too anxious for that. She glanced at the door and she saw her sweet, young sister come out of the cottage. Her yellow forelock stood in contrast with her pink coat and mane, and together with her unmistakable smile Câlin was certain she could never mistake Meran for someone else.

“Câlin!” her sister yelled as she galloped through the high grass towards her, while Câlin made her wings disappear. “Good morning, Meran.” Câlin smiled as her younger sister gave her a hug. And she'd only been gone for a day...
“I'm glad you're back.” Meran smiled as she let go, putting her yellow forelock back into place.

“So am I.” Câlin smiled as she walked towards the cabin.
Abandoned though it may be, Câlin was so tired it seemed like a castle. They had found it only three days ago. It wasn't much and the wood looked like it was very old and not properly taken care of, but it was dry and they had some proper beds to sit in.

“Did you succeed? Did they have what you were looking for?” Meran asked as they walked inside.
Her sister never liked to be left behind on missions... but she sometimes just had to do things alone. They would never have escaped if Meran had been with her, she was sure... and she didn't want to risk anything happening to her.
“I hope so. I didn't have enough time though... I got interrupted.” Meran glanced at the bag Câlin put on the table.
“What's in there?” she asked.

“The book I was reading. I'll just have to continue here.” Câlin answered as she fell down on the old dusty couch. Finally, something to sit in...
“They let you take a book? Wow.” Meran bend down to start up the fire in the kitchen.
“They didn't exactly let me.” Câlin confessed uneasily.
“You just took it?” Meran gasped as she poured water in the kettle.

“Yea, well. The librarian found me in the morning and instantly called for the guards... I just took the book and ran for it.” Câlin replied. Why was her sister always so judgemental?
“You broke in? You stole it? Why couldn't you just ask?” Meran sighed. The disappointment in her sister's voice was obvious.

“I didn't want to raise suspicion.” She replied.
“Well, you certainly did now.” Meran replied. Her sister had put the kettle over the fire and sat down in the chair opposing the couch.
“Father wouldn't agree, you know.”
 “You don't have to remind me.” Câlin snapped. Meran knew better then to continue, so for a few moments they just sat there in an uneasy silence.

The water was done boiling and Meran got up to make tea. When she returned to the table with the teapot, she didn't bother to pour it in a cup for her. Great, now she had pissed off Meran. Câlin sighed as she got up to pour her own tea. She shouldn't have snapped at her, but she was just so tired...
“I'm sorry. I know. You're right. When we're done, we'll mail the book back to them, okay?” She proposed.

“Yea. Okay.” Meran smiled.
She opened the bag and took out the large book.
“It's old.” Meran said as she opened it. The smell of ancient paper filled the room instantly.
“Yes. It's one of the oldest books on the Supreme Goddess. I'd hoped it would give some clues, but I haven't been able to find any so far. It's hard to read though- the language is quite different and they don't always use the same letters as we do.”

“Maybe I can help.” Meran said.
Of course, that had been one of the reasons Câlin had brought the book with her... her sister was more adept with languages and ancient characters than she was. Meran browsed through the book, observing the pictures and the text.
“It's doable. Some parts are hard, but... I'm sure we can figure out what it says together.” She said after she had closed the book.

“Good. I'm glad to hear that.” Câlin smiled as she sipped her tea, feeling her weariness catch up to her. She shouldn't have stayed up all night... The two sisters enjoyed the silence for a while, hearing only the distant chirping of the birds and the rustling of the trees. Câlin glanced at the book. had she finally found something that would give them some answers? They'd been searching for a clue for so long now...