Ariella and the Blood Curse

by Owen Crane

Ariella sunk to her knees and tried to steady her breathing. The adrenaline

  was coursing through her and she felt her hands shaking. The whimpering of

  Lavina roused her and she ran to her fallen friend.

  “Easy girl,” soothed Ariella. “Easy, let"s take a look.”

  The Ghost Raider’s blade had cut deep into Lavina"s wing and it looked like

  her bone was broken. The gorgeous bronze feathers were matted with blood.

  Ariella felt the sting of tears in her eyes as she studied the wound. Without

  thinking she placed her hands over the gash and a deep green Light flooded out,

  covering Lavina"s wing. Ariella felt the warmth of the Light as it moved back

  and forth. Lavina"s whimpering stopped and she let out a heartfelt cry,

  stretching out her wing she beat it lightly. Once, twice, three times, each time

  increasing the speed, then with a leap she rose into the sky, beating hard.

  She spun over and dove back down to earth, landing on Ariella and

  knocking her to the ground. Lavina cried loudly and nuzzled Ariella"s face.

  “Get off, you lump!” she laughed. “You weigh a ton, get off me!”

  She managed to push off the griffin"s feet and stand up throwing her arms

  Lavina"s neck. The other two griffins landed next to them, gathering around

  Lavina, touching beaks. Ariella rested her hand on one of the griffins and spoke

  softly.

  “Can you go and get the others?” she asked, “Bring them back here. Can

  you do that?”

  The griffin let out a cry and was gone in a cloud of dust, heading off in the

  direction of the boys.

  “I guess he understands,” she said out loud.

  “Griffins are intelligent creatures,” said a weak voice

  Ariella spun round, her sword flashing in her hand. “Who"s there?”

  She was facing the cleft in the rock where the Ghost Raider had ambushed

  them. The area was covered in shadow by the steep sides of the valley.

  “Show yourself, slowly.” Ariella commanded

  Out of the cleft, hesitantly, came the hooded figure they had seen by the

  stream. She was older than Ariella but just as tall and slim. Her hood was down

  allowing her braided blonde hair to fall across her shoulders. Her face was a

  mess. Her left eye was swollen and almost closed over. Her bottom lip was

  bleeding and she had a gash somewhere on her head, the blood mixing with the

  blonde hair. She walked out of the cleft wincing with each step.

  “What happened to you?” Ariella asked.

  The lady gave a half smile. “Apparently I wasn"t moving quick enough. I

  thought that if I slowed down then there was a chance that you would find us.

  He didn"t like my plan.”

  “You wanted to be found?” Ariella asked, her suspicion obvious.

  She nodded. “I thought being your prisoner would be better than being their

  prisoner.” she shuddered and looked away. “Anything is better than being their

  prisoner.”

  Ariella was shocked “You"re a prisoner?”

  The lady looked confused. “Of course. Do I look like a Ghost Raider?”

  “Well, er, no. I guess not. But we saw you cursing the Willowbank. That

  was you?”

  The lady slumped and nodded.

  “Do you know what you"ve done?” said Ariella, feeling her anger rise.

  “You"ve poisoned the whole bloody country! People are starving because of you.

  They"re blaming Khan and the Guardians when all the time it was you and the

  Ghost Raiders.”

  “I"m sorry,” she mumbled

  “Sorry. You"re sorry?” Ariella’s voice was getting louder and she stepped

  towards the lady, lifting her sword. “You think I give a damn about your

  sorry?”

  The lady lifted her hands, backing away from her. “I, I, I didn"t want to do

  it.”

  “What"s that got to do with it? You"re in league with Ghost Raiders and you

  cursed the river, that"s what matters and you"re going to pay for it.”

  “They killed my parents!” The lady screamed, her eyes filling with tears. She

  sunk down to her knees in front of Ariella and began to sob.

  Ariella stopped, her anger disappearing in an instant. “What did you say?”

