Turina's Crows

A story about the Celestial of carrion birds (or birds of prey).

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Walking through the forest at night is a unique experience. The trees stretch their branches above you, clawing at the sky with spindly fingers barely darker than the firmament beyond. Rocks skitter and roll beneath your feet if you move too fast, so you creep along instead, each step placed carefully.
The moon glows above you, its shape waxing and waning every day, changing from full to vanished. Some days it is covered by heavy clouds and you cannot see it at all.
Branches crack several feet away. You startle. It's probably an animal, but you turn your head to look.
You are stopped when a crow begins to caw on the tree just ahead of you. Your eyes snap to look at it, confused at its timing. The bird cocks its head, beady eyes gleaming. With another caw, it opens its wings and flaps off the branch, coming to circle around you.
The black feathers and beating wings are disorienting, and you stumble forward blindly in an attempt to leave it behind. It does not leave, following you through the woods as you flee.
The ground changes suddenly and you trip. Your hands barely catch your fall, pain bursting across your palms as they scuff the pavement. You look up and realize you are on a road, just a few minutes away from your house. The crow has driven you home.
You look around for the bird and find it perched on a bush. It stares at you as if waiting.
"Thank you?" you manage to say.
The crow tilts its beak back and forth before croaking. "Go home," it says suddenly in the clear and raspy voice of a woman. "Do not come here at the new moon again."
You glance up at the sky, where the clouds have faded to reveal no moon. You have never heard of the new moon being dangerous, but a warning from a mysterious crow should be taken to heart.
"Okay," is all you can reply before the bird takes off again. Its wings are the last thing you see, soot-black feathers drifting in its wake.
A boy on the street the next day tells you about Turina, the Celestial of crows and other birds "like that", and how she protects people who are in danger in the forest. You remember the noise you heard before the crow appeared and a chill runs down your spine. Maybe you won't take as many walks in the forest anymore.