The Raven's Curse

by Rain Oxford

  * * *

  The next ten days were utterly miserable. Besides being seasick, I was constantly worried about Ayden. I was worried that he was getting worse, that he received mortal injuries, and that he was all alone. I refused to even consider that he did face his mother and was already dead. It helped that I was pretty sure I would have sensed it if he had been killed.

  Still, I hated leaving him.

  My dreams didn’t help. I kept trying to see if Ayden was safe, or at least reach his mind, but all I saw was him asleep in bed. Either my dreams were acting up again, or the young sorcerer was comatose.

  By the time we reached Akadema, I was willing to try to defeat Ilvera with my teeth and claws. Of course, I knew better than that. Ilvera would be difficult, even with my magic at full-force. While I knew I could do it, it wouldn’t be easy, especially if Kille stood in my way.

  As the ramp lowered, Bloodbath said something about helping, but I wasn’t paying much attention. The pirates would just have slowed me down. Before the ramp was fully lowered, I ran down it, ignoring Bloodbath’s shouts to wait for him. I was pretty wobbly, but I ran anyway.

  I still knew it was going to take days to find Ilvera. I was afraid that Ayden wouldn’t have days. I retraced the path Ayden and I had used to leave Akadema. I ran all the way to the castle ruins where the young sorcerer had fought his own monkey monster. I stopped there for a rest and discovered that the village had been rebuilt around the ruins.

  When he was there, Ayden was still trying to be a malevolent sorcerer and had created a monster as frightening as he could, but only with the help of a staff full of dark magic. Unfortunately, his unbounded staff caused the creature to escape Ayden’s control and Ayden had to chase it down. He found it terrorizing the village. I wasn’t there at the time, so I only had stories to go on, but the young sorcerer and the monster had accidentally destroyed a tower containing a dragon’s treasure, consequently showering the town with gold and jewels.

  Why the rich people would rebuild their little huts around the ruins of a castle, I didn’t know. The people did look happy, though. It was midday and people were busy with their daily routines. Most people were working, but many of them laughed and chatted while they did. I stopped at a small market because I smelled rice. I haven’t seen rice since escaping the syrus. It wasn’t my favorite food by any means, but the scent reminded me of home.

  Not that I really had a home.

  I travelled so much that I wasn’t sure I still remembered the portal to the world I was born on. Or, maybe I did and I just didn’t want to remember. For many years, I had the ability to make a portal that would not only send me back to my world, but also back to when Caedmon was alive. It wouldn’t have even caused a paradox because I was trapped in the cave at the time. I never did, though.

  I was trapped because I was foolish and arrogant. I didn’t want to admit that to Caedmon. I also didn’t want to see him knowing he wasn’t going to be around forever. He was a warrior who I had always thought would withstand anything. But nobody could withstand time. Nobody except the dragons.

  Even though I was immortal, time was changing me. Sometimes it was a change I liked, but it always ended with me alone. If I returned to Caedmon, Brynjar, Cennuth, and Vinr, I knew I would eventually lose them again, and it would be even harder the second time. I just wished they knew back then that I was alive so they didn’t worry about me.

  “Hello, wolf. You look so sad,” the woman running the market said. I had gotten so caught up in my reminiscing that people were staring at me. I didn’t try to answer her, I just turned to walk away. “Wait. I didn’t mean to scare you off. Here, have some food.” She held out a compacted ball of rice and I took it from her hand, swallowing it whole. Wolf teeth were meant for tearing, not chewing. She laughed and held out a second ball. “You must be really hungry. I thought wolves only ate meat.”

  They were carnivores, but they could also eat fruit and vegetables. Since becoming a wolf, meat was the only thing I had a taste for. Strangely enough, the rice did taste good nonetheless. Maybe the curse is unraveling. When Ayden created it, he did so with good intentions and desperation. Both were conducive in shaking this curse.

