POV: Sera
I don't sleep that night.
Instead, I explore. If Aldric is planning something terrible, I need to understand this fortress, this curse, and why my mother died here.
The fortress is massive. I find a library filled with thousands of ancient books. A garden courtyard where impossible flowers bloom in eternal twilight. A music room with instruments covered in dust, like time stopped mid-song.
This place was beautiful once. Before the curse turned it into a prison.
Over the next three days, I settle into a careful routine. Stay in my tower. Avoid Cain. Read my mother's journal over and over, searching for clues.
Cain avoids me too. When we pass in hallways, he looks right through me like I'm a ghost. Sometimes I catch him watching me from shadows, but he always disappears before I can speak.
The chains never stop punishing him. I hear them at night the hiss of shadow-fire, his sharp intakes of breath. He suffers constantly, and there's nothing I can do.
By the fourth night, I'm going crazy with questions. Why did my mother's journal end mid-sentence? What was she about to tell me? And why does my touch affect Cain's curse when no one else's does?
I'm lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, when I hear it.
Screaming.
I bolt upright, heart hammering. It's a man's voice, raw with agony, coming from somewhere below.
Cain.
I grab my candle and run barefoot down the dark stairs. The screaming gets louder as I descend terrible, desperate sounds that make my chest hurt.
I follow the noise to the central courtyard and freeze in the doorway.
Cain is on his knees on the stone floor. His shadow chains are alive with black fire, burning into his wrists, his throat, and his chest. He's convulsing, shaking so hard his teeth chatter. Sweat pours down his face.
No, no, no, I breathe, rushing forward. Cain! What's happening?
Stay back he gasps between screams.
But I'm already dropping to my knees beside him. The heat from the chains makes my skin prickle. Up close, I can see them clearly not metal, but living darkness that writhes like snakes.
How do I stop it? I reach for the chain around his wrist. Tell me how to help!
Don't touch! Cain tries to pull away, but he's too weak. It'll hurt you
My fingers close around the burning chain.
The world explodes with light.
Golden radiance bursts from my hands, so bright I have to squint. The chain screams an inhuman sound and recoils from my touch like I've burned it.
Cain's eyes go wide with shock. What
Warmth floods through me, from my core down my arms and into him. It feels like sunlight breaking through storm clouds. Like magic waking up after sleeping for years. The golden light wraps around both of us, pushing back the shadow-fire.
The chains hiss and writhe, trying to escape my grip. But I hold on tighter.
Let him go, I whisper to the curse. Let him go.
The light pulses brighter. The chains dim, their fire fading to embers. Cain stops shaking. His breathing slows.
For the first time in three hundred years, the curse has backed down.
How? Cain stares at where my hand grips his wrist. His voice is barely a whisper. How is this possible? Everyone who touches me feels pain. Always. But you
I don't know, I say honestly. But that's not entirely true. I do know. Deep down, I understand what's happening even if I can't explain it.
I have my mother's power. Curse-breaker blood.
Warmth continues flowing between us his pain into me, my healing into him. I can feel the curse now, like a living thing wrapped around his soul. It's ancient and angry and so, so cruel.
You're breaking it, Cain breathes, wonder in his silver eyes. You're actually
The chains explode.
Black fire erupts from them, ten times stronger than before. They rip my hand away from Cain and fling me backward. I hit the stone wall hard, my head cracking against the rock.
SERA! Cain's shout sounds far away.
The chains wrap around his throat, choking him. They coil around his wrists so tight that blood drips onto the courtyard stones. He's gasping, turning pale, clearly being punished for that moment of hope.
Stop it! I scream at the curse. STOP HURTING HIM!
But the chains don't listen to me. They tighten and tighten until Cain collapses face-down on the stones, unmoving.
No! I crawl toward him, my vision blurry. Cain, please
The chains finally loosen. Just enough for him to breathe. He lies there gasping, blood pooling around him.
Leave, he rasps without looking at me. Now.
You're hurt
LEAVE! The word echoes through the courtyard. Every time you try to help, it gets worse. Don't you understand? The curse won't let me be saved. It won't let me be happy. It won't His voice breaks. Just go.
