The Raven's Curse

by Rain Oxford

  Sven laughed. “I’m not afraid of the dark. There is nothing lurking in the night that there isn’t in the day.”

  “Except for vampires, but I see your point. Just don’t argue with Houda.”

  “I’m too tired to argue. Besides, I only argue with her to keep her mind off the castle.” He left before I could ask him what he meant.

  “The castle?” I asked Merlin.

  “I believe he is referring to what she left behind.”

  “What did she leave behind?”

  He frowned at me like I was joking, and when I didn’t say anything, he sighed. “You really have not spent a lot of time with women, have you?”

  “My mother’s a woman… but no, I avoided her as much as possible.”

  “Houda is leaving behind someone she loves. You did not hear her crying herself to sleep last night?”

  “No. Still, that’s a huge assumption. Besides, why was she in such a hurry to leave if there was someone she loved?”

  “Just because you love someone, does not mean they love you back. It might be that the one she loves is married, does not care for her, or simply cannot return her feelings.”

  “Oh. That’s bad. Still, it’s only been two days. She can’t miss him that bad.”

  “Hours are like days to lovers parted. I am going for a walk,” Merlin said. He was going to go howl at the moons.

  A moment later, I was alone and I couldn’t shake the feeling it was my fault. I practiced the language lessons that Merlin taught me.

  * * *

  “Ayden, wake up.”

  I opened my eyes and realized I had fallen asleep on the floor with my head in my book. “How was your howl?”

  “Peaceful, unfulfilling, and somewhat lonely. Back when the curse was first inflicted on me, you were watching Nimue receive the syrus. I was discovering the implications of the curse.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I always felt like Vinr was more connected to nature than other creatures. What I discovered on that night is that wolves are more like the embodiment of nature. Maybe all creatures can feel the presence of the moon, or maybe they each represent a different divinity. Either way, I felt like the moon was protecting me.”

  “So, when you howl to the moons, it’s because you feel unsafe?”

  “The moons of Caldaca are foreign to me. Nevertheless, I howl because I hope that Nimue can somehow hear me through the moon’s power. There is very little about love that makes sense. It is the most wonderful, exhilarating, and sometimes painful force in the universe. It can make a man as strong and brave as a god or as weak and timid as a mouse. I can teach you magic, wisdom, mathematics, and language, but I cannot explain what it feels like to love.”

  “I love… reading. And I read books about people who love.”

  “And to some degree, you experience life through those books. On some worlds, books are mass produced and everyone can read. On other worlds, only the few can read and only the most precious books are written. One form of literature that survives on all worlds is poetry. The most joyous and the most agonizing poems are both about love, and you cannot truly appreciate either unless you have experienced love itself.”

  I put my book away, got in bed, and faced the wall. “I get it. You love Nimue.”

  “Does my lecture about love make you uncomfortable?”

  “I don’t know. Usually, when you talk, I like to listen as much as I can pay attention. Now I just feel…”

  “It is the curse.”

  “In that case, I’m sorry.”

  “You have nothing to be sorry for. However, that is not the reason I woke you. Houda is not in her room.”

  “Maybe she’s out in the bathhouse with Sven.”

  “I checked. She was not there, either.”

  “Well, let’s worry about it in the morning.”

  “They could have been attacked. Time is of the essence.”

  “Did you feel the presence of terrible, dark magic?”

  “No. However, I was quite far away.”

  “If my mother was here, we would know.” As I drifted off to sleep, I could have sworn I’d heard someone knocking, but it must have been the wind, because Merlin clearly hadn’t heard it.

  * * *

  I saw a very blurry image of my mother stirring something in her cauldron. This time, I was in Merlin’s mind, but I wasn’t seeing through his eyes. Two people approached my mother; a young woman with dark hair and a middle-aged man who was too thin. I didn’t think I recognized either of them, but it was way too blurry to be sure.

  “Kalyn, did you succeed?” my mother asked.

  “Of course. Ayden reacted to the giant rabbit exactly as I suspected.”

