The Curse Breakers

by Denise Grover Swank

  He looked up, his determination written across his face. “I’m past scared, love. I moved into scared shitless about an hour ago while we were waiting for Marino’s guy to show up. But just stick to the plan. You can do this.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, you’re right.” Why else would Daddy have told me it had to be tonight? I had to trust my instincts, but I had to admit that something about this didn’t feel right.

  I climbed on the table as he continued with the line.

  “I’m going to be up in the tree right here.” He pointed to a large oak tree next to my planned escape route.

  “I’d feel better if you were in here with me.”

  “Ellie, we’ve discussed this already. The temples were considered sacred and only priests and conjurers were allowed inside. We just made you a temple. If I went in there with you, I’ll dull or negate your power. Then all of this would be for naught.”

  I climbed on top of the table and picked up the book and flashlight. “Make sure that you’re high enough in that tree so that they can’t jump up and claw you. One of them got to the top of the lighthouse roof.”

  When he was halfway finished pouring the salt circle, my palm started to burn. A low growl rumbled in the woods, and my heart took off like a racehorse. “David, get in the tree.”

  He turned to look into the trees behind me and then continued to pour salt. “I’m almost done.”

  “David, get your ass into that tree now, or I’ll come over there and push you into it.”

  “I’m not done—”

  “If you think I’m lying, you don’t know me very well.” I moved to the edge of the table, ready to leap off.

  “Ellie, don’t you dare! It has to be seven full circles or it won’t work.”

  He was right, but I didn’t like admitting it.

  He finished the circle and ran for the tree, tossing the salt container to the ground. He’d made it to the first branch when red eyes became visible in the woods. The badgers were on opposite sides of the clearing, hunching down amidst the trees.

  Ukinim stepped out first. “Witness to creation, you brought me a snack.” His right eye glowed bright red, but the left one was noticeably paler. Was physical harm permanent to them? Did that mean they could die?

  The wind picked up and clouds began to form on the horizon.

  “An eye for an eye.” Ukinim sniffed the ground. “Or in this case, an eye for something of worth.”

  Fear gripped my chest. “No!”

  David was on the second branch when Ukinim bashed his head into the trunk, shaking the tree.

  David lost his foothold and hung from a branch, his legs hanging over the badger. Ukinim’s claw made a large swing, digging into David’s thigh.

  David cried out and pulled himself up onto the branch.

  “David!” I moved to the edge of the table.

  “Ellie, no!” David shouted. “Stay where you are!”

  I tried to catch my breath. I had to keep my wits about me, but this wasn’t going according to plan. I was supposed to be the bait, not David. I needed both badgers to be close for this to work. If it worked.

  Ilena appeared from the opposite side and bolted for the tree. She threw her body into the trunk, shaking the branches so hard that David began to slip.

  I fumbled to turn on the flashlight and started reading the text, my voice faltering as the pages fluttered in the gusts.

  “Louder, Ellie!” David shouted over the wind. “Start over.”

  Ukinim leapt for the first tree branch, pulling himself up by his claws.

  I started over, reading the ancient words in a booming voice.

  The clouds billowed overhead and lightning shot from cloud to cloud, casting an eerie glow on the re-created village.

  “That’s good, Ellie! Keep going.” David scrambled to the next branch, barely out of Ukinim’s reach, but the badger was on the move again even as his wife smashed the tree trunk.

  I held the book vertically so I could keep an eye on David over the top of the pages.

  A splitting sound filled the air. I forced myself to keep chanting. David had climbed up to the smaller branches at the top of the tree. Soon they wouldn’t support his weight.

  I was more than halfway through the chant and nothing was happening. The vortex always started to manifest as soon as I started to recite the words of protection. The weather had changed, but it seemed to be the work of the wind gods rather than my own power. Were the wind gods here to protect me for Okeus? If so, that didn’t mean they’d protect David. In fact, it was in their best interest if he wasn’t around to help me.

