I Am Raven E-Book

Alastair Chisholm

• Herausgeber: Nosy Crow Ltd
• Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
• Serie: I Am Wolf
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 213

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

An outstanding, highly original and unputdownable read. Following on from I AM WOLF, this is a bold, thought-provoking adventure perfect for fans of MORTAL ENGINES and THE LAST WILD. Once, Brann belonged to Raven. She flew high above the world and she was fearless.But Raven was destroyed by Dragon. Brann's home is gone and her crew is missing. Determined to find the truth, Brann heads north. But what she and her friends learn will change everything.What happened to Raven's crew? And what is the secret Brann is hiding? Also written by the award-winning Alastair Chisholm: - I Am Wolf - Shortlisted, Peters Children's Book of the Year award 2025 - Orion Lost - The Consequence Girl - Coming soon - the final book in "I Am..." trilogy Praise for I AM WOLF: "Jam-packed with action and suspense, and wildly inventive." - The Times "I loved every page of this gripping, dystopian thriller. Wonderful characters, thrilling action and a unique new world. Now I wish I had my own animal construct!" - Kieran Larwood, author of Podkin One Ear "I wolfed this down... Great MG sci-fi." - Darren Simpson, author of Scavengers

Leseprobe

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For Dad, who laughed at fear

A.C.

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1

PROLOGUE

Brann could remember the last time she let herself feel fear.

She was six years old, sitting on her new bed with her arms tucked round her knees, unable to sleep. The bed was too big, with a scratchy blanket and a hard pillow. Brann didn’t like it. She wanted to be back in the Nest with the other small children, and the nice Aunts and Uncles looking after everyone. Brann liked helping to feed the babies, playing silly games with them. It was messy. It was fun.

But she was six now, and the Aunts and Uncles said she was too big to stay in the Nest. It was time to stretch her wings. One day, she would be a crew member, and it started with this. So she and four of the other children had been moved to this room, with its too-big beds and scratchy blankets. They would spend tonight here, to get 2used to not being in the Nest. Tomorrow, they would join the big children in the dormitory.

Brann didn’t like the big children. They were sharp and dangerous, and treated the smaller ones like bugs. And she didn’t like this room, with its single dim night light that threw strange shadows across the walls. The room swayed and shifted as the storm howled outside. Brann didn’t mind that, of course – she’d been born aboard Raven, and its creaking was like the beat of her heart – but each time it shifted, the shadows moved like wolves in the night.

“Brann,” whimpered Deryn from the next bed. “I’m scared…”

Brann didn’t want to move. But she clenched her fists, glared at the dark, and crept over to him.

“It’s all right,” she whispered, holding his hand “It’s just shadows.”

Deryn nodded. But then he gave a sudden hiccup and wailed, “Brann, I’m scared!”

“Shh,” said Brann gently. “It’s OK.” She cooed and stroked his head, but he kept crying. The others were awake now, peering nervously at them. Brann ignored them. “It’s OK…”

“Wolf is coming!” he sobbed. “Wolf is coming!”

The door swung open, and a man entered. 3

He was the tallest person Brann had ever seen. He had to duck his head at the doorway. He wore a leather jerkin and a jacket of black feathers. His hair was black with streaks of silver, and spiked, and there was a thick black stripe across his face, so that his eyes seemed white and staring.

“What’s this noise?” he asked. His voice was hard – not angry, but as cold as bones with no mercy. He glared at Deryn. “Why are you cawing like that?”

Deryn tried to answer but collapsed into tears again. The man scowled.

“He’s scared!” snapped Brann. “Leave him alone!” The man glanced at her. Brann swallowed, but didn’t look away.

“I see,” he said, frowning. “And you? Are you scared?” 

She was, but she shook her head. “No.”

“Hmm.” He leaned towards her. “You are Brann, yes?” 

Brann nodded.

“Do you know who I am?”

“Claw,” she whispered.

“Yes. I am the Claw, and you are my crew. Raven crew are strong. Raven crew are not scared. Do you understand?” He looked around. “All of you! Is Brann the only one who can speak?”

The others just stared. 4

Claw turned back to Brann. “Stand up, little chick.” 

She stood, trembling.

“Follow me.” He strode away, and Brann followed, feeling the other children staring at her back.

They walked through the dark corridors of the Construct, and the grown-ups nodded to Claw and stood aside as they passed. They reached a set of steps. Claw made Brann go up ahead of him. The steps were huge, but she scrambled to the top and walked out on to the deck of Raven.

It was freezing. A storm raged around them and the wind lashed her face. Revna was there, Claw’s second in command. She looked surprised to see Brann, but then noticed Claw and saluted. She removed her cloak and wrapped it round Brann.

