Sweet Rapture

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Again it was as though they were standing in the middle of no where. The beautiful black horse lifted his elegant neck as though sniffing the air then went up on its hind legs, whinnied before taking off down the long trail. It was as though it was running to something that was calling it. Graceful muscles danced as its powerful legs galloped down the trail and skidded to a stop just at the edge of a cliff. Over head, a Peregrine falcon flew in a circle and landed on the wings of an Eagle. That in itself was a strange sight if anything. They soared together as one, froze in mid air looking down at the horse and then vanished. The horse stood there, patiently, at the edge of the cliff as though waiting for something or someone.

Raven Scott bolted up in bed with his hand over his scar as it burnt. He gritted his teeth and pressed his palm over it as though he was trying to stop the bleeding but there was no blood. Every time he had that dream, the scar would burn like the devil and there was no explanation as to why that happened or what the dream meant. He shoved his feet out of bed with his teeth gritted and staggered for the bathroom.

Wetting his free hand, he pressed the coldness against the burning and just like that, the burn was gone. He lifted his eyes to the mirror and saw beads of sweat falling down his face so he bent over and caught some water in his hands and splashed it over his face.

A low growl caused him to look around and he smiled, “sorry I woke you boy,” he spoke to the grey wolf that stood there watching him with a worried look in his silver eyes. Drying his hand, he moved towards the wolf and ruffled its fur, “go back to sleep Declin. I’ll handle it.”

The wolf growled in his throat and walked back and hopped up. He rested again at the foot of the bed but still had its head up as though listening and Raven smiled before walking shirtless down the stairs into the kitchen. It had been weeks since he started having that same dream, every night. There was a sense of urgency about the way the horse ran. And what was the deal with that falcon and the eagle?
Pulling open the fridge, he pulled out a box of milk and dumped some into a coffee mug before placing it into the microwave to heat. Times like these make him miss his mother and it broke his heart to think about it. He glanced out the window and saw that the sun was starting to rise and he swore.

He knew he would not get any sleep again so he might as well drink some coffee instead of the milk he was about to drink. Stopping the microwave, he took the mug out and turned around just in time as the coffeemaker flipped on at its set time and began brewing.
As he sat there staring at the coffee dripping into the pot, he wondered if he could possibly try and get some sleep before his shift started at the station but knew that probably wasn’t possible. If his scar didn’t wake him up, the station would. The telephone rang as if on que and his chief’s voice came over the line as disgruntled as it normally was.

“Morning,” Raven spoke but had to pull the phone from his ears as his chief began yelling that he needed to get his ass over to the station pronto because someone was there to see him and he couldn’t screw something up. Before Raven could protest or said he was on his way, the phone went dead and Declin was walking leisurely into the kitchen.

“Well boy,” Raven spoke to Declin, “I guess we can’t have our coffee just yet. I hate the crap they have down by the house, but it’s a life.”

Declin made a sound as though if he had shoulders he would shrug them and Raven laughed before heading up the stairs to get dressed. Grabbing his badge and his gun, he hurried down the stairs again, “come on Declin, let’s go.”

It was a good twenty minuets later when Raven walked into the chief’s office. Chief Russell Samuels was on the phone, yelling and swearing a blue streak and puffing for air as usual. His face was beet red and Raven knew that one day the man would fall over from the lack of oxygen to his brain. It was as though Russell believed he had to yell at everyone for them to hear and understand him.

Declin lifted a paw and covered his eyes and Raven hid a smile, “you wanted to see me sir?” Raven asked once Russell hung up the phone.

“There’s a woman here to see you, she said it was important that she spoke with you so she’s waiting for you in your office.”

Before Raven opened her mouth to say something the phone rang and Russell was again yelling at the top of his lungs again. Raven whistled and Declin got up from his little spot on the ground and followed Raven out the door.

Raven’s mind was going in overdrive and he tried to figure out who this woman could be and why she requested him. When he opened the door Declin barged in before him as usual and that sent the woman sitting in his chair leaping to stand on his desk screaming. Raven smiled, that was the reaction Declin got all the time until people got used to the fact that he won’t maul them to death. Declin simple hopped onto the sofa and curled up with his head on his front paws.

He grinned as he looked up at her. She looked as though she was of Indian decent but then again he didn’t think she was. She had a slender body, long black hair flowing over her shoulders and legs all the way to the North Pole, “That’s Declin,” Raven spoke with a smile before grabbing the woman around the waist and lifting her off the desk. She gripped onto his arm and he placed her into the chair.

“Th-that’s a wolf!” the woman sputtered.

“Yes, that’s a wolf,” Raven said, “he won’t harm you.”

Declin looked up with a somewhat bored expression and Raven turned to the woman, “what can I do for you?”
“I’d like to talk to you about finding something for me,” she spoke up still eyeing Declin nervously.
“Did you try missing persons?”

“No, it’s not a person,” she spoke, “it’s an artifact.”

“You do know that this is a homicide division?”
“I am well aware of that but you’re the only one that can find it.”

“Alright,” Raven said slowly and took a seat behind his desk, “I’ll bite just for the sake of curiosity.”
The woman then handed him a picture and he stared at her before looking down at the picture and he smirked, “what’s this?”

“It’s a picture of a sword, detective,” she spoke elegantly as though she had forgotten that there was a grey wolf sleeping behind her.

“I get that,” he spoke handing it back, “why is it stuck in a stone.”

“That’s Excalibur,” she told him, “you have to pull it out but first we have to find it and we have to do that before it’s too late.”

“Are you kidding me?” Raven asked, “look lady, I have real work to do, so if you’ll excuse me.”

Raven stood up to open the door to let her out when his chest began hurting, “your scar, is it burning?”
Raven’s eyes moved to her in astonishment, “how did you know that?” he asked her in confusion.

“I know a lot about you Detective Raven Scott,” she spoke with her head tilted to keep her eyes on him where he stood, “and if that scar has been burning then we have to move faster than I thought. Where did you get that scar detective?”

“You know what much about me,” Raven turned and moved back towards his seat, “you tell me.”

“You don’t know do you,” she said with a smile.

“And you do?”

She nodded.

Raven fell back into his seat and ran his hand over his bald head while squeezing his eyes shut, “So let me guess this straight,” he spoke trying to wrap his mind about what was happening, “you think I’m King Arthur?”

“No,” she told him, “I know you’re not Arthur. After his death the swore went back into the stone in another part of the world. You are Tarak and you need to get to this sword before it is destroyed. If that happens, then Tortuga is gone.”

Raven took in a deep breath, “the Turtle islands? What does that have to do with this sword in a stone and me?”

“It’s a long story and I really don’t have time to explain it here.”


“I can’t believe I am going to fall for this, but let’s hear the whole story and don’t leave anything out,” Raven stood up and whistled, “come on Declin let’s go get some breakfast.”