Cursed by Malignant Magic (Once Upon A Curse)

Chapter 20

Chapter

Twenty

A t this point, I was beginning to wish that I had escaped in the middle of the night.

My tailbone felt as if it were going to rattle out of my body as the horse took another jolting step, and I winced as my leg spasmed in pain.

We had been riding for hours, and it took nearly as much concentration for me not to accidentally snap the ropes around my wrists as it did for me to stay on the horse behind Legacy. With my wrists bound, I couldn't hold on to her for support, and it was a struggle for me to keep my balance.

The horse didn't seem bothered by the weight of two riders, but it still took us far longer than I expected to arrive at the outpost for Legacy's forces so that she could turn me over and recharge her magic.

Far longer than I expected, and yet still too soon for my taste.

I was about to become a prisoner once again, even more than I already was, and I couldn't shake the bone-deep feeling that something was so very wrong as we rode toward the outpost, the massive fortress that was somehow smaller than the one I had just left.

"Something isn't right," I told Legacy, and she shifted on the horse in front of me.

I expected her to tell me I was wrong, but she didn't speak at all. Her shoulders tensed, and I followed her gaze to the front gate, which stood wide open. The scent of blood rode the air.

The horse spooked, ears pinned flat to her head. Legacy's magic surged just as much as mine did.

And then all hell broke loose.

Archers and mages alike appeared on the walls of the fortress, magic and arrows raining down upon us.

Legacy threw up a shield, and I snapped the ropes around my wrists with a hard yank. Soldiers flooded through the open front gate. Legacy drew her dagger. She faced off with the soldiers, and I made my decision in a flash.

I grabbed the reins and scooted forward, driving the horse back in the direction we had come. Her hooves drummed on the ground while I leaned forward over her neck, praying that speed would be enough to prevent any arrows or flying magic from stabbing me in the back.

With no bracelet or gauntlet, any shield I could make would be hard to control, and at this speed, it wasn't worth wasting the energy. Then again, I might change my mind if the wound in my leg, pounding with pain with every jolting, galloping step, became a smaller problem than an arrow in my back.

The horse and I bolted into the dense forest, her hooves pounding against the earth in a frantic rhythm. My heart raced with adrenaline and my hands shook uncontrollably as we pushed ourselves to the limit, disappearing into the shadows of the trees.

After a few minutes, I tugged gently on the reins, slowing the horse to a walk and then finally to a full stop. White lather covered her shoulders, sweat trickling down her flanks, and my stomach twisted at how hard I had pushed her. She had been carrying Legacy and me for hours, and I hadn't even considered how much she was struggling.

"I'm sorry," I murmured.

I dismounted, walked to her withers, and dug in the saddlebags for the waterskin. Once I managed to pour water into my hands, she buried her soft muzzle in my palms, sucking down the cool water quickly.

I glanced back in the direction we had come and swallowed hard. I had been a captive again, about to be turned over to Legacy's superiors. I had every right to leave her. So why did it feel like a betrayal? Because she’d been attacked too for some reason?

With a snarl of frustration, I swung back into the saddle and pointed the mare back in the direction we had come, letting her canter rather than the headlong gallop from before, even if it didn't feel like it was fast enough.

Every moment that I took to ride back was another second that Legacy could be blasted with magic or stabbed by one of the soldiers, and I couldn't shake the terrible images of what could happen, even as the more logical part of my mind reminded me that I owed her nothing. She had been kind a few times, but kindness from a captor did not mean I owed her.

I didn't need to go back at all. No one with half a mind would give up on an escape attempt and go back to risk their lives for the person who had captured them.

I was still muttering something of the sort to myself as we neared the fortress once more, and a few of the soldiers tore their attention away from Legacy to look up at the sound of hooves.

"Down!" I shouted, letting the magic beneath my skin curl into my grip.

Legacy was the only one who moved, flinging herself down to the ground, which was just as well; she was the one I had been talking to in the first place.

With a fierce swing of my arm, I released the reins, sending my magic coursing through my body and out toward the soldiers. A brilliant burst of rainbow colors erupted from my hand, a powerful surge of energy that knocked the soldiers off their feet.

The clatter of armor and startled shouts filled the air as they tumbled to the ground, their weapons falling uselessly from their grasp. My magic felt like a raging storm, wild and untamable, as it engulfed the soldiers and sent them reeling.

Legacy stayed where she crouched, her arms over her head, as I swung down from the saddle and walked toward her, the reins in hand. None of the soldiers moved, but I didn't bother checking whether they were still alive or merely unconscious. The horse and I stopped next to Legacy, and I stuck my hand out to help her up.

She moved slowly, peeling herself onto her hands and knees before leaning back to look at me. Our eyes met, and my cheeks flushed, but I refused to be the one to look away first. Yes, I was the one who had left her, but anyone else would have done the same.

Meanwhile, I was also the fool who had come back.

Whatever Legacy saw in my eyes, it seemed to satisfy her. She took my hand slowly, her grip warm and slick with blood as I helped her rise to her feet. She didn't let go, and I didn't either. I was strangely reluctant to move, despite the blood on her hands and the silence between us.

Moments later, she let go first, and my face flamed. I did not meet her eyes again.

Legacy cleared her throat as we stepped over the bodies of the soldiers, heading toward the open front gate. All of the violence seemed to be confined to the outside. Hopefully we would be safe enough inside the fortress, at least for now.

My plan had not changed—to track down the traitor Tannin and drag him back to Ehuna so he could tell her that he had lied about me. As for Legacy's plan, I had no idea what it was now that she had been betrayed by her own people. We had that in common.

A huge shadow loomed overhead. Without looking, I already knew what it was, but I glanced up anyway. Tannin’s “little” bird. Had it seen me unleash magic without the use of a gauntlet? Would it tell Tannin?

I sped my steps in time to my thrumming heartbeat. Legacy and I worked together to close the gate and slam the bar down on the inside, then we moved slowly to lead the horse farther inside and care for her. Everything within the fortress held still and silent.

"I had a vision just before they attacked,” Legacy admitted. “Why they were doing it."

She spoke slowly, and when she didn't continue, I prodded her with one of the brushes we were grooming the mare with. We had been in companionable silence before, but she couldn't just say something like that and leave me hanging.

"The advisors. On both sides,” she said. “The one who spoke to you, and one of mine as well, whose name I don't know. They don't want anyone to know that you escaped, so they came to kill us."

I bit my lip to keep from telling her that I'd told her about that. I had been vague when I'd alluded to my own side betraying me, and even her question about me being tired of the war hadn't quite been enough to convince me that I could trust her. Now her own people were trying to kill her, and me, because of what she knew. If we hadn't been on the same side before, we were certainly getting closer to it now.

"I wish I was surprised," I murmured.

She kept looking at me, and I gritted my teeth. Exhaustion weighed on me, I'd just used a massive amount of magic to potentially kill a swath of soldiers, and I'd given up my one chance at escape to save someone who might be an ally or might be an enemy. I wasn't in the mood to be stared at.

" What ?" I snapped.

“You can do magic without a gauntlet,” she said.

“So?”

"Why did you come back?" she asked.

I didn't have a good answer for her. I should have stayed away, taken my chance at escape. But I hadn't, and I couldn't bring myself to regret it.

I shrugged. "I wish I knew."