The voice came out of nowhere. Eve looked around for it's owner and it yelled again "GO! GO! GO!" Only it wasn't a clear sounding "go". It sounded like the call of a rook. The darkness would hide such a dark bird well, so Eve followed his call.
She found him sitting on a branch near the headstone of Max's mother. It didn't fly away as she approached him, instead he cocked his head as if he had been waiting for her. "Hello," she reached out to pet his feathered chest but he hopped away.
"GO! GO!"
The rook swooped down and plucked one of the frost lilies from Eve's hands, leaving her with an even number of blooms. He stretched his neck towards her to provoke a response to his thieving and when he got none he screeched and flew into her face. She swatted at the hovering rook while he flapped his wings and screamed at her. The commotion drew Max from the other side of the garden. Hearing the crunch of snow under Max's feet, the bird stopped screaming and whispered to Eve "Grey" before he returned to his perch in the tree.
Max came up from behind Eve and stopped a few feet from her. "Eve, look at this book I found in the study..."
sorry for the sloppy background, my hands hurt. and it's been a month since i've done something complete like this.
Wow!! This nighttime winter setting are so beautiful!! Everything is so meticulous, the birch silhouettes, the foreground branch and crow shined by the partial moonlight, the snow (evidently round brushes, but beautiful nonetheless), and Eve herself with her soft, warm Russian coat and cap!!
Love the detail on her. Keep up the good work!
Fantastic job!