Cursed With You

No Need to Be Afraid

In exchange for the magic portal she told Malyn to find, Jacina bewitched their horse to gallop for hours without a break. This time, it was Raffin who held the reins, and Jacina didn't mind.

When they reached Stratham's city gates hours later, the gatekeepers were both surprised and relieved to see Raffin. It seemed the king had announced that his youngest brother was missing. Raffin spurred the horse toward the palace. But after the first turn, a portal appeared on the side of the road. He stopped the horse in an instant.

Five monstrous creatures leapt out of the portal. Everyone ran for their lives. A mother and child who were under the portal didn't have time to move. One creature raised a hand to attack them. But its movements stopped as something stabbed it in the back. It was then that Raffin realized Jacina had dismounted. Her right hand was outstretched, purplish-black tendrils sprouting from her palm. The same tendrils that had pierced the creature. Jacina jerked her hand, and the creature shattered like a broken wooden doll.

Raffin was stunned. He waited for the creature to reassemble, as he had seen yesterday, when Helman decapitated one of them. But the creature remained shattered. A red glowing object lay among its remains. Jacina waved her hand, her magic tendrils moving like a whip. The tip struck the object, shattering it along with the rest of the body.

Jacina herself had said that only sunlight could kill the creature, so how could she kill it? Was there something she hadn't told Raffin, or was she just that powerful?

Seeing their partner destroyed, the other four creatures growled and attacked Jacina. The Queen of Slorista drew both hands back. The tendrils vanished, replaced by a pair of orbs that glowed purple in each hand. She thrust her hands forward. All four orbs struck their respective targets. The four remaining creatures screamed as the purple flames burned them from head to toe. As they burned, something red flickered at the base of their necks. As their bodies turned to ash, the red glowing objects lay on their ashes. Jacina stepped on them one by one until they shattered.

Eight more creatures emerged from the still-open portal. Raffin jumped from his horse, drew his sword, and charged at them. He might not kill the creatures, but he couldn't let Jacina face them alone. He caught one creature's attention.

"Chop off its head," Jacina shouted as she set the other four on fire. "Then split its neck as deeply as possible until the magic seed comes out."

Raffin spun to avoid the creature's clawed hands. As he spun, he swung his sword so that when he turned back to face the creature, his sword sliced the creature's neck. He raised the sword and split it as deeply as possible. He paused as a red glowing object—which at close range resembled a pea seed the size of a hand—popped out of the split and fell onto the road. Raffin stomped on the seed until it shattered, just as Jacina had done. As soon as he stepped on it, the headless creature's body shrank like a withered plant before drying up and falling. Raffin turned to face the others. But Jacina's purple magic fire burned the three remaining creatures.

"You'd better close the portals first," Raffin warned. "Before another one comes out."

Stepping on the seeds of the last three creatures, now reduced to ashes, Jacina extended her left hand. Purple light rose from her palm, penetrating the portal until it closed.

"You said only the sun could kill them." Raffin sheathed his sword and walked back to their horse, which had already made its own way across the road to avoid the battle.

"I thought they were true beings," Jacina said. She walked beside him.

"Only the sun can kill all true beings born of darkness. But they are not true beings and not from another world. They are artificial beings, created by dark magic. The curse maker created them and added them as a bonus. And the sun is not the only thing that can kill them. That thing coming out of their necks: that's the seed that keeps them alive, even if you cut off their heads. Destroy the seed and the magic is gone."