The Cursed (The Cursed Trilogy Book 1)

by Iyanna Orr

  “Each child was kept alive, and then it was carried to the pyre by its mother. While she damned the child’s soul to Esabyss, she threw it into the flames. Along at the pyre, she watched the baby burn alive, believing she’d redeemed her own soul for not allowing a magical creature to go gallivanting around the planet. And they did it until every newborn was murdered. The fires burned for months, leaving the villagers to fend for themselves on the inside, but they didn’t care. No, they believed it to be a sign that their sacrificed worked.

  “All the while, food ran out, and there was no seed to sow the fields; no water to make anything grow. The fire evaporated the rains before they could touch the ground and many began to resort to desperate measures; incest and cannibalism. They began to marry themselves off to their mothers, fathers, brothers or sisters, and they had more children. These children were raised to become their parents’ food. They were to be eaten once they were old enough and carried enough meat on their bones to be considered sustenance; except many ran away, raised themselves and hunted the people in the village for their own food. The people became so used to living this way that when the wall of fire went down, nobody bothered to notice. Nobody ever left, and certainly, nobody ever moved in. Every one of them is inbred to this day, living off their own skin or offspring. But never make the mistake of believing they’re unintelligent.

  “Most people who pass through never make it out. Therefore, you’re going to make yourself less conspicuous. I don’t care how you do it, but I know those things—” He gestured at Chandler’s wings without looking, “—need to be out of sight.”

  Chandler didn’t like the way Thackory class his wings as “things,” but he couldn’t deny it was a good idea. The only problem was he couldn’t make the wings go away unless he shifted. That night, he waited until all the knight, except for Avan, who was on watch, fell asleep, and then he walked away from camp. He made sure to stay just outside the glow of the fire, ignoring when he heard Avan stand. The knight was probably only curious as to what Chandler was doing. Knowing he would eventually need his clothes until he got more, Chandler took them off and dropped them into a pile. The biting air didn’t do much good in terms of his concentration, but he closed his eyes, clenching his fists as he pictured the hawk he’d discovered living in a tree near his house when he was fourteen.

  Chandler had never turned into a bird before, so he was vaguely surprised there wasn’t more pain. Instead of his wings merging into his back, like when he turned into anything else, they shrunk to fit his new body. As he shrunk rapidly and his legs, feet, and toes turned into strong claws, he flapped the wings experimentally. The wind blew against them, but they were strong enough to fight the currents to rest against his sides. It was the same as when he was in human form, but just different enough that he enjoyed it much more.

  His body settled, and he flew up into the air, clutching his abandoned clothes in his claws. Flying into the firelight, Avan was looking in his direction, and Chandler noticed the faintest bit of astonishment in his eyes before it was gone again. He dropped the clothes near Avan before landing on the saddle of one of the horses. He didn’t know whose horse it was, but the uneasy steps it took at the sudden weight were quickly quieted as Avan jerked at the reins. After looking to see Avan wasn’t tiring anytime soon, Chandler tucked his head under his wing and fell into a deep sleep.

  He woke before the rest, taking to the sky after noticing Avan was still on watch. The gray early morning sky didn’t seem to bother Avan as he watched Chandler take off. He didn’t go far; just enough so he could circle their camp and still see the darkened village ahead of them. It seemed like the light from the sky didn’t even touch the ground there, but instead moved around it, like a physical barrier.

  It wasn’t long before the other knights were awake and ready to keep moving forward. If they noticed Chandler’s absence, they didn’t comment on it. The next three miles across the land toward the Ring was uneventful. There were no more stops, and Chandler welcomed the extensive flying he got to do. He never had to stop since the knights didn’t need to speak to him at all, but he did stay close enough to track their progress.

  As they drew closer, the lush land gave away to death. The ground looked as if it hadn’t grown in quite some time, and the fallen trees were little more than tall, crumbling twigs on the ground. Chandler had to repress a shudder of revulsion in this small body as it reacted to the still air. No wind fought against him, but it was still much harder to keep himself in the sky.

