Chapter Thirty-Five: A Curse So Sinister And Evil

"An ogre."

Those were the first two words the witch snarled after a long stretch of brooding silence.

A lone candlelight glimmered atop the wooden table at the heart of the cramped room. Diora Inn's rooms were aged cubbyholes that were cozy and comfortable enough to house three runaway wizards on an unofficial mission. Even though the furniture creaked and squeaked, the bedsheets were still crisp and the food, warm.

It was a luxury that they welcomed heartily.

Ayra had her arms crossed and eyes fixed on the dancing flame of the candle. A swirl of unspoken but disturbing thoughts swam behind her eyes. She didn't have to snap her eyes up to see her best friends' troubled expression that matched her own.

The windows rattled and split open, reluctantly allowing a gust of cool air to embrace the room. The flame of the candle snuffed out, momentarily swallowing the room in darkness before Neslyn lit the candle again.

Ayra worldlessly pushed up to her feet and shut the windows close. Her hand remained pressed against the smooth, slightly dust-kissed surface.

"An ogre," Valda rehashed from her seat at the table. Ayra turned on her feet and found her shaking her head in incredulity. "I can't believe this."

Neslyn sat by her bed, head bowed but hands neatly and quietly folding her cloak. But even from standing beside the wall by the window, Ayra could clearly see the apprehensive dip of her brows.

"We waited two whole hours just to follow a blockhead who claims to have seen an ogre that night!" She placed her hand on her hips and let out a humourless snort, "Ah, an ogre painting the walls. How hilarious."

Neslyn sighed loudly. "Calm down, Valda. You're reacting the same way as those people who laughed at him for telling what he saw."

"Well, I wonder why they didn't believe him." She twisted towards her. "Maybe it's because the whole world knows that ogres, those humongous fucking beasts, that existed millions of years ago are now extinct and gone, Neslyn. Extinct and gone!" She growled and slapped her thighs in frustration.

And just like that, the witch gave reason to the apprehension that lined each of their features. When the three of them had followed the man out of the tavern, a sense of foolish hope kindled within her. Ayra knew in her heart that this hope would come alive and give life to a lead. A lead that would at least give them a clue on what lay ahead of them. A lead that would prevent them from diving blindly into what she fully believed, was danger.

But when the drunk fool started blabbering about an ogre being the wicked reason behind those bloody walls, a thread of uncertainty weaved through each of their heads. Ayra believed that if that thread didn't snap, then the seed of doubt planted within them would grow in no time.

Ayra's eyes followed a pacing Valda and she realised that the thread was strong within the witch's mind.

"We of all people should know that anything is possible at this point, Valda." Neslyn reprimanded. Even, the healer, who seemed a little apprehensive about the news, didn't allow it to completely devour her senses.

Ayra supposed that out of all three of them, she was the only one who didn't bat her lashes twice when the drunk man confessed whatever he saw that night. A flash of the Fiend's mouthless face grazed her mind and she knew that if that still roamed this realm, then an ogre would as well.

She wondered if Valda and Neslyn would believe her if she told them what she saw in the forest. One look at Valda's glower and she promptly dropped the thought.

"Anything but this," Valda replied. "Anything but this. Ancient creatures don't exist anymore."

"What if they do?" Neslyn countered, pushing to her feet.

''What if they don't?" Valda shot back, getting in her face with a challenging look.

Ayra took this as a cue to step forward, giving herself a chance to voice out her thoughts.

"What if they do?"

Neslyn and Valda snapped their eyes towards her.

"Not you too, Ayra--" Valda groaned.

"No, look," She smoothened her palms on the table and proceeded,

"What if they exist but we don't...know."

Valda frowned. "What are you trying to say?"

Ayra licked her lips and decided to pull the devil out of the crate. If she needed them to believe her, then she must offer a kernel of truth.

"I saw a Fiend." She blurted out.

Neslyn and Valda's face contorted into various expressions. It went from shock to disbelief to uncertainty to something entirely comical.

"What in the heavenly Celestials are you talking about?" Valda demanded, eyes wide.

"A-A Fiend?" Neslyn heaved out.

Ayra slowly nodded her head.

"It happened when we were resting at the Tryvyan Forest. I wandered alone into the woods that night---

"Motherfuc---" Valda cursed.

