The Zero Curse

by Christopher G. Nuttall

  I glanced at Akin. “We have to go up,” Akin said. “We need a view.”

  Rose didn't look happy, but she followed us upwards anyway. The wind blew hot and cold; hot enough to make me sweat, cold enough to make me shiver. I gritted my teeth and forced myself onwards, trying to remember the stories about my very distant ancestors. I’d been told they’d lived in sunlit lands, where they’d walked out in the noonday sun while visitors cowered under the shade and rain was a myth.... But then, very few of those stories had survived the Empire. I had no way to know which of them - if any - were actually true.

  My sense of unease grew stronger and stronger as we reached the top of the hill. The trees were pretty, in a way, yet ... yet they were twisted, as if they’d been warped by powerful magic. I wasn't even sure they were alive. I certainly didn't dare touch them. How could they even survive without insects? The whole region was as silent as the grave. Perhaps the trees, too, were simply frozen in time.

  “There are no weeds,” Akin said. We peered into a garden. It was as neat and regimented as my mother’s garden, yet ... yet there was something eerie about it. Nothing moved, not even when the wind blew. “This place is creepy.”

  I nodded, peering down into the distance. The entire region was nothing but ruined city. I could see wreckage stretching in all directions, piled high as far as the eye could see and somehow frozen in time. And yet, I saw a harbour below me ... it had clearly been a harbour. I’d seen it before, on yellowed and dusty maps the ancients had preserved for us. A giant inland lake, connected to the sea through a canal ... four hills, looming over the city they guarded ...

  ... And us, standing on the fifth hill, some distance from the rest.

  “Parnassus Hill,” Akin whispered, quietly. His words echoed in the stillness. “We’re on Parnassus Hill. We’re a very long way from home.”

  I sucked in my breath. We were on Parnassus Hill. The thought I’d had - the thought I hadn't wanted to admit - snapped back into my mind. There were very few places as tainted with wild magic as the city below us. We were on Parnassus Hill.

  And that meant that the ruined city below us was none other than the Eternal City itself.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  I’d heard the stories. But none of them came close to the reality.

  The Eternal City had been the city of light, once upon a time. Flying machines ... flying buildings, castles in the sky. The entire city had been paved in gold and silver, the buildings lit up so brightly that the city could be seen for thousands of miles. There hadn't been any lighthouses in the harbour, if the stories were to be believed. The glow had been bright enough to let sailors work day and night. Now ...

  Now ... it was rubble, yet ...

  I stared, trying to parse out what I was seeing. The rubble looked ... odd, great shifting patterns that made little sense. It struck me, as I inspected what might once have been the Imperial Palace, that the buildings had been floating, if they hadn’t been simply been held up by magic. Dad had told me that it was possible to build a house using magic, instead of a more mundane framework, but it was dangerous. A single cancellation spell might bring the entire building crashing down. Looking at the remains of the city, I couldn't help feeling that something had happened to the magic. The entire city had crashed down into rubble.

  Worse than that, I thought, numbly. The floating buildings would have crushed anything underneath when they hit the ground.

  Rose shivered. “Can't you feel it?”

  Akin nodded in agreement. I glanced from one to the other, feeling blind. A faint haze hung over the city, but otherwise ... nothing. And yet, the sense of unease grew stronger the more I stared at the rubble. It called to me, yet repelled me. Whatever had been unleashed here, in the heart of the Thousand-Year Empire, had been thoroughly unnatural. I’d never felt anything like it, ever. None of Dad’s protective wards came close to matching it.

  “Whatever happened here was bad,” Akin said.

  Rose caught my arm. “What did happen here?”

  I kicked myself, mentally. Rose wouldn't know, of course. She hadn't been raised with the old tales. Her family knew very little about the kingdom’s past or about the world outside their village. The king certainly wouldn't want to encourage commoners to think about the time before the kingdom took shape and form. Who knew what they’d think when they heard the empire hadn't been so invulnerable after all?

  “This was once a village,” I said. It was hard to believe, but all the stories agreed on it. “The original name was lost long ago. Magic ... someone living in the village was the first to codify the principles of magic, to bind it to his will. He taught others, who taught others still ... soon, he had an army. They set out to conquer the world.”

  “They succeeded,” Akin said, bluntly.

  I nodded. The Thousand-Year Empire hadn't known about Hangchow - maybe they hadn't realised the world was round - but they had swept over most of the known world. If the stories were true, the first set of conquests had been effortless. And why not? The ancients hadn't known what magic could do until it was too late. Resistance had been crushed before the village’s enemies could copy their techniques for themselves.

  “Somewhere along the line, they discovered how to make Objects of Power,” I added. That secret had been kept, even as more common magical techniques leaked out. But then, there were very few spells that could only be cast by a handful of people. “And then they were unstoppable. Their armies marched from one end of the continent to the other, north and south, east and west. They united the entire known world under their rule.”

