Dragon Aster Trilogy

31: CURSES



Sybl opened her eyes to the sound of an angry argument.

“So what are you going to do? Lock her up in here forever?”

“I will do what I believe will keep my sister safe.”

“Your sister, or your—” Loki stopped shouting then, as he was the first to notice that Sybl was awake and watching them.

“What happened?”

“Are you hurt anywhere still?” Loki asked in concern, and quickly looked her over as she lay on her bed.

“I don’t think I am. Where’s Cirrus?”

Kas frowned as he pushed Loki out of his way. “What Awl did that mark to your back?”

Sybl took a moment to let her head completely catch up to what he was talking about.

“Sybl, answer me. When did that mark appear on your back?” Kas insisted.

“Daath did it, right about the time he caught me.”

“From the rooftop in the city?”

“Yes,” Sybl answered.

“Why did you not tell me?”

“You were a ghost at the time—what could you have done?”

“Something, as I intend to rid you of this Curse. Do you know what that glyph means?”

“No, I don’t,” Sybl replied.

“You said you had a nightmare before you woke up on the docks. What did you see?”

Sybl remembered back. “It had Damek as he used to look before.”

“Who else?” Kas asked.

“There was Cirrus and Xirel, I think.”

“That was Xirel,” Kas confirmed after seeing her psi, “which means you did not have a dream, you were dead.”

“Why was he acting so odd?”

“Chimera do not sync with Aragmoth’s Animus Thread like phelan, dragons and you do. While you saw him as acting strange, he saw you in a similar manner. But right now our priority is getting that Curse off you. As long as Damek has a link to the living world, his soul has a chance to escape death.”

Sybl tried to sit up, before Kas caught the Threads to her arms and dropped her right back against the mattress. “What are you doing?”

“That dragon nearly killed you again! You are never to go near him!”

“If you think that imprisoning me will work, you are out of your mind.”

Loki asked Sybl to stop when the two Fay looked to be ready to kill one another next. “Your brother is right. Cirrus nearly killed you—I think the Aeger has taken him completely this time.”

“‘This time?’” Sybl asked.

“He has gone berserk a few times before. Lintrance was always able to get him under control, but this time it’s different. This time he attacked not an enemy or an opponent, but you.”

Sybl tried to calm down, as she refused to believe any of it.

Kas looked back as someone summoned him by psi. “Master Gei would like a word with you.”

She followed Kas through the Sanctus and downstairs, to where two unsomned Custos guarded a large, wooden door. They turned and opened the door for the High Priest and herself, and then stepped aside to let them pass. She glanced around the room that looked as if a tornado had assaulted it with a ball of golden string. Spiderwebs of them spun Thread all over the place, right to the ceiling. In the center of it all, rested a small white cat that glowed all over.

“Master Gei,” Kas said, as he came to a stop under the Threads.

The Iynx lifted its head, then peered down to where they were with its green eyes. It stood up and then tightrope-walked it down towards them. “Why are you both fighting? Your shouting can be heard through most of the temple.”

“Please, help me talk some sense into her,” Kas pleaded.

“The Caelestis’ wishes are final, now as they were in the past. Regardless if you have come to terms with her being in a human body, or not.”

Kas lowered his eyes to the ground at that.

“Now about that Curse,” Gei said as he walked around Sybl, to get a view of her back, “I’m afraid I can’t be of much help. Damek’s Curses are unbreakable, and I can feel a great deal of his energy in you as well. Likely he is purposely helping to increase the estus energy in you. While I doubt you can fall victim to the Aeger, your emotions are still vulnerable.”

“Is there any way you can take it off?” Sybl asked. “I mean, you put my whole soul into someone else. This must be easy in comparison.”

Gei sighed, and jumped up to sit down on a thicker Thread. “I’m sorry, Sybl. But that Curse is not entirely connected to you. It is connected to Damek as well. To break it, both ends have to be broken at roughly the same time.”

Sybl clenched her fist in frustration. “So what you’re saying is that I should stand aside and do nothing?”

“You are a symbol of hope, Sybl. The Prophecy has come true and proven that Aragmoth is still foreseeing all of our Fates. But if you were to die, then everything would fall apart. The Atrum’s forces will come here once Vanir passes, with the help of the Falls. We cannot lose our army to the Aeger and despair now, or a lot of innocent people will die.”

“I can’t believe you—”

“Master Gei is right,” Kas’ added.

Sybl just glared at Kas.

Kas gave her no mind as he looked at Gei. “Can the Curse be transferred to someone else?”

“This is my problem, Kas. I’m not handing it to someone else.”

“In your human state with that Curse, you are a threat to yourself and to everyone around you,” Gei added.

“How do you figure that?” Sybl snapped back at Gei.

“It was not your own accord that sent you to that rooftop to take your own life. It was an unstoppable force of despair that did. While it took Damek’s soul to physically inflict the Curse on you, he has proven that he was powerful enough to indirectly drive you to do something unimaginable. He has a great deal of control over you that he may use again.”

Sybl panicked as her eyes became heavy, and he tried to force her to sleep. “You’re not doing this! Dammit, stop it!” But she couldn’t fight them both off. Master Gei’s green eyes began to glow, and they succeeded in overpowering her psi defenses and dropping her unconscious.