by Rain Oxford
The door slammed open, causing my eyes to open and Kalyn to jump.
“What are you doing down there?” Sven inquired.
“I’m… I’m giving him a healing potion.”
He glared at her.
“If he dies, there’s nothing to stop that dragon from attacking us,” Kalyn explained nervously.
After a long, stressful pause, he nodded. “Fine. Hurry up and get out. If you give away anything about our location, his wolf will be picking you out of his teeth before you even realize you’ve made a mistake.”
“I’m done here anyway.” Without another glance at me, she walked out. Sven shut the door behind her and I was left alone in the dark again. The effects of the potion pulled me under.
* * *
“Merlin?” I was alone. There was nothing different about the creek, but it felt a little ominous. Instead of panicking, I visualized paper, ink, and a quill. It took a long time, but I eventually settled my mind enough that I forgot it was a dream. Everything narrowed to the grassy spot in front of me, on which I imagined the supplies lay. When it was so realistic that I could feel it in my hands, I called for Merlin again.
“You did well,” he said, suddenly right next to me. “Now, write a letter to Mason, telling him to warn Livia, Mist’s parents, and Koufax.”
I found a flat rock to lay the letter on and wrote it just like he’d instructed. “Are you able to get the letter to him somehow?” I asked as I folded it up.
“No; you are. Imagine Mason’s magic mirror.”
“Can’t I imagine the small mirror?”
“Only if you want Sven to get the letter instead.”
I groaned and did what he said. I wasn’t as familiar with Mason’s mirror as I was the one Livia had given me, so it took longer to visualize it than the previous objects. Merlin had to correct me a few times, but that encouraged me; it meant he could see it.
“That should do it. We are out of time on this dream. Toss the letter through the mirror.”
“Through it?”
“Hurry.”
I chucked the letter at the mirror, expecting it to bounce off the glass. Instead it went right through the surface and vanished. I gaped. “What?! You can send letters through a dream?”
“If you have the skill and knowledge, there are many ways you can influence the world through the dream realm, just like you can sway the conscious mind through the subconscious.”
“What?”
“Never mind.”
“So, Mason will get that?”
“Yes. It will be reflected, but he should be intelligent enough to figure that out.”
“You have just as much power as I do here, so why did you want me to do it?”
“Because I knew you could and you needed to learn how to do it. Furthermore, I am struggling to dreamwalk, as I am working with a very limited reserve.”
“Has anyone tried to get rid of Mason’s family?”
“Not outright, but---”
* * *
For the third time, I woke to find myself alone with Kalyn. Only this time, she was leaning over me with her face so close to me I could feel her breath. She smelled like berries and honey. “What are you doing?”
“You said you have never kissed a girl. Do you want to?”
I opened my mouth with the intention of telling her I didn’t want to kiss her and instead said, “Not like this.”
“Are you still in pain?” she asked, leaning back.
I shook my head. “No. The potions worked well. Thank you.”
“Do you think you can walk?”
“Probably.”
She reached for something on the floor and picked up my wand and staff, as well as a cloth sack. Then she freed my hands.
“Now what are you doing?” I sat up, pulled my dagger out of my boot, and cut my legs loose.
“When Sven left me to fend for myself, you saved my life,” she said. I took my wand and staff. She held out the sack. “I got you what food I could. There isn’t any meat; Sven and Sotis ate it all.”
“Come with me. Sven will kill you or worse if he knew you let me go.”
“I can’t leave him. I want to, but I can’t.” She made a gesture with her hands at the bed, which was oddly similar to an elementalist’s gesture. On the bed, an illusion of me formed. It was creepy to see myself still restrained and asleep. “This should give you enough time to escape.”
“Don’t you have a hat?” I asked as I put my dagger and wand away.
“I never needed one.” She gestured to me and I felt my skin tingle as her magic met mine. I instantly knew what she did when I closed my eyes and saw through my eyelids; she’d made me, my things, and my clothes invisible. “Stay behind me and don’t make a sound.”
“You’re risking even more doing this, because he’ll find out you helped me escape.”
“Then you’ll have to make it up to me; save magic.”
“I thought you wanted…” Then it dawned on me. “If magic dies for everyone but us, your mother and sisters would suffer.”
She nodded. “If we run into you again, I’m going to have to side with Sven, even if it means attacking you. Once we get upstairs, you’ll see two doors; the one to the right leads to Sven’s room, while the one on the left leads outside. I will open the doors and when I think you’ve gotten far enough away, I’ll drop the invisibility over you.”
I followed her up the stairs into a cabin, which was remarkably unimpressive. It would amaze me if it stood up to a light breeze. Light streamed through the gaps in the walls. The furniture, including a few chairs and a table, were just as worn out. Sotis was sitting at the table, reading a book, and he didn’t even glance up at us.
Kalyn and I headed for the door. She opened it, stepping aside as much as possible where it wasn’t obvious, and stared out. I walked around her and squeezed her hand gently. “Thank you,” I whispered.
Behind me, she closed the door.