  The lady had to take a couple of deep breaths to compose herself. “I said

  they killed my parents. They said they"d come back for my brother if I didn"t do

  what they said.”

  “Your brother?”

  The lady nodded. “I have a brother. They said they"d….” she hesitated and

  began sobbing again

  Nice one Ari, real sensitive. Look at her, she’s a mess. Of course she’s not a Ghost Raider. Get a grip.

  Ariella knelt down beside her. “It"s okay. You"re safe. You"re not my

  prisoner; I"m not going to hurt you. Ghost Raiders killed my father too, I

  understand.”

  The lady stopped sobbing and looked up at Ariella. “My name is Polly,” she

  said.

  “I"m Ariella.”

  Polly tried to force a smile through her tears.

  “What I really need to know Polly, is can the curse be stopped?”

  Polly stopped crying. “Yes, at least, I think so.”

  “What do we need to do?”

  “We need to go back to the stream,” Polly replied, “Where you first saw me.”

  “Then let"s go. Have you ever ridden a griffin?”

  Polly shook her head, looking nervously at Lavina and the other griffin.

  “It"ll be alright,” Ariella reassured her. “They"ll do all the work, you just

  have to hang on.”

  Ariella swung up on Lavina"s back and pointed to the griffin. “Lets hurry,

  we"ve got to get this curse broken.”

  Polly edged up to the griffin and gently patted its feathers. The griffin stared

  at her for a moment, and then lowered its back, making it easy for her to climb

  up.

  “You settled?” Ariella asked as Polly fidgeted on the griffin’s back.

  “Yes,” she said, “I think so.”

  “Good, come on Lavina, fly.” she nudged the griffin’s side with her heel and

  the great beast rose with a single leap. Ariella heard Polly"s shocked scream

  behind her and turned to see her hanging on tightly to the griffin"s feathers, her

  eyes firmly shut.

  Chapter 23

  Ariella and Polly soared up into the blue sky and headed towards the pool

  where the blood curse had started. After a few moments they saw three griffins

  heading towards them from the south, flying hard in their direction.

  “My friends,” Ariella called over to Polly who still hadn"t opened her eyes.

  “Never mind. Just hang on.”

  She waved as Indio and Jaron approached. When they spotted Polly clinging

  on to the other griffin Indio"s face darkened.

  “What"s going on?” he yelled

  “I"ll explain when we land,” Ariella called back “Trust me.”

  Jaron nodded but Indio remained motionless, his eyes fixed on Polly.

  As they got closer to the pool they saw Eleazar flying in from the west with

  the other griffins. They landed together on the hillside.

  Indio jumped down from Thrace and advanced on Polly, his sword drawn.

  She gave Ariella a terrified look and dropped to the ground putting the griffin

  between her and Indio.

  “Back up Indio,” said Ariella.

  “She"s a witch, Ari, a Ghost Raider witch. Why is she still alive?” he<
br />
  growled.

  “Because she can break the curse,” said Ariella

  That stopped Indio in his tracks. He stared hard at Ariella as Polly started to

  whimper.

  “Is this true?” Indio demanded, looking at Polly

  She nodded.

  “You better fill us in Ari.” said Eleazar stepping up beside Indio.

  Ariella nodded and told them of the incident in the valley and meeting Polly.

  “You healed Lavina?” Jaron asked

  “Yeah” she replied

  “What colour was the Light?”

  Ariella shifted uneasily. “It was green.”

  “Green?” said Indio.

  “And when you shattered the sword, what colour was that?” Jaron asked

  Lie, just lie! Why can’t you just lie? Because we’re a Knot, that’s why.

  She sighed, “It was blue.”

  Indio snorted. “That’s weird. You"re an odd one Ari.”

  “Not helpful bro,” said Eleazar shaking his head at Indio

  “What did I say?”

  “It"s okay,” said Ariella, “I know something’s not right.”

  “Forget about it for now,” said Jaron, “Let"s get this curse broken. You

  reckon you can do that Polly?”