“Stay warm,” she said softly. She clipped a harness round Brann’s middle and fastened it tight. “Stay safe.”

“This way,” ordered Claw. He led her forward, up more steps, past more crew. The wind tried to knock her down, and the deck shifted beneath her feet. Her harness tether trailed behind her. Brann had been on deck before, but always in the daylight with the Aunts and Uncles. Never like this.

“Here,” said Claw. He reached down, lifted her up, and stood her on a raised block. “Look!” 5

Raven was flying.

Her vast wings beat in huge strokes, carrying them through the air. Each wing was formed of thousands of overlapping feathers, plastic and metal, shimmering black, glinting in the night as they moved. She could hear them: whum, whum, whum. Ahead, Raven’s black head stared into the storm. Her cruel beak was larger than a grown-up, each eye as big as Brann herself, liquid black.

“You spoke when the others were quiet,” said Claw. “They felt fear. But you did not, eh?”

Brann’s heart raced. The wind scolded her, the rain spat at her, lightning flashed. Behind her, the crew ran back and forth, fastening cables and moving containers. The wings beat up and down. The storm howled. Claw’s hand gripped her harness.

“What do you feel now?” he demanded. He pushed her forward so her toes were on the rail. Below her was empty sky, and far away – so far away! – the ground like a pale blanket. “NOW?” he shouted.

Fear froze Brann’s heart. The edges of the world turned grey, as if she was looking down a tunnel at emptiness.

“Listen!” Claw roared. “Feel with your feet!”

Brann didn’t know what he meant, but for a moment she did sense something: like a whisper, or a pulse, or a song. A song… 6

She heard Raven’s Call. It was like a dream she was sharing with every other member of the crew – an idea of what it meant to be part of Raven, a song of carbon wings and steel claws, of the joy of flying, of air currents lifting them up, all of them together…

Claw heaved her back and turned her to face him. 

“You felt it?” he said. Somehow, despite her terror, she nodded, and he grinned. “Listen to me, little chick. We are Raven, and Raven is strong. You are not afraid. Fear is weakness. Raven has no fear, understand? Take your fear and throw it overboard. Do it!”

Brann stared at him. He was Claw, their leader. This was an order. She tried to imagine throwing her fear away, into the storm. But the fear clung to her and wouldn’t leave her body. So instead, she imagined it was a liquid, and she could catch it, gather it up into a jar.

Raven has no fear, she thought. She closed the jar and buried it deep down inside her. She pushed it down.

“No fear,” she whispered.

Claw gave a booming laugh of approval. “Yes! Fear is weakness. Raven is strong.”

Fear is weakness. Raven is strong. Brann nodded. 

“Well done, little chick,” said Claw. “Well done.”

Despite the cold air and freezing rain, Brann felt a glow of warmth. She was Raven. Claw approved of her. She 7smiled, and Claw smiled back.

He lifted her down and took her back to her room. The others were still awake, and they fell silent when they saw Claw again.

Claw pointed at Brann. “This one is Raven,” he announced. “Be like her.”

He left.

Deryn stared at Brann in awe. The others watched her silently, as if there was something different about her now. Brann thought there was.

Fear is weakness, she told herself.

Deryn was still whimpering slightly, but Brann ignored him and climbed back into her own bed. She thought she could feel the little jar of fear inside her heart. She imagined it strapped up with cables, closed tight, pushed down.

I am Raven, she thought. Raven has no fear. 

She slept.

8

1: CUB

“Brann! Brann, wake up!”

Brann started and shook her head.

“What?” She peered up to see Fillan standing over her, grinning.

“You were asleep!” he said.

Brann scowled. “I wasn’t,” she muttered. “I was just remembering something.”

“You were so asleep,” gloated Fillan. “You were snoring, and—”

“I wasn’t asleep!” she snapped. She looked around. “Where is everyone?”

“On the ground,” said Fillan cheerfully. Fillan was short, round-faced, with a shock of dirty-blond hair and ruddy sunburnt skin. He liked everyone, and it was hard to stay cross with him. Now he held out a flask of water and Brann took a grateful gulp, then stood 9and stretched and looked out.

They were on the edge of the Glass Lands, in the southern part of their world. No one knew what had happened here, but some ancient disaster had destroyed everything, poisoning the earth so that even now the only things that could grow were vicious sick-looking thorns. Rusted metal spikes stood like frozen trees, and patches of sand had been fused into dark glass.

Brann and the rest of the Cub crew had crossed it once before. Now they were returning, and it looked as bad as ever. The sun was harsh and Brann shielded her eyes. On the ground, she saw the rest of Cub’s crew, Coll and Rieka, peering at a device in Rieka’s hand.

