The Living Curse: Book One of The Living Curse series (3 page)

He had traced many, but she had been the most promising so far.  She seemed strong, seemed to emanate vitality and spirit, and his
Shask burned when she was near.  His mind mechanically analyzed each thing that he had seen.  He made his conclusions, and stored them away for later: the girl in her room was a close friend of hers, she was stubborn, and she was, of course, a Markbearer.

He smiled at these conclusions.  He enjoyed mapping people out, making them seem black and white; they seemed much simpler this way.  He was an excellent judge of character, and his assessments of people were hardly ever wrong.

He crossed the room and stripped off his clothes to shower, running a hand through his short blonde hair.  Looking in the mirror, he pursed his lips as he realized it was longer than he liked it, the ends now betraying their curl; he usually kept it short enough that one couldn’t tell.  His face was still streaked with black blood from the night before that he hadn’t been able to wash off.  Some of the blood, a rust-brown, was his, but he had healed the injuries hours before, leaving only the stain as a reminder.  He stepped into the shower, allowing the steam to envelope him, and the hot water to sting his skin.  Washing away the blood from the battle, but not the memories, he thought about the girl he’d been watching.

Normally, he would feel uncomfortable spying on people, but desperate times called for desperate measures.  With the Guild steadily gaining power, the Vine was searching for as many with marks as they could find.  He had gotten his
Shask about a year and a half ago, and they had found him about two months ago.  Already, they had taught him basic spells, like how to make the windows he was using to find the other Markbearer in the school.  They had told him that there was one other, though he hadn’t sensed one, but now he had found her.

With a newfound sense of relief at completing his mission, and his skin finally scrubbed clean after a long and restless night, he dried off and settled in for a much needed sleep.  He drifted into a soft state of mind with the remnants of a smile clinging to his lips for the first time in a long while.

Chapter Four: More Secrets Unearthed

Mira stared at the small, blue leather bag that lay on her bed.  Into it, she had thrown all of the clothes and weapons that she had.  She couldn’t believe that this was all she owned.  Beside the bag lay two long swords, which she would carry on her belt; one had been a gift from Nameh.  This was her favorite, the hilt glimmered gold with inlaid black gemstones, with one large stone on the pommel.  She had only ever used it in real battle once, when there had been a small raid on the academy, but she always trained with it.

She sucked air into her lungs until they felt that they might burst, and she let it out slowly.  Her mind felt muddled, swimming with new thoughts and feelings.  What bothered her even more than her friend’s mark was that she had kept it from
her. 
At least she eventually told me
, she thought.  She picked up the sword, and held it comfortably in her hand, pointing the blade toward the window, measuring the familiar weight.  What Nameh said had been right, she didn’t like to fight, but she had sworn to fight with her friend.  She shoved the bag and the other sword beneath her bed to hide them, ready to be taken up at a moment’s notice.  Nameh still hadn’t told her when they were leaving.  “We’ll stay and keep training, for a while at least” she had said.  She did think it strange that she didn’t want to leave right away; she had said the training classes were useless to her now.  Her definition of a while was probably different than Mira’s.  To Mira, a while was the two more years until they became full Guardians, but to Nameh, it was likely a few days to a week.  Her friend got so many crazy ideas into her head that she had learned to just roll with the punches. 

Mira always had to be the voice of reason, because
Nameh didn’t have one of her own.  Nameh was the one who was constantly lighting things on fire for no reason.  Nameh was the one who had convinced her to go vampire slaying with her.  Nameh was the one who talked her into stupid things like climbing out on window ledges of tall buildings.  Nameh was the one who was probably going to get both of them killed one day, and Mira was the one who always discouraged the more dangerous of her stunts, but still enjoyed the ride.  She never nagged her friend, just made sure to tell her on a daily basis that she was, in fact, insane.

They were a perfect pair, crazy and reasonable.  Without
Nameh, Mira would probably have a lot less fun, and without Mira, Nameh would probably be dead.  This was the first time that she had trouble supporting her friend in anything she did.  When she decided to become a Guardian, she had supported her.  When she decided to demand to be put in the boy’s training classes, she had supported her.  When she decided to go gallivanting around the city, killing rogue monsters, she even warily supported her then.  This, however, was a dangerous issue, but there was no swaying her decision.  Nameh wanted a fight, and she was going to chase it to wherever it ran.  If she couldn’t stop her from doing something stupid, she could at least be there with her.

Unexpectedly
, Mira remembered what it was like to be a child, to be read enchanting fairytales and tucked into bed at night.  She had always loved the idea of magic, but this was very different than fairytales.  Faeries weren’t all the kind, playful creatures in books, and nymphs and dryads weren’t always innocent.  Parents always told their children that there weren’t monsters under the bed, that they didn’t exist, but they do, and there is no one but yourself to protect you from them.  This, she had been able to handle, and she trained to be a Guardian.  Guardians were raised to defend the world against the most hostile of the Children of the Spark, but magic was another realm entirely.  The forces lurking within the magical dimensions were more fearsome than any of the creatures in this one.

She shook these strange thoughts from her head, wondering why she was worrying so much more than usual.  Perhaps she was compensating for
Nameh’s apparent fearlessness.  She left her room, and descended the poorly lit staircase into the main hall.  The hall seemed alive with people: students and teachers of many races.  The academy trained all those who wished to be trained, though few humans had any knowledge of their world.  Since the school was shrouded in secrecy, many of the students here were legacies, meaning that their parents were also Guardians.  The school housed mostly werewolves, half-harpies, vampires, and humans.  Some of the werewolves and vampires had joined the school as humans, but had been bitten in battle due to carelessness or unfortunate situations.  Half harpies were beautiful creatures that appeared mostly human, except for the wings on their backs.  They lacked the pupil-less eyes and feather covered bodies of full harpies.