  Before I realized it, I had eaten four more balls of rice. When she started to get another one out, I licked her hand. It wasn’t proper behavior, but I couldn’t thank her with words. She then set a bowl of water on the ground and got back to work. It was extremely frustrating to be without my magic, but it was even more frustrating to be unable to express politeness.

  I left after that and resumed a steady pace. By about an hour before sunset, I reached the Dark Forest and stopped to consider my options. I had chastised Ayden for choosing the shortcut through the forest over taking the long, safe passage around it. We had been captured by elves.

  With a deep sigh, I stepped into the forest. This time, I wasn’t as likely to run into elves… because it was troll season.

  Chapter 19

  I was cautious for the first hour, but as the sun set, small critters came out. Since they were natives of the forest, I trusted them to know when danger was afoot. As I ran, I considered what I would do once I reached Ilvera. I had to try to help Ayden, even if I was too late.

  A soft snapping of some rope was my only warning before a noose tightened around my foot. I stumbled, twisting my leg painfully. I hadn’t used this type of trap before, but I knew the concept. I bit the rope and tore at the fibers, snarling like a feral wolf. It hadn’t escaped my notice that as my psychic dreams got clearer, so did my wolf instincts. Howling to the moon had become a habit.

  Before I could work the rope loose, I sensed something advance on me. Five somethings, to be exact. All of the critters I heard before were gone and it was utterly silent… until the five trolls surrounded me. Most worlds had legendary monsters or creatures in fantasy, but not many were real, so I had never actually seen a troll before. On Caldaca, where magic was common, there were an abundance of magical monsters and creatures, and I was starting to think every single one of them was real.

  These trolls were shaped like very large, obese men with little heads and little hands. I growled at the largest one. A thousand spells ran through my mind and not a single one did me any good because I didn’t have magic.

  The troll laughed. “Little wolf has pretty teeth. I have pretty teeth, too.” He pulled a long, thick necklace from inside his shirt. It was a string of wolf teeth.

  I took a few steps back and tried to watch all of them at once. My plan was to attack as soon as they cut me loose. Assuming they cut me loose before killing me, assuming my fangs could even penetrate their skin, and assuming they didn’t hit me with a…

  I was in trouble.

  A strange whistling sound made all five trolls freeze right before, to my utter shock, an elf dropped out of a tree and landed in front of me. The creature was about four feet tall, very thin, and wearing clothes made of leaves and vines, with pointed ears, long, braided, dark brown hair, and dark, beady eyes.

  I growled at the elf, preparing myself for yet another opponent.

  “Mind your manners, wizard,” the elf sneered, “or I will let the trolls make you into stew.”

  I didn’t recognize the elf, but I did recognize the voice; he was the one who convinced the elven leader to use me to force Ayden to uphold his promise. He almost got me killed. On the other hand, he was part of the same tribe that owed Ayden. Obviously, that was the only reason the creature was reluctantly helping me.

  As soon as one of the trolls took a step away, the elf reached towards my foot with a knife made from sharpened stone. I snarled, but was silent. He cut the rope and I took off running, right past the troll, and out of the forest. Only then did I slow down.

  * * *

  The Rynorm family lived in a small cabin nestled between a cluster of mountains. These mountains were about half naturally formed, half shaped by dragons. Shaerl Rynorm was probably the toughest woman I’d ever met. The dragons
showed her respect and her sons never got away with anything. The family was perfect for raising dragons; they were responsible, willing to kill their enemies, and mentally stable. There was no family backstabbing or drama. They fought together and for each other against their enemies, but they never tried to hurt each other or the dragons.

  One of the largest caves in the cluster was the nest, where dragon eggs were allowed to hatch naturally. After a few days, when they became dangerous to the other eggs, they were taken to the next largest cave, which served as the nursery. There, one of the dragons and Malaki, the oldest Rynorm son, would teach the dragon hatchlings the way of the world, including how to hide from people. Dragons aged slowly, but they grew quickly, so it wasn’t easy for the Rynorm family to provide space for them. Every time a dragon created his own cave, he risked bringing down the entire mountain. Thus, when the dragons were five years old, they were encouraged to leave and make their own way in the world. About half of them returned within the next three years and they were welcomed. The world had outgrown dragons.