  “Excellent. Sotis, what about you?”

  “My task was not so easy. It turns out the dead are naturally repelled from elementalists, so a zombie army is useless against Ayden as long as he is with his friends.”

  “Then separate them. We need him alive.”

  Chapter 16

  I woke to the sensation of being watched. Merlin was asleep on Sven’s bed while a raven perched upon the nightstand, staring intently at Merlin. “Merlin?” I whispered. The wolf didn’t stir. “What do you want? Why do you keep following us?”

  He perched, and stared, and nothing more.

  Then the stillness was broken as the raven suddenly cawed loudly. I was certain it would wake Merlin, yet even then, he didn’t move. When I reached for my staff, the raven cawed again, startling me. My hand jerked and the staff clattered to the ground. This time, Merlin woke… and the raven vanished in a puff of black smoke.

  “Is something wrong?”

  “No,” I lied. I was more bothered by the raven vanishing than I was about it being in the room in the first place. “Did you have a dream of Sotic and Kalyn teaming up against us?”

  “Yes.”

  “Was it real?”

  “Yes. It has either happened already or it will soon.”

  “Let’s go find Houda and Sven.” Merlin agreed readily and we went to Houda’s room. Her bed was made and everything looked in order, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. The darkness told me to ignore it and move on, but I knew I couldn’t listen to that. “Should I use my magic to search the room or save it?”

  “I hate to risk it. My nose is not very helpful right now, as the entire room smells like Houda and Sven. Save your magic for now and we will return if we find no other clues.”

  We returned to the tavern’s main room to find it completely deserted. The colorful furniture and cheerful décor was also gone. There were still tables, but they were brown. “What happened?”

  “I suspect we do not really want to know.”

  Outside, the changes were even stranger; all the flowers had withered and shrunk into thorny vines, the babbling brook had turned blood-red, and there wasn’t a single person in sight. Even the stores were closed down.

  Part of me acknowledged that this was creepy, but the darkness didn’t care. “Maybe something completely unrelated to my mother got them.”

  “Perhaps.”

  We returned to our room to grab my stuff and a candle. When we left the room and opened the door to the tavern, I gaped. The room that had been empty just a moment before was now filled with people… all dressed in white.

  And they were all smiling at us.

  “What’s going on?” I asked, my voice the only sound in the room.

  A young woman with puffy blond hair and bright red lips stepped forth. “Welcome! We’re celebrating. Won’t you join us?”

  “What are you celebrating?”

  “You, of course!”

  “Why?”

  “Well, we were planning on celebrating your friends as well, but they’re already gone.”

  “Where did they go?”

  “So many questions. Sit, relax, and have some dinner.” She grabbed my arm and pulled me into the crowd, where more hands forced me towards the table. M
erlin growled, but the sound turned to shock as she stroked his head lovingly. “Oh, you behave now. You’re invited as well, but we only celebrate magic users like your wizard master, here.”

  Merlin bared his fangs once more in protest and followed me closely. I was forcefully sat at a table piled high with bread, soups, vegetables, potatoes, fruits, and sweets. “Oh! I get it. You like to throw parties, don’t you? And I bet you don’t get enough visitors to keep it exciting.”

  The blond woman tapped my nose, something not even my brothers would dare to do, especially since I was known to bite on occasion. “Precisely!” she said excitedly.

  I shivered.

  “Well, I really need to find my friends.”

  “There will be plenty of time to look for your friends later. Eat up. You’re skin and bones.”

  “Do not eat anything,” Merlin warned.

  “What do I say? I don’t want to offend them.”

  “Tell them you are dieting.”

  “Sorry… I can’t eat anything because I’m dieting.”

  The woman didn’t bat an eye. Instead, she pushed a plate of broccoli at me. “Even better. We have all the broccoli you can eat.”

  Several people licked their lips and other people were gazing at the plate like they hadn’t eaten in a month. “I can’t eat after dark. You know… wizards and their— I mean our traditions. I think it should be shared among all of the residents.”

