The Living Curse

Mason refused to pick out a uniform, and Sebastian didn’t care enough to force him. So, while Felix and Arisa prepared to train in their uniforms, Mason sat on the training yard dirt in dark jeans and a red sweatshirt. He’d hidden his horns under a new purple beanie. Felix wondered how many hats the guy owned. He only could have had so many belongings crammed into his backpack, right?

While Felix stretched his arms and Arisa cracked her knuckles, Mason picked up a rock off the ground and turned it over in his hand. “Give me one reason I shouldn’t just leave and steal back the wand on my own.”

“First, you’d never succeed on your own,” Sebastian said, holding up a finger. “Ernest is strong, and his home is well-guarded.” A second finger went up. “Two, you’ve been living on the run for a while. We’re feeding and housing you for free.”

“I was doing just fine,” Mason muttered.

“Trust me, I’m doing everything I can to help. None of us want Ernest walking around with that wand any more than you do,” Sebastian assured Mason. “If he really did steal it and kill your parents, the Bright Guardians aren’t obligated to protect him, and we can take action. But the king would need to see proof, first.”

Mason looked up at Felix. “Can’t Felix use his power to prove Ernest stole the wand?”

“I’d have to get my hands on it, first,” Felix replied. “Unless you have another item that was present when he stole it from your parents.”

Mason sighed and shook his head.

“And Ernest isn’t going to just admit to having it,” Sebastian said. “I searched for it when I was at his house last night, but I didn’t see any signs of it, or even sense its energy. He’s hidden it well.”

“Then what are we supposed to do now?” Mason asked.

“Nothing, yet. Ernest is throwing a bigger party in a few weeks to celebrate his cousin’s birthday.”

“Eliza’s birthday?” Felix asked.

Sebastian shook his head. “Different cousin. Also on the council. He was one of the other guys who thought you should be locked up.”

Felix sighed. “Of course he was. Sounds like Ernest has a lot of powerful family members.”

“Yep.” Sebastian’s voice was surprisingly chipper. “But that’s not something we should worry about. If we have solid evidence against Ernest, they won’t be able to defend him without turning the rest of the Guardians against them.” He waved a hand as he continued. “Anyway, what’s important is that Ernest is throwing a birthday party, and way more Guardians will be there this time. That will make it easier for me to sneak around and figure out what the deal with the wand is.”

“You should bring us,” Mason said.

“Sorry. Students don’t get invited to these things,” Sebastian said. “Especially students on probation.”

“I’m not a student!”

“According to the council, you are. Speaking of which, we should get started.” Sebastian clapped his hands a couple of times. “Felix, let’s start working with your fire today.”

“Fire?” Felix repeated. He’d finally become comfortable enough with electricity to not feel a complete failure when he trained. He didn’t like the idea of going back to screwing up every attempt at hitting a target.

Sebastian nodded. “I was originally going to take today to have you practice psychometry, but you’re farther along with that than I expected,” he said. “That’s actually what I wanted you to try back at the grocery store. I was going to have you see if you could find the memory of the demon fight. But we’ll save that for another time.” He pointed a finger at the dirt and created a glowing rectangle. “Ready, Arisa?”

Arisa snapped her fingers. “Clementine, come on out.”

Clementine climbed out of Arisa’s open backpack. Mason was upright in a heartbeat, jumping back several feet. His claws burst from the tips of his fingers. “What the hell is that?”

“Relax, it’s just a stuffed bear I animated with my ability.”

Mason took a few cautious steps toward the bear. Once he’d apparently decided it wasn’t a threat, he returned to where he’d been sitting. Knives slid out of Clementine’s paws as she walked toward the rectangle.

“That’s more terrifying than any demon I’ve ever seen,” Mason muttered as he sank to the ground.

Felix entered the rectangle. “I don’t want to burn Clementine.”

“Don’t worry, my magic makes her stronger than an ordinary stuffed animal,” Arisa said. “You should be more worried about hurting yourself again.”

