The Cursed Blue - A short story

The Cursed Blue

The hills below them undulated like waves. The pine trees swooshed and swayed gently in the wind. There is not another human in sight.

"Hold." Favian stopped his horse from their vantage point, looking over the hills. Favian gracefully jumped off his horse, his red cape flying in the air momentarily before it wraps around his body as he lands. He gives his horse a well deserved pat on the neck and unhooks the bags hanging from the saddle.

The first bag is food. Favian pulls out a handful of grains and let's his horse eat them out of his outreached palm. For himself Favian pulls out a chunk of cheese. He cuts it in half with his small adorned dagger, putting one half of the cheese back in the bag and bringing the other to his mouth.

He slowly chews the cheese as he opens the second bag, the reason he's here, so far from his home. He gently pulls out an old piece of parchment paper. Paper so old you would wonder why it hadn't fallen into dust. There's only one reason that piece of parchment still exists; magic. Magic had never been proven but it was used to explain what couldn't explain.

He unraveled it, carefully and slowly, smoothing it out with his hands. Drawn on the parchment, in black ink, is a map. No one had ever been able to understand this map filled with a variation of lines and markings, until five years ago when Favian's brother, the crown prince, fingered it out. After two years of locking himself in his chambers and pouring over the piece of parchment he had figured out where the map was leading to.

There had been a huge celebration in the entirety of the kingdom. The king was eagerly planning a mission to follow the map and find where it let to. The inhabitants of the kingdom had sung, danced, drank and ate to their heart's content. They had had a few bad years of crops and famine had ravaged the land. The king had opened his reserves of food, letting anyone take what they wanted. It had been such a joyous three days until, on the eve of the fourth day they found Favian's brother's body in the moat staked at the heart. The celebrations stopped and the whole kingdom went into a deep mourning. All the happiness fell away as they heard the queen wailing from her chambers.

The king lead investigations but to no avail. Rumours started growing that the crown prince had been cursed, that he died because he had resolved the map. There it was again, using magic to explain the unexplainable.The king had prestly locked up the map and no one had dared mention it after that night.

Favian wasn't going to let the map and it's treasure die with his brother. So just a few nights ago he had slipped into the catacombs of the castle and retrieved the map. It hadn't been difficult, everyone was so afraid of the map it barely had to be guarded. So right as the sun's rays painted the sky Favian had left with his favorite horse and the map carefully tucked into a cloth bag hanging from his saddle.

Favian read the map carefully, but he had the utmost confidence in his brother. He jumped back onto his mount. They galloped down from where they were and into a darker part of the forest. The sun's rays could barely pierce the thick canopy of pines. Ever so often Favian would see a shadow lurking in the foliage but never a full form. Their ride had been uneventful until something swooped down from the trees and hit Favian in the back of the head. Favian turned around, bewildered but saw nothing. Then, it hit again, gripping its talons into Favian's hair. Favian grabbed his hair, trying to pull off whatever was hanging on. His horse went wild, kicking and bucking until he kicked Favian off his saddle.

Favian hit the earth's floor with a thud and wrestled with the creature. Favian deduced it was bird by the fact that all he was pulling off of it was feathers. Favian tried to pull it off but it just kept digging in deeper and deeper into his skin until it flapped it's wings up, taking Favian with him.

Favian screamed in pain as he was pulled up into the air by, what seemed to be a big black bird with a small red beek. Favian could see his horse down below getting smaller and smaller the higher he got. More and more desperate Favian kicked his legs and squirmed around but the bird was to strong for him.

They kept flying until they reached the entrance to a cave carved into the grey stone of the cliff. The huge bird dropped Favian at the entrance before he flapped away. Favian landed on his hands and knees. He quickly passed his hand through his hair, finding it all sticky and red with blood. He winced as he delicately prodded at his wounds.

He shakily stood up, surprised that he could still stand. He looked around him. The only placed he could go, but to jump down a 200 meter cliff, was into the cave. He walked towards the mouth, one step at a time until he could use the walls for support.

The walls of the cave were wet and slimy under his hand. The cave was dark and once he no longer had light from the entrance behind him he could see a glowing blue light in front of him. Favian kept walking towards the light, hoping that whatever was the source of this light would help him. The light grew bigger and bigger, closer and closer.

When Favian finally reached the light he was in a circular stone room. He looked around, trying to find the source of the blue light. It was coming from a figure in front of him, taller than two Favians stacked on one another. Favian wasn't sure if it was human. It seemed to have billowing robes, but where its face was supposed to be was the main source of the blue light.

"Hello?" Favian called out, not to sure what he was talking to.

A deep raspy voice answered him. "Favian of the Kingdom of Aldereach, took you some time some time to follow your brother's footsteps."

"My brother? How do you know my brother?" Favian had so many question spinning in his head he didn't know what to ask. "Who are you?"

"I'm the owner of your precious little map."

Suddenly the map appear in front of Favian. He gasped and grabbed it. His hand quickly shot back as a burning sensation shot up his arm.

"I'm not letting you take that back Favian. You've had it for far too long"

Favian cradled his blistering hand. "Why haven't you come to take it?"

"Your kingdom is protected, there are barriers keeping me out."

Favian shook his head." Did you kill my brother? And really, who are you?"

The figure chuckled, it's laugh turning Favian's blood to ice.

Favian looked at the map, the feeling in his veins wouldn't go away. "Where does the map lead to?"

The figure started cackling and laughing. "Wouldn't you want to know."

The air in the room started to shift. Favian shivered, he wanted to get out of the cave. The blue light started becoming more and more intense, taking over his field of vision. Favian tried to shield his eyes but his hands wouldn't move, they were stuck by his chest. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. His head started to feel heavy, his eyelids were drooping against his will as the light got stronger and stronger. Favian's world went completely blue. Something twisted in his chest and then his world went black.