Malediction (Scars of the Sundering Book 1)

by Hans Cummings

  "Kale? What are these?" Pancras lifted Kale's cloak. The drak's back sported two mounds running alongside his spine.

  "What? I don't know. My back's been hurting."

  Delilah moved over to look at her brother's back. "You didn't say anything? What's wrong with you? What are they, Pancras?"

  The minotaur shook his head. "I don't know." He palpated them. Kale winced and shifted beneath his touch.

  "Stop it! That hurts."

  Edric shut the door. "Hey, if he's really sick—"

  Kale snatched his cloak back, drawing it tight around him. "I'm fine. Leave me alone."

  "Well, there's something wrong with you!" Delilah stood up and looked down at her brother. She huffed and put her hands on her hips. "Why didn't you say anything about this?"

  "I didn't know! I thought I was just sore from being tossed around the other day."

  "The hot flashes, these strange deformities on his back"—Pancras shook his head—"It's more than just having been in a fight. Possibly something to do with the chaos rift." He gestured for Delilah to sit down. "I don't think it will affect us. I need to think on it."

  "It will if he changes into some devil-beast." Edric sat against the stable door, as far away from Kale as he could. Pancras felt fairly confident Kale wasn't going to turn into a devil-beast, as Edric presumed, but he didn't know exactly what was happening to his drak companion.

  "I'm not going to become a devil-beast." Kale stood up and circled the stable.

  Pancras watched him as he paced. If the malady from which suffered was indeed caused by the chaos rift, Pancras was certain it wasn't contagious. If it was some sort of plague, however, they were all in danger. He ground his teeth together and concentrated magical energies. The tips of his horns glowed with an emerald light. He concentrated on the auras of the life around him. Scintillating patterns surrounded the horses and donkeys. Delilah's fiery glow was almost blinding to look at, and near the stable door Edric was awash in dark greys and violets, like a deep pit of depression and suspicion. Pancras turned his gaze toward Kale.

  The drak's aura was a shifting morass of colors and shapes. Pancras's eyes ached looking at it. The more he tried to focus and see detail, the worse his head throbbed from the effort. He shut his eyes and rubbed them, trying to clear the images from his head, but they lingered on the backs of his eyelids, like the spots one sees when one gazes too long at the sun.

  "Were you just magicking me?" Kale poked Pancras in the shoulder. "Hey!"

  "I was just trying to see if your illness is magical in nature, Kale."

  Delilah ran over to them and pulled her brother away from Pancras. "Is it?"

  Pancras opened his eyes. Spots danced in his vision. He nodded. "It appears so, though I can't be sure of its exact nature."

  The dwarf snorted. "So? Are we all going to catch it and die?"

  "I doubt it. We'll find a way to rid you of this, I promise." Pancras put his hand on Kale's shoulder. Kale's aura flared in his vision again. Pancras snatched his hand back and gasped as he saw a shadowy claw linger on Kale's shoulder. It dissipated like smoke in a gust of wind.

  "What?"

  Pancras shook his head. "Nothing, just lingering pain from the magic. Whatever has afflicted you is chaotic in nature. Of that I am sure. It responds unpredictably to divinations."

  Another rumble of thunder shook the stable from a distance. Edric pulled the door open again to look outside. "The storm's moving off."

  Grabbing his cloak, Pancras stood. "Let's get moving. If these people truly fear us, it would be best not to be caught in their stables."

  Chapter 5

  "That place over there looks like a good place to make camp!" Delilah pointed with her staff toward a crumbling tower on top of a nearby hill. An overgrown path led away from the road toward it. Overrun with weeds and vines, it appeared as if it had not been used in years.

  "That's pretty far from the road, don't you think?" Edric stomped his feet in an attempt to keep warm. The rain stopped a few hours earlier, but the chill in their damp clothes lingered. Pink clouds in the eastern sky heralded the approach of dawn, but Pancras needed rest.

  "It's close enough." Delilah pulled her brother with her and approached the tower.

  Edric shook his head. "I don't trust nothing made of stone that humans built. That thing's falling apart!"