“Or you,” Felix added as he lifted his hands. Small, blue flames came to life in his palms. He swung at Arisa.

The scowl faded from Mason’s face, replaced by something softer. He watched Felix and Arisa fight with what looked like genuine interest.

“Wrap your entire fist in fire!” Sebastian called as Felix dodged Arisa’s sheathed dagger.

It took most of Felix’s focus to keep the fire where he wanted it, making it harder for him to avoid Arisa’s blows. He only managed to keep his fists wrapped in flames for a minute before he lost control. When the flames started crawling up his arms, he frantically shook them out.

Something flashed in Sebastian’s eyes. “Okay, switch to lightning.”

Happy to oblige, Felix let electricity crackle around his hands with renewed enthusiasm. He dodged another swing from Arisa and landed a soft blow against her shoulder. The electricity made her wince and stagger. Felix lifted his other hand to swing. If he could push her back a few more feet, he would win.

Something sharp grazed his ankle. Felix yelped in surprise and looked down. Clementine swung her other knife. As he took a step back to avoid it, he realized Clementine hadn’t been planning to hit him at all. Arisa stuck out a foot behind him, and before Felix could stop himself, he was falling backwards.

Arisa gave him a push, and he landed outside the rectangle.

“Damn.” Felix pushed himself up off the dirt.

Sebastian laughed. “Don’t beat yourself up. Arisa’s had way more practice.” He turned. “Mason, you’re up next. But I have a few quick questions.”

“Of course you do,” Mason grumbled as he rose to his feet.

“I assume now that you’re a demon, you’re stronger and faster?”

Mason nodded. “Stronger, faster, and I heal pretty fast.”

“Well, that answers my second question.”

“What about that scar in the middle of your forehead?” Felix asked.

“No idea what that’s about,” Mason said with a shrug. “I don’t look in the mirror much, so I forget it’s there most of the time.”

“Felix, grab your sword,” Sebastian instructed.

“Helena’s sword?” Felix asked. “What if I accidentally hit Mason?”

“Keep it in its scabbard. The sigils won’t hurt him if the metal doesn’t make contact.”

Felix and Mason started slow. His sword clashed against Mason’s dagger over and over again, the collision a little stronger each time. Felix adjusted his grip and swung at Mason’s head. Mason ducked and took a step back.

“Watch for the edge,” Sebastian warned Mason.

Mason circled Felix, moving further into the rectangle. He lifted his dagger and started swinging faster, pushing Felix back a few feet. Felix swung at Mason’s hands. He landed a blow that knocked the dagger from Mason’s grasp. The weapon sailed through the air and landed outside of the box.

Felix smirked. He might actually be able to win this, despite Mason’s strength and speed. He swung again. Mason’s claws emerged. Mason swiped at Felix’s face, but Felix blocked with the sword. Once Mason’s hand passed, Felix shoved the weapon forward into Mason’s chest.

Mason stumbled backward and lifted his hands. Blasts of purple fire burst from his palms.

“Whoa!” Felix jumped back. “What’s that?”

“Ooh, hellfire!” Sebastian’s face lit up. “Ever used it before?”

“Not very much,” Mason replied. His hands closed into fists. “Or on purpose.”

“Well, you should try controlling it.” Sebastian gestured to Felix. “Try hitting Felix with a blast.”

Felix’s eyes widened. “Wait—!”

A beam of purple flame hit Felix square in the chest and knocked him off his feet. He landed on his back in the dirt. Outside of the rectangle. “Aw, come on!” he groaned. He sat up and examined the front of his shirt. There was a darker patch where the fire had hit him, but the blue material was still intact.

“See how tough the uniforms are?” Sebastian’s arms folded. “You really should reconsider getting one, Mason.”

Felix expected Mason to roll his eyes or turn down Sebastian’s offer. Instead, he walked up to Felix, knelt down, and squinted at Felix’s chest. “That is impressive,” Mason said. “How much hellfire can this material resist?”