  Chandler was far enough ahead. Finally, he began to see where the famous ring of fire had been. The circles might’ve been miles wide in all directions, but no matter how far it stretched, the curves were too perfect to have been formed naturally. He didn’t want to land until it was necessary, so as the knights came to the town and dismounted their horses, Chandler circled high enough above them that he wouldn’t be noticed.

  The knights were given a wide berth as they entered, but Chandler didn’t miss the hunger in the eyes of the people whose eyes were far too dark. He saw their thinning limbs twitch to grab anything they could reach. He could see the children straining against adults’ restrictive holds as they tried to reach the cleanest source of food they’d seen in all their short lives. All the while, Chandler didn’t miss the close attention the knights were receiving and knew they’d have to be warned.

  Yves had already told them the journey through the Ring would take a day, at most, and that they would have no choice but to rest at the inn. As far as the Legacy knight had been able to tell, most people went missing inside. Even if they did have time to get some real sleep, there was no guarantee any of them would want to close their eyes.

  Chandler listened as the gnarled voice of the innkeeper directed them to the room. The rustic building moaned as the knights carried themselves up the stairs. He listened carefully as he flew down in the cover of the falling dark and checked on the horses. His appearance didn’t go unnoticed. A child, probably no more than three years old, bared his teeth and snarled at him. Chandler knew the kid was itching just to catch him and make Chandler his next meal, but he screeched as loudly as he could, sending the kid scampering away, on all fours, no less. The uneasiness of the horses didn’t escape Chandler’s attention, and he made a note to keep an eye on them, too.

  After, Chandler flew up to the window and perched on the sill until Avan noticed him there. The knight was hesitant, though, not entirely sure it was Chandler. So, with Avan’s eyes on Chandler’s, he tapped his beak against the glass impatiently. With more certainty in his movements, he turned to Thackory, gesturing for him to hand him the bag near the door. Chandler watched Avan grab the bag, pull out his clothes and then came to the window. He flew into the room, using his talons to grab the clothes from his hands. The other knights watched closely, and then Chandler disappeared into the small excuse of a bathroom. If he’d thought high school bathroom were disgusting, there were no words for the bucket sitting in the corner and the note over the window telling the occupants to dump the result of their defecation as if it would smell any better out on the street.

  He changed back and dressed quickly. As soon as he came from the bathroom, he stuck his head from the window, looking down at the horses, but they were fine. Chandler closed the window back firmly, somewhat worried at the lack of a lock.

  “What are you doing?” Leon asked, somewhat amused by Chandler’s running around the room.

  “They’re not just going to let you leave,” he answered shortly, checking the door.

  “Of course, they’re not,” Thackory answered. “A village full of cannibal is going to try to take whatever food they can get. That’s why we’re not stupid enough to let our guard down.”

  “You think?” Chandler questioned. “These people are, by a very thin margin, wild animals. Whatever inbreeding does to people on Legacy is lost to me, but I know people who are born here are far stronger than any human born on Earth. Inbreeding could make them stro
nger than even you by any number of genetic mutations. Even if one of you stay up the whole night, who is to say you’d be able to fight anyone who decides to come into the room?”

  There was no answer to this. Even Yves, the oldest of each of them, had not thought of this.

  “If it could be true and they are stronger, I say we don’t stay here,” Leon finally said.

  “We can’t travel at night,” Thackory over spoke him. “There would be no light. It’s pitch black out there right now. At least when the sun rises, there will be enough light to guide ourselves. None of us has ever come through the Ring before. We don’t know the town as well as they do.”

  “Then we take torches,” Leon argued. “I didn’t come from under Drake to die—”

  “No one’s dying, and no one’s leaving,” Thackory said firmly. “We stay here as planned, and we leave tomorrow at dark. That’s that.” Chandler didn’t miss the look the man was giving him as he said it. Thackory didn’t like him, and he most certainly didn’t like Chandler trying to take control. It was easy to see the resentment in him, knowing Drake had some absurd need to choose Chandler as the next king. He only wished that it was easy for Thackory to see that Chandler didn’t want to be there at all. Still, it didn’t wipe away the glare Chandler could feel on his face as the two of them faced off. The looked from the other knights bored into him, even Yves, who, as the eldest, should have had the last say. But he didn’t say a word.

