Eranox- Cursed

by Katlin Murray

  If she had brought her mom back to Eranox, reunited her with her home and then not been able to save it, it would have been devastating. She couldn’t have done that to her, and perhaps that was the reason why her mom hadn’t even brought it up. It was much easier for Luna to walk away, she had no history in Eranox, walking away would just be another move for her.

  “Yes.” He settled himself in, sitting on the floor. “I imagine so.”

  Luna sat down with him, the safe distance between her and the bars seemed absurd, but she didn’t dare edge any closer. “Can you tell me about Eranox?” She asked.

  There was a sparkle in her father’s eye, like he had been waiting for just that question.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Luna and her father talked well into the afternoon, about everything from life in Eranox before the curse to growing up on Earth. Luna was sure that they wouldn’t run out of things to talk about, they had missed years of each other’s lives.

  Though she had imagined meeting her father many times in her life, it had never been like this. She had always thought that he had abandoned them, left without looking back. Finding out that he had been cursed and wandering in a labyrinth with other evils had been strange to her, but talking to him, really talking to him, came easier than she had expected.

  Luna heard the doors open behind her and knew that her time was up.

  “Night must be coming soon Luna.” Her father frowned, “You should get going, just in case.” He added, the sadness returning to his eyes.

  “I know.” Luna hesitated, rising to her feet as she stretched out the numbness that had taken her legs over. “I’ll come back tomorrow morning.” She promised, turning slowly towards the door.

  Lucas was standing there, beside him a Knight entered the room carrying a tray, food for her father in his cage. At least they weren’t treating him like an animal.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow.” Luna called over her shoulder, not really wanting to leave.

  “Tomorrow dear.” Her father smiled, pressing his hand against the bars as he said goodbye.

  Lucas didn’t say a word as Luna followed him into the hall, he seemed different, quieter than usual.

  “Do I really have to leave him?” Luna asked Lucas, keeping her voice down, “I could eat with him…” She suggested, not wanting to leave Alec in his cage alone.

  Lucas sighed like he had been expecting Luna to protest, “Night is coming,” He reminded her, “It is best if it is just him and the Knights in there, they can contain him if…” Lucas looked away quickly.

  “If it didn’t work.” Luna realized that they still weren’t sure if the cure would stick. How could they know? They had only used it once, on a cat. A High Wizard was much different, there was already magic there.

  “Dinner is about to be served, come and sit with us.” Lucas held out his elbow, waiting for Luna to slip her arm through.

  “Formal?” Luna asked, slipping her arm through his, “I’m wearing jeans…” She stared down at her clothes.

  “The cloak is probably enough.” Lucas decided, “No one will see what you’re wearing under it.”

  “Okay.” Luna agreed, pulling her cloak closed. She followed Lucas towards the hall where the scent of food was already wafting out to greet them.

  Luna’s stomach rumbled, reminding her that she hadn’t eaten all day. She was starved.

  As the doors were opened for them and they stepped inside, Luna felt that strange sensation, it was time to be Lady Blackwater again. She righted her shoulders and smiled as she walked with Lucas to the head table, ready to take her seat beside the King.

  Surprisingly the Queen herself was even at the table, though the crowd that gathered at the smaller tables was less than at Luna’s last formal meal. She hoped that it wasn’t an indication of how quickly the curse was spreading within the Kingdom walls.

  “Lady Blackwater.” The King tipped his head, “It is good to see you again.” He was beaming from ear to ear, the true High Wizard of Eranox had been saved, and as such this was likely Luna’s last meal as the ranking High Wizard.

  It was a strange status symbol that she wouldn’t be sorry to give up. Being stared at by a room filled with strangers as she ate, being watched as she walked through town, waving and smiling at normal people who were really just the same as her.

  Ezzie sat on the other side of Lucas at the head table, she leaned forward, “You were busy today, I didn’t get to show you around…” She raised a brow.