“Probably three times the amount you hit him with,” Sebastian answered.

“So, my skin’s not burned underneath?” Felix asked.

“No. You’ll probably have a nasty bruise, though.”

Felix sighed. “Great.”

“Is the material sigil-enforced?” Mason asked.

Sebastian nodded. “Protective sigils. And healing sigils.”

“Hm.” Mason straightened up. “Not a bad fight though, Felix. But you do need some training with that sword.”

“I know.” Felix climbed to his feet. “Hana said she had time Monday morning.”

“Hana?” Mason asked.

“Arisa’s sister. She’s the head librarian.”

Mason’s face lit up. “This place has a library?”

“You sound excited,” Arisa said with a smirk. “Nerd.”

Sebastian grinned. “Hey, anything to get him to like it here, right?”

Mason bent down to pick up the sword from the dirt next to Felix. He slid the blade out of the scabbard. “Can I put some better sigils on this?”

“Uh, sure?” Felix scratched his head. “You can do that?”

“I’m still a witch,” Mason said. “And they won’t hurt me if I wear gloves.”

Felix glanced at Sebastian. “Seems like a good idea to me,” Sebastian said. “But how are you doing to carve them in?”

Mason’s expression darkened. “It’d be easy, if I still had my wand.”

“Well, I wouldn’t get your hopes up on getting that back anytime soon.”

“No, not the Ironwood Wand,” Mason said. “I had my own wand that my parents helped me make when I was a kid.”

“What happened to it?” Felix asked.

“It was broken in the accident that almost killed me.” Mason sighed and shoved his hands into his sweatshirt’s pocket. “If it had only snapped in half, I might have been able to repair it, but it was reduced to splinters. And I haven’t had time to make a new one, since I’ve been on the run as a demon.”

“We can look into getting you another one,” Sebastian said. “In the meantime, though, I want to see some more of that hellfire.”

“I don’t think I’m up for another fight right now.” Felix glanced down at his chest again.

“No worries,” Sebastian told him. “Mason and Arisa will have a quick match, and then we’ll move on to target practice. You need to work on your fire, too.”

The fight between Mason and Arisa was a close one. They both got the other within inches of the rectangle’s edge several times, and Mason managed to knock Clementine out of the box before Arisa swept his legs and shoved him out.

After that came target practice, which was even harder with fire than lightning. Felix struggled to get the flames to do anything other than dance on his skin. Mason was slightly more successful, managing to shape his hellfire into a beam of flames, but his aim was far from precise. Any target smaller than Felix was a challenge. To make matters worse, Arisa decided to practice animating stones by making them roll around Felix and Mason’s feet.

Despite the distractions, Felix finally unleashed a blast of blue fire from his palm. It didn’t go anywhere close to the direction he wanted, but that didn’t stop a grin from spreading across his face. “I did it!”

Sebastian gave him a thumbs up. “Nice job! I think you’ve both earned a break.”

“What?” Felix whirled to face him. “But I’m just getting started!”

“You’re going to wear yourself out. We’ll come back to this later.”

“Are we allowed to walk around outside the castle?” Mason asked.

Sebastian raised an eyebrow at the abrupt change of subject. “If a Guardian accompanies you, sure.”

“Can we go now?” Mason glanced toward the door out of the training yard. “It doesn’t have to be very long. I just want to take a look around. I didn’t get much of a chance yesterday.”

“Sure.” Sebastian shrugged. “I’ve got time to kill.”

Felix exchanged a confused look with Arisa. “Why do you want to?” Felix asked Mason. “There’s not much out there, until you hit forest.”

“I want to check out the view,” Mason said sarcastically.

Sebastian didn’t question it, though he had to know something was up. He slid his hands into his pockets and led the three inside and through the castle halls. They were almost to the front doors when a new set of footsteps sounded behind them.

“Where are you going?” Archer asked as he fell into pace next to Sebastian.

“Were you watching us train?” Sebastian asked.

“Of course.”

“We’re just taking a quick break to go on a walk around the castle.”