  Chandler’s eyes moved over to them and knew they were waiting, not for what Thackory had to say, but what he did. But he’d already said his piece, and if he tried again, he’d only be shot down.

  “All right,” Yves finally said. “We go as scheduled. Everyone get a little rest tonight.” Even as he said it, his eyes said something different. He was going to stay awake even if it did little good. Thackory tore his eyes from Chandler and lay down on the floor, silently giving up the single bed in the room. Yves stayed rooted in his chair, eyes on Chandler, and Avan simply leaned against the wall. Chandler knew he would stay awake without his saying. Leon taciturnly took the bed, eyes on the ceiling.

  Giving a nod toward Yves’ direction, Chandler headed back into the bathroom to change again before flying out the window Avan got up to open. He landed on the saddle of one of the horses and looked up into the window. The light that shone out seemed too bright amidst the darkness. Chandler’s eyes stayed wide, peeking into the shadows at gaunt, hungry figures. They paced like caged animal as if the confinement of the shade was forced. Specifically, he watched the inn doorway, where the innkeeper stood. His shoulders were hunched forward at an odd degree, but it wasn’t that which had caught Chandler’s attention. No, it was the way he watched the animal-like figures in the dark. He was telling them to wait, wordlessly promising them exactly what Chandler wouldn’t allow to happen.

  Chandler didn’t take for granted that there was no movement during the night. He stayed perched on the open window as he watched the knights prepare to leave. Sometime during the knight, Yves decided leaving the next morning was the best idea, so Thackory was angrily throwing things in his bag. Chandler knew he didn’t like being outspoken, and he didn’t care as long as they were away from the place before dark.

  During the day, there wasn’t enough light to call it that. It was just the filtering of what was supposed to be light barely touching the ground. He flew away from the window once the door to the room slammed closed and landed on the back of his horse. Avan came over and tucked the bag containing his clothes into the saddlebag. Chandler nodded as best he could before taking off again, flying high and looked in the direction of their exit route. He hovered above them instead of flying off; watching the stiff was Thackory rode his horse. He kept looking back at the inn and Chandler was sure that the movement wasn’t unnoticed by the others, but they kept going.

  Avan, though, was the only one who dropped back to ride slightly behind him.

  And then Chandler knew what the surly knight had been waiting for.

  As the stone flew through the air, Chandler dodged it, swooping down low over the knights and issuing a cry meant to warn them. Yves, Leon, and Avan pulled their swords, but Thackory already had his in hand. His sword went swinging toward Chandler, and ash he tried to go high, it clipped his underside, but instead of continuing his ascent, he dropped down onto Thackory and gripped his shoulder in his talons. Thackory cried out, dropping the swords and whipping his other hand up to grab Chandler. He jumped back, landing on the head of Avan’s horse. Surprised by the attention, it reared, and its eyes rolled, trying to dislodge him.

  The distraction was enough, and the next stone that flew hit Chandler in the head. He fell to the ground in a heap of escaped feathers. He lay on the ground, the sky swimming above him nauseatingly. Hands gripped his legs and picked him up, dangling him upside down like the chickens he’d once seen at a farmer’s market. HE thrashed against the hold violently enough to clear his vision and see the wild little children gnawing at the raw flesh of the horses’ legs. The older men and women of the Ring’s population grabbed the knights, forcing their swords from their hands. Yves was already caught, his face forced down onto the muddy ground. Leon was struggling to get the other sword he kept in his horse’s saddle. Avan, though, had managed to elude the grasping hands, but instead of fighting the inbred enemy, he ran after Thackory. The traitor knight had already begun to run. Where he thought he would go was beyond Chandler’s wildest imagination. All the same, Avan caught him by the shoulder he’d injured. Thackory fought the hold but only managed to help Avan achieve what he’d been trying to do.

