The Land Set Aflame

Part 39: The Cursed Wound

Svenden tracked his bow around the area again, knowing that, with this many shadows for Ilyssia to hide in, it was only a matter of time before she got the better of him.

Or maybe she already had.

He could feel something cold creeping across his chest, as if that little scratch from her sword was stretching and growing like a cold fire, or some kind of supernatural sickness that robbed his body of the will the move.

"Where is she?" he asked, his voice sounding distant in his own ears.

Suddenly, the area around him was bathed in a pale, bluish light. The little twilly, Lulie, landed on his shoulder, her natural glow expanding to fill the area with magical illumination, banishing all shadows within a few paces.

Well, all shadows except for one.

The dark form of Ilyssia was just outside arms' reach. She had paused mid-strike to look away and shield her sensitive eyes behind an arm as she backed away from the light.

"Now!" Lulie said in her tinny voice, "Shoot her!"

Svenden raised his bow obediently, but as his eyes fell on Ilyssia, he hesitated. The narrow slits of her bright blue eyes looked up at him beneath the shelter of her upraised arm, and beneath her dispassionate façade, he thought he could see a hint of... something. Pain? Fear? Disappointment? Anger? He couldn't tell, but whatever it was, it robbed him of the will to loose that arrow.

Ilyssia backed up a few paces, and melted away into a shadow again.

"You didn't shoot!" Lulie said, "You were supposed to shoot her!"

"I've never shot a woman before," he said, "Let alone one I've..." He decided not to finish the statement. It was none of Lulie's business, after all.

"She jumps through the shadows," Lulie's little voice said, "So if I stay here, she can't get too close, right?"

Svenden fell to a knee, his head swimming and his eyelids suddenly becoming very heavy. Callyndia lay in a heap on the ground beside him, apparently unconscious. "Maybe," he said groggily, "But I think she... already got me. Can you... heal this?"

"I don't know healing magic," Lulie said, her little voice sounding very scared.

"Find help," Svenden said.

"There she is!" Lulie cried out.

Svenden laboriously raised his head to see that Ilyssia had reappeared, standing at the base of that little rise that stood between him and the kallaw. She stood just outside the reach of Lulie's glow, her face dimly washed in pale blue light and the two bright blue spots of her eyes watching intently from a distance.

She was just waiting for him to pass out.

He tried to nock his next arrow, only to discover that he had nothing in his hand to nock. He reached back for another, but his hand couldn't find anything, and he suddenly felt himself falling back onto his butt.

"I'm sorry about this, Svenden," Ilyssia said, her voice still unnervingly calm, "But I'm not going to hurt you. Or her."

Suddenly, there was a second light source, bright and orange, behind and above Ilyssia. It streaked down the slope, directly at Ilyssia, who turned just in time to see it arrive at her side. For a brief moment, that roaring flame resolved into a woman in a flowing gown, but her arm was a blade-like sheet of flame that slashed Ilyssia right across the chest.

Ilyssia stumbled away from Kithana, a stripe of yellowish fire still erupting across the front of her leather bodice. She scrambled away from the fiery woman, clutching her burning chest as she dove for some shadow and dissolved away into it.

Svenden's relief bubbled up in the form of a nervous chuckle as he slumped to the ground beside Callyndia. "You're back," he said blearily as Kithana rushed towards him, "Thank you. Where's Leofric?"

As if on cue, Leofric appeared at the top of the rise, hustling down the slope in his awkwardly stiff gait. "Mr. Moon!" he shouted, "Mr. Moon, are you okay? What happened?"

Svenden thought he heard himself say "Ilyssia," but he wasn't one-hundred percent sure of that, so he tried to make himself repeat it. He still didn't make it to a hundred percent.

"They've both been injured, Leofric," a voice said. The voice sounded exaggeratedly feminine but not quite human, and it had an ethereal quality that echoed eerily in Svenden's ears. He'd never heard Kithana speak before, so he wasn't quite sure how much of the weirdness was due to his groggy state of mind, and how much of it was native to the elemental's voice.

He felt himself lay his head down on Callyndia's tummy, and he felt a goofy grin spread across his face for some reason. Her tummy was soft and warm and comfortable. Like a pretty pilow. Voices around him became garbled and distant as his eyes lost focus behind his eyelids, and soon, the only sensation he could feel was the soft glow of that ember deep in his heart.

It was a deeply contented feeling.

But suddenly, something seemed to shoot through him, and his eyes slammed open as a painful clarity entered his mind and the world around him resolved into its proper order again.

He sat up slowly. A couple blinks made the last bits of blurriness smooth away, but his chest was still throbbing fiercely. Leofric was standing over him, clearly having administered some kind of magic to him. A curious and concerned expression was emanating from the scholar's brown eyes.

"Are you alright, Mr. Moon?" he asked.

Svenden's hand went to his throbbing chest, as if that would somehow make his breathing hurt less. His jerkin wasn't torn: the blade had apparently ignored his clothing entirely, only harming his flesh and his mind.

"I didn't know you could do healing magic too," Svenden said, his voice hurting his chest and throat, "Have you been holding out on me?"

"It wasn't healing," Leofric said, "That was a spell for removing curses. It was a residue of shadow mana on your person. The damage is still done, and I've no way to mend it. Does Lady Sablesong have the same curse?"

"I didn't see it happen," Svenden said, "But I'm pretty sure it's the same. Ilyssia's sword does this."

Leofric knelt beside Callyndia as he produced another herbal package from his satchel. "I've only got one more set of these ingredients," he said, "If this is one of Ms. Shadowflame's regular tactics, I'll need to acquire some more herbs."

Svenden knelt beside him and took one of Callyndia's hands in both of his own. "Hers looks worse," he said grimly, noting the sinuous trails of inky black that were snaking up and down her face and body, "But she still managed to stumble a mile into this forest before blacking out. I barely got nicked, and I went down in less than a minute."

"No matter," Leofric said, "I should be able to counter it, regardless of the severity. Give me a moment."

Svenden looked down. "I was just..." he started, "It was a self-deprecating commentary on my manliness. I... Never mind."

-----

And things continue to be rough for Svenden. Maybe he'll get to be a hero someday, but at least he's got good allies and friends around him.

Thanks for reading!