Cursed by Darkness (Once Upon A Curse)

40. Juniper

FORTY

Juniper

T he soldier Juniper was bandaging cried out, and she shook her head. She put a hand on his bloody shoulder to keep him from sitting up. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, but you need to stay still.”

Inaya ran to help her. The young woman took over bandaging his leg while Juniper tried to soothe him.

“Please,” he begged. “Make it stop.”

“Almost done,” she whispered, grabbing his hand to squeeze. She looked around for Richard but couldn’t spot him anywhere.

“It’s too much.” The man groaned loudly when the healer tied it off.

“There, see? We’re done…” Juniper trailed off as she brushed dirt from his face and recognition set in. “Samuel?”

He met her gaze, as if just seeing her too. “Your Majesty? W-what…”

His eyes rolled back.

“No!” She put her palm against his cheek. “Stay with me, Samuel. Wake up.”

“He’s bleeding too much,” Inaya said, rushing to grab supplies to stitch him up.

Juniper closed her eyes, searching for her light magic. Her emotions played directly into it revealing itself, but even after practicing the last week and a half, it was never as bright as when Bodin helped her.

She took a deep breath to focus again, trying to narrow in on the way her husband made her feel loved, safe, free… powerful. She pictured the way Bodin held her that morning, and warmth bloomed in her chest. Richard had told her to use those feelings, to remember how her magic responded and to mentally grasp on to it. He’d explained it as being like a tether from her heart to the light; she just needed to follow it to find it again.

Samuel convulsed beneath her, and she shook her head. This man had been by her side since she’d arrived. He’d protected her without question, even stepping in between her and Richard when he thought their argument was going too far. She could not lose him. He was more than a guard; he’d become a friend. A comforting presence.

Keeping her eyes closed, she imagined following the connection to her magic and silently prayed to the goddess that she could heal this man. That warmth flowed from her chest into her fingers, and she mentally pushed it farther. To him.

A gasp rang out, and her eyes snapped open. Juniper stared down at him in shock. He stared right back. His breathing was shaky, but he was alive and conscious.

“The bleeding slowed,” Inaya whispered with clear awe in her voice. “You did it.”

Juniper smiled and brushed a strand of dirty hair from his dark brow. She’d told Inaya the truth on the journey here, and she’d seen Richard use his healing abilities. Inaya had encouraged her every day to keep trying when Juniper couldn’t do the same.

“Welcome back,” she told Samuel with tears in her eyes. She actually did it.

The magic she’d been told to hide most of her life healed him, stopped him from dying. And now that she knew what it felt like and how to find it, she was fairly certain she could do it again.

When shouts carried on the wind to their tent, she glanced from the opening to the healer. “Can you finish here?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Inaya dipped her chin.

“Juniper,” Samuel said with his usual authoritative tone. “Don’t you dare?—”

But Juniper was already up and running outside.

Chaos greeted her from every direction. Soldiers yelled in agony and fear. She grabbed one and asked, “What’s going on?”

“We’re losing! They’ve outnumbered us too much, and we don’t stand a chance.”

She didn’t stop him as he ran off. If he wanted to leave and seek safety, she didn’t blame him. His words repeated over and over in her head though. They needed as much help as they could get, and if that meant healing people on the field to keep fighting, she had to try.

Ducking around the corner of the tent, she went to the pile of weapons they’d collected from those who’d returned to be healed but didn’t make it. She searched through the mess of bloody iron until she spotted what she needed. The thin sword was lighter than the others, easier for her to manipulate than the one she’d left in her tent. She took a couple of practice swings. It had been far too long since she’d had any sort of training, but she could at least attempt to protect herself this way. It would be better than her dagger, which was strapped to her thigh. She had no desire to get close enough to the enemy to use such a short blade.

Juniper straightened her shoulders and headed toward the battlefield, breaking her promise to her husband and brothers. They would just have to get over it; she wasn’t going to allow them to die if she could help it.

Nothing could have prepared her for the sight of so many dead and wounded bodies spread across the Valley of Stars. Valley of Death , some appropriately called it. What she’d seen upon arriving was nothing compared to this. Her stomach heaved, threatening to empty on the bloody, torn-up ground. How could this happen? Was the magic from the lake truly worth all this?