  I never got to see the nest or nursery myself, only one of the young sentries, but I could hear them in their caves. I only visited the family to get information on raising a hatchling anyway. The main thing I learned was that I couldn’t do it. Hatchlings had way too many needs for me to be able to handle.

  Since I got information from them, they wanted to know what other worlds were like, so I was told to stay for dinner. I couldn’t very well refuse. The entire family ate together, as well as a young lady named Livia, who had only been with them for a few months. Livia was hiding with the family because her sister tried to kill her. Despite being blond and blue-eyed, she was a sorceress.

  I would have offered to take her to another world if I wasn’t pretty certain she had a crush on Kille.

  Just as I was leaving, Ilvera arrived. She was only a year older than Livia and about as arrogant as a person could be. The fact that she entered another sorceress’s territory without permission nearly got her killed. Every Rynorm son was just waiting for their mother’s command to kill her, but Shaerl let her speak.

  Ilvera said she came to get her sister. Livia hid behind Kille, because despite having much more power than Ilvera, she didn’t want to fight. Shaerl told her that Livia was welcome to stay as long as she wanted. Ilvera did not take that well. Although she did leave, I knew she would be back.

  * * *

  I barely recognized one of the cities I passed, for it had previously been cluttered with a seer tournament. When I reached Vactarus’s mansion, I didn’t even slow down. Vactarus was my friend, but being unable to insult him would just be too awkward. No good would come of such a detour. After that, I found the spot where I had first met Ayden. I rested there for a few hours.

  Although exhaustion prevented my rest from being peaceful, at least I was able to get some sleep. When I woke, I hunted down small, slow prey so as to not waste energy. As soon as I was ready, I got back on the road.

  Unfortunately, the young sorcerer’s scent was long since gone. However, I knew that he lived about three and a half days south. When I got close enough, I would be able to sense his mother.

  * * *

  I ran all day and only took a break when I really had to. By the time night fell, I could sense the magic of an extremely malevolent sorceress. It had occurred to me that the woman could be a lot more dangerous than she was when I first met her, especially since she got Livia’s magic. However, I was more than a hundred years older than her and I truly believed what I told Ayden; darkness could be defeated with light.

  This darkness led me to a place in the woods just as night was falling. This was not a natural clearing. There was a shallow, circular trench about two feet deep and two feet wide. The circle was about twelve feet in diameter. Inside this circle, five raised stones served as seats around an altar. Ilvera Dracre stood at the altar, surrounded by Sven Brooks, Sotis Drsys, Kalyn Goldom, and Zelli Taorec. I was mostly surprised to see Zelli there.

  Of course, Houda Ameri was there as well, but I was inclined to doubt her involvement seeing as how she was bound, gagged, and unconscious at Ilvera’s feet. Since her illusions were down, I could see her secret as plain as day, just as I had suspected.

  “So, you failed,” the sorceress accused.

  Sven and Kalyn grasped hands and bowed their heads. “Not entirely,” Sven insisted. “Ayden had to use a lot of magic to get out of our trap. He really went insane.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean?”

  “His eyes went red, his staff turned scary, and he started attacking anyone in his path.”

  “Then that was the time to capture him!”

  “He was too dangerous. Besides, you said he would come to you.”

  “He should have. He should have already come to try to steal my magic.”

  “Maybe he broke the curse,” Zelli suggested.

  “Not possible. I cursed his heart— the core of his magic. There is no way to break it, and once he’s reached the point where his eyes turned red, there is no fighting it. My sister must be stopping him from coming to me.”

  “What happens if he doesn’t come to you?”

  “He will. Even if he has to kill my sister to do so, he will want my power.”

  “Have you done this curse on someone before?”

  “I haven’t, but I have seen it before.”

