The Raven's Curse

by Rain Oxford

  “They would never admit it, but they just sold their three youngest girls. Everyone knows it’s because they don’t have the money to keep up their practice.”

  My mother always said that real sorcerers would choose sorcery over food. Generally, it didn’t cost anything to do sorcery, as sorcerers could make wands from branches and potions from herbs found in the forest. Furthermore, they weren’t above stealing. However, profiting from sorcery by using it as an occupation was a completely different matter.

  * * *

  We found the local inn easily enough. The main room was very similar to all of the taverns I had seen; it was dimly lit with heavy wooden tables, a bar, and a number of patrons. Pretty, scantily-dressed women flirted with the men as they served drinks.

  When I approached the man behind the bar, I could easily tell that he was a sorcerer. His black hair was pulled back and his dark red eyes narrowed thoughtfully as I approached. Merlin’s ears flattened slightly, telling me that he noticed.

  “I need a room.”

  “And something to eat,” Merlin added.

  “I don’t know about your wolf staying in one of the rooms.”

  “Why not? He’s not going to hurt anything.”

  “I’m more concerned with him hurting someone.” The man frowned. “You’re a sorcerer, right?”

  I lowered my hood and mask. “Do I look like a sorcerer?”

  His expression changed as he took in my blond hair and blue eyes. “No. I just thought I had sensed dark magic in you. I guess a traveling wizard shouldn’t be without his familiar. Why are you traveling, anyway?”

  “I’m searching for certain people.”

  “Why not send a warrior?” he asked, handing me a key.

  “They were booked up for the winter.”

  “Oh, right. Go through that door. Your room is the second door to the left.”

  “Thank you.” I turned and nearly bumped into a man. He wasn’t particularly tall, but he was as muscular as a warrior. “Sorry, I---”

  He grabbed my arm. “You’re not going anywhere. I know you.” With his other hand, he pulled a crumpled scroll out of his pocket. “You’re the curse breaker. I’m taking you back to my village.”

  “I’m not going anywhere.” I smashed his nose with the crystal of my staff, causing him to let me go and shout with pain. Just as he swung his fist wildly, a pulse of energy filled the room, freezing everyone, including my attacker and me.

  “There will be no fighting in my inn!” the sorcerer said, holding out a staff of his own. His staff was black wood with a black crystal caged in the wood, which I thought looked really neat. Then his spell faded and everyone could move freely. The man who attacked me reluctantly sat down, too embarrassed to even threaten me again. I figured he must not have been a magic user.

  Or he was one and had just lost his magic. Gelyn had said some people were losing it faster than others. Without another word to him, I put my hood back over my head and went through the door the innkeeper had indicated. It led to a hallway, where we easily found our room.

  Chapter 9

  That night would have been a decent one if it weren’t for the man trying to break in. It was Merlin’s growling that woke me. I got up from the bed, grabbed my staff, and went to the door. “What are you doing?” Merlin asked.

  “If he breaks the door down, the innkeeper is going to be mad at me.” I threw open the door, to the man’s surprise. As I expected, it was the same man who had tried to capture me earlier. He had been doing his best to bust the door open, so his face was very red.

  I stomped my staff without giving it any command. My only intention was to protect myself. To my shock, blue light pulsed out of the crystal just as Merlin attacked. The man went down and Merlin landed on top of him with a fierce growl. The man grunted with pain.

  “Merlin, let him go.”

  Once again, the crystal on my staff pulsed with a blue glow. Merlin stepped off him. “Apparently, my wolf instincts are getting stronger.”

  “I’m not who you think I am, and you’re not taking me anywhere,” I said to the man. When he tried to stand, Merlin snapped at him. “You’d better stay on the floor until I shut the door.”

  I did so, and then I made sure he heard me latch it. Fortunately, it was a quiet night after that and I didn’t have any strange dreams.

  * * *

  In the morning, we headed back out into the main room only to see the man who attacked me the night before sitting at the bar. “When he tries to leave, I’ll bash that wolf’s head in and grab the curse breaker,” he told the innkeeper.

  “I don’t think that’s the best way for you to get his help.”

  “His skills are more valuable than gold.”

  I rolled my eyes and pointed my staff at him. “Distraction,” I whispered to the staff. Red magic shot into him… and did nothing. Merlin growled. “Are you going to attack him again?”

  “Despite my reaction last night, it is not in my nature to attack a person. That being said, yes, I am. I will not allow him to extort your power. Since he said you are more valuable than gold, I know he cannot be reasoned with, and we do not have the time to try. I will not kill him, merely distract him. Go now.”

  I did, but as soon as Merlin charged the man, he saw us and stood up. Merlin stopped, for my magic suddenly did its job.

  The man’s clothes disappeared.

  He screamed in horror and shock while the three other patrons in the room expressed disgust. The innkeeper laughed openly. I made it to the door without being stopped, and Merlin was close behind. Once outside, I put my hood and mask on and we found the docks without another issue.

  At the docks, we met Ijuin and explained where we needed to go. It took some haggling and the last of my money, but he agreed to take me to Tetaryn.

