The Raven's Curse

by Rain Oxford

  “You stay out of this!” she yelled at him. My father grabbed her arm and they both vanished.

  “Do we stay or go?” Kalyn asked.

  “I’m not working for Ilvera anymore,” Sotis said.

  Sven grabbed Kalyn and Sotis’s arms and then they all vanished. Kalyn and Sotis were definitely not sorcerers.

  “Now we’re even,” Zelli said before she, too, vanished.

  The silence was awkward. Everyone was either worn out or injured. Rita, who was bleeding from a cut on her forehead, hugged Houda right before she, Houda, and the baby vanished. “Are you two okay?” Thaddeus asked.

  I nodded. “Give Merlin and me a moment.” Mason and his brothers took everyone home, leaving Merlin and me alone. “I don’t think we won this time,” I said.

  “We cannot win every battle. However, remember that we went through this to stop your mother from killing any of the Sjau, not to kill her.”

  I nodded. “But we didn’t. She still got to Blue before we could.”

  “Fortunately for me, she did,” said a voice. We turned back to the cabin to see a young girl about ten standing in front of it. I recognized her face.

  “Blue! I thought you were dead!”

  “Too bad. Ilvera saved me. She raised her wand at me threateningly, but she was shaking. “Put the staff down.” When I didn’t move, she shot a blast of energy that narrowly missed me. “Do it!”

  “Okay. Just be careful.” I slowly set down the staff.

  “Step away from it, but don’t come any closer to me.”

  I did as she asked. “I’m not here to hurt you.”

  “You’re lying.” She shook harder. “I know what you did, and I know why you’re here.”

  “What I did? What did I do?”

  “You know what you did!” she yelled. “You burned down my village to kill me, and now you’re here to finish me off.”

  “No! I didn’t attack your village!”

  “You deny that you were there?”

  “No… I was there, but I went there to save you from her. I didn’t get there until after it had burned down and you were gone.”

  “You’re lying!” She reached into the interior pocket of her robe and pulled out my wand. “I saw you myself. I saw you through the window of my house, and I saw you drop this when my mother attacked you. Do you deny this is your wand?”

  “No, it’s my wand, but it was stolen. I went there to warn you that Ilvera Dracre is after you.”

  “I know all about Ilvera.”

  “You do?”

  “She saved me. She told me everything.”

  “Whatever she told you, it was a lie.”

  “You’re the liar! She’s my mother!”

  I gaped until Merlin nudged me in the back. “That’s impossible. It’s another lie she told you to control you.”

  “It’s not! She told me that you took me from her when I was a baby because you were jealous of my power. She said she sent my bothers after you and they stopped you from killing me, but that they couldn’t find me. Why did you do it? I never did anything to you.” Tears rolled down her cheeks.

  I felt for her, because I knew my mother could be very convincing. This girl only knew what she was told, and she believed I was the one who destroyed her village. After all, she had my wand, which explained what happened to it. The question was, how did she see me do something I didn’t do and be somewhere I wasn’t?

  “Blue, I know this is hard to hear, but she lied to you. She’s not your mother, she’s mine, and she never---”

  “You’re still lying!” she screamed. “You said yourself that Livia Dracre was your mother! I saw you when you were with Rocana!”

  I groaned. “Does everyone have magic mirrors? I thought they were rare. I know it’s difficult to believe, but you must realize that she’s a very dangerous and malevolent sorceress. Ilvera Dracre is my mother, although I often wish she wasn’t. You have to trust me. She wants to kill you and take your dark magic.”

  She shook her head furiously. “That’s not true. She’s the only one who accepts me for who I am.”

  “She doesn’t. I know because I’m---”

  “You don’t know what it’s like not to have a family! You don’t know what it’s like to live in fear of everyone finding out that you’re different.”

  I knew I had to be careful of what I said. Even though we were the same in many ways, that didn’t mean she wanted to hear it. She thought I tried to kill her. My mother’s lies were the only answers she’d ever had, so of course she would believe them. “You and I aren’t that different. If you would let me---”

  “I’m not going to let you continue lying to me!” I saw resolve in her eyes and started to reach for my staff, even though I knew it was too late. The red magic shot at me like lightning and I wasn’t even fast enough to get out of the way.

  Merlin was a lot faster than me.

  Before I realized he was moving, he was halfway to Blue and intercepted the magic. He hit the ground and rolled without trying to stop himself. “Merlin!” I rushed to his side, ignoring the fact that I was completely open to Blue. I checked his pulse and didn’t feel anything. He wasn’t even breathing.

  As if it knew exactly what to do, my magic called to my wand, which shot out of Blue’s hand into mine. When I touched it, I realized what I had to do. Without the curse over him, Merlin was immortal. I had to remove it.