  Ukinim laughed as Ilena continued to ram the tree trunk. The splitting sound rent the air again, and the tree bent a few inches to the side.

  All I had to go on were my instincts, and my instincts told me this wasn’t working. Even if I finished the chant, David would be dead—either by the claws of the badgers or the power of the wind gods. I threw the book down and jumped off the table, stepping over the first two circles of symbols. I needed to protect David from the most immediate threat first. “Hey, Ilena. Don’t you want me?” I walked over the third circle. “Come and get me.”

  “Ellie!” David shouted, fumbling to get his backpack open. “Get back in the bloody circle.”

  I had managed to attract Ilena’s attention. She sniffed the ground, eyeing me with wary suspicion and greed.

  Ukinim’s nose lifted into the air.

  “That’s right.” I held my hands out higher. “I’m out in the open. Don’t you want me? Won’t it piss Okeus off when he finds out you’ve killed his precious treasure? He cares way more about me than he does about that guy.” I stepped over the fourth circle of candles.

  Ukinim jumped to the ground.

  David was climbing down the tree when I heard a loud cracking sound. The tree fell the rest of the way to the ground, David deep within its foliage.

  “David!”

  The badgers bent their heads low to the ground, pacing around the outer salt line.

  David groaned, pulling himself up through the branches. “Ellie, get back to the inner circle!”

  “It didn’t work!”

  “I know. Now you need to protect yourself.”

  But even if I listened to him, I wasn’t sure how long it would help. The badgers were kicking dirt over the salt, breaking the outermost circles.

  The clouds overhead rolled furiously and thunder rumbled long and loud as if in protest.

  “Hey, you wankers!” David shouted, holding the bottle of holy water in his hand. “Look at me!” He stood on the fallen tree trunk, waving his arms in the air.

  “David! No!”

  But the badgers had turned to face David, who was seemingly easier prey. His leg was dripping with blood, which had to only increase their interest in him.

  He held out the bottle of holy water and shook it toward the nearest badger. Ilena squealed in pain and bolted backward, crashing into a tree as the scent of singed skin and hair filled the clearing.

  Ukinim stopped charging David and turned toward his mate, sniffing her back and licking her face.

  I knew David’s intention was to distract Ukinim and Ilena so that I could get back to the table, but I needed another plan, since the first one had failed. Right now I needed to get the badgers away from David, or I needed to use the words of protection to send them away temporarily. Which meant we would be back at square one.

  Daddy had told me I had the resources to send them away. Why hadn’t my instincts kicked in yet?

  Ilena was still howling but Ukinim turned toward David, his menacing growl filling the air. “I will make you pay, tosh-shonte.”

  I headed over to the path that led to the replica of the Elizabeth II, which was docked several hundred feet away. “Hey, Ukinim!” My voice was barely audible over the blustering wind.

  “Ellie!” David shouted in irritation. “Stop!”

  But Ukinim’s attention turned to me.

  Rain
began to pour from the sky and lightning struck the ground on the other side of the park, filling the air with the stench of burnt wood.

  “Come and get me!” I walked backward. I was leading the badgers away from David, but what would protect him from the wind gods? He couldn’t run on his injured leg.

  The circle. It had protected me from all the gods and spirits except Okeus at the gate ceremony.

  “David, get into the circle!” I turned around, making sure the badgers were following, and sprinted for the ship that was anchored in the cove, hoping he would listen.

  I had no idea how fast giant badgers could run, but I had a feeling it was faster than me. The wind shifted direction, pushing me forward instead of impeding my progress. I scrambled toward the ship as they chased behind me, smashing the wooden floor as they went.

  I only realized what they were doing when it was too late to change course—they were destroying my escape path.

  I made it to the dock and ran over the gangplank onto the boat. Now I was really trapped unless I jumped into the sound. I knew they could swim, but all the information I’d found indicated that they preferred not to. Of course, they might decide I was worth the effort.

  Where was Mishiginebig when I needed him?

  Ilena walked along the edge of the dock and growled. A large bald spot covered her back where the holy water had doused her. “We have you now, Curse Keeper.”