“I’ll join you, then,” Archer said.

Sebastian raised an eyebrow. “I could handle him, if he tried anything.”

“I don’t doubt that.”

They stepped outside. Sebastian paused. “Lead the way, Mason.”

Felix and Arisa walked on either side of Mason as he headed west and up a hill. He stopped in the shade of a cluster of cherry trees at the top. After studying one for a moment, he reached up and ran a hand along one of its thinner branches.

“This is nice wood,” Mason said.

“Is it?” Felix asked.

Mason’s hand tightened around the branch. “Yes.” A crack cut through the air as he snapped it off the tree.

“Hey,” Archer said as he and Sebastian caught up. “What was that for?”

Mason studied the branch in his hands. “This should work. I made my old wand from the cherry tree in my backyard.”

“Did you know he was planning this?” Archer asked, gaze flickering to Sebastian.

Sebastian lifted his hands. “How could I possibly have known? He didn’t tell me.” A smirk touched his lips. “What, you think letting the big scary demon have a wand is a bad idea?”

“It’s fine,” Archer muttered. “He’s still outnumbered. But I would prefer if he didn’t damage castle property.”

“I bet it’ll be worth it.”

“We’ll see. But that does remind me,” Archer began. “Sadia was able to track down a witch last night and take them to the office building. They confirmed that an energy masking spell was used.”

“Interesting.” Sebastian lifted his fist and rested the side of his pointer finger against his chin. A hint of concern crept into his expression, though it seemed like he was trying to appear casual. “Why would someone want to do that?”

“I don’t know, but if it happens again, it won’t just be civilians at risk,” Archer said. “Guardians could get themselves killed walking into a situation that’s deadlier than they think.”

Mason lifted his chin. “Once this wand is ready, I can do a lot more than just identify what spells were used. I might be able to amplify faint traces of magical energy. We could use it to follow the trail of whoever cast the masking spells.”

“I hope you’re right,” Archer said. “For all of our sakes.”

The five headed back down the hill toward the castle.

“How long will it take for the wand to be ready?” Felix asked Mason.

“Depends,” Mason replied. “When’s the next full moon?”

“One week from today,” Sebastian said.

Arisa gave him a weird look. “You know that off the top of your head?”

“That’s surprising,” Archer muttered. “Considering he barely knows what day of the week it is, most of the time.” After a moment, though, something else flashed across his expression, and he didn’t make any further comments.

“If I can get the rest of the prep work done before then, I can use the full moon to conduct the activation ritual,” Mason said.

When they returned to the castle, Archer and Sebastian left the three to their own devices. The two walked off together, speaking to each other in hushed tones.

“If Sebastian’s serious, then something big is going on,” Arisa said once they were gone. “And if he and Archer begin agreeing with each other, I’d be willing to believe it’s the end of the world.”

“Can you show me where this library is?” Mason asked. “I don’t expect an extensive collection on witch magic, but I’d like to see if I can find anything useful.”

“Oh, you definitely will,” Arisa told him. She started down the hallway toward the library. “Our collection’s huge. Guardians will pick up any book or artifact that’s remotely magical and bring it to us. Usually, it gets filed away and no one ever looks at it again.”

The three entered the library a few minutes later, and Arisa gave Mason and Felix a tour, pointing out various sections in a half-whisper. When they entered an aisle in the history department, Mason ran a hand along the spines of the books to his right. He paused on a deep red one and slid it off the shelf.

“Ew.” Mason held the book away from him and attempted to shake off the spider perched on top.

“Careful,” Arisa said. “Don’t kill it. I saw Eliza Abernathy step on one in the dining hall once, and Archer walked up to her and lectured her for twenty minutes.”

“Why would he get mad at her for killing a spider?” Felix asked. Other than the one that had crawled into his bathroom vent his first day at the castle, Felix hadn’t seen any spiders in his room. But they seemed to be common everywhere else in the castle.

