“Hell has three gates: lust, anger, and greed”

I never thought I would have to tell a story such as this. And truth be told, I don’t want to. It is painful to recollect such a fateful memory, but, at the same time, such memory we can learn from, like all great mistakes in history. I speak of course, of my older brother Feathercrest. You may now know of him as “The Raven King”, although, such a title is merely self-bestowed. You may at times feel a slight chill when the forest turns through its misty cycle. You may even have to look twice, as you see a mass of shadows fleeting through the trees. These are his tricks, his tools of deception. And it is these very tools that my brother, Feathercrest was lured by. Another young soul, Gevaar holds a similar fate. It was she that lured my brother to me. My murderer.
Friends, you may take this story to heart, you may tell it to the younger generations. You can even disregard it. But there is a lesson within this all. And I hope that you embrace it, for there are wolves within this forest.

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Chapter 1: Naming Ceremony



“Come on, stumpy! The forest itself will grow old waiting for you!”
“Shut up, Feather!”
The siblings leapt and bound across the forest floor, not a care for any around them. Feathercrest, was at a prime age of two years, and was already showing signs of a cocky nature. His very first set of antlers had come through, and he often pranced around younger does, showing off his tines. Ravenflight was of a very young age, at three months, she was large enough to explore the forest on her own, but under watchful eye of her brother. Her very first feathers were beginning to grow out, but her legs were rather underdeveloped. She would leap and bound for a moment, but could never match the speed of other fawns. She often stumbled over and her co-ordination was clumsy. Ravenflight’s birth was premature. “Come on Raven! We are going to be late! We’ll miss them!” Feathercrest cried out, before doubling back, trotting beside Ravenflight “I’m sorry Feather” Ravenflight panted, “It’s hard you know…” Ravenflight spoke with a hint of sadness. The other fawns often picked her on for her short legs. ““Come on sis. Chin up.” He halted and smiled “We are already there.”

The warm, enclosed embrace of the forest birches and pines unfurled into a clearing, a herald for the forests pond. With an excited giggle and kick Ravenflight wheeled and turned down to the crisp waters, making splashes with her hooves. Feathercrest smiled and made sure to keep watch over her, lowering his head for a drink. The sound of dragonflies and crickets rang loud in his ears. With a rustle of some bulrushes a small blue fawn appeared. His name was Scape. Feathercrest often saw this fawn. He, like many other fawns Ravenflight’s age lacked a pictogram. Feathercrest could remember his naming ceremony. It was difficult for him. Naming ceremonies were a joy to be shared by both doe and child. But neither Ravenflight nor Feathercrest had parents. Not earthly parents anyway, so Feathercrest assumed the role of Guardian. “Come on, shorty. You ready?” he smiled, nudging her before running off. Ravenflight giggled and looked back to Scape “Come on, Scape! We get our names today!” She yelled with joy before racing off after Feathercrest.

As Feathercrest and Ravenflight advanced up the Twin gods hill, so did many other does and fawns All of them walking out of the forest and into the open. He could spot out some of them. Young Draak was there, as well as Mitra, Trinket, Quad and Seele as well. All of them gathered to the top of the hill, lining up on either side of the hill. Fawns were to line up, with their mothers or guardians behind them. There, the twin gods would appear, walking down the centre, giving fawns their names. All of them brimmed with excitement, quivering, shuffling and smiling, awaiting the moment that they would become deer of the endless forest. The warmth of the forest was at its peak; all welcomed the soothing touch of the wind. Feathercrest took a moment to himself, smiling, closing his eyes and listening to the sounds around him, when the sudden sound of a crack rang through the forest and poppies rained down onto the fawns.
The twin gods were coming. Does chuckled and smiled whilst the fawns cheered and squealed with delight. Doves began to circle around the gathering, followed by the spontaneous growth of flowers. Suddenly, the statues shifted as they rose up and turned to face each other before parting. Feathercrest smiled, looking down to Ravenflight. He picked up a hoof and nudged her “Look spry now! They are coming” Soon enough, two large stags appeared before them; one crimson, the other gold. Soon, the other deer of the forest smiled and gathered at the base of the hill, observing the milestone in the young fawns life, welcoming the next generation. As the gods walked past the fawns, a magnificent thing happened. The twin gods began to glow, and a golden rune began to appear above their heads. “Whoa!” Ravenflight yelled out, watching in awe as pictograms began to form on their heads. On regal legs, the gods walked past, looking down to the fawns and smiling. As they walked, they uttered a language. To an untrained ear, none would understand. But to deer birthed of this forest, the words occurred naturally. “Young fawns,” the crimson spoke. “Welcome.” The gold continued, “Today, you are deer of the forest. Today your journey, your walk with the gods commences” The red smiled, lowering his head to the fawns level “Welcome, sons and daughters of endless” As the red uttered these words, pictograms appeared on the remaining fawns. Ravenflight could feel a tingling, and noticed a glow appear just above her eyes. “Feather! Feather look!” She tried to look up, tried to look up to see her pictogram, she spun around and jumped, but she could not see it. Feathercrest chuckled as he watched the glyph appear.

“…Oh my” Suddenly his eyes widened. The buck’s heart skipped a beat. He had seen this glyph before.

The gold looked over to Feathercrest, nothing his expression, before looking back down to the other fawns. The red smiled and reared up, its mighty legs slamming down on the ground. The forest burst with a clap and doves, flowers and stars appeared. And just like that, the twin gods were gone. The statues returned back to normal, and twilight washed over the forest.

They were named deer now.

As Feathercrest and Ravenflight walked away, Feathercrest’s gaze lingered into the trees. He flicked his ears forward. He was sure he heard a ravens call. How was that even possible? Now raven had ever called the forest home before.