Chapter 14
The cabin was next to a lake and a forest surrounded both. Everything was blanketed in snow, so as I made my way towards the forest, I left deep tracks.
Furthermore, the snow got inside my boots and froze my feet. It was even harder to walk in than beach sand, because it was slick. As soon as I reached the forest, Kalyn’s invisibility spell vanished. I could do one myself, but it was easier for her.
I had no idea where I was. If I don’t transport myself to Magnus’s castle, Sven could find me. If I do, my mother could capture me again. Not sure what else to do, I ran until I collapsed shortly before nightfall, panting desperately. I needed food to gain my strength back, so I opened the cloth sack.
“Oh, no. Anything but that!”
It was none other than apples and broccoli.
Despite the fact that I never wanted to eat apples or broccoli again, I did, because I needed to eat something. After brushing away as much snow as I could, I sat against a tree and ate. As I rested, I felt heavier and heavier until I fell asleep. Just before my eyes closed, I saw a raven in the tree above me.
* * *
In my dream, I was in a dirt tunnel and the only light I had was a torch. Something isn’t right about this. I sensed a familiar, malicious presence and glanced around, but I was still alone. “Where are you, Mother? I know you’re there!” Her laughter came from every direction and I shuddered. “How are you in my dream?”
“I’m not in your dream. I’m here with you while you sleep. You’re asleep and you’re not going to wake until my curse is complete.”
“You can’t kill me.”
“Not without making more work for myself, no, but I can make it so that you can’t get in my way. Do you know what sleep deprivation does to a person?”
I did; I had seen people act crazy because they were denied sleep. “What are you going to do, attack me every time I go to sleep?”
“No, I have a much better plan that takes much less work on my part. I’m putting a nightmare curse on you. I want
you to suffer and fight to stay awake.”
I focused my mind on opening my eyes… and then a giant rabbit attacked. It was taller than me, the color of rust, and equipped with teeth and claws that were each longer than my hand. I pointed the torch at it. “I’m not afraid of rabbits anymore,” I lied. The rabbit roared at me, which would have been a shock if this were real life. He can’t hurt me in my dream, right?
The rabbit swiped at me and on reflex, I jumped back and swung the torch like a sword. I wasn’t fast enough; three of its claws caught my arm and drew long, dangerously deep scratches. I gasped, unprepared for the pain it caused, and thrust the torch at the rabbit.
Unfortunately, it didn’t work as intended; the rabbit attacked. I ran, only to trip and drop the torch. I rolled over to face the rabbit… and covered my face with my arms. I didn’t want to see it eat me.
When I felt a gentle nudge on my chest, I flinched, squeaked, and looked up. I was back in the forest and being prodded by a unicorn. I panted. Relief coursed through me until I realized my arm was pulsing with pain. I pulled up my sleeve.
“Oh, no…”
The cuts that the rabbit had made in my sleep were real. My mother had cursed me so that I would have nightmares that could actually hurt me.
The unicorn nibbled at my hair in a strangely familiar way. “Kirin?”
He nodded. Excited to see a friendly face, I hugged his snout. Unlike usual, he held still until I let him go so that he wouldn’t gouge me with his horn.
Kirin was my aunt’s unicorn who had helped me out a number of times. He was the only one of his kind I knew. Although he had healing powers, I didn’t know if he could do anything else or if that was normal for unicorns.
“What are you doing here?”
He neighed and twisted his head as if pointing behind him. Curious, I checked the saddlebag, where I found a letter. As I read it, Kirin licked the wound on my arm, which immediately lessened the pain.
Ayden,
Your father said you would need some help. I’m sorry that I cannot assist you myself, but maybe Kirin can. Although unicorns are not fighters, they are excellent healers. Be safe, nephew.
Livia
I put the letter away slowly. My father went to her. Did he warn her not to fall for my mother’s trick? Does he actually care if I make it out of this alive, or did he just want to see her? Could it be that he still loves her? She’s married to Magnus. It wasn’t terribly important at the moment, yet I still felt a little sorry for my father.
“We need to get to Merlin at the castle,” I told the unicorn. “I’m running out of time to stop Baltezore.” I mounted Kirin and he started off towards the south at a fast gallop. It took me a while to get used to riding him again and I almost fell off three times before I did. I really hoped we weren’t too far from Mokora.
On the journey, I tried to chip away at my mother’s curse. The one advantage I had, as small as it was, was that I knew about the curse early. When she had used the raven’s curse on me, it already had a very strong hold on me before I realize I had been cursed. That didn’t mean I could fight it; if it embedded itself in my magic, it could cause more damage to break than the curse itself did.
Every so often, I wondered if Sven had discovered my escape and killed Kalyn. She was my enemy, so I shouldn’t have cared, but I didn’t want her to get hurt for helping me. While I didn’t understand her love for him, I knew he didn’t deserve her. Love was precious and he treated her like a nuisance. Then again, he couldn’t make himself return her feelings and he already loved someone else. It just seemed incredibly unfair for Kalyn.
Night faded to a chilly dawn with no end in sight, because I didn’t know how far we were from Mokora. The sun was high in the sky when we came upon a huge chasm in the ground, as wide as a river and deep enough that I couldn’t see the bottom. “We need to go around.”
