Cursed

Infiltration and Capture

Micha

For the next half an hour Leaf explains her part of the story. She recounts meeting Zachary in the hallway, thinking he is me. She walks around with him. I was paying attention, till she gets to the part where I had walked around the corner and I saw her and Zachary. She stammers through the part, but just says, "And Micha walked around the corner, and they fought." I snort to myself.

If only, I think.

Now, it's my turn. Sighting, I start, "I was walking around the tower, seeing to it that every abled person was down helping with the river. I came around the corner, and it's like she says. I fought with Zachary, lost, got my wrist broken, then the Goddess shows up and heals it." My tone is flat through the whole story. Eli, looking worn and tired, shifts in his seat to look at both of us.

"So, you, Leaf, are supposed to kill Micha's line. This Goddess, had helped Will in the past, and there's no way to escape the 'blessing' she's put on your family?" He asks.

We both nod.

"Are you sure there's nothing you're leaving out of this crazy story?"

We shake our heads, but then Leaf's face contorts. My first thought is: Great, what else could have happened? Then shouting comes from outside the door. There's the sound of metal on metal as weapons clash.

Suddenly, Leaf jumps up, screaming. She can't get any words out, though, because incomes the same dark figure that was fighting alongside Zachary. This time I can clearly make out his features. His eyes, like charcoal, have smoldering rubies inside them. Everything about him is dark and menacing.

He is smiling, showing his pointed teeth. Behind him is Zachary, wearing the same expression as Sullivan. Slowly, with a stride bursting with cockyness, he enters the room. Having rid the hallways of guards, Zachary follows Sullivan in.

Eli grabs for his sword, jumping in front of me. Sullivan, with an amused expression, opens his arms wide, inviting Eli to attack. Eli attacks without hesitation, and goes flying back into the wall.

Sullivan had backhanded him, the same way he backhanded Leaf just hours before.

Eli tries to get up, but one of his legs is contorted and broken. Blood slowly seeps out from his leg. Sullivan starts to shake all over, as if the smell of the blood is making him excited.

Zachary walks around Sullivan, placing a hand on his shoulder. Sullivan's body shudders at his touch. Zachary is still wearing his purple clothing, but the shirt isn't damaged anymore. His eyes, the same halze as mine, are colder than I have ever seen them be before. Strangely enough, though, there's something else behind them. I find myself unable to place what it is.

Zachary points, towards Leaf. With a nod he explains, "I've come to claim her. We've unfinished business. I'm only going to ask nicely once, but if you refuse I'll use force."

Leaf, grabbing for the hilt of the sword she used the last time she fought with Zachary, snarls. Her curly hair whips all around her as she surges toward Zachary. Sullivan meets her head on. He is faster than anything I have seen before, and my eyes barely sees what happens next.

Sullivan meets her before she can fully pull out her sword. He raises a gleaming blade that he didn't have before. With a swift slice through the air Leaf stops. She grabs for her chest, the spot where Sullivan had been aiming. Expecting her to fall to the ground and die, I scream out her name. Only, nothing happens. She doesn't fall to the ground, she doesn't start to bleed, she doesn't do anything.

Sullivan walks over to her. With a finger he pushes her over. Zachary, looking pleased, looks over at me.

"I told you I'd have to use force. Sullivan has a special dagger. It's designed to paralyze anyone it touches. When I see fit she'll be able to move again. She can still hear, see, smell, and feel, though. She just can't move," Zachary explains.

Sullivan scoops her up into his arms, but not before disarming her. He has stopped shaking now. The look on his face is now one of sadness and pity.

In a voice as smooth as silk, he asks, "Can we kill the older one? I've met him in battle before, and he's a great annoyance." He said the last part as if Eli was nothing more than a fly that should have been swatted away long ago.

Zachary, laughing with dark amusement, waves his hand. "Go right on ahead,"

Sullivan swings Leaf over his shoulder, as if she was a rag doll. Her body was limp all around. Before Sullivan could get close to Eli I spring to cover him with my body.

Sullivan snorts, and goes to kick me in the side. Zachary, sounding bored, calls him off. I am amazed that Zachary still cares about me enough to do anything of the sort. They don't dissipate, like I expect, but they walk out of the room leaving me and Eli behind. It's almost as if they still have some business to attend too.

Will

I walk into the dining hall. I'm supposed to meet Lila here. It's been awhile since I last saw her, but we still try to see each other often. She likes to go over the defenses with me, just to make sure I don't miss anything.

I'm smiling to myself as I spot her off in the distance. It's pretty late in the day, so no ones in the hall with us. She smiles back at me.

"I didn't think you were gonna make it. I've been sitting here waiting for you for the past thirty minutes,"

"I had to go and get the book from the Library again. I wanna go over some more spells with you, if that's alright," I ask meekly, not wanting her to say no.

She nods a yes, and I unlock the book. Like always there's a faint flash of light as I place the key into the cover of the book. Since saving Leaf from the palace the key has stopped having such a great reaction.

"I found this spell in the book last night that I might be able to use to help defend troops who are in battle, but only over a certain distance," I explain. Lila doesn't say anything, but looks off toward the main door to the dining hall. I follow her gaze, wondering what could have her so preoccupied.

In the doorway is an unnaturally dark man, standing with Micha- no Zachary. I bolt up, exclaiming, "What are you doing here? My wards should have prevented you from coming in!"

Zachary laughs, and starts toward us. He is wearing dark purple clothing. The man behind him reminds me of the Goddess, only darker. He's smiling, and his teeth unnerve me. He seems like the kind of thing that would creep around in the darkness, waiting to swallow the whole world up.

On the dark man's shoulder is Leaf. She's not moving, her body swinging limply as he walks. I step backwards, scared for my life. Thinking of Lila, I turn to tell her to run, but she's walking toward them. As she starts to walk toward them her body shimmers. With every step she takes she appears to grow a few years till she looks about Leaf's age. She has shoulder length, flaming red, hair. It's such a difference to how she looked before that I gasp. Her clothing, now much too small, is bulging from her sudden growth.

She places a hand on Zachary's shoulder, and calmly says, "I'm going to go change, you can take care of this without me. He has the book and key, just like you instructed." And she walks off, her feet making little noise as she walks.

Zachary and Sullivan turn their attention back to me. Zachary extends his hand.

"It's time for you to hand over the book and key, little boy. The grown ups want to play with it now,"

"No!" I scream.

"Zachary, we should just take it from his dead corpse," The creepy man holding Leaf suggests.

"That's not a bad idea, Sullivan."

They both start toward me, and I run for the back entrance of the dining hall. The dining hall is set up with many exits and entrances, for all the people who walk in and out of it at any given point in the day. I run for the closest one.

Behind me I hear the pounding footsteps of Zachary and Sullivan following me. I know I won't get far, but I have to try something. Just inches from one of the exits I feel a coldness biting into me, I stop. Looking down in front of me is a red point jutting out of my stomach. Slowly, ever so slowly, the point starts to pull back.

Suddenly, my body starts to feel cold. I know I should feel warm, hot even, from the running I just did. The adrenalin in my body should make me feel alive, but I've never felt more cold, or dead.