Brann handed back the flask. “Thanks,” she said. “Sorry I was grumpy.”

Fillan grinned. “That’s OK. Coll’s grumpy too when he wakes up.”

“I wasn’t asleep!” she protested, but Fillan just snorted. Brann shooed him away like an annoying fly and climbed down to join the others.

“How are we doing?” she asked.

Coll nodded to her. “Hey. OK, we think. Just checking the navigation.” He lifted the device. “It’s acting up a bit.”

“The device is fine,” snapped Rieka. “Someone broke the calibration. It works perfectly when not used by idiots.” 10

Coll glanced at Brann, and she grinned in reply. 

There was a time when Coll would have got angry at Rieka’s comments, but in the last few months he’d grown up a lot. He was the tallest of them, with strong wide shoulders and a square face, and heavy black brows that could look fierce. His left arm was missing below his elbow and his left leg ended just below his knee, and he wore prosthetic limbs.

Beside him, Rieka was thin and spiky, her face pulled into a scowl. It was the face she made when she couldn’t believe how stupid everyone else was. That made it pretty much her usual face. But she was a genius, Brann admitted. And she was a Tock, one of the few who knew how to make machines like Cub work.

“You think we can launch from here?” Rieka asked now, looking at Brann. Brann considered, and looked back at Cub, their Construct.

Part machine, part vehicle, part home. Five metres tall, Cub was made of steel, carbon panels, and plastic, all held together and powered by anthryl, the amazing material that gave Constructs their power and shape. His legs were pistons, his shoulders metal joints, his eyes glass. He was supposed to be a wolf, but he looked more like a wolf cub, with a round body and a short wagging tail. Brann thought that might be down to Fillan. Constructs 11took their shape from their crew’s thoughts. If everyone thought Wolf, like Coll wanted, then Cub would truly be a wolf. But Fillan’s cheery puppy-dog style was infectious, and this was the result.

Coll was originally from Wolf. Brann was from Raven, Fillan from Boar. This was unheard of – crews from different Constructs only ever fought, and never worked with others. But Rieka had persuaded them, somehow. And because of that, Cub wasn’t like other Constructs…

Brann nodded. “Yes, this will be OK.” 

Coll looked at the sky. “Let’s do it.”

They climbed aboard and strapped themselves in. Fillan sat next to Brann, with Kevin. Kevin was an Ant Construct. Ants usually lived in colonies with others, but Kevin had become damaged and had latched on to Fillan, following him around like a pet and chirruping happily by rubbing its antennae together – “Chick-chick!” Kevin was small for an Ant, and now it sat on Fillan’s lap.

Brann nodded to him. “You ready?”

Fillan’s eyes gleamed. “Ready!” he said, wrapping his arms tight round Kevin.

“You lead,” said Coll to Brann, and she nodded and focused. She let her thoughts drift down, sinking into the deck, feeling the pistons and motors and cables as if they were part of her. Feeling the Call. And then she was Cub, 12and as she moved, Cub rumbled forward, picking up speed. And then…

And then Brann remembered a different shape, and a different Construct, and Cub changed. In one shift, his front legs lifted from the ground and spread wide, stretching and finding air currents below him. His barrel body became thinner, his back legs gave a last huge push and then shrank … and Cub flew.

“Whoo-hooo!” shouted Fillan. Brann could feel the others in Cub’s song, all believing the same thing, that Cub, who a few seconds before had been a wolf cub, could now somehow fly like a raven. It was impossible – but it worked.

Cub swooped with his new wings and Brann eased him up, beating the air, lifting, tasting the world with fingertip feathers. Fillan laughed in delight. Cub wheeled, heaved, found an air current, gained altitude, and turned towards the Glass Lands.

The air was stifling and stank of sulphur and rust. The last time they had been here, the crossing had taken days of hard walking, but that was before they’d learned to fly. This time, Cub soared above the ruined lands. Brann and the others concentrated on holding their flying form, scanning below them, and just before sunset Coll pointed.

“Is that them?” 13

Below them was a tiny black shape crawling carefully over the landscape.

“Yes!” Brann called.

Coll grinned. “Let’s say hello.”

Brann adjusted course and soon they could make out the other Construct clearly – a flat head, large oval body, six legs… And perched on top, two tiny figures staring up at them. Brann brought Cub round in a smooth curve and prepared to land a few metres away.

“Ready?” she called. “Now!”

They touched the ground. In one movement the wings steadied them, then lowered, then became Cub’s front feet again. The back legs stretched, and Cub’s head returned to its original shape. And Cub was a wolf cub again, standing on the ground.

