With no real other choices, I made my way towards the wolves and the... bird. A few metres in front of me was a thick looking bush with dark red leaves. The noises were coming from behind it. With both hands I pushed apart the leaves of the bush and made my way through it, jumping on one leg. I cut myself on the thin grey twigs but I was already used to something like that. I pushed through and came out on the other side of the bush.

I found myself in a small glade, in the middle was a large inky black bird with a sharp beak and strong looking wings... although one of them seemed to be messed up in some way. The bird stood on its two feet and looked from wolf to wolf. There were three of them all fairly tall and grey with saliva dropping from their mouths. They were growling at the bird while the bird let out a gurgling croak at them.

Suddenly the bird's eyes fell on me and they seemed... human, or elven or humanoid or whatever.

"Help me," the bird said with a rough voice.

...

...

...

I just stared at the bird, confused at the fact that it just talked to me. But I didn't have a lot of time since the three wolves turned around to me.

Fuck...

The three growled at me.

Stupid bird...

No matter what I would do in this situation I would most likely fall to the ground so I just decided to throw myself at the closest wolf. I wrapped my arms around its neck and before the wolf could bite my shoulder I pressed it against me until I heard a snapping sound. I then dropped the dead wolf to the ground and waited for the other two.

At that moment my brain had the convenient idea to remember the fact that I had two daggers with me. I took both and rammed them into the throats of the two wolves that jumped at me. Once their limp bodies fell to the ground I let out a long breath. My ankle hurt like hell, when I had thrown myself onto the wolf I had hit a small rock with my ankle and now it felt like it was broken. I let out a muffled cry of pain as I turned towards the inky black bird. It looked at me with its intelligent, black eyes.

"Thank you," the bird said as it nodded at me.

"Y-Yeah..."

My eyes narrowed slightly as I studied the bird.

"What are you staring at? Never seen a talking raven?"

"Never," I responded.

"Well, now you have. If you don't mind I'll be taking one of these-" the raven pointed at one of the dead wolves with his wing.

"I don't..."

We could use the bird, it might know where to find a dryad.

Right...

"Let me cook these three and then we can eat together," I said.

Somehow I really liked the feeling I had around this raven. It felt calming, almost the complete opposite of how I felt around humans.

"If you insist," the raven said, looking up to the sky.

I found this whole situation strange. Did ravens even eat cooked meat? And why could this one talk? I had never seen a talking animal before...

Never heard of a talking raven either.

Once I was done preparing the fire and skinning the wolves I began cooking them. I sat on a rock and the raven sat on the ground opposite to me. Both his wings now looked completely fine.

"S-So, what's your name?" I asked.

"My name yes... yes... indeed... I don't know," the raven said.

"What?"

"I'm pretty sure I have one but... wait, it's Mu- no, wait I don't know. Although I have the feeling that the fact that I don't remember my own name is pretty ironic..."

"What?"

The raven confused me. There was something calming about him that made me feel at peace but I still found him strange.

"And who are you, if I may ask?"

"Right, my name is Altair," I responded.

"Altair, sounds like a fine name," the raven responded.

"Since all I remember is that my name starts with M you may call me M," the raven said.

"S-Sure."

There was something really strange about this entire situation. One moment I was struggling to walk through the forest, then I killed three wolves and now I sat at a fire with a talking raven...

What has my life come to?

Don't ask me.

It was silent until the meat was ready, we both started eating. The raven ate loudly, clacking his beak with every bite.

"Why is a talking raven in this forest anyway?" I asked after a while.

"Hmm, why indeed. I don't seem to remember... I know that I was flying around, looking for something. Then I was suddenly grabbed by someone or something and ended up here. And again, I have this feeling that it is quite ironic that I don't remember those things. What about you?" M asked.

"I... I... I'm looking for a dryad," I said, not wishing to discuss more with the talking raven.

"A dryad you say..."

For a moment there was silence.

"Let me help you with that, see it as payment for the delicious food. My wing seems to have already healed, I can look around the forest and lead you to one if I find one," M suggested.

"You would do that?" I asked, still quite confused.

I had only helped the raven because I didn't have much choice but apparently Ira was right, he would be useful.

"Of course, of course. Gathering information is my job after all," M said.

"It is?" I asked before taking another bite out of my cooked wolf.

"I mean, I think so, that is something I do seem to remember. Quite strange I must say, quite strange."

M finished his wolf, leaving behind only a skeleton and then flapped his wings once and rose into the air.

"I will be back shortly," M said.

I just nodded as I watched the raven disappear at such a speed that he just became a black blur.

Well wasn't that awfully convenient?

It would seem so... Maybe it was that voice that led me to M.

That only leaves the question of the voice's identity.

Sometimes it is easier to just leave questions unanswered. For now, I only have one goal, kill that fucking cat. And get my ankle fixed, I doubt I can fight like this, I was lucky that those were normal wolves.

I turned around and picked up some twigs and long leaves that I used to fixate my ankle and keep it straight.

This will have to do for now.

I made sure to have my leg as straight as possible. The glade was quiet, only a slight wind was going through it and that wind didn't carry any voices with it right now. Only a few moments later I heard M's rough voice from above.

"I think I found one," he said.

I looked up at him, perplexed by his speed.

"So quickly?" I asked, sceptical of whether or not he was telling the truth.

"Oh don't be like that, I took my time a little since my wing still hurts," M said bashfully.

What? He took his time? Is he trying to tell me he looked around this entire forest in just a minute or so?

Maybe he's just lucky...

"Come on Altair, I'll lead you to the dryad, just follow my directions," M said as he sat down on my shoulder.

I think I'm going to wake up in the cave tomorrow and find Terror waiting outside. There is no way this isn't a dream

Despite my confused and sceptical state I still got up from my rock and followed the directions that M gave me. I walked into the forest, with a talking Raven that has amnesia on my shoulder... and all that just an hour or so after I woke up, broke my ankle, hear a strange voice, killed some wolves and then ate with the talking raven.

Maybe I should write a book once I slaughtered that fucking church.

Maybe...

I went through another bush with dark red leaves and disappeared into the forest.