  Polly was still staring at Indio and the bright blade he was holding.

  “Indio,” said Jaron, “Put that bloody sword away.”

  “Oh, yes, sorry.” Indio sheathed his sword and tried to give Polly a

  reassuring smile.

  “What do we need to do Polly?” Ariella asked

  “I need to go back the stream,” she said nervously.

  “Lead on then,” smiled Ariella.

  The four of them followed Polly down the hillside to the stream. Polly

  waded out in the water up to her thighs.

  “I need some blood,” she said, quietly, looking at the four Sojourners.

  “What about yours?” Asked Indio. “Your blood cursed the river.”

  “Exactly,” answered Polly.

  “Huh?” said Indio.

  “My blood cursed the river,” she said, her voice tinged with sadness. “Now

  I need someone else’s blood to un-curse it.”

  “Take mine,” said Ariella, stepping into the pool.

  “Wait,” said Indio, placing his hand on his sword he took a step towards

  Polly. “If anything happens to her, you die. No questions, no hesitations, no

  remorse. Do you understand?”

  The blood drained from Polly"s face and she nodded.

  “Easy Indio,” said Ariella “It"ll be good. We need this done.”

  Ariella waded next to Polly and drew her sword. She pressed her palm

  against the blade, just enough to cut a thin line. She squeezed her hand into a fist

  and the blood began to drip into the pool.

  Polly stroked the water as she had before, then the chanting began. It was

  the same rhythm but the words were different this time. Ariella still couldn"t

  understand what Polly was saying but she sensed the shift.

  She looked down at the pool and gasped. Her blood had started to turn a

  vibrant forest green. It began to shimmer and pulse as Polly"s chanting grew

  louder and faster. Her shoulders began to shake and convulse, the chanting

  reaching its crescendo. The green blood grew, and pulsed quicker and quicker.

  Then suddenly the pool seemed to explode and a wave of green flew down the

  stream and out of sight.

  Polly"s knees buckled and Ariella had to scoop her up to stop her head going

  under the water. Jaron strode into the pool and helped pull her to the bank and

  lay her down. She was breathing heavily but her eyes were closed.

  “Is she alright?” Jaron asked, kneeling beside her

  “I think so.” replied Ariella, “she"s breathing enough. I guess the whole

  chanting thing takes it out of her.”

  “What do you think?” asked Indio “Did it work?”

  “Look,” said Eleazar pointing down stream, his eyes wide.

  “What?” said Indio, “I don"t see anything.”

  “Look at the river bank.”

  “Oh wow,” said Jaron.

  “What?” said Indio “What are you guys looking at?”

  “The grass,” said Ariella, grinning. “The Blood Curse killed the grass on the

  banks of the stream. Now look at it.”

  The withered grass that had been there a few moments ago now looked fresh

  and vibrant, swaying in the breeze.

  “It worked.” said Indio “It actually worked.”

  Polly began to stir and open her eyes, blinking in the sunlight.

  “You did it Polly,” said Ariella, “You broke the Blood Curse. It"s over.”

  “What about the rest of Trevena?” asked Eleazar. “The whole land was

  covered in the curse. How long ago did you start all this?”

  “A few months ago, I think.” said Polly “They would bring me up here every

  week or so to reinforce the curse.”

  “Do we need to do that then?” asked Eleazar “Come back here each week?”

  “I don"t think so,” she answered. “I think it"s broken. The land should be

  able to recover now.”

  Jaron stood. “Time to face the music,” he said

  “You don"t think Karlov will be mad do you?” asked Indio

  “Mad?” laughed Jaron, “He"ll be nuts, crazy, wild. He"ll probably try to

  have us strung up by our thumbs and have people throw rotten food at us.”

  “But we broke the curse,” said Indio, “We saved Trevena, and Khan, and the

  Guardians.”

  “And disobeyed orders, deserted our posts and abandoned our Knot.” Jaron

  answered

  “Don"t forget stealing the Queen of Khan’s griffins.”