I want to argue. Want to stay. But the fear in his voice stops me.
Slowly, I stand up. My legs shake. My head throbs where I hit the wall. I'm sorry, I whisper.
I stumble back to my tower, my mind reeling.
I touched his curse. I actually touched it, felt it, pushed it back. For those few seconds, I was breaking it.
And the curse retaliated with everything it had.
Back in my room, I collapse onto my bed and stare at my hands. They're still glowing faintly, gold light pulsing under my skin like a heartbeat.
I pull out my mother's journal with shaking fingers. I've read it a dozen times, but now I'm looking for something specific. Something about what happens when a curse-breaker tries to break a curse this powerful.
I flip through pages frantically. Past her early entries. Past her notes about Cain's kindness and pain. All the way to the end, to the entries I've been too scared to read carefully.
Day 178: I tried to break the curse today. I got close so close I could feel it cracking. But then it fought back. It's alive, this curse. Aware. And it knows what I am.
My blood runs cold. The curse knows. It recognized my mother's power, just like it recognized mine tonight.
I keep reading.
Day 179: The curse is different than I thought. It's not just binding Cain it's connected to something bigger. Something in the city. I think the High Priest is involved. I need to investigate before I try again.
Day 180: I was right. Aldric has been using Cain's curse to power something. Some kind of spell or ritual. If I break Cain's curse, whatever Aldric is doing will fail. He'll try to stop me.
My hands shake so hard I almost drop the journal.
Aldric is using Cain's curse. Using his pain, his suffering, to power something.
That's why I'm here. Not to break the curse to make it stronger. To use my curse-breaker blood to bind Cain even tighter, so Aldric can keep feeding off his agony.
I flip to the last page. My mother's final entry. The handwriting is rushed, frantic.
Day 183: Aldric knows what I discovered. He's coming tonight with guards. I have to try now, even though it's dangerous. If I succeed, Cain will be free and Aldric's spell will break. If I fail Sera, if you're reading this, RUN. Don't come here. Don't let Aldric use you like he tried to use me. The curse is a trap, and curse-breakers are the
The entry ends. Mid-word.
Like someone stopped her from writing.
Like someone killed her before she could finish.
I stare at the incomplete sentence, my heart pounding.
Curse-breakers are the what? The key? The weapon? The sacrifice?
A sound makes me look up.
Footsteps in the hallway outside my room. Heavy boots. Multiple people.
My door crashes open.
Three figures stand in the doorway, silhouetted by torchlight. They're wearing the robes of temple guards Aldric's men.
Sera Ashford, the lead guard says. The High Priest requests your presence. Immediately.
How did you get in here? I demand, backing away. The gates
The gates open for those who have the right keys, the guard says. Now come peacefully, or we'll drag you.
My mind races. Aldric is here. Already. I've only been here four days, and he's already making his move.
What does he want with me? I ask, though I already know the answer.
The guard smiles a cold, cruel expression. He wants you to finish what your mother started. You're going to strengthen the Guardian's curse. Tonight.
No. No, no, no.
And if I refuse? I ask.
The guard's smile widens. Then we'll kill the Guardian ourselves. Either way, the High Priest gets what he wants. But if you cooperate, Cain lives. If you don't...
He doesn't finish the sentence. He doesn't have to.
I look down at my mother's journal, at her unfinished warning.
She died trying to break Cain's curse. And now Aldric wants me to make it permanent.
If I refuse, they'll kill Cain.
If I agree, I'll trap him in suffering forever.
Either way, I destroy the only person in this cursed place who's shown me any kindness.
What's it going to be? the guard asks. Come quietly, or watch the Guardian die?
My hands curl into fists.
I think of Cain lying in the courtyard, blood on the stones, broken by a curse he never deserved.
I think of my mother, killed for trying to save him.
And I make my choice.
I'll come, I say, standing up. But I want to see the High Priest first. I want to hear him explain exactly what he wants from me.
The guard nods. Smart girl. Let's go.
As they lead me out of my room, down the dark stairs, toward whatever horror Aldric has planned, I slip my mother's journal into my dress.
And I pray that somewhere in her research, there's a way to save both Cain and myself from the trap that's been waiting for us all along.