Imaginary Nevada: April 1, 1920

https://soundcloud.com/sierra-tom-darby/in-20200401

He knew that it had to be a spell. His mother could not be here and Brady shook his head hard to make the image shift into its real self.

The thing then, whatever it was, shot straight into the morning sky and disappeared from sight.

Suddenly others like it came running from over the rise in front of his property. He had no sooner drawn his Colt than the first arrived, springing at Brady, who blasted it with a single shot.

The battle lasted long enough for Brady to empty his gun and resort to his long knife. Brady’s horse was not so lucky.

The beast had instinctively raced to his human’s side, but had been gutted for it’s trouble. The animals sank to the ground after the fight and settled, as Brady knelt beside it.

There was only one way to ease the animal’s pain. The revolver’s blast reverberated through the stillness of the morning.

On a nearby fence post sat a lone raven, looking over the horrendous scene. The bird, Brady could tell, had but a single-eye, the other a darkened hollow and covered in scar tissue.

The connection was instantaneous as the raven and Brady became a single force.

The unlikely pair picked up the creatures’ trail late that evening and tracked them along a narrow road, which eventually split in three, the greater number of tracks moving to the left.  This is the path Brady took as well.

Soon enough, he heard the rise and fall of singing. He also recognized where the ungodly prints had lead him.

The hovel. The same place where he’d found the dozens of bodies, slain and butchered; the same place he first heard the singing and from where he’d back away knowing he was ill prepared for a battle.

The bird flew above the dwelling, as Brady entered, his Colt blazing and long knife flashing. Those that found themselves outside of the half-buried hut, ran into the raven’s talons and beak.

As the raven rested on a nearby branch, Brady collected, then stacked nineteen heads in the doorway, leaving the message clear: they were going to kill them all.