She didn’t understand how anyone could think that. It was disgusting, disturbing. Heartbreaking.

Swallowing down the bile in her throat, she raised her sword and looked around for someone to heal. It was impossible to tell the dead from the wounded.

Her chest tightened to the point of pain when she managed to find her husband and family. As she watched, over a dozen enemy soldiers moved in to surround them. She tried to yell, to warn them of the ones creeping in from behind, but her voice was lost in the cacophony.

Bodin fought off a few, but Richard fell to his knees a short distance from him. Richard . Why was he out here?

Juniper had to get to them. She wondered if her father had the same idea as her about healing those directly in battle. He was still fighting, and she knew he could heal himself, but she couldn’t help but run toward him.

Silver blocked her view, and she realized it was an enemy soldier lifting their blade toward her. She barely got her own up in time to block it. The hit was too powerful though, and her arms folded under the impact, pain splicing through her wrist.

Juniper dropped the sword as she ducked out of the way of the man’s next strike. She twisted to the side, grabbing her dagger in one swift move. When she turned back toward the soldier, his eyes widened. She looked down at the blade sticking into his gut through a space in his armor. Ignoring the tears stinging her eyes, she drove it in farther, angling upward as much as possible.

The man sputtered, and she reached out to twist his wrist before he could bring his sword down again. It fell to the ground just as he did.

She whirled back around to find her family. A scream left her lips as she spotted Laurent being stabbed and crumbling. She took off toward him, her heart in her throat. When another soldier charged at him to finish the job, she cried out, but no one could hear her. Her legs burned as she ran as hard as she could across the uneven terrain littered with bodies. She couldn’t watch her best friend die.

The Gilarnian raised his sword…

But Hugo jumped between them, taking out the nearest enemies before dropping to his knees next to Laurent. He pressed his hands over what Juniper assumed was the wound, and she could see the horror and pain in her brother’s face as he shook his head and spoke to Laurent. She didn’t think they even liked each other, but Hugo looked distraught, like he was losing his closest friend.

Bodin was close, but before she could get to him, he took off in another direction. She didn’t bother following. She had to get to Laurent.

Finally, she reached them and collapsed across from her brother.

“What—” Laurent coughed and groaned. “In the… hells… are you doing here?”

“You’re supposed to be in the healers’ tent,” Hugo shouted at her. “You promised!”

“Just protect us while I help him!” She put her hands over Laurent’s chest.

Hugo hesitated only a beat before jumping up, sword drawn and ready. It warmed her heart to know that he trusted her enough to listen.

“Juni—”

“Shhh.” She cut off her friend, shaking her head. “Save your energy. Just stay with me, all right? I can fix this.” When he grabbed her hand, she entwined their fingers with a nod. Leaning down, she put her forehead to his, trusting her brother to keep them safe. “Please,” she whispered to anyone who might have been listening. “You can’t leave me.”

Her first real friend outside of her brothers. The man who’d made her smile and laugh, treating her with nothing but kindness from day one. Even when he’d been ordered to lock her in her rooms for having magic, he had tried to comfort her and promised to find answers. He’d teased her for weeks with his incessant fake flirting, and she couldn’t imagine never seeing him wink again.

Familiar warmth began to spread through her. She didn’t bother wiping away her tears as she tried to imagine her magic flowing into him to stop the bleeding and heal the gash in his abdomen. Just as she’d done with Samuel.

It wasn’t only Bodin’s love that could bring it forward. It was her love for her friends and family. And she realized in that moment that she had the power to control it on her own.

After a moment, Laurent’s ragged breathing eased into a normal rhythm. A large, calloused hand cupped the side of her face, a thumb brushing at the dampness on her cheeks, and she let out a sound that was part-sob, part-sigh of relief. She opened her eyes to meet Laurent’s hazel gaze.

“I knew you couldn’t live without me,” he said with a familiar smirk. Juniper shook her head with a shaky laugh and bent to hug him. His arm came up around her, holding her just as tightly. “Thank you.”