  "At least we can be fairly sure there won't be any rude humans to throw us out." Kale looked over his shoulder as he stumbled along behind his sister. Since his episode at the inn, she was reluctant to allow him to be farther from her than arm's reach.

  Pancras clapped Edric on the shoulder. "He has a point there. It's just for a few hours. Hopefully it will shelter us if the skies open up again."

  The dwarf grumbled all the way to the tower. The door, once sturdy, iron-banded oak, now rotted off its hinges. The interior was overgrown with weeds and cobwebs. Pancras saw a crumbling spiral staircase leading up, the darkness of the interior proof that some semblance of the roof was still intact.

  "Dapane phlogone." Delilah held her staff before her, and azure fire shot from the eye sockets of the skull, clearing away the weeds and cobwebs. Pancras hoped she didn't burn away the supports to whatever roof remained. Thick, acrid smoke poured from the interior.

  Delilah stepped back to view her handiwork, nodding in appreciation. Pancras didn't hear any screams. He sighed in relief. He knew the drak didn't bother to see if vagabonds occupied the ruined tower, although by the looks of the surrounding area, it was well and truly deserted.

  "Pacha's blue bollocks, are you trying to burn it down?" Edric waved his hand in front of his nose, fanning away smoke that seemed to drift his way, no matter where he stood.

  "Calm yourself, Dwarf." Delilah pushed Edric away from her. "M'poy'rieni aerha." A breeze picked up and swirled into the tower. Pancras held his cloak and robes to keep them from fluttering too much in the gale. The remaining brush fires extinguished, and the smoke dissipated.

  "There! Now we don't have to worry about creepy-crawlies while we try to sleep!" Delilah grinned and tapped the butt of her staff on the ground. "Fos." The skull emitted cold, blue light.

  Pancras followed her inside. The floor of the tower was covered in thick ash, and burnt vines clung to the walls. He was relieved to see the roof was sound and seemed none the worse for having had a fire lit under it. Thick wooden beams crossed the ceiling and came to rest on heavy stone supports. Edric's complaints about the quality of human engineering seemed to be misguided.

  Pancras spread his cloak on the ground and sat down on it. He watched as Edric cleared a spot by the doorway, kicking the still-smoldering fragments of the rotted door out of his way. Delilah helped Kale find some comfort, and they drifted off to sleep.

  * * *

  Kale's head thrashed as he slept. Pancras's rhythmic breathing helped him doze, but the images in his mind prevented restful slumber. Through the haze of partial consciousness, Kale was aware his guts felt as if they were on fire, but he was powerless to do anything about it.

  He soared over the watch tower, flying circles above it as the light of the sun crested the eastern horizon. Trails of fire followed in Kale's wake, and he felt himself pulled toward the southern mountains. Looking down, Kale saw the vast expanse of the Etrunian plains.

  Wait a second… I can't fly…

  Kale dropped, spiraling out of control. The ground rushed to meet him, and he awoke with a start. Sunlight streamed in through gaps in the roof. The stench of burnt foliage lingered in the air while birds chirped merrily outside. Panting, he looked around to see if he had awakened anyone. Delilah was curled up around her staff, and Edric dozed by the door, chin resting on his chest. Pancras appeared to be sleeping, but the tips of his horns glowed and swirls of red and emerald energy wreathed his head.

  The drak crawled over to his sister. He shook her shoulder. "Deli. Deli, wake up!"

  Delilah cracked an eye and stared up at her brother. "Go 'way."

>   "No, wake up." He grabbed her head and made her look at Pancras. "Does he do magic in his sleep?"

  Sitting up, Delilah yawned and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "Hey, that's weird." She shook her head, trying to clear the cobwebs from her mind. "No, that's not normal."

  Delilah scooted closer to Pancras and poked him with the butt of her staff. "Pancras, wake up! Pancras!" She jabbed him in the ribs.

  The minotaur groaned and rolled over. Delilah glared at Pancras and stood up. She marched over to him and kicked him in the rear. "Pancras! You're sleep-magicking or something. Wake up!"

  A groan by the door alerted Kale to Edric's awakening. He looked over at the dwarf. Edric regarded the draks with a frown. "Can't you two be quiet?"