  I flexed my hand, ready to use my power. I knew that I should. My instincts had yet to kick in. But stubbornness won out. If I sent them away, they’d only come back again . . . and the next time they’d be even angrier. Daddy had said to do this tonight. I had to trust him.

  Ilena leaped over the gap between the dock and the ship, landing on the deck, while Ukinim blocked any attempt I might have made to jump back onto the dock.

  Crap.

  I started climbing the rope ladder up one of the masts.

  “You’ve got nowhere to hide, Curse Keeper,” Ukinim slurred.

  Movement at the side of the dock caught my attention, and the torrential downpour slowed to a sprinkle. “You are the biggest pain in the ass,” Collin shouted, climbing over the edge of the dock.

  “Collin?”

  Ukinim turned toward him. “Son of the land.”

  Collin stood on the wooden platform, cocking his head to the side. “You and Ellie have more in common than you think.” He took a step closer to the ship. “You both hate Okeus. Just let her go.”

  “Let her go?” Ukinim lowered his head and turned his good eye toward Collin. “Okeus stole what was most precious to me. My humanity,” he growled. “And now I will take what’s most precious to him.”

  “Goddamn it, Ukinim. Okeus will never let you get away with this,” Collin spit. “It’s not worth it. Just let her go.”

  “Never.”

  Ilena rammed her body into the mast and the rope ladder shook. My foot slipped from its rung, and I clung to the ladder as the mast shook again and began to tilt over the dock.

  “Ellie!” Collin shouted.

  Ukinim laughed, swinging his claws, but I jerked out of the way and skittered back down the pole, reaching for a rope ladder attached to another mast. Grabbing hold of it, I crouched on the wood beam and leaped for the nearby pole, sliding and fighting for purchase as my legs became tangled in the ropes. At least I was back over the ship.

  My relief was short-lived. Ilena hit the new mast and I screamed as my hands slipped, my legs still entwined in the ropes. I now dangled upside down over the deck, just barely out of Ilena’s grasp.

  “Ukinim.” Collin sounded desperate. “Let her go or I’ll be forced to destroy you.”

  The badger swung his head around, his red eye glowing even brighter. “All the spirits know you aren’t a threat. That’s why they leave you alone. For now. If you do this, you will be as much of a target as she is.”

  “Listen to me!” Collin shouted in frustration. “Don’t you see that if you kill her, Okeus will hunt you to the ends of the earth to make you pay?”

  Ilena laughed. “Don’t you think he knows that? He doesn’t care.”

  Collin shot me a worried glance as I pulled myself up and fumbled to free my legs from the lines.

  Ukinim slinked over the bridge onto the boat and laughed. “I’m going to send you straight to Popogusso, Curse Keeper.”

  “Don’t waste your time,” I said, finally freeing myself. “My Manitou belongs to Ahone now.”

  Ilena rammed the mast and the wood cracked, the pole leaning over the front end of the ship. I struggled to keep my hold.

  The clouds rolled and lightning struck the lighthouse on the other side of the bay, the building erupting into flames.

  “Ellie!” Collin shouted. “Start your words of protection.”

  “No! If I send them away, they’ll just come back.”

  “Trust me.”

  Two words, so simple but so elusive. I would have given anything to trust Collin, but he’d proven himself untrustworthy time and again. Still, he’d always gone out of his way to protect me. I knew he’d do it this time too. Wasn’t that why he was here?

  Collin took a running leap onto the ship.

  Ukinim’s feet gripped the pole, and he started inching up toward me.

  I lifted my hand, but it was too late. Even if I started my words of protection, Ukinim would get me before I could stop him.

  A bright, warm light appeared toward the shore, and I gasped. A golden deer appeared on the dock. Every part of him glowed, including the massive antlers on his head.

  The badgers stopped their pursuit and turned toward the creature.

  “A wutapantam,” Collin said beneath me, his voice a combination of awe and grief.