"------and that's where I saw it."

Ayra expected a taunting smicker or even words of denial, however, what did she did not expect was the glimmer of awe shadowed behind inquisitive questions.

"How did it look?"

"What did it do?''

"Did it see you?"

"Does it look exactly like how our books mentioned?

"Does it really howl like a wolf?"

"Wait, the mouth! Does it really NOT have a mouth?"

Ayra took her time in answering their questions, even though she was still surprised by their reaction. She made sure to carefully leave out the prophecy that the Fiend recited that night to her.

Not now, she decided.

"So, Fiend's do exist, huh?" Valda wondered.

"Yeah. And maybe even Ogres do." Neslyn said, lifting an elegant shoulder.

"I still can't seem to believe that, you know. Even if they do exist, how does one make an Ogre paint the walls? That's simply absurd."

"You do realise that a Deminus played a hand behind that, right?" Neslyn pointed out.

"Of course, I do. I know for a fact that a Deminus is the reason for whatever is happening or whatever is going to happen in the future. But the question is how?"

"Ogres are large, cannibalistic creatures with no sense of intelligence whatsoever. They were born with the sole drive that screams, 'kill to eat and eat to live'. Any creature that is NOT an ogre cannot breathe for five seconds near them without being swallowed as a whole. In some cases, it even feeds on its own kin!"

Valda shook her head. "A Deminus may possess powers to kill them but not to subdue them to do their bidding. They are killing machines with primal instincts. Not slaves."

No one spoke for a long time. When Ayra did, it was a breakthrough.

"What if they can subdue them?"

Valda groaned again. "Ayra, stop with your cryptic answers and elaborate please."

She glared at the witch and began clarifying,

"What if there is an ancient object or a book or spell that can achieve this?"

"A spell?" The witch swatted the air. "There's no such spell that would make an Ogre wag its non-existent tail at you. Even if there was a spell like that, I would know about it. Unless, of course, we are talking about cursed spells like the Blood Pact or some shit like tha--"

She abruptly stopped and lifted her eyes and whispered a low,

"Oh, fuck."

She swiftly grabbed her rucksack and fiercely fished through its contents before grabbing her worn-out study journal. She slammed the book on the table and gestured them to come closer.

Valda flipped through the pages and Ayra caught glimpses of scribbled drawings and incoherent notes with her incoherent penmanship jotted all over the place.

"You suck at drawing," Neslyn remarked.

Valda scowled. ''Not now, Nes. Not fucking now."

Neslyn simply grinned.

"There!" She announced and pointed a finger towards the page she just opened.

Faceless humanoid figures, scribbled notes and ancient runes were disorderly placed all over the page. Ayra didn't know where to look so she chose to listen to the witch. Neslyn, with her grumbling lips at the sight of the witch's journal, seemed to decide the same.

"Blood pact. A cursed spell that is so life-threatening and dangerous, that even the Council deemed it a punishable act by law. It's forbidden and for good reason too."

"A Blood Pact is a cursed spell, to begin with. No sane witch will tamper with cursed spells but some are strong enough to reverse them and make them their own. Hell, even I have reversed a few cursed spells in my practical classes. But a Blood Pact? Nobody messes with it. Nobody."

"Why is it forbidden?" Neslyn questioned, eyes still roaming over the opened journal.

"Because some witches think that the Blood Pact is not entirely a spell but a curse itself."

"Wait, what do you mean?" Ayra inquired.

"Curses have a mind of their own. Once it is made, it cannot be unmade. And a Blood Pact is somewhat akin to that principle." She pointed towards a note on her journal.

"A Blood Pact requires two parties to willingly form a bond between each other. A drop of blood from each of the party is required for the bond to snap itself into action. The name of the spell speaks for itself. But a drop of blood is not the only thing required."

"What else do they require?"

"A deal. A promise. An oath. The one who initiates the pact must promise something in return to the other party. Something worthy enough to persuade the other party to consent to the bond. When they do, the Blood Pact starts doing its thing."

"It's start off as a manipulative spell almost, the forger demanding the forgee to do their biddings. After the forger gets the ideal outcomes, they simply snip the bond and end the spell. That's how a typical bonding spell works."

Her eyes turned solemn. "But not this one."

"It took multiple sinister cases for the Council to catch wind of this, however, when they discovered what this cursed spell can really do, they immediately slapped the forbidden sign on it."

