It was a bit odd to have a raven at the table but Kanasha didn’t worry about it much.  He thought it would soon fly away when it got bored of the company or ate all the food.  But it didn’t.  In fact, it seemed to be attached to Lilia.  It stayed on or near her all night and gave a loud caw when Kanasha tried to stroke it.  “Apparently it’s your bird”, Kanasha said.  Not once did it leave her side, even when Kanasha checked on Lilia before his early shift started at the inn it was standing on her pillow watching the room as though it were watching over its own nest.  When two days had gone by Kanasha decided that it was here to stay.  But as Brynn had warned, the villagers did not approve of a pet raven.  “This is misfortune waiting to happen to you!” cried his aunt.  But Kanasha merely said that if the fates wanted to curse him with bad luck they were welcome to try.  But to put the villagers at ease he told Lilia to keep the bird hidden.  Kanasha did not want it to leave.  It was helping Lilia to remember things about her past.  Once in the middle of the night Kanasha heard Lilia talking to someone.  Naturally, he went to see who it was but found she was only talking in her sleep.  She was muttering things like “When will I come back?” and “Where are mother and father?”  For a moment he just watched her in silence when she suddenly broke out in a scream.

“AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!  WAIT!  DON’T LEAVE ME ALONE!”

Kanasha rushed over to her.  “Lilia!” he shouted but she didn’t wake.

“I DON’T WANT TO BE ALONE!”

He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her slightly.  “Lilia!” he called again and her eyes opened.

“Kan- Kanasha?”  she started.

“I’m here”, he said.  “You’re not alone.”

Lilia threw her arms around his middle and buried her face.  She was trembling.  Kanasha held her for a moment before asking if she was alright.

“Yes”, she said letting go of him.  Her eyes were now wet with tears.  “I was dreaming.”

“About what?” he asked.

“I’m not sure.  It was dark and there were lots of people with swords and a swirling archway.”

“What did the people look like?”

“I couldn’t see much of them except one.  He was next to me and talking to me.  He had black hair and big black wings and black armor.” 

Kanasha’s eyes went wide.  “Black wings?”

“He looked like a shadow”, she whispered.

“What did he say?”

“I…don’t remember.”

Kanasha’s heart sank a bit.  This was the first time in so long that Lilia had remembered anything about herself.  “What were you screaming about?” he asked.

“The man pushed me and then darkness and sparks went all around me.  I felt cold but there was heat around me.  It was so strange and scary.”  She pressed her face against him again.

Kanasha held her to him tightly but then Lilia let out a whimper.

“What’s wrong?” he asked but he knew what the matter was.  He felt the bony hump on her back.

“It’s- it’s my back!” she cried.

“Let me take a look at it” he said.

Lilia laid face down on the bed and Kanasha out the blanket over her waist before he lifted up her night dress.  Between her shoulder blades was a nasty pink hump.  Thin vein-like bumps crisscrossed over it and got bigger as they ran to her shoulder blades where they connected into one big vein.  Kanasha ran his hand over the hump.  It felt really tight, as if something were trying to burst out of her back.

“How long has it been hurting you?” Kanasha asked, a hint of worry in his voice. 

“A few weeks now”, she said.  Kanasha put her dress back down and Lilia rolled over.

“Lilia, why didn’t you tell me about this sooner?”  he asked trying to keep his voice steady.

“I- was afraid”, she started.  Tears were starting to form in her eyes again.

“Of me?”  Slowly she nodded. 

“I didn’t know if you would like me anymore if you thought I was turning into a, a what-you-call-it.”

“Demon?”

“Yes.  And you were so sad about your father I didn’t want to trouble you more.”

Kanasha felt angry and sad.  Angry that he had been so selfish that he could only think about his mistakes and be so stupid to let it show so much while Lilia was trying not to over burden him.  And he was sad that Lilia thought he might reject her like who knows how many other people did for what she might be.

“Lilia”, he said softly, “it doesn’t matter what you are, you’ll still be my sister and I’ll always be here for you.  I don’t care what anyone else thinks of you or me.  We’re family and we’ll always stick together no matter what.  You can count on that.”

Lilia sat up and hugged him to hide her tears.

“I’m sorry.  Thank you”, she whispered.