Sniffling, she nodded against him.

A deep growl reverberated through the ground, and they both stilled. Screams filled the air. Juniper had heard that sound before. She knew only one creature made it, and her heart thundered in her chest at the reminder.

Leaning back, she met Laurent’s gaze, which held just as much terror as she felt. She didn’t want to look and confirm the truth.

Someone grabbed her arm and hauled her to her feet. “Time to go.”

She finally turned to find it was Rafe urging her to leave. Hugo rushed to Laurent, helping him up and letting him lean against his shoulder. Juniper whirled around. “Where’s my father?”

“One of the other soldiers was helping him back to camp,” Rafe said. “He was hurt, but he’ll be fine. He just needed somewhere safe to heal himself.”

“What about Del?”

“Here,” another voice said as an armed man joined their huddled group.

A shadow passed over them. Juniper held her breath as she watched the Ombrete fly across the battlefield with a screech. It was too high in the sky to see it well, but one thing was very clear.

This was the real monster.

Juniper now understood what her husband had meant when he’d said the other one was just an echo of the true being. Even from here, she could tell it was larger, more solid, despite its shadowed body. She ducked on instinct when fire sprayed from its mouth, burning the enemy soldiers on the spot.

She lifted a hand to cover her mouth. It had been her suggestion to let the beast out, but she hadn’t truly understood what horrors it would bring. She hadn’t pictured the screaming men and women running from the monster with their bodies covered in flames. That image would never leave her.

The sides of the war no longer mattered. Everyone was seeking nonexistent shelter in this wide-open field. Everyone was dying together.

“I’m going to be sick,” she whispered.

Rafe put an arm around her, making her turn toward him more, covering the side of her face with a hand to block her view. Always the protective older brother. “We need to go. I’ve called for a retreat, but it doesn’t matter anymore. No one will stay. He made me promise to get you home, Juni, because he can’t…”

More shouts went up, and someone bumped into them in their hasty retreat. Juniper almost fell, but her brother steadied her long enough for them to see the pandemonium spreading. The Ombrete had pivoted, turning on their army. It lunged toward the ground, clawing and biting, breathing more flames. Shadows swirled out from it like extra limbs to grab people and throw them aside. Or worse… rip them apart.

“He can’t control it,” she finished.

Bodin had made it clear that he didn’t want to do this. He’d been right about the real creature being more vicious than the one in the portal. This one was like a monster straight out of a nightmare. Everything about it seemed magnified. Its fangs and claws were longer, its wingspan wider. It held no amount of mercy for anyone.

And she’d been the one to suggest he let the monster out. She’d practically begged him. “This is my fault.”

“No, it’s not,” her brother said, still trying to drag her away.

But as she watched, that warmth in her blood returned. Glancing down at her glowing hands, she swallowed. Her own words from a few days ago repeated in her head. I’m pretty sure we were made for one another. Your dark magic, my light magic… We balance each other out.

She looked up as the Ombrete launched back into the sky to make another sweep across the field. What if she’d been right? What if that was the key?

“How do you get rid of darkness and shadows?” she said more to herself than Rafe. When she met his concerned gaze, she lifted her free hand. “Light.”

Rafe started shaking his head, as if he knew what she was thinking. “No.” He tightened his hold on her. “Don’t?—”

“I have to.”

He tried to pull her along, but she dug her heels into the dirt. “No, Juniper Nichole. We’re leaving, now.”

Taking a deep breath, she glanced at the monster once more before nodding in agreement, even as the tears returned. She rushed southeast toward the camp with the four of them. Four of the most important people in her life. More were already in the camp.

But the one who owned her heart was out on that field, trapped in darkness.

“It’s coming this way!” someone shouted, causing even more chaos.

Hugo and Laurent turned with horror on their faces as they looked behind her, but Rafe’s attention landed on her. “Juni?—”

“I’m sorry,” she said, whipping her dagger up to slice his forearm just enough to make him release her and falter for the briefest second.

He shouted in pain. The others yelled her name, and she was distantly aware of someone reaching for her.

But she was already gone, running against the crowd.

Straight toward the monster controlling her husband.