*Book One of The Accursed Chronicles*
August was a man from a normal world, living a mundane life until one night everything changed, and he was sent spiraling into a world stuck forever in winter, full of magic, creatures, and a curse that has grip...
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I sat on my chair at my desk, staring down at the letter that referenced the collection of our last entitlement for our servitude to Krak. It had arrived the other day and I had gone to the treasurer to collect what we were owed early today. I glanced the small coin purse that rested beside the paper, its content still full. It held twenty gold coins and five silver pieces, which was enough to secure us food and necessary supplies if we decided to leave Darrose. Magnus had left us our headquarters, leaving us the option to stay if we wanted, yet I saw no need to. We needed to go elsewhere, to find someone else who would listen.
A rustle outside my door stirred me from my thoughts, only I didn't bother checking since I figured it was August headed to his room.
I stashed the letter into a drawer then swiped the coin purse into my hand and stood. It was light, lighter than any payment I had received before, but I'd never been in this for the money. It wasn't going to get any heavier either. I fully expected that times would get more difficult before they got better and that wasn't only regarding our situation.
As I hid the purse beneath my bed's mattress, I heard a thud against my door. I shook my head to myself, knowing it was August snooping again. He couldn't leave things alone. The situation with him was one that wasn't going to go away, and I knew it would get worse. Hybrids had constant battles between their conflicting sides, often one could win out over the other, and that was what I worried about the most with him.
He was oblivious to it though.
When I pulled open my door, I expected him to have his ear pressed against the door, but I found him staring straight ahead, almost through me. I squinted my eyes and stepped towards him when his eyes pooled black, watching his demon side come forth. It was happening more often now to where I wondered if he were aware of it.
"August?" I called, testing to see if he were still conscious somewhere within his mind. If I were correct, he wouldn't be present as neither of his halves seemed to be in union with one another.
Yet to my surprise, his eyes flooded to their normal blue, shining bright then suddenly shifting to confusion. He blinked around and then rubbed the back of his neck at a loss as to what had happened. It was as I had figured that he had been unaware of what had occurred, yet he himself had been present in the recesses of himself.
It was an odd arrangement.
"Sorry," he muttered finally, stepping away and stifling a yawn.
I watched him head to his door, and when I heard his click open, I shut mine, content that he was going to bed. As for me, I didn't think I was going to. I glimpsed the empty vial from Saint sitting on my nightstand, knowing it had been the key to helping me sleep most nights, but without it, the chances of me resting were slim.
It was worse since the tides of magic were taut and shifted relentlessly. The tides of magic were what all auras were born from and most that retained their connection to it could feel its flow, its disturbances, and surges. I could feel it now, growing tight with a thousand knots and kinks and none of them were unraveling. It felt like a heavy rock was constantly pressed into the middle of my chest, bearing down on me.