Kirin neighed and reared up on his hind legs, nearly knocking me off.
“Stop!” He put his legs down and I patted his neck. “We’ll go with whatever you want to do. You know your limits better than I do, so it’s completely up to you.”
He backed up, trotted forward, turned, and turned again. He wanted to try it, but he knew he couldn’t.
“I know you can probably make that, but I really don’t think I could stomach it. I tried to fly a boat and threw up all over everything. Can we please go around?”
After a moment, he nodded and trotted towards the east. I figured the chasm was probably another warning sign of the black star.
Eventually, we reached a creek, so we stopped to drink and rest. Despite the fact that we were in a terrible hurry, I decided to meditate and try to break the curse. It wasn’t easy on the back of a unicorn, so I appreciated the peace and quiet.
When a creature jumped out of the bushes with a battle cry, I shrieked until I realized it wasn’t a bear but a man. Of course, it was the hairiest man I’d ever seen, and I’d met a bear shifter before. “You scared me!”
“Really? Thank you!” he said, pulling a scroll from his belt. “You wouldn’t believe how many people don’t get scared by a huge man with an axe jumping out of the bushes with a loud and abrasive battle cry.”
I only saw the axe then. “I bet I would be. Have you been doing this long?” I asked.
“Not long, no. I’m actually here to kill you…” he checked the scroll, “Romanus.”
“But I’m not---”
“Of course, I’ll give you a moment to compose yourself.”
“My name isn’t---”
“Oh! Where are my manners? I don’t have to kill you with an axe.”
“You don’t?”
“No, that’s not necessary.”
“That’s great.”
“Right. The bounty just says dead, it doesn’t specify on how.”
“But it’s not me you’re---”
“There’s poison. That’s usually a peaceful way to go.” He made a regretful face. “Unfortunately, I’m fresh out of poison. I’ve heard suffocation’s not bad. A number of people prefer that.”
“You have to let me---”
“Oh! I’m being rude again. If your culture requires some special ritual or something, I’ll wait. I know wizard ceremonies take forever,” he waved his axe at me, “but I’m not prejudice. I just want you to know that I will take as long as I need to kill you so you can be at peace… or balanced… or whatever you wizards call it nowadays.”
“I’m not a---”
“Just as long as you leave your face identifiable. Otherwise, I can’t collect the bounty.”
“I’m not Romanus!” I yelled. I was somewhat relieved, however, that he wasn’t after me because I was a curse breaker.
His eyes widened. “You’re not? Are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure!”
He narrowed his eyes. “Can you prove it? The last three wizards I found said they weren’t Romanus either.”
“What? How many wizards have you tried to kill because you thought they were Romanus?”
“Five… plus a woman. Well, to be fair, the drawing isn’t really that good.” He handed me the scroll and I unrolled it to see a poorly drawn sketch of a person who looked like me… and every other wizard around my age.
“Okay, I see your point.”
“He has blond hair, and so do you.”
“Yes,” I admitted.
“He has blue eyes, like yours.”
I nodded. “And he’s male.”
“How do you know he’s male if you’re not him?”
“Because he’s not pretty. All witches are pretty.”
He took the scroll back. “That’s true. Are you sure you’re not him?”
“Completely sure.”
“Can I kill you just to be certain?”
“No.”
“Please? None of the other people I thought were him let me kill them and I really need the money. I’ve got a new baby to feed.”
“Congratulations on the baby, but
I’m sorry, I’m way too busy right now. I have a quest to complete.”
“I thought that was a warrior’s job.”
“It’s a busy season for everyone. I’m sure you’ll find Romanus very soon.”
“Would it help change your mind if I begged?”
“Honestly, it would make it worse.”
At that point, Kirin returned and drove him off. I got back to my meditation. I could feel my mother’s magic inside me like poison. It was as sinister as she was and a lot stronger than most of the curses I’d dealt with. There were no weaknesses in the curse itself; the details were perfect, her resolve was solid, and she didn’t underestimate me. In fact, she had made it knowing I would attempt to break it.
When my magic tried to expel hers, fatigue pushed back. I pulled my wand out of my pocket. “Break the curse.”
My magic rushed out of me, through my wand, and back into me. It wasn’t any more powerful, but it was more focused. I had to break the curse without using my usual methods. I just didn’t know how yet.
* * *
“Ayden!”
I jumped and opened my eyes to see Mason, covered in blood. “What happened? Did I fall asleep?”
“We were attacked.”
I tried to shake off the lethargy enough to understand what he was talking about. “Who was attacked?”
“Everyone at the castle. Thaddeus and Blue teamed up and attacked us.”
“Is anyone hurt?”
“Yes. Merlin was attacked the worst.”
“Merlin?” I called to him in my mind. I didn’t know how far our mental bond reached, but I was certain that if Merlin was really hurt, I would sense it. “Why would Thaddeus attack you?”
“I don’t know. You should be more worried about whether Merlin lives or not.”
“Why haven’t you healed him?”
