The Curse of the Blessed

Chapter Forty-Seven

We sent the good news to the Calamity via Reed's butterfly, then settled in to wait for their arrival. The ship appeared around sunset. A group of mistlings descended to bring us up, depositing us on the deck of the ship, where Captain Rayan stood.

"So you beat him," she said, no small measure of respect in her voice.

"We did," Reed agreed.

"And now you'd like safe passage back to your village?"

Lark nodded. "If you're willing."

"It'll be easy enough." She grinned. "Plus, we still owe Fyra a debt for what she did during the rescue."

"The rescue?" Reed asked.

I shook my head. "I told Cass and the others, I did it for the sake of the team. There is no debt to be paid."

"Even so, I'd like to be of service to you however I can." Her dark eyes twinkled. "Within reason, of course."

"What is she talking about?" Reed whispered to Lark.

"We'll explain later."

"I'm confused now."

Captain Rayan turned to Reed. "Fyra saved one of the Calamity's Blesseds from near-certain death while she was on a rescue mission. Without her, there would have been nothing we could do."

"A rescue mission?" Reed turned to look at us, and he seemed almost afraid to say his next words. "How long was I a statue?"

Bran shrugged. "Maybe a few days. Not long."

"But you had time to go on a rescue mission?"

"It was a practice round," said Lark. "We were all dealing with the difficulties of our curses, and we needed assurance that we could still do things. We needed to relearn how to work together again."

"Oh," said Reed, relievedly. "That's smart."

"I'm glad you think so." Captain Rayan smirked. "It was my idea."

"Well... thank you." Reed smiled. "I'd probably still be stone without you."

"So," I interjected, "how long will it take us to get back to our village?"

Captain Rayan frowned for a moment, thinking. "Probably a little over a day. I can guarantee that we'll arrive by the day after tomorrow. Other than that..." She shrugged. "It depends on the wind and the weather."

"Is there anything you'd like us to help out with while we're here?" Lark asked.

Captain Rayan shook her head firmly. "Relax. Enjoy yourself. You've earned it, after what you've been through."

The days passed quickly. The rescue team marveled at how changed I was now that I was no longer cursed—how changed we all were.

"You're... peppy, now," said Cass. "I did not expect such a complete personality change."

"The whole point of the curses was that they took away an integral part of us," Lark explained. "Something we couldn't live without."

"Well, you beat it." Cass grinned. "You beat him. We have a lot of Blesseds who came from your village—partially because they exile them rather than killing them, and partially because, with all the magic in the air, more are born there than any other place—but none of them have ever come close to what you've done. Most of them never even made it to the Magician's cave. The rest he pitied, and let go." She winced. "Or, at least, almost all the rest. Some were too stubborn. Like you."