  “Nonsense. We can’t eat food.”

  “You can’t? What do you…” and then I glanced around and saw what I had missed before.

  Fangs.

  Lots and lots of sharp fangs were peeking out from between their lips.

  “Oh, no. You’re all vampires!”

  “Of course we are. Now eat.”

  “But you don’t look like vampires.”

  “That’s not very nice to say.”

  “Sorry. But if you’re vampires, why do you want me to eat broccoli? If it’s my last meal, don’t I get to choose what I eat? Why can’t I have steak?” Every vampire simultaneously gagged.

  “Steak?! Yuck! Why would you want steak? That’s so bad for you! Don’t you know meat is murder? Your body is meant to live on a plant-based diet.” She rolled her eyes. “Otherwise there wouldn’t be so many proteins that aren’t meat!”

  I gasped with shock and hope. “You mean… you’re a vegetarian?”

  “Of course! We are all vegetarian vampires!”

  Merlin made a sound I couldn’t really identify.

  “Oh, thank goodness. I’m so relieved! I thought you were going to eat me.”

  They all laughed. The blond laughed so hard tears rolled down her cheeks. “Eat you! That’s hilarious! Of course we’re going to eat you! Why else would you be here?”

  I was so not laughing. “But you just said you were a vegetarian.”

  She stopped laughing and rolled her eyes again as if I was the biggest idiot on Caldaca. I wondered for a moment if I switched places with Sven. “We’re vegetarian vampires. Obviously, that means we only eat vegetarians.”

  “That’s not what that means at all. Merlin, tell them that’s not what it means.”

  “I am just relieved they do not sparkle in sunlight.”

  “That’s another thing! I saw you all in the sunlight. How did you not burn?”

  “That’s a funny story,” one of the vampires said.

  “Should we tell him before or after we eat him?” another vampire asked.

  “Wait! You can’t eat me; I’m not a vegetarian.”

  “Of course you’re a vegetarian.”

  “No, I’m most definitely not, nor have I ever been, a vegetarian. I love meat. I eat it all the time. People say I’m a freak because I eat so much meat. Believe me, you don’t want my blood. I’m the most carnivorous meat-eater you’ve ever met. I eat meat on top of meat with a side of meat, dipped in meat sauce, and sometimes I even have second helpings of meat.”

  “That is overkill,” Merlin warned me.

  “Really?” the blond asked. Suddenly, the vampires didn’t look to sure of drinking my blood. “You should be a vegetarian. You have no idea how bad meat is for you.”

  I was able to move enough to stand and back away slowly. I gave her my best laugh of agreement, which actually came out as a nervous, almost hysterical chuckle. “Well, it’s my guilty pleasure, but if I ever change my mind, I’ll be sure to come back.”

  “Oh, please do,” one of the vampires said.

  “What about the wolf? Is he a vegetarian?” another vampire asked.

  Merlin snarled. “Hold out your arm and we shall find out.”

  “Wait. I thought wizards were all vegetarians,” the blond said.

  I almost groaned; I had forgotten to hide my face and hair. “No, that’s a complete myth.” Merlin growled as they started surrounding us again. Apparently, they would swallow all the lies, but they weren’t going to take the truth. After all, I knew Magnus ate meat… sometimes. “But before I go,” I said quickly, trying to distract them. “Weren’t you going to explain why you can go out in sunlight?”

  The blond shrugged. “We might as well. Our entire town is under a curse.”

  “This is the problem with a society that is built on magic,” Merlin said unhelpfully.

  “What kind of curse?”

  “By day, we’re people. By night, we’re vampires.”

  “Okay, that makes sense.” It also explained why they didn’t look like vampires.

  “On what planet?” Merlin asked.

  “Um… on this one.”

  “Now that we’ve told you the story, it’s time to eat you.”

  “But I told you I wasn’t a vegetarian.”

  “That’s a lie. We all know wizards are vegetarians.”

