Curse Breaker | Intercepted

Curse Breaker | Intercepted “Easy,” said the newcomer, “It’s just Green Eyes.” Sarn risked a glance at the man standing at his elbow. Grime combined with the green glow of Sarn’s eyes made it impossible to tell what color the man’s garments were or if the fellow was sporting gang colors. The gap-toothed fellow waited for a response of some kind. Great, so word had spread that Sarn wasn’t mute. Damn it.  “How do you know me?” “Zaduke.” He owed Zaduke a favor. Anger flared up but Sarn squelched it and the memory of just why he owed a jumped … Continue reading Curse Breaker | Intercepted

Curse Breaker | Falling

Curse Breaker | Falling Sarn gave the forest one backwards glance just to confirm that neither Nolo nor any other Rangers had appeared. Trees stood by watching him, no doubt waiting for him to make a move. Was this all a cruel game to them? His hands curled into fists; he was no one’s pawn. Other than the wind rustling leaves high above, he heard shouts that grew more distant the longer he stood there. Let those shouts not be about him. Let Nolo find someone else to badger. Didn’t he need to report all this madness to his superior? … Continue reading Curse Breaker | Falling

Curse Breaker | Rift

Curse Breaker | Rift Sarn ran back towards the bodies. Dread dogged him. A branch shot out at chest level and Sarn struck it hard enough to bruise. He had managed to slow enough to keep from breaking anything but the impact still drove the breath from him. He ducked under the impediment and then had to throw himself backwards to avoid a head injury as more branches leapt into his path. He watched in horror as the ground opened up and that child’s body, along with all the others, toppled into it. He couldn’t tear his gaze away. The … Continue reading Curse Breaker | Rift

Curse Breaker | Queen of All Trees

Curse Breaker | The Queen of All Trees Something tied the Child of Magic to the mountain and that tie refused to allow him to leave it. The Queen of All Trees tested its tensile strength and found the tie to be stronger than it. Each link was a promise forged in magic and blood. It led back to an unexpected source—a small child. The Child of Magic had a child of his own. Not well versed in humans, the Queen of All Trees flipped through memory’s pages seeking the truth. It found a sixteen year old boy and a … Continue reading Curse Breaker | Queen of All Trees

Curse Breaker | Stupefied

Curse Breaker | Stupefied A keening sound startled Nolo and gave him a direction. He rushed off towards the source. He found Sarn staring at a broken child not two hundred paces away from the previous murder site. His hands shook where they remained suspended halfway between himself and the boy. Horror had shut off his reasoning. Beyond the child lay a dozen men, women and children all dead. They’re bodies had not been ripped apart or in anyway despoiled. Nolo noted all that in a quick glance before returning his attention to his stricken charge. The dead could wait … Continue reading Curse Breaker | Stupefied

Curse Breaker | Discovery

Curse Breaker | Discovery Passing between two trees, whose boles each had to be over a hundred feet in diameter, he froze. Bodies lay in a small clearing—or what was left of them. The stench hit Sarn full in the face as the wind, which had picked up over the last mile of his hike, shifted. He gagged, doubled over and retched. Sarn started as a hand landed on his shoulder. “You okay, Kid?” “I’m not a kid.” Sarn shot back as he forced the bile back down. “I’m twenty—” “I know,” Nolo gave Sarn’s shoulder a squeeze and then let … Continue reading Curse Breaker | Discovery

Curse Breaker | Kidnapped

Curse Breaker | Kidnapped More shouts interrupted by tearing, scraping and the grating of sandpaper as something not human dragged Sarn into the forest. He ran his fingers along the grooves of the thing manacling his arm as he tried to figure out what had seized him. His fingers encountered tree bark and that made no sense. Why would a tree abduct him? It had never done that before. Why would it need to start now? What the hell was going on?   “Let go of me!” Sarn hammered the heel of his hand against whatever part of the tree that … Continue reading Curse Breaker | Kidnapped

Curse Breaker | Commanded

Curse Breaker | Commanded “We don’t know if that Kid is a mage,” Jerlo corrected as he appeared between his two officers. At five foot nothing, the force of Jerlo’s personality took up more space than he did. Right now his formidable glare focused on a man sixteen inches taller than himself. Gregori could bench press one Jerlo in each hand. So whenever the commander scolded Gregori, everyone dropped everything and watched. “Oh yeah? Then why do his eyes glow all the damned time? That’s a sign of active magic and you know it. Hell it’s even mentioned in the Litany.” … Continue reading Curse Breaker | Commanded

Curse Breaker | Tell me

Tell me | Curse Breaker Part 8 of Curse Breaker: Enchanted, vol 1 (if you missed a part, you can find it here, on its Table of Contents. picks up where Master left off.) One word stood out from the stones’ din. That word slipped and slid in his mind evading his understanding. It didn’t want to be understood. Twenty feet on the stones in Nolo’s bracelet fell silent. The word escaped in the sudden quiet leaving behind a symbolic after-image–a circle with flanges shoring it up. What did it mean? Great, something to figure out later. A tug on his arm yanked … Continue reading Curse Breaker | Tell me

Interrogation | Curse Breaker

Interrogation | Curse Breaker “Who did this to you?” Gregori demanded with more menace. Sarn pushed to his feet, arms crossing under his cloak intent on pacing. Gregori gave him space but begrudged him every inch of it. What to say? Tell Gregori that a bunch of idiots had jumped him? As if that would help his situation any. Explain that the tight confines of the tunnel had left no room to maneuver? Why bother when anything he said would sound like an excuse. No one ever believed him. Sarn regarded his fists that bore not a single scratch because … Continue reading Interrogation | Curse Breaker