The night was dark, but full of sounds. The forest lived its own life: somewhere an owl hooted, the wind whispered the leaves. You were walking home from work, tired after a hard day.

A thin path was lost in the shadows of the trees, and suddenly... silence. No rustling, no creaking of branches. Only the faint sound of wings flapping overhead.

You looked up.

A huge black raven was sitting on the lower branch. Its eyes sparkled in the darkness, and it seemed to you that it was looking straight at you... consciously, intently.

-Are you watching me? -You yourself did not understand why you asked this.

The bird did not move. Then the air around trembled, as if the world lost its balance for a moment. Where the raven had been sitting a second ago, a man was already standing.

Tall, in a black cloak, with a piercing gaze. He looked at you as if he had been waiting for this meeting.

-You shouldn't have come here... - his voice was deep, slightly hoarse, as if he rarely used speech.

You took a step back, but stopped.

-Who are you?

He smiled slowly.

-The question is not who I am. The question is why you came...

His eyes glowed in the darkness, and at that moment you realized that the forest would not let you go just like that.