  * * *

  We got settled pretty quickly and I regretted not having any books to read. I suggested that Merlin teach me magic, but he could hardly stand. When I asked him to tell me about his mother, he avoided the subject, as he always did. I had the feeling his relationship with her wasn’t very good. Of course, it couldn’t be worse than mine.

  “Is something bothering you?” I asked halfway through our second day. “I know you don’t like ships, but you’re quieter than usual.”

  He sat up in his bed. “I have sensed something unusual for a while now, but I brushed it off. Now, I wonder if it has something to do with people losing their magic.”

  “You’ve been sensing something sinister?”

  “Not particularly.”

  “There’s something you’re not telling me.” After a moment, he nodded. “Please just tell me.”

  He sighed. “There is a lot about me you do not know, and I admit that is entirely my fault. I have lived for so many years and I have made so many mistakes. The worst mistakes have always been caused by me knowing too much or too little. You know I distrust seers.”

  “I figured you were betrayed by one. You’re probably the most forgiving and open-minded person I’ve ever met, so it had to be something serious.”

  Again, he sighed. “It is a little more complicated than that. Since I was very young, I had visions of the future. That was how I learned of other worlds.”

  “You told me you learned to travel by… something.”

  “Astral projection, young sorcerer. Indeed, I did visit other worlds psychically, but I also saw the future through this means. All of which was confined to my dreams until I was trained by Cennuth. Do you understand?”

  “No.”

  “I have begun having visions again.”

  I gaped. “Your powers are returning?”

  “It appears so, at least this one ability. I have attempted other magic to no avail.”

  “Isn’t that a good thing? You don’t sound happy about it.”

  “Divination is the most dangerous and volatile of all magics. I would go as far as to say it rivals blood magic.” As he spoke in my mind, his tone grew harsher.
I also felt his frustration in my mind.

  “It doesn’t have to be, though,” I said as a plan started forming. “My mother doesn’t have any alliances with seers. With your visions, we can defeat her. Maybe we can figure out why your magic is coming back and make it stronger. Then we could go after her instead of waiting for her to attack us.”

  “What do you plan to do to your mother after exploiting my power to ambush her?”

  “I would kill her. Or we could make that potion Asiago used.” He stared at me patiently until I really thought about what I’d said. I had just suggested killing my mother or worse. “I don’t…” It felt like it wasn’t me who had said it. I’d thought it and it had seemed normal, but it couldn’t have been less like me to suggest that. It was like I suddenly realized what I had suggested was horrible. “I don’t know why I said that. I don’t want to kill my mother, and I don’t want to use your magic like that. I know you hate fortunetelling, you so much as said so a dozen times.” I thought about my behavior over the last few days, especially how I snapped at Merlin. “I think something’s wrong with me.”

  He sighed, but it was with relief. “I am pleased you finally realized that. Every time you use your magic, you seem to become a little less like yourself.”

  “I don’t want to be someone who uses others. I don’t want to be my mother. I just… for a moment… I didn’t realize I was doing that.”

  “Now that you know something is wrong, you can fight it. Stay true to yourself and your mother will never get dark magic from you.”

  “I won’t use magic unless it’s absolutely necessary. But what if I can’t do it?”

  “Then I will help you.”

  * * *

  Over the next eight days, we travelled without any issues. We didn’t feel like we were being watched and I wasn’t tempted to use magic. Even the ravens had left us alone. Fortunately, fish, fruit, and grain were provided, so I didn’t have to transform anything. Sometimes, particularly when it came to eating anything, I felt abnormally short-tempered. Merlin figured out the pattern of my attitude faster than I knew there was a pattern, and he would get me away from everyone else on the ship and distract me by teaching me his native language.

  Several times, even when I wasn’t using magic, my chest would start hurting. I knew it was related to whatever was wrong with me. Whether it was because we were on the ship or something else, Merlin didn’t howl at night.

  He began trying to teach me meditation. Although he had tried unsuccessfully many times before, this time, there was a reason for it. He said that with Sjau abilities, maybe I could learn to use magic without my staff or wand. I reminded him repeatedly what happened the last time I tried that, but he insisted that it was a matter of a calm mind. He thought that if I could focus my mind, I could do magic like wizards from his world. I disagreed. On the other hand, it did seem to help a little with my unusual grouchiness, though I couldn’t do it for long before the boredom became painful.

  On the last day of our trip, Merlin seemed especially bothered, but I couldn’t figure out if he had a bad dream or if he was just seasick. We landed about midday and departed quickly. I wanted to check the map to make sure we were going in the right direction, but Merlin insisted I not do it.

  Fortunately, we had a pretty good idea, and by nightfall, we reached the small village, only to find it deserted and all the houses burned down. Even the trees were dead. The fields surrounding the village were covered in black ash. I didn’t find any sign of people or animals, living or dead, but I also wasn’t willing to dig around in the decimated houses. It was so quiet that even the wind was still.

  “This can’t be the place.”

  “You saw the map as well as I did. We should have saved Blue days ago.”

  I felt suspicion so quickly I couldn’t stop the words from coming out of my mouth. “You knew this was going to happen.”

  “I did not. It was merely a strong feeling. You know me better than that, Ayden. I would have told you if I had a dream of this.”