“I don’t know,” Arisa said. “I tried getting close enough to eavesdrop, but Archer glared at me until I left.”

“Well, Archer’s not here.” Mason swung the book at the nearest shelf in an attempt to crush the spider, but it took to the air on a thread and ascended into the shadows above them.

“What book is that?” Arisa asked.

“Oh, uh…” Mason glanced at the cover. “ A Brief History of Curses. I’ve never read it, but I recognized the author. They wrote my first spellbook.”

Arisa perked up. “Do you know a lot about curses?”

“A decent amount. Why?”

Arisa pointed to the bracelet on her right wrist. “This thing’s cursed, and none of the Guardians have figured out how to break it yet. I figured a witch might know better than them.”

“Cursed bracelets?” Mason asked. “Well, now I’m glad I didn’t tell you I liked them.”

“Don’t worry, I complimented them when I met her,” Felix said.

Mason leaned forward to take a better look. “What does the curse do, exactly? I’ll need to know what kind it is before I can figure out how to break it.”

“It made my ability stronger,” Arisa said.

“And the side effects?”

Arisa hesitated. “Let’s sit down at a table, and I’ll explain.”

Felix was surprised by how anxious Arisa seemed as they walked to a table. She’d explained the curse so casually when they met that he hadn’t thought of it as that big of a deal.

“When I first put the bracelet on, I got a surge of power,” Arisa explained. “And that’s the last thing I remember before waking up in the medical wing with the counterbalance bracelet they made for me.”

“How did they make the counterbalance?” Mason asked.

“Someone with a metal manipulation ability shaped it and carved magic nullification sigils along the inside. There was enough magical energy left over to make me more powerful than I was before I found the bracelet, but if I use too much power at once, the counterbalance starts to burn.”

Mason’s brow furrowed. “And what happened while you were out?”

This was clearly the part Arisa didn’t want to talk about. She folded her arms and looked down at the table. “I animated all of the artifacts in the storage room upstairs and sent them on a rampage through the castle.”

Felix’s eyes widened.

“Some couldn’t do much, but there were figurines and weapons that did a lot of damage,” Arisa continued quietly. “Injured a lot of people, too. We’re lucky no one died.”

Mason’s jaw tightened. “This is a living curse,” he said. He held out an open hand. After a moment’s pause, Arisa set her wrist in his hand so that he could examine the bracelet closer.

“What’s a living curse?” Felix asked.

“A curse with a will of its own,” Mason said. “Usually, it wants to cause as much destruction as possible.” He ran a thumb along the orange jewel. “These are notoriously hard to break.”

“But it’s possible, right?” Arisa asked.

“Of course.” Mason let go of her hand. “I’ll do some research. I know a few places to start that your Guardians probably haven’t thought of.”

“Hypothetically, if Arisa cut off her hand, would that get rid of the curse?” Felix asked.

Mason picked up A Brief History of Curses and smacked Felix in the arm with it.

“Ow!” For a book that was supposed to be brief, it sure was heavy.

“It might work,” Mason said. “Or it might kill her.”

“All right, all right, it was just an idea.” Felix rubbed his arm.

“The King’s Council said they put me on probation because they were worried the curse would hurt me,” Arisa said. “But I think they’re actually afraid that the curse will take over again and I’ll go on another rampage.”

Mason chuckled.

“What’s so funny?” Arisa demanded.

“Nothing,” Mason said. “Just that your big, powerful council of Guardians is terrified of three teenagers.”

Felix laughed, too. “He’s right.”

After a moment, Arisa smirked. “If they think we’re a threat, then I guess we’d better train until we’re as dangerous as they believe we are.”

“As much as I don’t want to be here, I would like to prove those smug assholes wrong,” Mason said. “Maybe I’ll stick around and kill all of their monsters for them.”

Felix leaned back in his chair and smiled. Maybe, one day, they’d have a chance to prove themselves by fighting the Moonlit Army that Sebastian had mentioned. A cursed girl, a demon witch, and a boy carrying the ghost of one of their magicians.