  Kale dragged himself to his feet and stumbled over to the door. Delilah continued to berate Pancras. Squinting, he looked outside. Someone was approaching, jerking, lumbering toward them. He nudged Edric and pointed out the door. The dwarf rolled on his side and looked outside, shielding his eyes from the sun's glare with his hand.

  They watched as the person shambled closer and closer. It looked like a human. He wore dirty, torn clothing, and grey tufts of hair stuck up in every direction from his grey, saggy skin. Kale's eyes widened when he realized it was not a living human, but a zombie.

  "Deli, wake him up! There's a zombie coming!"

  Delilah huffed and stepped over to the door. "He must be necromancing in his sleep. I keep poking him, shaking him, and yelling in his ear, but he won't budge." She watched the approaching figure and pointed her staff at it as wisps of blue energy swirled around her. The tendrils of magic gathered near the eye sockets of her staff's skull.

  "Dapane phlogone!" A stream of azure flame shot from her staff and hit the zombie dead-center in his chest. He burst into flame, his skin blackening and peeling off as he burned. Undaunted, he continued forward until he collapsed mere steps from the door, his body consumed.

  The two draks dashed over to Pancras. Together, they shook the minotaur awake as Edric looked on.

  "Enough! I'm awake!" Pancras pushed them away. He used the stairs to help himself to stand and sniffed the air. "What's that stench?"

  Edric thrust a thumb over his shoulder. "Burnt zombie."

  "You were necromancing in your sleep." Delilah jabbed Pancras in the gut with the butt of her staff.

  "Nonsense." Pancras grimaced and shoved the staff away. He pushed past Delilah and looked outside. "Maybe it just wandered by. Don't humans have superstitions about the dead stalking the moors?"

  Edric nodded. "Yeah, but its broad daylight. Those superstitions are about nights on the moors."

  "Your horn tips were glowing and everything, Pancras." Kale shoved his head under Pancras's arm to look outside.

  The minotaur turned around and rubbed his arms. "I remember having a dream. It's fading fast. There was shadow… and a voice. A raspy, female voice. It felt urgent, but I don't remember what it said. And claws, lots of a shadowy, smoky claws, like that shadow demon we fought, Kale. You remember?"

  Kale nodded and glanced over at Edric. The dwarf pulled his things together.

  Delilah put her hands on her hips and shook her head. "I knew I should've gone with you two. One adventure without me, and you're both cracking up!"

  Kale giggled and gave his sister a playful shoved. "I'm not going crazy, Deli."

  Rubbing his snout, Pancras shook his head and frowned. "Nor am I." He looked up at the ceiling and around at the tower's interior. "Perhaps it is this place. Let's continue our journey."

  Pancras gathered his cloak and left the tower. Kale sighed, rolled his shoulders, and stretched. The discomfort he felt during the night subsided, for the time being.

  Delilah cocked her head and put her arm around Kale. "How are you feeling today?"

  Nodding, Kale took her hand and led her out of the tower. "Better. Almost normal. Maybe the worst is over."

  * * *

  "Oh, Kale." Delilah shook her head as she followed her brother into the field. "Why did you have to say that? You know things are going to get worse now!" She grinned and punched him in the shoulder and then ran after Pancras. She was happy her brother claimed he was feeling better but didn't quite believe him. Delilah was not as well versed in chaos magic as Pancras was, but she was certain that such afflictions didn't just cure themselves over night.

  She caught up to Pancras and Edric as the dwarf regaled him with outlandish stories he heard from human traders about the moors. Delilah ignored them and turned her thoughts to home. Zarach wasn't thrilled when she told him of her intention to leave with Pancras, and Kale but understood her desire to keep the humans off her back.

  Delilah wiped her eyes. She still wasn't used to the brightness of the sun. It made her head throb, yet she was grateful for the crisp, cool air. After a few hours of hiking, she almost preferred the rain.

  "At least it's not raining, right?" Kale bumped into Delilah and sent her stumbling.

  She glared at him. "I was just thinking how I almost preferred it. The sun is stinging my eyes."

  Kale flipped up the hood on his cloak. "You have one of these, you know?"

