Blood Curse

Chapter 5

Adrian's nostrils were filled with a delicious aroma as he slowly came to from his slumber. He sat upright, allowing his back to dissolve into the soft duck-feather pillows. His arm instinctively reached up to test his wounded shoulder, and immediately winced as his arm was forced to retreat.

"That won't be fully healed for another few days. You're damn lucky - I've never known anyone to survive an attack like that."

The man lifted the wooden spoon from the rusting cooking pot and raised it carefully to his lips - his eyes lit up for a few seconds as the various herbs and spices exploded in his mouth, and then he turned to face Adrian. Towering at over six foot, the figure was stocky and obviously strong. His face was a mass of stubble and scars, but his bright eyes betrayed the fact that he was younger than he looked. A coat consisting of many different animal furs lined his broad shoulders.

"Eat, you need to build your strength up."

He handed Adrian a bowl full of the broth, who ravenously began to devour it.

"Anyway, enough of this depressing talk. The name's Micah."

Adrian's hand was consumed and crushed by Micah's enormous paw.

"I'm Adrian. It was you that stopped that thing, wasn't it?"

"Yes it was." Micah chuckled heartily to himself, his fingers reaching to the hilt of his sword where it rested in the scabbard on his back. "That thing normally doesn't cause me that much trouble, but I figured someone was in danger with all that racket and commotion. So I come running, and there's three children facing off against that monster!"

"Max, Elenor, where are they?!" Adrian's heart skipped a beat at the mention of his siblings.

Micah stepped aside to reveal the makeshift beds on the timber floor, in which Elenor and Max softly slept. Adrian sighed in relief, and then glanced thankfully back to his saviour.

"I can't thank you enough for what you've done. When that thing was finished with me, I know it would have gone for them next. I can't bear to think about it!"

At that moment, Adrian's placid exterior was shattered and he broke down, sobbing uncontrollably. Micah's face crumbled, and he gathered Adrian into an embrace that was both comforting and bone crushing - Adrian yelped and fell to the bed writhing.

When the pain subsided, he cautiously pulled back the collar of his shirt - he grimaced at the pulp that was now his shoulder. Surprisingly, it was much less worse than he had expected, although his shoulder was certainly permanently scarred with the savage teeth marks that formed contours across his skin.

"That's a nice battle scar right there." Micah's light hearted tone could easily defuse any situation. "I should probably warn you about it though."

"....What do you mean?" Adrian's face scrunched up in confusion.

"The thing that attacked you, the creature that's been roaming this forest. Well...it's human"

"But, I saw it myself - it was a giant wolf or -"

Micah held up a gentle hand. "It's as human as you or I, just not under the full moon. I understand that now. Here look at this."

Micah pulled out a tattered piece of cloth from a pocket, and unravelled it, revealing a severed human hand. Adrian gagged, as Micah continued his explanation.

"That was the paw I cut off from that creature. It somehow changed while your brother and sister were helping me get you back here. So the creature, deep down it's human".

Adrian shuddered in the knowledge that a mere person could be capable of such vicious atrocities. Max began to stir in his sleep, showing signs that he would soon be awake. On noticing this, Micah's face became serious and he spoke quickly, and with determination.

"Next time the moon is full, come back here before it gets dark. Don't tell anyone. There is more you will learn about me, and about the blood curse."

"The what curse? Why do I need to come back?"

But the moment was lost, as Max threw himself across the room and landed gleefully on his brother - Elenor joined in an instant, and soon all three were shrieking with joy, and talking excitedly over one another. Though Micah's strange words echoed hauntingly in Max's subconscious.