The Ways of Mages: Starfire (35 page)

“
Hmm
.
”

She had reached across the table and plunked the tray in front of him.

“
Breeya
!”
Lanol had said exasperatedly
.“
Not on top of these
!”
He picked up the tray and tugged the underlying scrolls out of the way. Before disaster could have struck, Breeya snatched the water before Lanol could possibly ruin his precious scrolls. Only after the tray was safely back on solid table did Breeya set the water back.

“
Honestly Lanol, its paper.
I’
m positive it did not suffer
.
”

“
Just paper, just paper! Ugh
!”
He had looked her straight in the eye
.“
Breey
a”
He had held both her hands in his
.“
Breeya, Breeya. You must understand. Thos
e‘
just paper
s’
are roughly  five hundred years old. Not only that, they are scrolls of prophecy
.”
Obviously he had thought this meant something to her.

Breeya had rolled her eyes
.“
Lanol, even if they are scrolls of prophecy or even yesterda
y’
s letters; I am sure they did not suffer being under a tray for a second
.
”

Lanol had hung his head
.“
I give up! She just does not understand
.
”

“
I understand that you are absolutely obsessed with these things, but
I’
ll tell you something I do
n’
t understand
.”
She had said taking back her hands.

“
And what
else
can that be
?
”

“
How a fine man like you can spend all his time with these old relics when he has his life to live
?
”

“
I’
m a scholar; you are going to find me among books and aging scrolls. They
are
my life
.
”

Breeya had let out an exasperated breath. There was no coming between Lanol and his papers when he was in this mood. Sometimes it was just plain difficult to be his sister. She shuddered at the thought of what being his wife would be like! Had Olidiya known what she could have gotten herself into? Breeya remembered profusely hoping Olidiya could share Lanol with his scrolls and books.

“
Before you get back to those old things, take a break and eat
.”
She had demanded.

Lanol had sighed
.“
Okay
.”
He had grabbed the fork and stuck a bite of pie into his mouth. Unfortunately it had contained the note, which he had
n’
t noticed. He had immediately spat it right back out. It was unfortunate, but the note had suffered being in the pie, then in his mouth. It was unreadable. Breeya had shaken her head and threw her hands up in the air.

“
So much for love mail via food
.”
She had muttered as she left. Lanol had watched her leave aghast. Breeya laughed recalling that look. The smile faded, however as other memories surfaced. Painful memories. Breeya grimaced and looked up at the mountains around her.

Shortly after the Tray Tick, Breeya had become tired of cave darkness, fire light and fungus glow. She wanted warm sunlight, cool moonlight, and distant star sparks. She wanted to feel the wind on her face and horseflesh beneath her. Breeya had wanted to ride. Not a tame ride either, but a wild, challenging ride on the mountain trails and through the vales that were here and there. But she did
n’
t want to ride alone. Olidiya could
n’
t go with her for the Carsaians were afraid to venture outside. It was
n’
t just superstition either. The vastness of the sky, when she had described it had terrified them. They also could
n’
t understand the basic concepts of night and day. Time for them had been marked by the brightening and dimming of cave fungus. The seasons marked by the flow of the river flowing through the center of the city.

Because of this, Breeya had to drag Lanol out from under his scrolls. She still did
n’
t know how she had succeeded. The horses they had kept in a sheltered vale were glad to see them. Breey
a’
s heart had flown so high that day. That day its wings had also been clipped by guilt and fear and pain. She had been so stupid to forget. Olidiya had been so obsessed with Lanol. She had desperately wanted him to notice her. Olidiya kept her eye on him. So when he went with Breeya, Olidiya had jumped upon the chance to be with Breey
a’
s bookworm of a brother. Breeya should have remembered. She should have.

But she had
n’
t.

And there was a reason why the Carsainians should fear the outside world. They were the children of the Cursed. Thus they were Cursed as well. Lanol had explained later, while recovering, that a person became Cursed by being wounded by either the Enemy or another Cursed. If the person survived till sunset, they transformed into a black, red eyed eagle with a wingspan of eleven feet. They became blood thirsty and killed everything around them.

That was exactly what happened when Olidiya left the cave mouth. Breeya had seen it all. One moment Olidiya had been smiling, maybe a little anxious leaving the cave, but excited never the less. The next, Olidiya had screamed in agony. A black cloud enveloped her and grew in size. When it lifted the nightmare truly began. Blond, pale, blue eyed Olidiya was gone. In her place was a large, black eagle. Red eyes focused on them with murderous hunger.

“
The Carsaians ancesto
r’
s journals described that the Cursed no longer recognize their friends and family. All they knew was a terrible hunger for blood and the satisfaction of tearing flesh apart
.”
Lanol had told her once
.“
They killed people and animals and rarely ate any of the meat. They did not kill to eat. They killed for the pleasure of it. It was all they knew
.”
Breeya had thought the journal writers were over exaggerating. How could they want to hurt family? How could they not
remember
family?

Looking into those burning red eyes, Breeya had thought the journal writers had been under exaggerating.

