Breaking a tale

Dawn - A blessed spirit

I woke up and stared around, the sunlight was now streaming into the clearing, I was the only one awake. Biron had fallen asleep on watch. Lantern had already woken up and was playing with some leaves that had fallen from a tree. I got up and went over to him, throwing a leaf for him to chase. He ran after it and then ran into the trees. I ran after him and ended up next to a small stream, it looked so inviting so I pulled up my sleeves and splashed my face with the cool water. Lantern was drinking from the stream and I was suddenly thirsty. I realised that we hadn't drunk much in a while so I decided that when the others woke up I would show them the stream, I didn't need to wait long. Luna had seen I was gone and followed the path I had taken, she appeared behind me and put a hand on my shoulder causing me to jump slightly.

"Why is your symbol red?" Luna asked, looking down at the sunflower symbol on my arm.

I was confused, as far as I knew my symbol was still black but I hid my confusion and seized the opportunity.

"Why do you always wear those gloves?" I asked back.

I immediately realised this was a bad question to ask. Luna's eyes narrowed and I saw her stiffen and her hands clench into a fist. Before she could reply however Biron strolled right in between us.

"Woah, what's happened to your symbol?" He asked in surprise.

I glared at him annoyed. I didn't have a mirror so how was I supposed to see what had happened. Then I remembered what had happened last night, maybe that little glowing light thing had ended up in my symbol, I looked over at the sword, the little red gemstone was still embedded into it's hilt. I sighed and decided to tell them what happened last night, interrogating Luna would have to wait. Luna was looking more and more uncomfortable with the story and at the end she finally spoke up.

"That sounds like a blessed spirit," She said slowly like she was reading from a book "They are really rare you know! Some people think they give you powers. Although you should be careful, sometimes they aren't so much a blessing but more of a curse..."

Biron and I stared at her in astonishment, not knowing how she had come to find that information. She squirmed uncomfortably at being the centre of attention before taking a deep breath before speaking again.

"Let's go back to the fire," she said quietly, her eyes flickering nervously between the two of us "I have something to show you."

She headed back towards the fire and I picked up Lantern and followed her, Biron following behind. Biron must have lit the fire when he had woken up because it was roaring brightly now. Luna sat down on one side and motioned for us to sit as well. We sat, worried about what she was about to tell us. She took another deep breath before pulling off her glove. Biron, who was about to speak fell completely silent and I gave a gasp of horror. Her hand and arm were covered in these strange black lines that twisted across the skin. It looked horrific and I found myself unable to look away. On her wrist was a bracelet but for some reason, it was actually embedded into her skin, the skin around the bracelet was completely black. Luna looked terrified like she was expecting us to shout at her, I stood up and ran around the fire to her and gave her a large hug. Biron had gotten over the initial shock and came over to us and after I had let go of Luna he gave her a hug as well.

"It's a curse," she said, a few tears dripping down her cheeks. "It will only get worse."

I stared at her pityingly, how had she not told us before, was she scared I wouldn't love her anymore? I held her firmly by the shoulders and forced her to look into my eyes.

"I never want to be separated from you again" I told her firmly. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Biron nodding in agreement.

She grinned ,"thank you," she said, sniffing slightly.

I grinned back at her and stepped back slightly, hearing a howl coming from the distance.

"We should get going," Biron said awkwardly not wanting to disturb the moment.

Biron started putting out the fire and I patted Luna's shoulder before going to collect Lantern. Luna went to untie the horses, but I saw that she hadn't put the gloves back on and when I went to look at for them I saw them burning in the remains of the fire. I picked up Lantern and climbed up onto my horse waiting for Luna to join me. Once she had jumped on behind me we started off up the path to the mountains...