  I tried to think how my distant ancestors must have felt, when they’d seen the flying machines and marching armour. They’d had magic, of course, but they’d never codified it into something usable. So many records from that time had been lost, yet I was sure I knew how the story had gone. Resistance had been crushed, a new ruling elite had been installed; slowly, surely, my distant ancestors had been integrated into the empire.

  “They absorbed talent,” I remembered. It was one of the stories Dad had made sure to tell us, when we’d been younger. “Smart and capable magicians were invited to the Eternal City to study, to learn magic and improve on it. Others ... were offered a chance to join the ruling class. And all the benefits slowly filtered down to the rest of the population. Food and drink, health and education ... even public toilets! It was a golden age.”

  Rose looked pensive. It struck me, suddenly, that she’d been snatched up because of her talent, but she wouldn’t be going back to her village to improve it. I felt a pang as I realised that Rose, when she graduated, would have very little in common with her family. The poorest citizen of Shallot would still have a better life than a commoner out in the countryside. I wanted to hug her, to tell her that it would be better, but I couldn't. I didn't think it would be better.

  “And then it fell,” Akin said. “We don’t know what happened, Rose. No one knows.”

  I looked into the haze, remembering the stories. The city had fallen, they’d insisted, but there had been very few details. The wars that followed the collapse had seen to that, tearing apart all the institutions the empire had so painstakingly built. By the time the dust settled - and a hundred kingdoms had taken the empire’s place - the Eternal City lay in ruins. Very few people dared venture into the once-great city. It was believed to be cursed.

  And we were brought here, I thought. Fairuza had nerve. I’d give her and her backers that much. But then, they’d had fewer options than I’d realised. Being here would confuse the blood magic our families would use to trace us, without using wards that could have no other purpose. But what did they want us for?

  My eyes traced the rubble, remembering the old stories. Was that the Imperial Palace? Or was it the Commandery, where the conquest of the known world had been planned? Was that massive building the hospital where the empire’s medical magics had been developed? Or was it a temple? A strange angular shape could be seen near the
water ... was it the remains of a giant oceangoing ship? I’d heard stories of wreckage sailors had seen, half-hidden under the waves. The ancients had built ships that made our largest clippers and galleons look tiny. And was that framework part of a flying machine?

  There was something ... despondent about the whole scene. I felt sad, almost mournful; I felt as if I was on the verge of tearing up. I was looking down on a thousand years of history, smashed to rubble in a moment. The Eternal City looked to have been easily five or six times the size of Shallot, perhaps more, yet it now lay in utter ruins. And Shallot was one of the largest cities in the kingdom. Would my city die the same way, one day?

  I caught my breath. “We can't stay here all day.”

  “No,” Akin said. He was staring at the city, his eyes wide. “But where do we go?”

  “And where do we find food?” Rose didn't seem to have any trouble dragging her eyes away from the city. “We don’t have anything like enough to keep us going for more than a few days. And we really need water.”

  I nodded, even though I didn't have an answer. We could slip down to the sea, I thought, and scoop up some water, but even with purification spells I wasn't sure we could drink it. There were stories about the waters around the Eternal City, tales of monsters and strange apparitions and things below the waves. Sailors would sooner round the horn and risk death there than sail near the Eternal City. I’d never believed the stories, but now ... I believed them. I didn't know if we could risk eating or drinking anything from the Eternal City.

  “We’ll head north,” Akin said. He jabbed a finger away from the city. “That should get us on the way home.”

  I felt myself torn between the urge to laugh and cry. We were over a thousand miles from Shallot. We’d reach the border sooner ... I started to giggle, helplessly. If we started walking now, we might just reach the border in a couple of weeks, assuming we didn't get caught on our way home. Or lost ... I’d seen a handful of maps, but none of them had been particularly detailed. Very few people visited the Eternal City. Even fewer returned.

  Akin glanced up, sharply. A second later, a hex flashed over our heads.

  “They’re here,” he snapped.

  I followed his gaze. Two men were standing at the bottom of the hill, pointing their fingers at us. A hex snapped towards Rose; I caught it on my hand, feeling my bracelet growing warm as it absorbed the spell. Akin cast two spells back, but the men had no trouble blocking them. I wasn't surprised. Whoever they were, it was clear they were fully-trained magicians.

  “This way,” Akin snapped. He caught Rose’s arm and yanked her to the side. “Hurry!”

  I drew the spellcaster and jabbed it towards the men, several times. Flashes and bangs filled the air, resounding oddly in the haze. I didn't think I’d hit them, but it should force them to duck ... I hoped it would force them to duck. They might have upgraded their protection spells after my escape, after they’d seen what I could do. But there was no way to know.

  “Come on,” Akin called.

  I followed him, clutching the spellcaster with one hand. The air grew hotter and thicker as we descended the hill and ran through a maze of old buildings, each one creepier than the last. I heard shouts behind me, but there was no sign of pursuit. I wondered, idly, just how many men it would take to search the area properly. Alana and Bella had played hide-and-seek with their friends, but I’d never been able to take part. My lack of magic would have kept me from hiding, let alone ambushing anyone who came too close.