  “Oh, I’m sorry Ezzie,” Luna remembered that she had promised her another day on the town, “Can we go out tomorrow?” She asked, “I just wanted to see my father…” It was a sad excuse, she should have said something to Ezzie, instead she had probably left her waiting all day.

  Ezzie smirked, “I know, Lucas told me it was important.” She rolled her eyes at her brother, “Tomorrow afternoon then, you can spend the morning with your father and we can still explore after.” Ezzie suggested with a smile.

  “You still haven’t even ridden an alicorn.” Ezzie had that mischievous look on her face again.

  “You’re not allowed to ride the alicorn.” Lucas hissed, glancing over his sister shoulder like she could have been heard.

  “Oh come on Lucas, you know I’m joking.” Ezzie giggled, “But I do have to take you to the fountains, out on row Two, you can’t leave Eranox without seeing the fountains.” Ezzie smiled.

  Luna smiled, “That sounds wonderful.” She agreed.

  “You don’t have to…” Lucas muttered under his breath.

  “I had a great time with your sister.” Luna tilted her head, surprised that Lucas was being so strange, he didn’t seem to like Luna hanging out with Ezzie, “I learned a lot from her.”

  Lucas turned, “Really?” He sounded genuinely surprised, “I didn’t think you two would get along…” He trailed off, clearly confused.

  “Why not?” Luna asked with a laugh.

  “You are from two very different places.” Lucas sighed, defeated.

  The food was brought forth and a silence washed over the great hall, signaling the end of their conversation.

  It was clearly a celebration, the foods that were brought out were delicate and festive, rich and flavorful. Luna was sure that they were celebrating the end of the curse, or at least the beginning of the end. There seemed to be much chatter and laughter echoing in the hall.

  Luna was starving, and she was playing the part of Lady Blackwater that evening for the last time, so she decided to sample some of the dishes that she hadn’t tried before as they were placed in front of her. She was curious about the different foods that Eranox had to offer and wondered if her mom missed any of them.

  A skylight overhead had been opened up, Luna hadn’t even noticed that it had been there before, it had been covered with a thick drape since her arrival. She watched it as the shadows grew deeper and soon night had fallen completely.

  In the pit of her stomach she was nervous, not about her father, but about the thousands of others that had been cursed and would need to be cured. Another night had come for them and once again they were trapped, there was still a lot of work to be done to return Eranox to what it once was and they were only just beginning to make progress.

  Luna turned, Lucas was staring at her again with an inquisitive look on his face, “Are you okay?” He asked.

  “Yeah.” Luna looked down at her plate, realizing that she had barely touched it, she was so distracted. “Do you think, I mean after my dad is okay to get started…” Luna paused, reorganizing her thoughts, “Do you think I could go home, and let my mom know that I’m okay?” She asked quietly, she had been feeling guilty about it all day.

  While she had been busy talking to her dad about her life on Earth and how her mom was doing she had realized that she had been gone longer than she had expected, longer than she had promised. Her mom was probably worried sick, she probably thought the worst had happened to Luna. And the only way to let her know tha
t she was okay was to go home, phones didn’t seem to work across portals.

  Luna just wanted to see her, and let her know that it was all okay. And maybe if she was lucky, her mom would want to come back with her and start her life over in Eranox with her husband, they could be a real family for once.

  Lucas nodded, his concern washing away, “Yeah, we should probably get you back and give your mom an update.” He agreed again, “I can arrange it for the day after tomorrow, would that be soon enough?” He asked, he sounded nervous about keeping Luna’s mom waiting.

  “Yeah.” Luna nodded, “I wanted to talk to my dad some more in the morning, and spend the afternoon with Ezzie. Then we can maybe plan to leave after that to get her.”

  “Get her?” Lucas looked confused.

  “Yeah, get her.” Luna nodded, “If the curse is lifted, I’m sure she’ll want to come back, she is from here…” She stared at Lucas, “She would want to come back, right?”

