The Four Wheel Saga Book 1: THE LEGACY TRIALS

Chapter 3: Crows Come to Roost 1

The boy had been walking for hours. He was lost in a wide elaborate corridor, without a ceiling, doors, or windows, with walls that scaled the sky. The starlight illuminated his path, which seemed to go on endlessly. He passed bronze statues, tiled fountains, and ashen murals. On and on he went, yet there was no end to the reverie. Drained and parched, he tarried by a fountain to drink some water. As he slurped the cool liquid, something fell out from the water spout into his hand. The boy held it up curiously against the starlight. It was a rusted old key- with a bow made in the shape of a crow's tail. With a sense of emancipation, the boy looked around and saw a heavy oak door ahead in his path. He approached it, slid the key into the keyhole, and turned the bow. The door made a threatening rumble and unbolted; the boy pushed with all his might, throwing it ajar. It was a cavernous room, which stank of death and decay. As he made his way in, the sound of bells reached him. It was a haunting knell that filled his heart with dread.

Cling clang cling cling clang

Cling clang cling cling clang

A series of steps led to the heart of the room. It was an amphitheatre, hewn from rocks. There were pews for the audience all around, from where the ringing of the bells seemed to come. But there was not a soul in sight. The boy descended towards the centre of the arena.

To his shock, he saw a man- stripped bare, and tied to a crucifix. The man raised his head as the boy approached.

Who are you? The boy asked.

The captive was silent. The face was familiar- a distant veneer, an obscure memory; a bloody visage- bruised and emaciated. But it reminded him of someone familiar.

Cling clang cling cling clang cling clang cling cling clang

Who are you? The boy inquired again.

Run! the man warned.

The boy flinched, taken aback.

Run from what?

The man raised his battered head to the skies.

Caw caw caw caw caw

An approaching danger screeched from above.

Caw caw caw caw caw

The boy looked up, seeking the source. A dark cloud descended from the ceiling; it was a murder of crows- flapping, fluttering, fanning; the rackety crows swooped down to the centre of the arena—hundreds of them.

CAW CAW

in terror, and he

and slipped on the damp floor. He fell and then clamoured

taking chunks out; a fiendish crow bit his eyeball off. Another mutilated his genitals. The man screamed until his lips and face were bitten off. And then the scream died

clang cling clang

to

was

is

Why am

And-

Who am I?

caw caw caw caw

had followed him out of the arena, darting towards him like a giant claw reaching for prey. The boy ran, but his body was slow and callous. And the bells. They

cling clang cling

drained out of

Help! Someone

moved but made no

Nobody could

a

Kento? Was that

Kento!

him, and he felt their beaks ripping at his flesh, and

grabbed him by his shoulders

Let me go!

Kento!

Master Kento!

"Master Kento, please

his eyes and squinted. The curtains of his room were closed, but the haze of daylight came through and dappled the

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