The Five Curses

Avyanna

I could only see black in front of me, black behind me, and black beside me. The lamp I held in my hands threw enough light to help us view the ground that lay beneath. Occasionally, we would hit our heads on the tree barks or get our feet tangled in the vines. Jules fell in the mud twice as we walked, and her beautiful amaranth dress was soaked in dirt from top to bottom.

I had never been to my great-grandfather's mausoleum, but I knew where it was. It was situated in the middle of Astraea's murky woods. If we are lucky, Mother Luella should be residing within the radius of a few meters from the mausoleum. After all we were walking through in these woods, if Jules turned out to be wrong, I would kill her. "I can hear water." Jules said to me, suddenly going stiff, "Can you?"

"No, I cannot." I sighed, impatience evident on my face, "And what does it matter, anyway?"

"But since when do you have rivers in these woods? Isn't it odd?"

"Maybe, there is a dwelling nearby. They must have tanks, or pots- storing water for the dry season." I replied, "Maybe we're close to your Mother Luella." My voice was edged with mockery, but I knew Jules wouldn't find it comical at the moment.

"I swear, you are so ungrateful, Av. I am trying to help you, you know?"

"When did I say otherwise?" I remarked, "I know you are, and I'm so very thankful, but do you really believe there is a woman who practices witchcraft and knows all the answers in the world?"

"Well, if you hadn't been intrigued by the idea, we wouldn't be here, now, would we, Avyanna?" She said, pushing her hair out of her face, "You continue to deny the fact that you wish to meet with such a woman, and you blame the whole thing on me. But, you forget that I know you. You just don't want to be the reason for failure if it comes to that."

Okay. Partly true.
Maybe, she was right. I didn't want to be the reason for failure if it comes to that. But I was trying to be pragmatic, too. Now, the existence of Zarakir wasn't really practical, yet, it doesn't mean everyone in my kingdom would be magic. The next thing I know, we'll have flying horses, and talking plants.

I didn't say anything to Jules. Nor did I want to apologize, neither did I wish to escalate the argument. We walked together in silence- holding each other by the arm- for the next part of the journey. As we approached the mausoleum, I could smell the essence of a village- or maybe a camp. I could get a whiff of fish being fried, hear water dripping, and even though it was hard to make out, but maybe, I saw smoke too. Astraea didn't have shortage of land resources. Who would want to live in the middle of a jungle when you can reside in the country? I brought my sword and daggers with me, yet, I felt a little exposed, maybe, vulnerable. I was walking in a territory that was unfamiliar to me, and inside a village, which I had never known existed. We weren't walking inside a trap, were we?
From the time I was a girl, my father never let me venture around this area. My mother told me horror stories about the trees I had surrounded myself with. It was never a problem to me, but I was always curious to find out what dangers lurked in these woods. Now that I am here, I can't help but wonder if the mysterious galore was for nothing.
As I was pondering over these lines, I bumped my head into a wall of stone. "Ow" I screamed, rubbing my hand over my head. My face throbbed with pain. From where did a wall of stone get here? In the middle of nowhere?
"Oh, God, Av!" Jules exclaimed. She tore a piece of cloth from her dress and handed it to me to stop the blood from leaking. As she examined the wall I had crashed into, her expressions changed from shock to curiosity to recognition. "We're here!" She finally said, "We've reached the mausoleum." I looked up and used my lamp to examine my surroundings.

In the loving memory of,
The valiant Rubious Marshall Axelsson

The entrance to the tomb was shut with vines and chains. A dried lotus was tied to it- Astraean symbol of good luck. That was it. That was my great-grandfather. Mother Luella has to be somewhere around. "Where to, now?" I asked Jules who was looking around for some sign of livelihood. We could both feel life nearby, but we weren't able to navigate it.