  I forcefully shut my mouth. He was right. I could trust Merlin. Apparently, I could trust him better than I could trust myself at the moment. Even though it wasn’t as common as with my family, there were times when I got angry. Most of those times were caused by my brothers. Growing up, I only had light magic and looked like a wizard, but I learned to stand up for myself. I always had to force it out, though, and I didn’t think I was ever irrational. This time, I was just plain being rude.

  Although Merlin could be condescending, I never knew him to be intentionally mean or lie to me. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I have to use the mirror again to find the next one on the list. We can look and see where Blue is.”

  “It is possible she fled along with other villagers.”

  “Assuming anyone got out alive.”

  “I do prefer to assume the best. We should head south and try to find people who might know what happened.”

  “It would be easier to use the mirror.”

  “It is the things we work hardest for that will reward us the most.”

  “What does that mean?”

  He sighed. “Magic is not a shortcut. We can walk.”

  “Fine. I wish we hadn’t lost Kirin, though.”

  “Unicorns are resourceful, magical creatures. He can find us if it is his will.”

  If the village wasn’t so creepy, I would have suggested we stop for the night. Instead, we continued on until we reached another village, which was adequately lit with torches. We found our way pretty quickly to a tavern. Before entering the tavern, I covered my face and put my hood up, hoping not to have another issue with someone wanting to monopolize my magic.

  The tavern had the same heavy, crudely cut furniture, dim lighting, and pretty women, but the air was somewhat somber. I approached the man at the bar, ignoring how everyone was staring at Merlin as if he was a monster. “Good evening. My name is Ayden, and this is Merlin. We’re traveling and couldn’t help but to notice that the village north of here was burned down. Do you know why?”

  He nodded. “A lot of the survivors came to us for help.”

  “Survivors? There were deaths?”

  He frowned. “Yes, unfortunately.”

  “Why didn’t anyone stop it with magic?” Non-magic users were more likely to stay together in villages than magic users, but there were very few villages that were completely magic-free.

  “A lot of them aren’t magic users, and they were overwhelmed too quickly. We don’t know what it was, but one person said she saw a dragon.”

  “A dragon?! Wow!”

  “Don’t say that with so much admiration here,” he scolded. “We were often terrorized by dragons before they were extinct. Some of the best dragon hunters were born out of Tetaryn.”

  Merlin growled and bared his fangs, causing everyone to take a few steps back. “You probably don’t want to talk about killing dragons around Merlin. He was raised by a dragon. He doesn’t think they’re as amazing as I do, though. So, if it was a dragon, why would one come here?”

  “Dragons love to cause destruction. What more reason do they need?”

  I spoke to a few, though, and I didn’t think they attacked without cause. Besides, if they were trying to cause chaos, it wouldn’t have been limited to one little village. “Was one of the survivors a little girl named Blue Lecros?”

  His expression darkened and he hesitated before answering. “No. She didn’t make it.”

  “What about her parents?”

  “She didn’t have parents. She was found abandoned in the forest when she was a baby.”

  “Who was taking care of her? Someone must have been protecting her.”

  He shook his head. “I’m afraid not. The reason I’ve heard of her is that she was… sort of a freak. Everyone thought she was a witch at first. Then, when she was eight, her friend upset her and she cursed him.”

  I winced, realizing where this was going. It was perfectly fine for a person to be a
wizard or sorcerer, but not both. “Are you sure she wasn’t a sorceress with oddly light hair?”

  “According to the other villagers, she had only done light magic up until then. Corina, the woman who raised her, asked all the surrounding villages for help. That ended up hurting her worse because everyone knew she was a---”

  “Stop!” I interrupted. “No one has the right to call anyone else a freak.” My brothers had called me a wizard, a mage, and even a walking embarrassment, but they never called me a freak. Of course, I never purposefully used wizardry back then, either. It didn’t matter that the man had no idea what I was or that I had a new purpose for my magic. I was angry for myself, angry for Blue, and angry for every single person who was born with the wrong power. Everyone should have the choice to be good or not.

  He frowned at me as if I was insane. “She could do sorcery and wizardry. That is completely ridiculous, not to mention against everything we know about magic. Without rules of magic, we would have---”

  “Have what? The freedom to be who we want to be?”

  “We’d have anarchy! Sorcerers don’t have white magic, and wizards don’t have black magic! Next you’ll think mages should raise the dead and magicians should see the future!”

  Anger was now filling me with fire and stirring my magic into a vicious storm inside me.

  “Ayden, he is not your enemy,” Merlin said. “He believes as he was taught to believe, and you approached him with opposing views. You need not accept his faith, but you must respect it. As free as you are to choose darkness or light, he is free to choose hatred or tolerance.”

  I focused very hard on Merlin’s words and, slowly, the anger started to settle. He was right, after all; the innkeeper was not responsible for the prejudice Blue or I faced. I opened my mouth to apologize, but the innkeeper wasn’t done.

  “It’s a good thing Blue Lecros didn’t make it out of the fire! If she were to spread that abhorrent magic, who knows what chaos will follow?”

  “Never mind what I said; anyone who wishes the death of a little girl is your enemy,” Merlin said.