CHAPTER 31: SEARCHING FOR THE BREAKING OF THE CURSE

(Amaia)

After lunch, students with magic and shifter abilities have their separate training session. I used that time to feed Zille. He rests peacefully in his place, his body rising and falling while he sleeps. I apply more ointment on his wound after cleaning it and let him rest.

I need to read more on Antrodias, we will be battling tomorrow, and also to find something related to the curse on me, so I hit the library.

Grabbing as many books as I can find on Antrodias and curses from the shelves—I settle in a cosy spot in the library.

The dusty scent of the old books and the calming environment of the library settle my heart. These pages are chronicles of time.

The soft lights from the orbs light up the space as I open the books and my fingers feel the rough texture and savour the biblichor scent it gives off.

I search for Antrodias and begin to read. Any extra information will help me battle it. I forget the world while I take down notes and make tiny diagrams using coloured charcoal pencils with added pigments.

Once I am done with Antrodias and the work Alnilam has given us, I close the books and turn to the ones related to curses.

Suddenly my heart begins to beat faster and faster. The first one didn’t have any new information, only the one I am already aware of.

I open a second black leather-bound tome.

The History of Curses Through and Through by Islinda Debor.

Inscribed on it in curvature handwriting with a single bloodied rose design on the side. There are cracks on the leather, and the pages have yellowed and turned, revealing that the book has been tested through time.

The scent of dampness and earthy tones wafts towards me. A heavy feel this book seems to carry.

The writing inside is with some kind of red ink, the colour still so dark and rich that one can mistake it for blood.

I trace the tips of my fingers on the yellowed rough pages and it seems to hum under my touch, almost like a beating heart.

I begin to read, flipping pages after pages. The author seems to be a witch herself, as she has elaborately explained how curses work.

The curses operate differently on every supernatural being. A curse is usually placed by malicious witches and warlocks, it’s their domain and is different from hexes and jinxes.

Hexes and jinxes are usually not that long-lasting and, in most cases, reversible. But a curse is long-lasting, sometimes it can spread through generations without being broken.

It’s mostly personal...

The line gets me. Personal? What did I even do to that man to have him curse me?

Not become a part of his harem?

The realisation sends a shiver through me but also makes the anger surge.

But didn’t I hear a woman’s voice too? Or was it my imagination? My fingers press against my thigh where the mark lies hidden.

I continue to read.

"The curse affects each supernatural being differently, targeting them according to their inherent nature. For shifters, curses usually target their beast selves or their ability to find their true mates."

That’s exactly what has been done to me but I am not a shifter, I am Fae.

"In vampires, it either affects their bloodlust or curses them with insatiable hunger; it can also trigger their sense of guilt, dooming them to feel every decision they make, finally driving them mad. On rare occasions, it can curse them or their mates from recognising each other."

Carefully, I flip through the pages.

"Humans can get affected in various ways, misfortunes, illnesses, bad luck and failed relationships."

Another few pages and finally I find what I am looking for.

"Curses on Fae."

My ears prick, and my eyes fully focus.

"Curses on Fae can come in various ways. It can interfere with their magic, their beauty or their ability to mate or find their soul mates."

This was it, this was similar to the curse that had been placed on me. I need more information on this so I read further, leaning in my chair, my face almost buried in the book.

"The curse intrudes a Fae’s magic like a rotten spell, destroying or blocking their very essence which makes them recognisable to their mate."

A small gasp leaves me, tears almost brim in my eyes.

Is this what happened to me? My very being, my essence has been destroyed by the curse?

"To their mate, they might appear as a stranger, or there could be a tangible pull, but they will not understand that as the mate bond."

That must be what Alnilam and Alnitak feel for me.

Quickly, I flip more pages trying to find ways through which this wretched curse can be lifted.

And finally, I find it. "A curse can only be lifted from any being if the witch or the warlock who has cursed them dies."

So, do I need to kill Huradis?

My eyes keep going further on the page looking for any other ways to lift this damned curse off myself.

"The only other known way to lift a mate curse is for the mate to recognise the cursed Fae. They should choose to see their cursed mate without the mate bond. An act of selfless or unconditional love will lift the curse and they can finally recognise each other."

There I found it, I found the way to break the curse.

But my spirit dampened like a paper boat under the rain.

How am I going to make them fall in love with me when two of them already hate my guts?

Only Alnitak cares for me, recognises the mate bond in his own way. Some part of him feels these deep emotions.

So lost in my train of thought that I didn’t even realise when someone slipped into the seat beside me and whispered in a silky smooth voice.

"What are you reading, my Lassie?"