  “Maybe” He agreed, but he sounded more like he didn’t want Luna to get her hopes up, “I’m sure that there will be loose ends over there that she’ll need to tie up, she can’t just disappear like you did.” He added, “But we do need to let her know that you are safe… I did promise her that we would keep you safe.” He reminded her.

  Luna laughed, “Lucas, are you afraid my mom is going to be mad at you?”

  Lucas nodded, “Absolutely.” His eyes were wide, he wasn’t lying.

  The doors to the hall slammed open, Luna turned, watching as a Knight stumbled inside, covered in blood. He turned to face the head table, uttering the two words that made Luna’s heart stop.

  “He escaped.”

  The Knight collapsed, his blood pooling around him, it was too late for him.

  It was like she was frozen, Luna stared at the Knight, the words repeating in her head. It couldn’t be possible, she had cured him.

  Around her the room began to fill with screams and scraping chairs as chaos erupted from every corner. There was a rush to get out the doors, to get away from the castle.

  But Luna just sat there.

  She felt Lucas’ hand on her arm, tugging her away from the table. But she couldn’t move, she just sat and watched, wondering what was happening.

  “Luna!” Ezzie’s voice cut through the commotion, ringing in Luna’s ear.

  She turned, seeing the panicked look on Ezzie’s face.

  It changed everything.

  “Ezzie.” Luna breathed, snapping out of her daze. They were in danger, and Ezzie looked terrified.

  Luna leapt from her seat, reaching past Lucas for Ezzie’s arm. She spun around, “Where is the King?” She asked.

  Two guards were escorting him and the Queen out of the room. The door closing behind them.

  “Come on.” Lucas pulled Luna forward, racing for the door.

  He reached for the handle but it wouldn’t budge. “It’s locked.” His face turned white. His eyes wide.

  Luna could hear the Queen screaming on the other side, wanting her children to be safe. But the door didn’t open, they had already locked it on the other side to keep the King and Queen safe from the attack.

  “They left us?” Ezzie whispered quietly, her eyes welling with tears.

  “Come on Ezzie. We’ve got you.” Luna shook her, snapping her out of her sadness. There would be time for that later.

  First they had to get somewhere safe.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  The screams were getting louder, coming from inside the dining hall and out in the hallway beyond. Luna tugged Ezzie back towards the head table and ducked beneath it.

  It was too late to run, Luna could feel it, he was coming.

  “Luna, we have to get out of here.” Lucas begged, ducking in beside her to try and convince her to leave with him.

  “What’s happening?” Ezzie quivered, her eyes spilling over with tears.

  “It’s too late.” Luna hissed at Lucas, squeezing Ezzie’s hand in her to try to calm her, “He’s coming.” She whispered, shushing Lucas as she lifted the linen table cloth to peer out into the hall.

  “He’s here…” Lucas hissed, watching through the small gap as he tucked himself in beside Luna and Ezzie, realizing that hiding had become the better option.

  “Who’s here?” Ezzie whispered, trying to get a look.

  Luna tried to stop her, but it was too late.

  Ezzie lifted the tablecloth and stared out into the room, gasping as the dark shape entered the dining hall, tossing a body aside as he walked.

  He turned, his eyes falling on Luna.

  Ezzie dropped the tablecloth like it was enough to stop him.

  “We have to run.” Luna screamed, diving out from under the table, her arm pulling at Ezzie behind her.

  “Why are we running?” Ezzie asked, following behind Luna as she glanced back at her brother.

  “Just do it.” Lucas hissed, following up behind.

  Luna knew that Lucas could hold his own against the creatures from the Gateway, she had seen him do it before, but Ezzie was another story; she wasn’t ready to face a beast like that, Luna had to protect her.

  There was only one way out of the room and they had to pass the cursed one to get through. Luna tried to race along the edge of the room, keeping him in her sights as she dashed towards the door, hopeful that he would find another target and allow them to escape without trouble.

  She was wrong.

  As they neared the door, so close to escaping, the dark creature lunged at her. She dove to the side, keeping Ezzie out of harm’s way as she raised her hand towards him.