  And the only way to do that in time to possibly save him was to take it into myself. I wasn’t gentle about it because I was in danger either way. I felt the curse in him, but it wasn’t easy. I had to go on instincts to figure out what energy was Merlin’s and what wasn’t. Of course, this shouldn’t have been the case, because Merlin shouldn’t have had magic.

  Instead of focusing on the curse inside him, I focused on what I thought was his magic. It was dangerous, but not aggressive. I tried to use this to find the source of it. Unfortunately, the curse was way too strong and blocked me at every turn. Somehow I knew that if I could access his magic, I could use it like he used mine and break the curse from the inside out.

  Just as I thought I was about to succeed, Blue struck me with the same curse that she had hit Merlin with and pain filled my body. I managed to look up at her and saw fear fill her eyes. Right before I lost consciousness, I felt something move behind me.

  * * *

  I was kneeling in front of a dark cave at the base of a mountain. At first, I thought this was another dream of Merlin’s childhood, but I was able to move and when I looked down at myself, it was definitely me. “What’s going on?” I asked, not really to anyone, since I didn’t think there was anyone around to hear me.

  “You called for my help, did you not?” a deep voice asked from the darkness of the cave. I was sure I’d heard the voice before, but I couldn’t remember from where.

  “I don’t think so. Who are you?”

  “I am Cennuth.”

  “Oh.” Then I couldn’t possibly have heard it before. “Well, you’re a little late.”

  “I will not fight your battles for you. I came because you need my help to save Merlin.”

  “You can save him?! Please do it!”

  “There is always a price in magic, young sorcerer. To give a life, you must one. Merlin has lived a very long life. Are you willing to sacrifice yours to give him more time?”

  “There isn’t any other way?”

  “No. A life for a life has always been the rule, young sorcerer.”

  I put my face in my hands. I wondered if I could sacrifice another person, like my mother, but I couldn’t do that. I thought of how many times Merlin saved me. I thought of how many times he kept me from going down the wrong path. I thought of how many times he was my friend. And then I thought of returning to the castle alone, and living the rest of my life knowing it was my fault he was dead. “Yes. Do it. Save Merlin.”

  “You are willing to sacrifice your life for his?”

  “Don’t make me say it agai
n.” I kept my eyes covered and hoped Merlin wouldn’t know. I didn’t want to see what the dragon would do to me. After a moment, I couldn’t stand the agony of waiting. I didn’t know if he was going to burn me, stab me, or eat me. Please get it over with. “Is it going to hurt?”

  “It is done.”

  “What is?” I put my hands down in surprise. I was still in front of the cave. “Am I dead now? That was a lot less painful than I expected.”

  “You are not dead. You have sacrificed your life for Merlin’s. Your life now belongs to me.”

  “I’m a slave?! I sacrificed my freedom?! That’s not the same thing!”

  “Would you take it back if you could?”

  Once again, I thought about Merlin. I thought of everything we’d been through since we met. And then I thought of him jumping in front of me to protect me. “No, I would have made the deal either way. Does this mean I have to come live with you on a mountain? Because I’ll warn you now; I’m not climbing up and down a mountain every day, even if it means going hungry.”

  “No. I have a different use for you. The fact that you were willing to sacrifice yourself for Merlin proves to me that I can trust you not to betray him. He was born with a purpose.”

  “To end the war on magic?”

  “Yes.”

  “And he thought he did that.”

  “He fought a battle. The war continues.”

  “What does he have to do to win the war?”

  “That depends on him.”

  “Okay, wait. Let me think. You dragons are so tricky with your questions. Oh! I got it. Who is the king behind the war? If you take the king, the war is over.”

  The dragon laughed, a surprisingly friendly sound. “You amuse me, young sorcerer, and for that, I will answer your question. Baltezore is the one behind the war, but it will not be easy to defeat him.”

  “Well, why don’t you fight him? It should be easy for you.”

  “No, it would not be. Baltezore has dragon blood and is much more powerful than you can imagine.”

  “Then I don’t stand a chance.”

  “No, you do not. However, Merlin does, if you help him. He must find the egg of Vokirex before the black star comes and protect it from Baltezore. If Baltezore kills the egg, your entire world will die.”

  “Where do I start looking? I can’t very well search all of Caldaca and Merlin said he made himself forget where he hid it.”

  “You will not be able to find the egg until the time is right, so watch for the sign.”

  I opened my mouth to ask for more information, like what the sign was, I suddenly wasn’t there anymore.

  * * *

  I woke up with the lethargy and nausea that could only come from healing potions, and on top of that, my entire body hurt. When I opened my eyes, I was a little surprised to find myself in my room at Magnus’s castle. What wasn’t surprising was that Merlin was asleep at the foot of the bed. Fortunately, his chest rose and fell, so I knew he was alive. I sat up and winced. It felt like my insides were trying to fall out.