The Cub crew clambered down, and the two figures left their own Construct and walked towards them.

It was a man and a woman. The man’s face was a mass of wrinkles that moved as he smiled, and his hair was thick and white and unruly. Beside him, the woman was tall and as still as iron, wrapped in a brown shawl.

The man was Dolan, the woman was Namir, and the Construct behind them was Beetle.

Dolan waved. “Well met, young ’uns!” he called. “It’s good to see you again!” His eyes drifted to Cub behind 14them. “And that’s some trick you’ve learned! A flying wolf, eh?” He grinned. “I guess you’ve got a story to tell.”

The last time they’d met the Beetles was on their way south, when they were trying to catch up with Wolf and Dragon. Dragon, a mysteriously powerful and ferocious Construct from the north, had attacked Wolf and Raven. It had destroyed Raven and driven Wolf south, leaving Coll, Fillan and Brann stranded on the ground. But Rieka had shown them how to rebuild Raven into a new Construct, Cub, and together they had chased after Wolf. 

Over dinner, the Cub crew told the rest of their story – how they had found Wolf, fought Dragon, and defeated it. And how, on the way, they had learned that they could change Cub – from Wolf shape to Raven shape, and even Boar shape…

“We SMASHED it!” said Fillan. His face glowed as he remembered his moment of glory, where he’d channelled Boar’s strength and head-butted Dragon’s shins. “And it toppled down the cliff, bang, bang, BANG!”

“Blimey!” said Dolan. “And then what?”

“It survived, but it retreated,” said Coll.

They sat round the campfire, eating roasted glass rat from the spit. Dolan was a good audience, gasping and cheering at their adventures. Namir was quieter, but 15her eyes glittered when Fillan described the battle with Dragon.

“So it still lives?” she asked now.

Rieka nodded. “We were too damaged to chase it. We were lucky to survive.”

“And Wolf?” asked Dolan. “You found her, Coll – but you stayed with Cub?”

Coll shifted. “Well,” he said, “I mean, it was…” He shrugged. “This is my crew.”

Namir gave a small rare smile.

“Alpha doesn’t like him now,” said Brann. 

“That’s not true!” Coll protested.

“She said if Wolf ever saw Cub again, they’d attack. She said, ‘You are not Wolf.’”

Dolan sighed. “It’s not easy being the leader. You have to put on a face for your crew, no matter what you feel yourself.” He smiled at Coll. “Even if it’s your own family.”

Coll nodded and looked away. 

“So what now?” asked Namir.

“We’re looking for Raven’s crew,” said Brann.

Rieka frowned. “No, we’re looking for the signal,” she said firmly.

Brann bristled, but Coll held up a hand. “We’re looking for both,” he said. “Rieka detected a signal from 16the north. Dragon came from the north, and it’s like no Construct we’ve ever seen. She wants to learn more. And when Dragon defeated Raven, it left the Raven crew behind – but a day later, they disappeared while Brann was out scouting. So we’re heading to where Raven was last, to look for a trail. If there’s nothing, we’ll push on towards this signal.”

“I’m sure you’ll find them,” said Dolan encouragingly. 

Brann nodded and ducked her head.

They sat in silence as the fire flickered between them. “Well,” said Dolan at last, “time to rest these old bones, Mrs B.”

Namir nodded. “Indeed, Mr B.” They stood, and Dolan gave them a mock bow, then turned and headed off.

“G’night!” he called cheerily over his shoulder.

Fillan’s head dropped and he started to doze. The others gathered him up and took him back aboard Cub, and settled down to sleep themselves.

The next day, they said their goodbyes to the Beetles and prepared to set off.

“You’ll be heading through Wolf territory,” said Namir thoughtfully. “Is that safe?”

“We’ll avoid the settlements,” said Coll. “And we’ll fly 17when we can – we can go fast, keep out of Wolf’s way.”

“Good luck,” said Dolan. He smiled at Brann. “I hope you find what you’re looking for!”

Dolan and Namir climbed aboard Beetle and waved their goodbyes. Then their Construct stood on its six legs, turned in a complicated manoeuvre, and scurried away. Cub made his way to a nearby hill, where Brann took charge again, and they flew northwards.

Brann frowned as they travelled, thinking about Raven. Coll’s words from last night came to her.

They disappeared while Brann was out scouting.

She’d been scouting, and she’d returned to find everyone gone, abandoning the wrecked Raven and its cargo. That’s what she’d told Coll. And it was true.

But it wasn’t the whole truth.

18

2: RAVEN’S FALL

Cub flew north, out of the Glass Lands, and into Wolf territory.