What had been Olidiya attacked them like lightning. Breeya owed her life to Loralla. Loralla had swerved out of the way. Gansei had frozen in terror. Lanol had fallen from Ganse
i’
s back just as the Curse
d’
s talon sliced down. Gansei went down with a scream. The monster hissed with a sick glee. Its beak opened as it started to lean toward Lanol. He was moving too slowly to get away fast enough. Breeya had acted without really thinking about it. She blasted the Cursed with a hurricane wind. The wind knocked the Cursed into the sky, barely missing a clif
f’
s edge. The Cursed screamed in rage. It sent chills of dread down Breey
a’
s spine. It was an eagl
e’
s shriek, but at the same time it had an overtone of a wind whistling under an eve. It was haunting. It dove toward Breeya. Before Breeya could scream, Mage Fire roared in front of her. The Cursed did
n’
t or could
n’
t stop before it hit the flames. The stench was horrible as feathers ignited and flesh boiled. The Curse
d’
s scream was colored by pain. It struggled into the air. Mage Fire followed it to keep it in retreat. With a final scream, the Cursed fled.

In the silence the Mage Fire died. Breeya had scrambled to Lanol. He was slouching from a sitting position not too far from his gutted horse. The last vestiges of Mage Fire died from his hand. Breeya had gone to him, avoided looking at the eviscerated horse. Out of the corner of her eye she saw it twitch in its death throes. Tears had streamed down her cheeks as she knelt by Lanol

“
Are you okay
?”
She had asked. Lano
l’
s color, or rather the lack of it,  was worrying her.

“
No
.”
his voice was weak
.“
She raked me
.
”

“
Where
?
”

“
My back
.”
Breeya hurriedly looked at his back. His shirt was torn and blood soaked. She ripped the shirt off of him. The action of which enlisted a grunt of pain from him. She tore the reasonably clean front into strips. Tying the strips to him was a messy business. They soaked instantly. The entire time, Lanol groaned in pain.

With a gasp he had sai
d“
Breeya, you can finish that later
.
”

“
You are losing too much blood. I need to stanch it
.”
She had insisted.

“
Breeya
.”
His sharp tone had stopped her
.“
I need your help getting to the cave. Something about it stops the Curse. I need that more than your painful ministrations right now
.
”

“
Bu
t
…”

“
Breeya, look at the sky
.”
She looked and saw that it was darkening. The sun was starting to paint the blue canvas with fire
.“
I can feel it burning inside of me. If
I’
m out here when it sets I will be the death of you
.”
Breeya heard the sharp note of fear in his voice.

Swallowing a lump of fear, Breeya had bent and helped him to his feet. He had swayed dizzily. Breeya gritted her teeth. She should not be moving him, but he refused to stop. His eyes would look skyward with such fea
r…
She would hurry her steps, dragging him toward the cave mouth. Loralla had nickered a greeting when they stumbled in.  People, led by Parrend who assisted Lanol in the library, met them. They quickly patched Lanol up and brought him to the clinic. The numbing shock of the attack had worn off at that point. Breeya had trembled with fear. A chill ran down her back with how close she had come to losing her brother. If he had not tossed himself from the saddle, he would have been dead. If they had
n’
t been near the cave mouth she would have lost him to the Curse. If Parrend had
n’
t met them, he would have died from blood loss. So many ways she could have lost him.

It made her shudder now just to think of it.

She almost had lost her own life, too. Would have if Lanol had
n’
t used the Mage Fire. As it was, she had lost a dear friend. Somewhere out here, Olidiya fle
w…
Breeya cast another glance about the mountains and still nothing alarming met her eyes. The memory pulled her back.

Her hands had been sticky with Lano
l’
s blood, but she could
n’
t leave him till she knew if he would live or not. She could be especially stubborn when she wanted to be. She even ignored the pain in her left hand. Even when it had been burning. It was the sudden bout of nausea that had sent her away. Breeya had been violently ill for a long time. At one point she became conscious of Parrend holding her hair. Gentle hands had cleaned her up. The blood had been scrubbed from her hands.

Her left hand had been swollen. A tiny cut was the focus point. Its edges were puckered like dried lips. Puss had been seeping out of it, like spittle from a rot bloated thing. She had been nearly sick again from the sight. The healer of the Carsians, a man named Thauvi, quickly cut it to drain it out. Spirits that had hurt! After he had drained the puss from her hand, she had gotten over her nausea. But strangely enough, her hand took longer to heal then Lano
l’
s wound. Hers had been the smaller injury by a lot. And it had
n’
t been infection that had slowed it down, because it had been healthy after the puss was drained.

It was the difference in healing time that made the people wonder at her. They all healed quickly like Lanol.

“
I think, Little Wing, you have escaped the Curse. You were sick because your body was fighting the poison
.”
Lanol had observed at one point. It annoyed her how clinical he had been about it. He had nearly died and here he was being the scholar.

It soon clicked in her mind, her brother was now like the others of Carsa. He could
n’
t leave without becoming a monster. Not that he seemed particularly worried about it. At least he had
n’
t when Breeya had left. Now that he was like the Carsaians she felt pity. He could not leave. They could not leave. They were trapped. When she experimented walking outside with a rope tied about her waist so if she started the change, Lanol could yank her back in, nothing had happened. She remained human. She was the only one free to come and go as she wished. She wanted that for all of the Carsaians. That way, if they ever did want to leave their cave, they could.