Curselock

Chapter 76: Tracks

Banks glared at Ori through magically enhanced eyes, bypassing the thick hazard of the swirling blizzard. Wisps of yellow and orange invaded his sight, highlighting edges and shadows in contrasting warmth. It wasn’t perfect vision, but it was enough for simply walking through rough weather. Ori, however, was a different story.

She worked entirely off taste. With her eyes closed, her Legacy thrived. Tongue out and panting like the Lord of the Canine, she blazed through the snow all in the name of iron. Blood, as she actually knew it, but saying iron was much more decent, in her mind. Her profession was already gross and despicable, why would she make her enhanced taste sound even more vile than it already was?

She wasn’t a Scourging after all.

“Did you lose the trail?” Banks asked.

“No,” Ori replied with speed. “The cub waited here for a minute or two. The taste of iron is much stronger.”

“Which way then?”

The tracker held up a finger, signaling for patience. Eventually she bent over and picked at the snow. She tasted various depths, spitting out the rotten dirt as she filtered through what it was telling her. She craned her neck, finding a path through the forest.

“This way,” she said.

“Hey guys,” Jude said, the wind outside the cave rushing by with a howl of anger. “Guys, wake up.”

Leland and Glenny began to stir. Due to the narrowness of the cave, they were both sleeping sitting up. They blinked the grogginess away, finding their berserker friend clutching a ball of fur. Black thick hairs sprung from the mass, which then tapered into a soft blue and eventual frozen white. The beast looked like a spiky snowball with a core of dirt and ink.

“Uh, what is that?” Glenny asked.

“A bear cub,” Jude replied, which he then followed up with, “I think.”

“You think,” Leland echoed. “Why, uh, why is it here?”

“It was running. Ran right into me. Practically jumped into my arms for protection.” He hoisted the cub forward, showing off its long snout and saddened eyes. “See? Look at how pitiful it is.”

Leland and Glenny looked from the cub to each other. “Running from what?”

Jude’s eyes widened at the question. He froze for a moment but ultimately knew there was no lying to his friends. “An arrow.”

“An arrow.”

“Yeah.”

“Jude,” Leland said calmly. “Whose arrow?”

Jude shrugged at that. “Don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” Leland asked only for Glenny to speak right after.

“Where is this arrow?”

Pushing out the cub’s back leg, Jude showed his friends a thick yellow-orange arrow that entered one side and exited the other. “She’s hurt pretty bad.”

“She?”

Jude nodded at that.

Leland took a deep breath. “Right, she. Okay. So.” He paused. “Glenny help me out here.”

“Jude you can’t just take in a monster cub,” Glenny said. “Even if she is hurt and you nurse her back to health, her mother will come and… well we will be forced to put her down. Then the cub will be on her own.”

“Not to mention the hunter,” Leland quickly added. “They might want to fight—“ A pain ripped through the back of his hand. He grunted loudly, startling the cub.

Jude whispered warmth and sweetness to the young beast, calming her, but Leland was focused on the blood that trickled from his tattoo. The crow was wildly flapping its wings, like it was signaling a guard in a crowded city street. His veins went cold at that and his thoughts went straight to the cub.

Was she a danger? Were they in danger?

Something clicked in the back of Leland’s mind. He wanted to pull out his grimoire and check, he desperately wanted to check if his newest spell was finally unlocked. However, something nagged at him. He watched the blood drip from the back of his hand and land silently on the stone floor. Slowly, like uncovering a horrid secret, his eyes moved up the tunnel leading out of the cave.

Blood.

A trail of blood originating from the arrow wound on the bear cub.

His eyes widened and he quickly spoke, “We need to leave. Right now.”

Leland didn’t wait around. He moved to his pack, shoving his blanket into wherever it would fit. As he did so, he dumped whatever was left of their dinner onto the small fire, extinguishing it with a burnt sizzle.

“Leals?” Jude asked, still holding the bear.

“The blizzard has been raging for hours,” Leland rapidly said. “And that wound is fresh. Which only means—”

“Whoever created the blizzard is the one who shot the bear,” Glenny interrupted before moving to his own pack.

“Or someone strong enough to brave the blizzard, yes,” Leland continued. “If it’s the latter, then they probably won’t attack us on sight. If it’s the former, well, they’ve already proven themselves to use a highly illegal spell. What’s three murders?”