The last time they’d been here, they were being chased by townsfolk from Scatter. This time, they took a wide curve to the east, and there was no one around. Further east were Puma lands. Westwards, beyond Scatter, the world tapered out to nothing. But Cub continued north, aiming for the point where they had first met, where Wolf, Raven and Dragon had fought. Where Raven had fallen.

They watched out for Wolf as they flew.

“Alpha wouldn’t really attack,” said Coll. “That’s just something she has to say, you know, for the crew.” But his eyes scanned the horizon, and his hands gripped Cub’s handrail nervously. Brann paid him no mind. From up here, with the cold wind rushing past and the thrum of air currents at Cub’s stretched wings, nothing on the 19ground seemed important. When she flew, she felt free. And they were heading north, towards where Raven had been last. Perhaps towards her crew…

They stopped briefly overnight and pushed on early the next morning. Soon they passed over a small hill and came to the edge of a wide grass plain, and Brann’s heart fluttered.

“This is it,” she murmured.

They settled. Cub morphed back into his wolf cub form and lay down, stretching his mouth into an enormous yawn that for a moment made him look just like Fillan. Brann looked around. It had been months since they’d been here last, and the craters and scars in the earth were covered in fresh grass and wildflowers. It was hard to tell even where they had been.

This was the site of Raven’s last battle.

It had started in the north, in Raven’s territory. Dragon had attacked them. Dragon, a foolish, silly Construct that everyone thought was lying abandoned in a ditch somewhere, but which had somehow become something grim and all-powerful. Dragon, which had harried Raven, driving them down into Hyena lands, then Wolf territory… And then to here, the final battle, where it had destroyed her and left her crew for dead.

Coll turned to Brann. “What do you want to do?” 20

Brann hesitated. She wasn’t quite sure. This was the last place she’d seen the Raven crew. Something had happened to them – happened so quickly that they’d abandoned their broken Construct. What could it be?

“Maybe there’s a trail,” she said. “Or a clue, something we missed.”

Coll nodded. “OK. So we look.”

They searched the area, fanning out from the centre in wide circles. Small remains littered the landscape, but nothing else. Surely there must be something, some clue about what might have happened? No trail markers. No secret signs. Rieka tapped her device and scanned. Fillan and Kevin followed old Ant tracks. Nothing.

After a while, Coll stopped and straightened. “There’s a settlement north-east of here,” he said. “Hound’s Tooth. Maybe they went there?”

“They’d never go to a Wolf town.” Brann shook her head. “And no one there would let them enter.” She kicked at a stone, suddenly angry. “I don’t understand!”

“What about the cache?” said Rieka.

Brann looked back along the plain. You couldn’t see it from here, but there was a supply cache near to them, hidden away – just a pair of huge steel doors on the surface, with the rest underground. The caches had been left by who knows who, who knows why, and who knows 21how long ago. They were treasure troves of equipment and spare parts, including anthryl, the material that held Constructs together. The cache was what Wolf and Raven had been fighting over, before Dragon had attacked…

Coll frowned. “Could they have got in?”

“No idea,” said Rieka. “Maybe.”

Coll turned to Brann, raising an eyebrow. 

She nodded. “Worth a try.”

They made their way to the buried entrance. But when they got there, Rieka hissed in surprise.

The last time they’d been here, the thick steel cache doors had been closed and sealed. Now … they were gone. There were no doors, just a blackened hole in the ground. Black shards of thick steel hung from the hinges. The air smelled of electrical fire, like metal on Brann’s teeth.

Coll whistled. “Raven crew couldn’t have done this,” he said. “Could they?”

Rieka stared at it. Then she took a cable and swung down to the ground. “I’m taking a look.”

“We should be careful,” warned Coll. “Wolf could be nearby. We can’t leave Cub unattended.” Rieka ignored him. Brann stared at the charred entrance. Inside, a corridor led down.

Down into the dark. 22

Brann had been in the dark. She’d fallen down a sinkhole in the Broken Lands and would have died if Coll hadn’t found her. She’d been injured. And there had been things in the dark with her. The water had risen, and creatures called rockjaws had drifted towards her, round and smooth until they opened their mouths, and then their teeth had been sharp and they had lunged at her—

Her heart was racing. Adrenaline pricked her arms. She knew this feeling, but she crushed it back down again. She was not afraid of a hole in the ground. She was not.

“I’m going too,” she said suddenly. She grabbed a cable and followed Rieka, landing hard on the ground.

“Are you OK?” asked Coll behind her, but Brann didn’t answer. She marched after Rieka, who turned as she approached.

“I’m going,” said Brann roughly.

Rieka shrugged. Together, they passed through the entrance and down the corridor.