Curselock

Chapter 78: Waybound

Glenny fell, landing with a visible splash. He groaned, his wobbly form for all to see. With the effort of a tired lion, he forced himself to roll onto his back. The shallow pool of water was deep enough for water to tickle his ears, but frankly he didn’t care. He was bleeding too badly for that.

Removing his ring of regeneration, Leland let out his held breath. He trudged over to Glenny and dropped to his knee. A few seconds later, the ring was on the injured rogue and the arrow wound was starting to magically cauterize.

“I think I have a concussion,” Glenny said, his eyes clamped shut as the blue glowing light of the cavern assaulted him. “A mild one.”

“When did that happen?” Leland asked.

“Ice wall. Crashed into it,” was all he said.

Leland remembered the moment quite well. The bear cub had saved Glenny from a volley of arrows. That made both boys look over.

Jude was hesitating on his knees before the bear. He looked at the cub then back at Glenny then back to the cub. Both had arrow injuries, although only one had the arrow still embedded into them.

“Don’t worry about me,” Glenny yelled over. “Leland gave me his ring.”

The berserker nodded and slowly he began petting the bear. His eyes drifted down, finding the yellow-orange arrow. With a stiff yank, the arrow was pulled through the cub’s leg and out the other side.

In her agony, the cub reacted with an ample growl-yelp. Jude continued petting her with one hand, the other rifling through his pack for a set of gauze. But the time he started wrapping, he was whispering to the cub. Soothing and warm, the opposite of the water they sat in.

They took nearly ten minutes to fully regain their bearings. Despite their injuries, the group needed to move. Leland brought this up.

“Those two were a part of a team of four,” he said. “Glenny you called it.”

Glenny gave a weak nod.

Leland continued, “That means two more are out there.”

“Should be safe for a little while,” the cub suddenly announced, her snout resting on Jude’s crossed legs. “Two were left behind.”

Leland, trying to ignore how strange this conversation was, asked, “Stayed behind?”

“The blizzard. One to maintain, the other to protect.”

“I see. That means until they get suspicious as to why their friends haven’t returned, we have time.”

“How much time is that?” Jude asked.

“Not enough,” Glenny muttered.

Sucking his bottom lip, Leland thought through an idea. “We can’t hide, not with the blizzard and Glenny’s head. The ring of regeneration needs time, head injuries take a while. That means it would be two on two if they appear.”

Jude looked up, then at the cub. He nodded.

“So,” Leland continued, “we enter the dungeon.”

The cub perked up at that, both ears flicking forward like a dog interested in a smell. “Mother will protect you.”

It was then Leland truly looked at the bear. Oddly colored fur, magical abilities, knowledge of humans, their magic, and the forethought to seek refuge with a different party. And, of course, being able to speak. This wasn’t the first time the cub mentioned her mother, something that made previous assumptions click into place.

“Your mother is the Guardian Spirit Beast of Frostford, right?” he asked.

As Glenny remained silent with his eyes closed, Jude blinked multiple times. The berserker looked at the cub sitting with him, then, like a gear system knocking off rust, his eyes widened. He made a satisfied grunt.

“A stupid title,” the cub spat. “Nothing ‘Spirit’ about her.”

Leland didn’t think about the statement and instead said, “But she won’t attack us on sight? She’ll leave us alone and let us wait out the blizzard?”

“She will, yes, but not the others.”

“Others?” Jude asked.

“The monsters that have homes in the dungeon,” the cub said. “Not intelligent ones. Young ones, not like Mother.”

Leland and Jude gave each other a look. “We can work with that,” the former said.

“How powerful are these monsters?” the later asked.

The cub rolled her head, looking up at the human who she rested on. She watched him, and more importantly the face he wore. There was no sly smirk, no brimming confidence, no warm and gentle song. No, Jude had finally realized he had enraged again, and again by a simple taunt. Worst of all, he turned on Leland again, pushing his friend to nearly attack in self-defense.

“You would die.”

Jude sucked in a slow deep breath.

The cub continued, “As you are, at least.”

“What do you mean?”