  I hate him. Delilah flipped her hood up. While it shielded her eyes well enough, it made the heat even more oppressive. She ignored his attempts to engage her in conversation, and eventually, he trotted forward to catch up to Pancras and Edric who were comparing stories they heard about human lands.

  The group marched onward down the road, over the low hills and through the grassy plains of Etrunia. Delilah saw what she thought must be farm houses or trading outposts near the horizon, but Pancras seemed to want to stick to the road. She, herself, had no desire for them to try to their luck at these places after the welcome they received at the inn. The only time he led them off the road was to make camp as the sun dipped behind the western horizon.

  No zombies assaulted them in the evening, and Delilah kept a close watch on both Pancras and her brother to make sure neither one of them caused any strange occurrences.

  The next day was easier for Delilah. Puffy, white clouds blocked the sun for a good portion of their journey, and she felt comfortable enough with Kale's health to divert from the road by herself to hunt down some game. The dried foodstuff they brought with them was decent enough, but Delilah wanted some variety, not to mention fresh meat. By the time they made camp again, she managed to scorch two long-eared rodent-like creatures to death and presented them to the group.

  "I hope these are edible. They looked like rats, but with longer ears."

  "Daft girl, those are rabbits!" Edric took them from her and tasked himself with skinning them. "Get a proper fire started. These will roast up nicely! I don't suppose you caught any wild ale while you were out there?"

  Delilah thought about it for a moment before she realized Edric didn't actually expect her to catch ale. She pursed her lips and shook her head. Kale looked around for dry brush and twigs.

  "There's not much here, is there?" He held up a bunch of grasses. "Can we make a fire with these?"

  She wrinkled her nose and flicked the grasses with her hand. "I don't think they'll burn long enough."

  Pancras pointed past Edric. "I saw a grove of trees over there. Help Edric. I'll fetch some wood. I should be able to carry enough to last through dinner, at least."

  When Delilah approached Edric to help him with the rabbits, he waved her away. "I don't need your help." He looked up from his work and yelled after Pancras. "Bring back a couple of stout sticks for skewers!"

  Delilah sighed and stepped over to her brother. Kale's pack was open, and he fiddled with the puzzle box Terrakaptis gave him. So far, he had not progressed in finding a way to open it but insisted he would figure it out eventually. Delilah sat next to him and rummaged through her own pack. She pulled out and opened her trade language lexicon. May as well make the most of this waiting.

  * * *

  Pancras heard Edric's request for sticks to use as skewers and quickened his
pace. He didn't think there were animals large enough to be a threat to him living in the plains of Etrunia, although he couldn't say the same for the grove of trees. He preferred staying with the rest of the group and felt a bit exposed out alone.

  Anywhere there were dark hollows in which creatures could shelter or hide waiting for prey there was an element of danger. Forests could be just as dangerous as deep caverns, and Pancras had much less experience with forests. The closer he came to the trees, the more it seemed they were a freestanding grove. He heard a knocking sound coming from the trees. Pancras hoped it was something innocuous and not some fierce beast that ate minotaurs. Other birds sang cheerful, lilting songs in the distance.

  At the edge of the grove, Pancras found sufficient deadwood to start a fire and even a few larger pieces they could snap into smaller ones to keep it fed well into the night. He found a few long branches on trees that would have made excellent skewers but had nothing with which to cut them. He ran his hand along a branch and looked up at the tree. Its broad, green leaves swayed in the breeze, a hypnotic dance born of nature.

  Nearby, a branch snapped. Its crack made Pancras's blood freeze in his veins. The minotaur felt the fur on the back of his neck stand on end as he peered into the underbrush for whatever it was that caused the noise. The canopy of the treetops kept most of the sunlight from reaching the ground, and the thickness of the undergrowth was such that it was impossible to see more than a dozen feet into it.

  A cold breeze picked up dead leaves from where they had fallen, sending them swirling around Pancras's feet. A shiver crawled down his back as he realized the bird songs stopped. After several minutes of staring into the trees and surrounding underbrush, he relaxed. Whatever made the noise was not coming after him. Or, if it is, it's more patient than I am.