by Tony Corden
The queen’s eyes were almost back to the dark violet colour that they’d been before the curse. Leah was about to stop pulling in more mana when she felt a resistance suddenly pull back against her. She wasn’t sure what the reason was, but she figured it meant there was still part of the curse in the queen. Instead of stopping, Leah began to pull even harder at the mana. It was like sucking through a straw which had become blocked at the other end. She pulled harder and a section which felt like a blockage was drawn toward the crystal.
The flesh of her right hand had dripped to the floor, and only her now blackening bones were left. The curse was starting to head up the arm, and she could feel her wrist throbbing as it began to turn black, fester and suppurate. It was becoming harder to deal with the pain, and she bit into her lips, drawing blood as she forced herself to separate what was happening to her arm from the concentration needed to pull the cursed mana in.
The darkness diamond had turned a dark brown as the curse was absorbed and Leah felt a strain in the shadow shroud as the gem became heavier, weighed down with the cursed magic. Suddenly, the plug or barrier was pulled, or pushed, sharply into the diamond, and two things happened. First, Leah and the diamond were thrown off the body of the queen, though Leah managed to use her shroud to cradle the diamond while she continued to pull in the mana. The other change was Leah sensed that the mana now being absorbed into the diamond no longer came from the queen but was being pulled directly into the centre of the diamond from somewhere else entirely. It was harder to absorb and seemed heavier or more dense.
While this had been happening, Leah Three’s attack on the bear had been successful. She’d managed to get behind the construct, and with the added strength she’d achieved in her fire form she’d broken the constructs back before using her teeth to tear out its neck. Leah Two hadn’t fared quite as well. She was slowly losing ground against the lion until Leah Three changed back to her half-human half-elf form and killed it with several well-placed arrows.
Leah Two also changed back into her non-beast form and together they turned to where Leah was kneeling on the ground beside the gem as she continued to pull in the dark brown mana. Slowly the diamond became darker than night as it filled to capacity, beginning in the centre. The curse had reached halfway up Leah’s forearm. Both Leah Two and Leah Three cast Heal, only to find the spells simply disappeared as they arrived at Leah’s slowly dying and disintegrating arm.
The darkness diamond began to develop a dark, almost palpable, aura. Leah remembered that T’sar Rimci had told her this meant it was reaching its limit. With a deep sigh, she cancelled the absorption and came upright. Looking to her hand, she tried to cast Heal, but it had no more effect than when her clones had tried. Reaching into her bag with her other hand, she took out a restore potion and took that. She could feel it move through her body, healing the small cuts and bruises and restoring her mana and strength. As it reached her arm, it slowed the curse momentarily but then disappeared.
Finally, Leah looked over at Leah Two and held out her arm. Psychically, she said, “Just below the elbow.”
“L2: Are you certain?”
“Yes.”
Before Leah could brace herself, the Amber Dragon held by Leah Two flashed down and cut off the cursed end of Leah’s arm. Leah Three cast Heal and the wound closed over with fresh, healthy skin but left Leah without an arm starting a hand’s breadth below the elbow. Before either of the clones could say anything, Leah cancelled the True Images spell and came to her feet. As she did, she also cancelled the Grow spell and looked up at Yasdışı, who was slowly coming to her feet.
“3: You have important messages.”
Before Leah could move to read them, Queen Yasdışı spoke. “Y: Empress, I will honour the constraints of the creators. You have ascended the chimney and defeated the clans of the Kemirmek. You are free to leave as you will. The path has been opened. In addition to that which you are gifted by the creators’ accords, I reward you for my freedom. Also, though it is not in our nature to agree to your dominion over us, I will enter into a treaty with your empire. Send emissaries, and I will treat with them that we might not be adversaries.”
A chest appeared in front of Leah, and she bowed her head slightly in the queen’s direction as she gathered it. “Thank you, Queen Yasdışı. I will arrange for emissaries and look forward to peace with the Kemirmek clans. I have several other quests on Mt Siddetli and ask for leave to descend the mountain in peace. From here I will visit the lands to the East where the mountain trolls live.”
“Y: Empress Atherleah, you will not be attacked by my people as you move across, or through, the mountain.”
Leah decided to read the messages after leaving the throne room. Taking a mining-bag from her bag with her remaining hand, she loaded the darkness diamond into it using her shadow shroud. Then as the two Günahkâr approached, she indicated that Küçük should lead them from the room through a doorway that had appeared in the far wall. As they entered the new tunnel, the images Leah had felt of the Kemirmeks at her back slowly faded, and they found themselves once more at the entry point of the dungeon. The other three Günahkâr were waiting.
Yürek stepped forward and looked down at Leah’s missing arm, then looked over at Küçük and Orta before speaking.
“Y