“You lack confidence. You lack discipline. Mother beat both of those into me the moment I started to show intelligence. Did your mother not do the same?”

Jude shook his head very slightly. “She and my father both work a lot. They were only able to show me the bare minimum. Fighting and the like.”

The cub looked at him oddly. Her ears drooped as the short whiskers on her snout flexed. She sniffed Jude, her blue-white tipped fur brushing into him. She returned to her spot after Jude smiled.

“He’s not supposed to be as strong as he is now,” Leland said. “His Legacy is more advanced than he is prepared for, sure, but that doesn’t mean he’s not disciplined.”

Jude continued that thought. “My mom and I have the same Legacy. She was going to help me with my issues, but no one thought we’d have such a hectic past few weeks.”

The cub closed her eyes, purring like a cat yet much deeper. She eventually spoke, “Mother will help you. Rage is something all bears know.”

“Y-your mother will help me?” Jude asked.

The cub grunted. “You helped me. She will help you.”

They went back and forth for a few more minutes, yet Leland found himself not paying attention. Instead, he flipped through his grimoire. Something had changed, his tattoo pecking him proved as much. He went one by one, page after page, checking each curse for changes. Everything looked the same. Eventually he arrived at the second to last page.

It was loose. Unstuck. Unlocked. Leland carefully flipped the page like a scholar reading a thousand year old tome.

Soul Fire:

Type: Curse

Rank: 1 (S)

Ignite a lost soul.

Soul Fire’s strength directly correlates to the strength of soul used. You are the Calamity.

Leland read and reread the page. Again and again, he looked at the description. There wasn’t much to go off of, in fact, he didn’t even know which Lord the curse originated from. All of his other curses noted which power they invoke, Lord of Crows, Bones, Death, and Souls. The only curse that didn’t was Harbinger Halo, which allowed him to choose a specific Lord.

His only hint was the Calamity.

The simplest answer was the curse was related to the Lord of Souls, after all Soul Fire used a soul as ammunition. Yet Leland didn’t think that was quite right. Not when he was called Child of the Calamity by the Moonless Lord.

Leland knew of a few religions, mostly the ancient ones that revered the Lords in vastly different ways than the modern ones, that called Legacies “Children of” instead. While the title was different, their meaning was virtually the same. Could that be what the Moonless Lord was referring to?

Would that make me the Child of the Curse Lord? he asked himself. Could the Curse Lord be the Calamity?

Shuffling pulled Leland from his thoughts. Jude was standing and helped the cub to walk to the dungeon entrance. He quickly returned, assisting Glenny with a slow steady shoulder to lean on.

“Jude, if Glenny’s going to be out of commission for a few more hours,” Leland said. “If monsters attack—”

“I know. I won’t enrage, I promise.”

Leland nodded at that, standing himself. As he crossed through the blue glowing cavern, a smile crept up on him. He abruptly stopped, realizing that his sixth, and hopefully final, primary curse had unlocked. While the description wasn’t much to go off of and the mystery surrounding its power source left more questions than any of his other curses, he still had unlocked it.

Meaning he could focus on ranking it up and reach rank two himself. Leland’s smile only enlarged at the thought, and for the first time since Shoutwell, he felt like he was back on his path.

“We ready?” he asked Jude, Glenny, and the cub standing before the swirling portal entrance.

Jude gave a nod but Leland held out his hand. “Remember, we have one minute to enter, which also means anyone else has one minute as well. We go in, and wait to attack anyone who might enter as well.”

Gulping at that Jude let out a deep breath. No one expected the two other poachers to be nearby, but better safe than sorry. With that, he walked into the dungeon with Glenny hanging off his arm. He pushed the rogue through before dragging the two dead bodies in as well. He then entered, the cub one step behind, her back leg limp but otherwise wrapped up and healing.

Leland was last. He hesitated at the last step, turning around and memorizing the cavern. The poachers had tracked the cub through blood, surely their friends would do the same. At least there’d be no evidence of their deaths, their bodies hidden away in the dungeon.

Still, Leland was smart enough to know there was going to be an ambush the moment he and the others exited the dungeon. They needed to be ready for it when the time came.