  “What is it?” I struggled to catch my breath. The animal was the most beautiful creature I’d ever seen.

  “A sacrificial deer.”

  Tears welled in my eyes.

  The badgers crawled to the edge of the ship while the deer watched, its head lifted high.

  “Ellie.” Collin stood about six feet below me. He lifted his hands up. “Jump while it distracts them. They won’t be able to resist its lure.”

  The badgers were mesmerized, and they moved as if in slow motion across the gangplank toward the dock.

  Collin reached for me as I dropped, his arm wrapping around my waist to keep me from falling to my knees.

  My palm felt like it was on fire as the badgers advanced on the deer. “Collin! We can’t let them kill it!”

  “It’s too late. It doesn’t want to be saved.” His words were filled with agony.

  Ilena circled the deer, but Ukinim stopped and shook his head, releasing a low growl. “I won’t fall for Ahone’s trickery.” He spun around to face us, lowering his nose to the wooden slats. His red eye burned bright.

  Collin wrapped his left arm around the small of my back, his fingers digging into my waist as he pulled me against his chest.

  Ilena pounced on the deer, throwing it to the dock and ripping its abdomen apart.

  I felt the loss as a crushing pain in my chest, and my knees buckled.

  Ukinim arched his back as he prepared to leap back onto the ship.

  Collin’s body tensed and his hand tightened on my side. “Put your arm around my back.” He was already reaching his right hand toward mine.

  “I don’t know what to do, Collin.”

  “Yes, you do. You’re the witness to creation. You’ve known all along.” He pressed our marks together, and power greater than anything I’d yet experienced jolted through my body and Collin’s. The presence of the Manitou was stronger than ever, and they were all grieving the death of the wutapantam.

  Collin pulled me closer to his chest, guiding our pressed hands over our heads.

  Fear stole my breath as Ukinim pounced at us. I cringed, releasing a shriek as Collin held me in place, but the badger hit an invisible shield—just like on the night of the ceremony. My gaze jerked up to Collin. He was right. I did kno
w what to do.

  “I am the daughter of the sea . . . ”

  Collin’s eyes bore into mine.

  “Born of the essence present at the beginning of time and the end of the world.”

  My vortex appeared.

  “I am the son of the earth, born of space and heaven.” His face grave, he nodded to me.

  “I am black water and crystal streams. The ocean waves and the raindrops in the sky.” I stopped and looked up into his eyes.

  Lightning shot through the air and the wind gusted. I struggled to stand, but Collin helped me remain upright.

  “I am black earth and sandy loams. The mountain ranges and the rolling hills.”

  My voice grew louder. “I am life and death and everything in between.”

  “I am the foundation of life and the receiver of death and everything in between.”

  Our blended voices echoed off the water. “I compel you to leave my sight.”

  A crack appeared in the sky, ripping the seam between our realm and the spiritual one. The badgers screamed and cursed. The ground shook and the boat swayed violently, but Collin spread his feet apart and stayed upright, our hands still joined.

  Rays of bright white light shot from the badgers’ bodies, filling the boat and nearly blinding me. The creatures shrieked with agony and fear until their bodies exploded in a ball of white light. Then a million pieces that looked like fireflies were sucked up into the crack overhead. When all the pieces were gone, Collin looked down into my face, fear and devastation in his eyes.

  He slowly pulled his hand from mine but kept his arm around my back. “Do you even realize what just happened?”

  I swallowed the lump in throat, my chin trembling. “I’m not sure about the wutapantam, but we sent the badgers away.”

  “Yes,” he whispered. “We sent them away. But at what cost? A wutapantam sacrificed himself for you. Do you even understand the significance of that?”

  I didn’t know for sure, but the loss I’d felt at its death had left me dazed.

  “There are four, Ellie. Four in all of existence, and one is now gone because of what you started tonight.”

  Tears burned my eyes. “I didn’t know, Collin,” I choked out. “I saw Daddy when we were in the ocean and he insisted that I had to do this tonight.”