Mira had become so used to the mix of races that she hardly seemed to notice as she crossed the grand entranceway, and entered the vast library.  The entire room was bathed in a golden light from the setting sun, bringing out the richness of the burgundy carpet.  The huge walls were lined with shelves upon shelves of books, and contained a mix of classic literature and Guardian training books.  At the back of the upper library, there were soft, brown couches to sit and read on.  There, she found
Nameh, lost in a book, as she usually was.  There was an entirely separate library for the convenience of vampires, though anyone could use it, deep under the school where scorching sunlight couldn’t harm them

“
Nameh” she called in a whispered voice.  Her friend didn’t respond; she was staring intently into the book as if she expected something to leap from the pages.  She crossed the room, not daring to raise her voice any louder.  Plopping down on the couch next to her, she tried to read the title of the book.  Her friend’s eyes seemed to tear away from the connection they had made with the page to look at her friend. 

They were both silent for a moment, as
Nameh brought herself back to reality.  “Good book?” questioned Mira with a laugh.

“What? 
Oh, yeah.” Nameh responded, matching her smile.  “Sorry, you’ve probably been trying to get my attention.”

“Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner!” she joked.  “How long have you been in here?” she asked.

“I don’t know; what time is it?” she asked, clearly having no idea herself.

“It’s sunset, and when you didn’t meet me, I decided to come find you.  I was right on the first guess of where you were, by the way.” she said playfully.

“You spend even more time here than I do, so shut up.” she retorted.  “Wait, it’s sunset already?  Crap.”  She rose from the couch, unfurling her long limbs, and placing the book on a low table beside it.  Motioning for her friend to follow, she hurried out of the library and back into the bustling hall outside.  Mira followed her friend down the long, twisting corridors back to her room.  She wasn’t certain why her friend was in such a rush, but then again, she was mostly unfamiliar with the preparations she made.

Inside
, Mira took her customary place, perched on the bed, while Nameh rifled through some of her drawers.  She grabbed a small, black bundle from one of them, and silently crossed to the bathroom, closing the door behind her.  Mira stood from the bed, and began walking around the room.  All the rooms at the academy were exactly the same: plain white walls, a small bed and night table, a desk with a single chair, and a small bathroom.  There were odds and ends scattered about the room that she had accumulated over her two years at the school.  Now knowing about her mark, she looked at them through new eyes. 
How many of these are magical?
, she thought.

Nameh
came out of the bathroom dressed all in black.  A thick leather belt with a large silver buckle encircled her waist, her favorite sword resting on her hip.  A fine leather tunic and pants glistened faintly with silver adornments.  Immediately, Mira verbally jumped at her friend.  “No.  No way, are you serious?” she rolled her eyes, and heaved a huge sigh.

“Of course I’m serious, did you think I was going to let you come with me to the Vine, and
not
make you come with me a few more times?”

“A
few
more times?  When you said train, I assumed you meant by going to classes here.” she said in a voice that wasn’t too harsh.

“I already told you that we’re beyond those classes.” she said, starting to get impatient.  She threw a similar bundle toward her friend, and crossed the room to a small chest that Mira had never noticed before.

“What is that?” she asked, her brow furrowing.

“It’s been here the whole time, but there’s a secrecy spell on
it.” she said casually.

“Dear lord.” was all her friend could think to say.  As
Nameh opened the black chest, she saw the glimmer of silver weapons inside.  Swords, daggers, and things she had never seen before; magical in nature, no doubt.  She pulled three daggers from the box, and several small stones before closing it.

“You’re hording secret weapons.  Why does that not surprise me?” she asked with a laugh.

She crossed the room again, obviously eager to leave, handing Mira one of the daggers and the handful of the stones.  “What do I do with these?” asked Mira, perplexed.

“Well, see, a dagger is for stabbing things-”

“You know what I meant” she said, slightly aggravated, indicating the stones.

“Put on what’s in the bag first.” she said simply.

“Your clothes are
not
going to fit me.” she said.

“They’re not mine, they’re yours.  I got them yesterday.” she said, clearly tired of explaining things.  Mira decided not to ask the thousand other questions that bounced around in her head.  Instead, she simply stepped into the bathroom with a sigh, and changed into the clothes.

Chapter Five: An Unexpected Encounter

             
Nameh paced the room; she already had the two daggers in her belt, along with her sword.  Her hair was pulled back and twisted in a tight, white knot behind her head.  She could almost feel her Shask burning in anticipation through her thick, but light boots.  As Guardians, both of the girls had amulets around their necks that allowed them to remain unseen to those ignorant to the magical world.  These were the last remnants of the magic that had been used by Guardians in ancient times.  They were responsible for “Destroying all non-compliant Children of the Spark.”, as their text books stated.  Children of the Spark were listed as “All creatures, non-human, that were created when a powerful warlock had unleashed a terrible spell upon the world, in the form of a massive, powerful spark, centuries ago.”  Delightfully vague about the magic involved, she had always thought.

Finally, Mira emerged from the bathroom, clutching the clothes she had been wearing a few minutes earlier.  She was also dressed in the silver ornamented black leather, but where her friend had
bare arms, she had sleeves down to just above her elbow.  Nameh snatched the clothes from her grasp and tossed them on the bed without a second thought.

“Let’s go.” she said impatiently.  She placed the stones in her friend’s belt pouch, and saw Mira’s eyes scan the mark that was emblazoned on them.