Ravenswood Origins - ICE

I decided to write this letter one day not too along ago, as more of a why things are the way they are, in doing so, I hope it will help someone, whomever finds this place and myself. Let me begin near the end; it was upon the eve of my youth, when a man steps out into the world to become a man finally, shedding the shackles of boyhood and strings that bind one to their mother or siblings, and in my case, both. I was the eldest of seven, my youngest sister, Edith, passed away one winter due to a mistake that I had made. My father had gone out on a hunt with the other men of our small village and had not been back in some time, in fact, none of them were. I, being the eldest of the family, was at first tasked to seek out the hunting party and being back what stock and ration I could find. If I had known that she was following me, I would have paid better attention. This is, as they say, how life unexpectedly takes a toll or turn on you.

I was not the only male in the village, I was the oldest of them all, having lasted ten winters and not once coming down with a sniffle or sneeze. I am amazingly slender and lanky, as they say now-a-days, or the word might be, athletic, I am not sure which, it was just me. That’s the only thing I knew. Foregoing the needlessness of details about me, Edith, she was a strong, too headstrong, of a youngling. Having only been around for three winters, she thought herself incapable of everything I could do, and did she ever try with all her might. I remember the day I was clearing the debris of the wood that I had chopped down and while gathering the logs that I had split, she had come waddling over, the oversized little tike that she was, full of belly and mind, she too tried lifting as many as I had in my arms, I, of course laughing at this sight, I at once challenged her to beat me in a gathering contest (that I threw so she had a victory.).

It came, though, that fateful day. My father and his hunting party went out seeking game at the grounds where they had found the latest trail. All the men from the village had gone except me, for I was not a man, yet not a child either. They wanted and needed me to stay in place, as my father told me repeatedly, to watch over the families and ensure their survival in case the unthinkable happens.

I was asked to go look for them, while I was out upon the last light that Edith had seen, I was setting a trap for a small meal, this way I could keep my strength up and have a fire for warmth. The icy hands had already been moving further and further inward on us and we could see their WALL without having to squint or look hard for it. The wall of the icy lords and their hands extended everywhere and there was not a spot known where it was not near or where the sight of it had yet to reach. My father and his party had been gone for many moons and now that the icy hands and their lords were once again on the move, I had to hurry. This was when, in my haste to capture food, without hearing her, as she had been learning from me on how to walk without sound, the rabbit I had been engulfed in my snare! When I noticed that my sister was standing there too, having followed me, I began to scream and yell at her. We were too far out now for her to walk back alone. The night was starting to ease more of her hand over us. We ate the rabbit, and I kept the fire warm.

Though the day was long and the trails running cold, Edith, whom followed me was now snuggled next to me, I was exhausted to say the least. I however made it a point to myself to endure the night air this way I could keep the fire lit and warm for us both as much as possible. It was too dark to seek shelter and I had no wood to where I could fashion a torch from, nor the lard needed to keep it alite nor some of the other supplies to bind it. All that I had was Edith and the rabbit, as well as myself. I must have fallen asleep from my wears as when I woke, the sun had risen, and the light was too bright, too intense. It was as if the sun had decided to make itself bounce off of everything trying to fight the Ice Lords and their icy hands from moving further down. It had not dawned on me to look further yet, as when I did finally, I had seen the hands of the lords, their WALL had moved closer to me, closer to us both! We were now at their reach and just a whisper and the lords would hear us and reach out to grab us.

My sister, Edith, did just that. She woke and screamed, then marched herself to the WALL and kicked at it, nicking a small chuck off their fingers. The lords grabbed her before I could stop her. I blame myself for that day and still think of how I could had stopped it, if I had moved a moment prior or thought of her instead of the WALL or anything else…

I returned home at that moment. The walk was longer and harder than I had realized it was going to be. Not only news of my father and the hunting party being nowhere to be found, but that of my favorite sibling and her loss. It was more then I could bare alone.

Upon arrival, many days later, my home had been deserted and all that was once there were piled high and reduced to embers and ash. The Ice Lords had done it again.

It was then a small back bird landed upon the remnants of my home, followed by a swarm landing atop all the other dwellings, they all called out a mournful song and I stood, I am not sure why I thought it best to stand, but I did, and in that moment, I knew, I knew that this village would become the last stop of the Ice Lords and I would do battle with these black birds who called out, I would with their help defeat them and drive them back and then, then, I will be able to see my family once more, then, and only then, upon the time of their revival will I lay down and rest.

The stones that once made the markers for our village now became the lines that I would defend. The birds called and screamed in harsh battle cries, they swirled around me and followed my command, the battle was quick, and the Ice Lords ran. We did not even have to fight, the cry from the birds mixed with my own must have frightened them away. I called the birds Ravens, for their ravenous cry against the Ice Lords and named this village Ravenswood, for them, their honor, and mine to protect and make whole again.