  A ball of fire swept from her palm, but it didn’t seem to do anything. Luna was sure that it was just a trick of her eyes, but it almost looked as though he had absorbed it.

  She fired again, this time watching more carefully, the fire shone brightly for a moment, and then it disappeared into the dark void that was still standing in front of her.

  Magic wouldn’t work against him, she should have known, it hadn’t really worked against the creatures in the Gateway either. Sure, it had slowed them down a bit, but he was different, he wasn’t a commoner, he was a High Wizard who had been turned. There was already more magic coursing through him than Luna could ever hope to know, even cursed, he seemed impervious.

  Luna wondered if he had control over it, if he knew what he was doing, if he could stop himself before anyone else got hurt.

  She held her arm out towards him, pushing Ezzie behind her, giving her the chance to escape as she faced off against the thing that had been her father earlier that same day.

  Luna closed her eyes, trying to feel the curse, searching beneath it for the human that was trapped inside, you have to stop this, she pleaded, hoping that he could hear her.

  Twisting her hand, Luna tried to feel for the curse, wondering if she could lift it from him without the potion to help her. It seemed an impossible task, the darkness seemed fused to him, unwavering in her mind.

  It didn’t seem to be working, she could hear him laughing as he moved away from her into the room to find his next victim.

  Luna opened her eyes, watching as the dark shape turned away from her, he had already gone farther into the room, he seemed hell-bent on causing chaos. But he had left the door clear for her to escape, so there must have been a small part of her father still in there.

  Luna turned around, “We need to get out of her and find somewhere safe.” She started towards the door, stopping when she realized that Ezzie was gone.

  “Ezzie?” Luna turned, searching through the crowd that was still pressing towards the doors behind her, “Ezzie, where are you?” Luna screamed, worried that she had taken off, or worse, turned back into the dining hall to hide when Luna had closed her eyes.

  She had to be there somewhere, she had to be safe.

  Luna spun around, searching through the crowd, the screams echoed around her from every side. It was impossible to know where Ezzie would have gone to hide, Lucas didn’t see
m to be anywhere either.

  The room was in chaos, people were running and if they were not they were hiding or injured. The dark man seemed to be reaching for anyone in his path as he stormed the room. Luna could only watch as he threw something at a tall window on the far wall, shattering the glass. A moment later he had leapt through to the other side, ready to maul the rest of the city.

  He had been let loose on Eranox, and he seemed determined to spread the curse as far as possible.

  Bodies littered the floor.

  Very few were dead, but they had all been infected. And now that he was loose in the city, there was no telling who would be left un-cursed at dawn.

  Eranox couldn’t be saved.

  “Where is she?” Lucas shouted, pushing through the crowd to reach Luna, “Where is she?” He asked again, staring wildly at the sea of bodies, searching for his sister.

  “I don’t know.” Luna answered, she was still searching for Ezzie in the crowd escaping through the door, “I closed my eyes, and she was gone.” Luna admitted.

  She should have kept Ezzie closer, she shouldn’t have let her go off on her own, she was supposed to keep her safe.

  “We have to find her before he comes back.” Lucas turned to the doors, Knights were pushing their way into the room, dressed in their heaviest gear, swords drawn. But they were too late, the Wizard had already escaped.

  “He went out the window.” Lucas called to them, pointing across the room at the pane of shattered glass. Any number of creatures would be able to get into the castle now, the hall wasn’t safe. They had to find somewhere else to go, somewhere safe.

  But they had to find Ezzie first.

  The Knights rushed towards the window, not wasting any time as they clamored through, ready to take on the creature that had escaped into the night. Luna only hoped that they were prepared, their swords wouldn’t do much against him, he was too strong. Lucas had managed to sedate him in the Gateway, but he wouldn’t be easily distracted again.

  A second wave of Knights entered the room, looking more somber. One by one, they began to round up the bitten, shackling their arms in a row as they scoured the room for victims of the curse.