  “Why do we need him so much? He didn’t seem all that powerful when I met him,” Zelli said.

  “You were deceived. Ayden is a lot more powerful than even he knows.”

  “So, you took a man who was virtually harmless and made him deadly, violent, and out of control so that he would come after you?” Sotis asked.

  “I changed him from useless to a powerhouse who has no idea how to fight. He’s never even held a sword in his life.”

  “Actually, he was pretty impressive with his staff,” Kalyn said.

  Ilvera frowned thoughtfully. “Surely no one has been teaching him combat. You must have seen it wrong. You and Sven failed at your one and only assignment, so I wouldn’t expect you to recognize real fighting skills, either.”

  “You told me that if I forced Ayden to use magic, I could have an equal share of his power,” Sven said. “Then you told me to also capture Houda because we could use her as bait, so my work got harder. Then I found out you brought in more people, so my payout got smaller. Then you wanted me to capture Ayden, knowing that he was going to go on a killing rampage. I’m starting to think your intention was to get rid of me all along.”

  “Silence! You dare accuse me of---”

  “Being a sorceress?” Sotis interrupted. “I think he is, and I agree. None of us should trust you for an instant. We will work with you because we like your offer, not because we think you’ll stick to it without encouragement. I also think the four of us together could defeat you.”

  “Then you plan to betray me as soon as I do the work of killing Ayden?” Ilvera asked, not sounding particularly concerned.

  “Not at all. That isn’t the offer I’m interested in, which is why I’m not worried about capturing Ayden. Why work so hard to take the power of one person when we can band together and rule the world? Magic is starting to fade, for whatever reason, and we’re completely unaffected. I want to find out why, and then I want to steal as much power as I can before everyone else loses it.”

  “Doesn’t that mean your magic will fade?” Kalyn asked Ilvera.

  She grinned. “I have a plan to prevent that. None of you need to worry for my sake.”

  I highly doubted any of the present Sjau were worried about her wellbeing.

  “Can you send her elsewhere? That’s really starting to bother me,” Sven said, pointing at Houda.

  Ilvera rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers. The magician vanished. “Now, I don’t care if you want to kill half the population of Caldaca. I want Ayden. Stop wasting time. Bring him to me alive, or I’m going to start picking you off inste
ad.”

  Sven and Kalyn immediately stood, so I crept back into the forest. I would have tracked Kille’s power back to their home, but it was much better hidden. After a few minutes, Ilvera made her way through the woods, so I followed. I didn’t have any magic for her to detect, but I still stayed as hidden and quiet as I could.

  Soon, we reached a small cabin made of stone and covered with red ivy. Since there had been nine people living in this cabin, I figured it was larger on the inside. Dimensional transcendentalism was surprisingly common on Caldaca, although everyone just called it magic. Standing in front of the cabin was Kille Rynorm, and he was staring right at me.

  “What are you doing?” Ilvera asked him. “I thought you were going to visit your family.”

  He turned to her and his eyes darkened. “I will. First, we need to discuss what you’ve done to my son.”

  He wasn’t going to turn me in.

  “We’ve already discussed it relentlessly. I told you when Zues and Bev were born that you could do anything you wanted with the first six, but the last one was mine to do with what I will.”

  “You said it, but I never agreed to it.”

  “Well, you weren’t complaining when I cursed him.”

  “No, I didn’t. I honestly didn’t believe it would go this far.”

  “You know the raven’s curse is unbreakable.”

  “You underestimate my son,” Kille said. Ilvera laughed cruelly. “Believe it or not, you’ve made a major mistake making him your enemy.”

  “You’re just as foolish as he is sometimes.”

  “How long do you think it will take for the Sjau to catch onto your plan?”

  “They’re all idiots, except Sven, who will do whatever I say as long as he wants his wife to continue breathing.”

  “And when you get all fourteen of the Sjau together so that you can syphon their powers through Ayden, do you think their friends and families are just going to run away in fear?”