Malediction (Scars of the Sundering Book 1) (9 page)

"We'll
leave as soon as the storm lets up a bit. There used to be all sorts of farms
and villages along this road. Maybe we'll find another place where we can hole
up for a bit and work out a plan." Pancras took his cloak from around
Kale's shoulders and shook the rain off it. He folded it in his lap and rubbed
the drak's back. He felt two lumps where Kale's shoulder blades were supposed
to be.

"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.