"What does it do?" Neslyn pressed.

"It kills," Valda said darkly. "The bond is supposed to end when the forger ends it but it really doesn't. The Blood Pact never truly ends until it kills both of them. The forger and the forgee may go separate ways when the spell is undone but the curse? The curse follows each of them, slowly eating their life from inside out and drowning them in misery. Some end their own lives. Some go insane and then bite the dust. Some kill others and then themselves. But the end result? Death. Always death."

A chill licks down Ayra's spine.

Neslyn pursed her lips. "But its still impossible for someone to forge a bond with an ogre, right? They are primal, unintelligible creatures, after all." 

Valda bit the inside of her cheek. "The curse snaps into place once it gets the blood of the forger and the forgee. The oath simply completes the bond." She sighed. "It's a tricky one, this curse. One of the many reasons why it was banned in the first place." 

"Who would make such a curse?" Ayra breathed out.

Valda shook her head. "No one knows."

"So, do you think the Deminus knew about the curse when they formed a pact with the Ogre?"

Valda simply shrugged. "Honestly, I hope they don't know the true consequences because even if they do escape from us, at least the curse will bite them in the ass later on."

Neslyn sighed and lifted her chin again, eyes lighting up with another question.

"But we didn't encounter a witch back at the Tryvyan Forest, right?"

A heavy pause lingered in the air before they share an alarmed look.

"Let's recall!"

They took their seats around the table and leaned forward.

"Neslyn." Ayra urged.

"A child with shape-shifting abilities."

"I encountered a bitch who pulled an entire arsenal of weapons from her boobs. Definitely no witchy powers right there." Valda exclaimed.

Ayra swatted her arm and said, "According to Rydan and Aslan's report, they encountered the Deminus responsible for the mist."

"Oh, lets not forget the ashen-haired guy who was literally reading a book on a pile of dead bodies." Neslyn pointed out and winced slightly, immediately showing her displeasure.

That scene flashed before Ayra's eyes and she quickly ignored it.

"So, that just leaves us with....." Valda began, eyes slowly lifting towards Ayra.

"Ruhnn." Neslyn tentatively breathed out.

Ayra involuntarily sucked in a breath, astonished that even hearing his name could affect her in such a way. She desperately tried to refrain her mind from thinking about those piercing silver eyes but it was to no avail. She dreamt of those eyes every day. Felt his cold demeanour lick her skin even when coverlets wrapped her body. She felt him, even when he was not next to her.

"It's not him," Ayra said immediately and grimaced when she heard the defensive tone her voice took.

"You don't know that." Valda countered, eyes narrowing.

"I know him," Ayra said weakly.

Valda clenched her teeth and fisted her fingers and Ayra was too late to prepare for the blow.

"Well, did you know that he would end up being a monster, Ayra?"

And she felt that right in her chest. She grew eerily quiet at that.

"Okay, let's not--" Neslyn began with a worried voice but Ayra cut her off.

"You're right." Her gaze found Valda's calculating ones. "I don't know him."

"But what I do know is that there were more people with him in the Ruins. I didn't see all of them but there was a blonde-haired---" Bitch, she wanted to say but then she stopped herself. "---woman who stabbed me. It could've been her too."

Valda stared at her for a few heartbeats before nodding her head.

Ayra slightly relaxed.

"It could be anyone," Neslyn murmured. "Not only the ones we met back at the Ruins."

Right. It could be anyone. They barely knew the true powers of the ones they encountered in the forest but an entirely new Deminus or a group of them would be challenging. And life-threatening.

But they wouldn't back off. Not now.

"Whatever or whoever comes our way, we fight and protect," Ayra said and earned two nods.

"Yes, we are already knee-deep in this shit. Too late to back off now." Valda smirked and waggled her brows.

Neslyn chuckled at that and eyed them both.

"So, what now?"

"Well," Valda droned, "We know shit is about to go down at the Masquerade Ball but we don't want to witness that with our threadbare travelling tunics and darker-than-night cloaks right? If we go down, then we go down wearing pearls and emeralds."

Neslyn smiled and cooed, "So...."

"So, let's go shopping ladies! We have a Masquerade Ball to attend."

Inside the warm room of a small inn, three women heartily laughed together.