  At least their hunting spells won’t work so well here, I thought, as the haze grew thicker. The thought made me smile. They’ll have to set eyes on us.

  I glanced back as we paused behind a stone house. The aura from inside was so dark that even I could feel it, something so eerie that I wanted to turn tail and run. No one was behind us, yet ... I felt as though we were being watched by unseen eyes. I looked up. A stone gargoyle was looking down at us, its teeth bared in a grimace of pure hate. Others were looking at us too ... I told myself, sharply, that any enchantments animating the gargoyles would have decayed long ago. But I wasn't sure that was true. There were plenty of stories of cursed tombs that had killed anyone foolish enough to defy the warnings and step inside.

  The shouts grew louder. I looked around, trying to place them. But I couldn’t. They seemed to be coming from all around us, echoing off the buildings and blurring together into a terrifying whole. Sweat poured down my back as Akin started to lead us around the house and into another frozen garden. I couldn't go back to that cell! I wouldn’t ... I drew one of the other spellcasters from my pocket and held it in front of me, looking around for targets. I knew the theory of magical hide-and-seek ...

  We reached the garden and ducked low, shuffling towards a frozen hedgerow and the concealed ditch - the ha-ha - in front of it. My eyes started to hurt as we inched forward, the spectacles showing me flash after flash of raw magic ... and something indistinct, something I couldn't quite understand. Whatever forces had been unleashed in the Eternal City - and no two stories agreed - they’d warped the landscape forever. The entire region was a death-trap! I just hoped it was confusing Fairuza and our enemies as much as ourselves.

  Akin paused as we reached the hedgerow and crawled along the ha-ha. I wondered if we should inch down into the ditch - it looked safe - but some instinct told me it would be a very bad idea. Whoever had designed the garden had clearly not shared my mother’s belief in regimenting everything. Rows of herbs contrasted oddly with sections that had been allowed to run wild and free, perhaps in an attempt to see which plants would survive and thrive in such a competitive environment. Mum had never liked the concept. She’d always believed it would induce random mutations in potion ingredients.

  “We need to keep moving north,” Akin whispered. “I don’t want to go any closer to the city itself.”

  I nodded, although I wasn't comfortable with the decision. The ruins might give us shelter ... I shook my head, remembering the tales. People would go into the Eternal City and come out changed, if they came out at all. There was a reason the entire region had been abandoned, after all. Maybe I’d be safe - I didn't know. My friends wouldn't be safe.

  “Keep inching north,” I whispered back, as we reached the edge of the ha-ha. Its designer had clearly believed in catching unwary trespassers in the ditch. Anyone who managed to scramble over the hedge would fall into the ha-ha and get stuck. “Once we’re out of the city, we can decide what to do next.”

  I glanced back at Rose. She was pale, but bringing up the rear with a determination that surprised me. I told myself I was being silly. Rose had been brave to go to Jude’s, leaving everything she knew behind. She was one of the bravest people I knew.

  “Keep moving,” she muttered. Dry mud crunched as we pushed our way through the hedge, deafeningly loud in the eerie silence. I hoped the hunters hadn't heard. “Don’t stop for anything.”

  The road on the far side of the edge looked ... odd. Akin glanced at it, then led the way down the pavement. I didn't blame him. There was no visible threat, yet the aura of danger was growing louder. I looked down the road, towards the city and saw ... something. The road seemed to bend in a way my mind refused to grasp. The buildings behind us shifted and changed, as if they were illusions ... or worse. I forced myself to look away as my head started to pound. We had to get out of the city before it was too late. Even here, on the outskirts, we were at risk.

  Akin picked up speed as the shouts grew louder. They seemed to be coming from further away, but it was impossible to be sure. Fairuza wouldn’t let us go, not when there was a very real chance we'd make it out of the city. I smiled as the implications dawned on me. My family - and Akin’s - wouldn't stop trying blood magics until they found us. The moment we were out of the city, they’d be able to locate us. And then ...

  Keep moving, I told myself. If we’re so far from home, it will be days before someone comes to rescue us.

  I looked around as we reached
a crossroads. A large villa sat at the far end of one of the roads, calling to me. I could feel the call, stronger now. And yet ... neither Akin nor Rose seemed to perceive anything. I frowned, puzzled. They should be more vulnerable, not less. I didn't know what I was feeling. It was just ... there.

  There was a flash of light. Akin froze.

  I jumped. A young woman stood there, holding a focusing device in one hand and a small club in the other. She wore the same brown robes as the boy I’d frightened ... had it really been only a few short hours ago? I jabbed the spellcaster at her, but her protections deflected the spell. Ice trickled down my spine as I realised we were in trouble. The bracelet grew warm, a second later. The woman was casting a spell ...

  No, I thought. I am not going back ...

  I yanked the dispeller from my pocket and threw myself forward. The woman’s eyes went wide and she cast a spell, a moment before I shoved the dispeller into her. Her protections vanished in a flash of light. She slapped me hard, knocking me to the ground. I tasted blood in my mouth as she lifted her hand, then collapsed. Rose had stunned her an instant before she could hex us.