  But I was alive, and so was Merlin, so I was happy.

  I reached for Merlin’s paw to wake him until the door opened. It was Thaddeus who entered and shut the door behind himself. “I’m pretty amazed you pulled through. I never thought you were very tough before,” he said.

  “I didn’t think you were, either. What happened?”

  “You were taking a while and I figured Mother would have something up her sleeves that she would only use when everyone thought it was over, so I returned. I found you, Merlin, and a little girl unconscious on the ground. I brought you all back here.”

  “Where is the girl?”

  “We figured she was with Mother, so we put her under a sleeping curse and locked her in the dungeon.”

  “You risked yourself to make sure I was okay?”

  He rolled his eyes. “Don’t say it like I care or anything. You owe me. Anyway, with my fantastic skills and the combined efforts of everyone else, you and Merlin managed to survive your first face-to-face duel with Mother.”

  “You sound like it’s some big rite of passage. As if you ever stood up to her.” I meant it to tease him, possibly because of everything he’d put me through, but his expression was sad, as if he didn’t want to think about it.

  “You’re not in perfect shape; it’s probably going to take a while before you’re fully on your feet. Merlin also has some recovery to do, but Mason thinks he’ll recover faster.”

  “What about Houda and the baby?”

  “She’s safe. While you may not have defeated Mother, you did a pretty good job slowing her down. Now that all the Sjau are aware of her plan to kill everyone using you, they’re going to work together. Most of them, anyway. Those who were loyal to Mother haven’t joined our side; I think they’re just not on her side, either.”

  “Maybe…”

  “You think Mother has another plan up her sleeve?”

  “Always.”

  Epilogue

  My recovery went well thanks to constant healing magic and potions from Mason. Within a few days, I was able to get out of bed, and after a few more, I got back to practicing magic. Fortunately, there was no pain whatsoever, although it took a while for Merlin to stop worrying.

  He also wasn’t happy when I told him about my deal with Cennuth. I just stopped listening, because I didn’t want to hear him talk about how I should never sacrifice myself for him. He had just done the same thing for me.

  Not long after I was back to normal, I was in the library with Merlin. He was teaching me some of his language and how to write it, when his ears perked and he cocked his head. “Dessa is here.”

  “Then she must be here to keep her promise to help us break the curse.”

  “I hope so.”

  We left the library and met her at the base of the steps. “Good morning, Ayden, Merlin,” she said.

  “Good morning. Are you here to help us break the curse?”

  “I’m here to tell you that your quest is not over.”

  “We stopped my mother from killing us. We also know that she wants to get everyone together and that her plan is to take our magic by using me.”

  “Unfortunately, that is not all that she has planned. Furthermore, stopping her is no longer the main objective of your quest.”

  “Why didn’t you tell us that before? And why did you send me after the other Sjau if you knew she wanted us all together?”

  “Because I didn’t know.”

  “How could you not know?”

  She lowered her eyes with shame. “I am losing my magic.” I gaped at her. “All magic users are losing magic,” she continued. “Some of them are losing it so slowly that it isn’t even noticeable, whereas others have lost most of their magic in a matter of days. Why some are losing it faster than others, I don’t know.”

  “But why is everyone losing magic?”

  “Because the black star is coming.”

  Cennuth said something about that, too, but I hadn’t had the chance to ask him. “What is the black star?”

  “Very long ago, this was a world of dragons. People didn’t have magic and they happily served dragons. Then the white star came, lighting the sky like a second sun, and it filled the people of Caldaca with magic. The white star is the birth of magic. The black star is the death of magic.”

  About the Author

  Rain Oxford is a teacher who has been writing for more than half of her life. She does most of her writing in a secluded cabin in the woods with a four-pound Maltese as a companion. When she’s not teaching or creating worlds, she usually enjoys cooking, playing the piano, or photographing exotic wildlife.

  Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/rainoxfordauthor

  Website: rainoxford.wordpress.com

  Amazon Page: amazon.com/author/rainoxford

  This book was made with 100% recycled electrons. If you enjoyed this book, please leave a review. Thanks for reading!

  Books by Rain O
xford

  The Sorcerer’s Saga Book 1: The Sorcerer’s Quest

  The Sorcerer’s Saga Book 2: The Wizard’s Secret

  The Sorcerer’s Saga Book 3: The Raven’s Curse

  Elemental Book 1: Dark Waters

  Elemental Book 2: Hungry Earth

  Elemental Book 3: Furious Flames

  Elemental Book 4: Insidious Winds

  Elemental Book 5: Soul Guard

  The Guardian Book 1: The Guardian’s Grimoire

  The Guardian Book 2: The Dragon’s Eyes

  The Guardian Book 3: God of the Abyss

  The Guardian Book 4: The Demon’s Game

  The Guardian Book 5: The Wizard’s War