The Calling of the Crows

The ravens silently soared through the skies, circling the great summit. To the north they saw great oceans whose waves glittered in the sun—and the great sailboats, whose yellow sails billowed in the breeze. To the south they saw the sprawling deserts, whose dunes were like old shawls casting off dust—and men and women in tattered rags rising and falling with the contour of the earth. To the east they saw jubilant jungles whose roots and leaves were tangled in knots—and men and women chopping through the foliage with machetes seeking fruit. To the west they saw fertile plains, whose green grass was streaked—like the windswept hair of the men and women that traversed them. And so, as the ravens saw, so did the great man with the silver beard dream, in the deep glittering cave beneath the mountain. But one raven broke off from the rest and descended into the empty city surrounding the mountain on all sides. He was looking for a certain boy that could wake the sleeping hero. For the man in the cave had dreamt long enough and the world needed him now more than ever to unite the four corners of the land.

“I have been dreaming of you, watching you…. please find me…I am up…up.”

“Wake up young child” The raven cawed.

The boy stirred from his sleep, “I’m up, I’m up! “

“No, you still slumber.”

The boy opened his eyes and glimpsed at the talking raven, “Surely I’m still dreaming, birds cannot talk.”

“Oh really, I thought you knew more than that…”

“Wait, you can really talk?”

“Indeed, I can.”

The boy pulled himself up from the concrete and reflected, “I suppose the rumors were true, that in the time before the fall, scientists had been experimenting on animals.”

“True, they may have enhanced my cognition, but despite the heightening of my senses, I still cannot think on my own…”

“…On your own?” The boy inquired.

“None of that is important, the real question is whether or not you will follow me!”

“Follow you where?

“To the four corners of the earth—to the ocean, the desert, the plains, and the jungle. You still call this ghost town your home, no? You wait day after day for people to return to this broken metropolis and restore it to its former glory. If you wish to see the people united again, you must help me wake the king who sleeps under the mountain.”

“But why follow you? Can’t you make the journey on your own?”

“It isn’t enough to collect the materials, only a strong human mind can transmute the substances.”

“Okay so be it, if this man can unite the people, then I will follow you wherever you go and do what need be done.”

***

And so, the raven led the boy to the sea, and said to him “Collect these rich waters with a flask.”

Next the raven led him to the desert, “Collect the fiery sand with the crucible.”

Then the raven led him into the jungle, “Collect the sap of trees with the bottle.”

Finally, the raven led him onto the plains, “Put some of this grass into your pocket.”

***

“Now that you have traversed the four corners and seen their people, the time has come for you to help reunite them under the rule of the mountain king. Take the materials that you have gathered and put them in the mortar. Pour your focus into the materials and grind them not just with your body but with your spirit. Concentrate, and create that which will connect all peoples.”

And so, after hours of tribulation, the boy produced a soft paste that would dry in the sun and soon became a stick of incense. Tired from his adventure, he fell asleep beneath a tree.

“I’ve been asleep for so long…. come and stir me from my slumber...

The Raven cawed until the boy awoke, “Well done, you have produced the substance that will awake the mountain king. But before you stir him, I must be assured that the time is right for men to be saved. You must speak on their behalf!”

“Tell me, what is as fickle as the wind, but as reckless as the sea? What flows like an avalanche yet warms the heart of a man like a tiny flame.”

“Desire, dear raven.”

“Very good, now tell me, what is as powerful as a tiger, yet peaceful as a dove. What stirs men into battle but lays him softly to bed?”

“Love, dear raven”

“Very good dear child, now you may enter the cavern and burn the incense. Soon the king will awake, and as he does, so too will I forget this world! ”

***

He crept cautiously into the glittering cave; the cawing of the crows became increasingly distant as he moved deeper into the darkness until they disappeared completely. He came to a man with a great silver beard slouched up against the wall. The boy lit his incense and placed it at the feet of the old man. Slowly, the man’s eyes began to open and rested lazily upon the figure of the boy.

“I have been watching you in my dreams…waiting for you to come.”

“But how did you see beyond these dark caverns?

“You see, the crows above the mountain are my eyes, and the crow that guided you on your quest, modified by science, was my ears and mouth. They were extensions of my unconscious mind…Tell me now, boy, do the crows still circle the mountain top?

“No lord, they have all disbanded.”

“Excellent, then it is time for me to rise.”

And so, the mountain king traversed the seas, the deserts, the jungles, and the plains, beckoning the people back to the old metropolis beneath the mountain. For here, under the common rule of the great king, people would once again flourish and dream of better days to come.