  “Okay… but I’m not a wizard, either. I’m a sorcerer.” Once again, they laughed. “No, seriously, I’m just… under a disguise.”

  “You aren’t the brightest little wizard, are you?” the blond asked. “Vampires can see through all disguises, like we saw through your girlfriend’s disguise.”

  “Girlfriend? Houda? Gross.”

  “Sorcerers and princes…” Merlin muttered.

  “I look like a wizard, but I’m not. I’ll prove it!” I held up my staff. Distraction.

  Magic poured out of me, I felt a sharp sting in my chest, and screams echoed off the walls as every vampire’s pants fell. “You have got to stop letting your staff decide what spell to use,” Merlin said as we both took off running for the door. We made it outside of town without having to stop, but by then I was completely out of breath.

  I leaned against a tree and tried to get my breathing under control. The pain in my lungs was actually worse than the sting in my chest. “Okay, we’ll rest for a few minutes and then figure out how to find Houda and Sven. Do you think the vampires got them?”

  “No.”

  If only Houda had dropped something in her room, we could have used it to track her. “Maybe Mason can transport himself to one of them. He saw Houda in the mirror.”

  “Using the mirror requires magic on your part.”

  I sighed. “Fine. What else do you suggest?”

  “I believe something went wrong, but it is just as likely that Houda decided to return to her kingdom and Sven went with her.”

  “If she wanted to get out of there so much in the first place, why go back without even saying anything to us?”

  “Love is complicated.”

  While we headed north towards Houda’s kingdom, Merlin told me more stories about the trouble that he and Gmork got into.

  * * *

  By the time the sun was high in the sky, I knew Merlin’s stories were no longer working. I was so irritable I didn’t want to listen. I told this to Merlin as politely as I could.

  “I can try to distract you from your problems, but ultimately, you must decide to overcome your sullen mood.”

  I groaned. “I’m trying. I’m tired of walking. Why did Kirin hav
e to run off?”

  “Perhaps he is not as tolerant as me.”

  “I’m going to use the mirror.” Before I could pull it out, Merlin’s ears perked.

  “Something is coming.”

  The darkness grew even stronger as I groaned with frustration. There was no point at all in trying to keep a good mood. “There’s always something coming! And it’s never good. Why can’t we go a day without getting attacked, or followed by ravens, or threatened by my mother, or---”

  “Ayden, we should run.”

  “No. I’m tired of running. I’ll kill it with magic.”

  “You have already used too much magic. Darkness is easier to give in to than it is to resist.”

  I wanted to argue, but I also didn’t. I knew it was the curse or whatever that was making me into a sorcerer. Everyone told me I was stubborn, but I wasn’t difficult like this before. I sometimes argued with Merlin when I thought I was right. This time, however, I didn’t think I was right; I was arguing for the sake of arguing. My brothers truly believed that the person who was right was the one yelling the loudest.

  And that was what I was doing. I was fighting the only one who had my best interests at heart. Anyone else would have told me to give in to the sorcery and use it to defeat my enemies. Merlin knew I didn’t want to be like my brothers.

  “I don’t know how to fight it.”

  “You cannot run from it.”

  “I’m talking about whatever is coming our way. Without using magic, I’m really not good at fighting.”

  “Oh. That, we can run from.” Merlin took off into the woods and I followed, hoping he knew the right direction.

  “It sure would help to have a unicorn right now!” I yelled as we ran. Merlin was purposefully keeping his pace slow so that I didn’t fall too far behind. If I wasn’t there to slow him down, he could easily outrun most monsters.

  Several times, I heard movement right behind me as the creature crushed sticks and snapped branches in its path. It wasn’t until I heard the hissing that I knew we were in serious trouble; it was the giant snake that had attacked Sven.

  I didn’t see what made Merlin stop until I tripped over a root and rolled past him. When I looked up, my stomach rebelled. We were in front of a creepy old cabin and all the trees around it were dead. This was a warning I recognized as easily as the fairy circle.