  The sword slid through Thackory’s back without obstacle. As soon as it was hilt deep and peeking through his stomach, Avan held his hands up in surrender. He was backing away with hands clawing at his arms when the children descended on Thackory’s body. Chandler turned his head away before he saw the small teeth sinking into the former knight’s body.

  However, his eyes didn’t land on the people holding them, and his struggles stopped. Chandler dangled there, still, as he narrowed his eyes at the familiar sandy hair of the twins who’d gone after him at the castle. They were crouched in a spot way too obvious to go unnoticed, but with the preoccupation of keeping them contained the Ring’s residents didn’t notice them. The twins were searching the group, probably looking for Chandler, but they didn’t glance at the bird dangling uselessly from someone’s hands. Instead, they turned on Avan, who they also recognized from the tournament. Then they sunk from view, and Chandler cursed quietly. What were they doing?

  They were carried through town and to a place Chandler hadn’t seen during his night exploration. It was darker than any other part of town, but he could see it was a kind of circular enclosure, and in the middle was a soot-filled pit. As they went in, a fire was already being lit inside it. The hunched figure was familiar, but it wasn’t until he turned that Chandler saw it was the innkeeper. He felt a rumbling in his chest, but he ignored it as a string was tied around his wings, holding them in place. Then he was thrown to the floor next to the fire pit. He barely stopped himself from falling into the rising flames. Chandler could see Leon, Avan and Yves were also being bound and knelt in front of the fire. The space at their back was dark, not even the firelight reaching it. All three men were watching Chandler, trying to see what he would do... if anything.

  Then a man with broad shoulders squeezed through a doorway. He stalked toward Chandler, a brown stitched bag clutched in his massive fingers. He stopped a few feet away, bared teeth visible as he scowled down at Chandler. It was only a moment later he whipped the bag open, pulling out a handful of white powder and flinging it at Chandler.

  Chandler’s scream came free from his beak in a high screech that had every present person in the cavern to cover his or her ears. His body writhed against the dirt, and the change that came next was more painful than any other change he’d ever experience. Bones forced themselves back into a human skeleton and the feathers, instead o
f disappearing as they usually would have, pulled free from his skin and dropped to the ground. They turned to black ash and disappeared among the dirt they stood on. Chandler felt his body elongate and heard the prolonged screech turn into a more humane scream.

  The pain didn’t end when the change did. He lay naked, silent and curled in on himself as the echo of it went on inside his head. But as he turned to the big man, he yanked Chandler to his feet by his wings, but only succeeded in dropping him back to his knees. Black spots ran through Chandler’s vision as a low whimper escaped his throat and a handful of feathers were pulled free amid pinching and burning. The large man growled, keeping hold of Chandler’s wings and reached down with his other hand to squeeze Chandler’s shoulder. On his feet, Chandler was moved closer to the fire, but he didn’t fight it. The tiredness in him was weighing his body down.

  “A hundred years ago, we banished his kind from here,” the big man spoke. Chandler couldn’t see him anymore. He was staring into the fire, his eyelids sagging. He barely managed to catch himself as he stumbled closer to the pit. “We made it known we didn’t accept the practices of magic here, and yet, they decide to return in an attempt to bring it back.” He shook Chandler harshly as he said this. Finally, Chandler gave up trying to stay on his feet and fell to his knees. His body tipped sideways, and the man’s hands released him. “Today, we show Legacy, once and for all, that we will not tolerate their magic stepping onto our land.” Chandler didn’t see when the man reached for him again. He only felt when harsh fingers wrapped around his throat, and his legs were being dragged under him. Then there was a shout, but nothing could keep Chandler awake.

  When he woke, the pain was still there; a dull reminder of the Ring. Chandler’s eyes didn’t want to open, but he felt as they fluttered, trying their best.