  Indio winced, “Borrowed. We borrowed the Queen of Khan"s griffins.”

  “I"m sure that"s how she will see it Indio,” said Eleazar, “I"m sure she"s

  totally understanding of people who wander off with her griffins, without

  permission.”

  Indio"s head dropped. “Crap,” he muttered.

  “What about her?” asked Eleazar. “We can"t leave her here. She"s

  defenceless.”

  “She"s coming back with us,” said Ariella. “She needs to explain what"s been going on.”

  Polly look scared “Explain? To who?”

  “To the King.”

  “The, the, the King? The actual King?” Stammered Polly, “I can"t talk to the

  King.”

  “You can, and you will. You need to clear Khan of all wrongdoing in this.”

  She turned to the boys. “Ready to fly?”

  “No” said Indio.

  Eleazar and Jaron nodded.

  “Let"s fly.” said Ariella, ignoring Indio and climbing onto Lavina. “Polly, it"s

  time to go.”

  “Er, excuse me,” said Indio, “Did no one hear me? I said „no", I thought I was

  pretty clear.”

  Polly and the others climbed onto the waiting griffins, ignoring Indio.

  “I think this is a nice spot,” Indio called. “No need to rush back to Karlov or

  the Queen. We could stay for a while.”

  Ariella smiled at him and called over to Indio"s griffin. “Could you help me

  out with him Thrace?”

  Thrace gave a cry and then grabbed Indio"s shirt in its sharp beak and

  dumped the young red head on it"s broad lion back. Before Indio could protest

  Thrace leapt into the sky, the other griffins following in quick succession.

  They climbed rapidly, the young Willowbank flowing along underneath

  them stretching as far south as they
could see. They followed the ribbon of the

  river as it passed through the foothills into the vast farms of Trevena. A huge

  orchard, nestled along the banks came into view.

  Ariella called out to the others. “I want to check something out, give me a

  minute.”

  She banked Lavina and pointed her towards the edge of the orchard, landing

  on the banks of the river. The orchard was deserted.

  I guess no one is interested in fruit when it’s saturated with blood.

  She walked to the first tree and plucked the nearest apple. The fruit was so

  soft that her fingers broke the skin. The familiar dark red blood seeped through

  the marks Ariella had made. She took the apple down to the river and crouched

  down, holding the fruit under the flow.

  The others landed next to Lavina waiting for Ariella to finish. She lifted the

  apple out of the water. The blood had been washed away; it felt firmer to her

  touch. She walked back to the others.

  “Ele, can I borrow your knife?” She asked.

  He handed it down to her, and taking it she slit open the apple. The flesh

  was a pale green. The aroma made her smile. She took a bite, savouring every

  crunch.

  “It"s broken,” she said, a broad smile spread across her face.

  The boys dropped from their griffins and raced to the apple trees. They each

  grabbed an apple; Indio grabbed three, and ran to the river to soak their fruit. It

  was the same result. The apples were as perfect as they should"ve been.

  “This is great,” laughed Indio, “we know it worked. The question is how do

  we get the whole of Trevena into the Willowbank? That"s going to be a tough

  ask.”

  “We won"t need to,” answered Jaron. “The Willowbank feeds every stream

  from here to Lake Evermere. Every farm gets its irrigation from this river. The

  curse will be broken across the whole country, it might just take some time for it

  to take effect.”

  “You did it Polly,” said Ariella smiling up at the blonde lady, sitting

  uncomfortably on a griffin.

  She smiled weakly, “Do I still need to talk to the King?”

  “Sorry Polly, there"s no other way. It"ll be okay, he"s a good King.”

  “And he"s Ariella"s uncle, she"ll put in a good word for you won"t you

  princess?” said Eleazar

  Ariella rolled her eyes and jumped onto Lavina. “I wish I was still a

  princess,” she said, giving him a withering look. “Then I could have you thrown