The cub twisted at that, forcing Jude to loosen his grip to not bump the arrow. The bear took advantage and slipped from his grasp. It then ran, past Leland and Glenny, deeper into the small tunnel of the cave.

“Wait!” Jude yelled.

Oddly enough, the bear did. She stopped, her lame leg hardly moving. She turned, looking back at them three with saddened eyes. She then focused on Jude, the other two completely out of her mind. Warmth, warmth was what she felt. Jude, in that moment, reminded her of her mother and the sheer feeling of home of her den.

“Follow me,” she said aloud.

Jude’s eyebrow rose much the same as Leland’s and Glenny’s. However, he smirked while they both gaped at the small bear. He trudged forward, picking up his pack and stepping over the remains of their fire.

“I knew it,” he muttered.

Glenny roused before Leland to react in a dignified manner. He got to his feet and quickly chased after Jude as he walked around the corner of the tunnel. “You knew what?”

Hesitating, Leland looked from the crow still flapping on the back of his hand to the entrance of the cave to where his friends had disappeared into the darkness. He gave an annoyed groan, standing and chasing after the others.

“I knew she was special,” Jude said. “Just look at her! Have you ever seen a bear with blue fur?”

“Can’t say I have,” Glenny said. “But then again, I don’t think that’s the most special thing about her. She can speak. I’ve only ever heard of that in centuries old monsters and beasts. Not a cub.”

Leland coughed at that. “Where are we going? It’s not that I don’t put my faith in the bear, it’s just that…” His words trailed off as Jude looked at him with an odd expression.

“Just trust her, alright? I have a good feeling about this.”

“You have a good feeling?” Glenny echoed. “Just what kind of feeling—” His words caught in his throat when the bear cub abruptly dropped into a small hole.

Jude didn’t waste time, he pushed by and looked down. It was then the cub popped her head out of the opening. She looked at everyone then dipped back down, obviously signaling to follow. Jude did so without hesitation.

Leland and Glenny looked at each other. Before they could decide to follow, Jude’s voice called through the hole.

“Guys! You’ve got to see this!”

With a grumble the others followed. Their worries of being trapped were instantly quashed. The small hole opened into a cavern, one where six or seven people could stand with their arms outstretched without touching. A rocky room wasn’t what left the boys in giddy silence, however.

There, at the far edge of the room, was a dungeon portal. It swirled with magical energy, lighting up the area with blue tinge. Moss, lichen, and plenty of mushrooms lined the walls and floor, growing in small patches that illuminated a similar glow to the portal.

Like a large mirror, pools of collected water sat with a frigid chill. The dungeon entrance and glowing plants reflected off the water, creating a walkway of blue light. The boys slowly stepped through, their feet casting long wavy ripples. None of them thought about the cold of the water, nor the fact their socks were now soaked through.

No, they thought about the dungeon entrance and the countless rare herbs that were waiting for harvest.

“Mother is through there,” the bear cub said, her eyes locked on the swirling blue entrance.

Jude took the statement as it was. He reached down and picked up his new furry friend. “I’ll carry you to her.”

Both Leland and Glenny frowned at that. “She’s not going to hurt us, right?”

Before the bear could respond, a slow clap emanated from the cavern’s entrance. The boys spun on their heels, creating a wake that followed their movements.

Two stood there, both with weapons drawn. One, the younger male, held a yellow-orange bow and smiled in pure delight. The other, an older woman, clapped with a short thick sword in her hand. They both stared greedily at the cub.

“You found her!” the male said, his smile turning predatory.

The woman glanced at him before saying, “You can give her back. She’s our mark.”

A snarl formed on Jude’s lips. “You did this to her?” he asked, motioning to the still bleeding wound and stuck arrow.

“Sure did,” the man said. “But you already knew that.”

“And,” the woman added, “you found this place. Amazing, isn’t it?”

The man laughed at that. “It really is. Too bad you three aren’t going to see it for much longer.”

Like clockwork, the woman pointed her sword forward and the man drew back on his bow.

Jude, slowly and methodically, set the cub down, petting her blue fur. As the first arrow flew through the air, he let out a feral war cry, purposefully allowing it to pierce his flesh. There was no pain, none at all.

Instead there was only rage.