“I can prove it!” Arthur said.

He took a small golden medallion from his belt pouch and held it up. On it was the image of a stag rearing up on its hind legs, sparks of silvery magic floated from the surface.

“It’s a deer,” Anna replied.

Arthur looked at the medallion for a moment before looking back at her.

“It’s actually a stag,” he said.

“Okay, but how does a picture of a stag prove you’re a prince?” she asked.

“It...it’s a royal seal!” he replied.

Elaine sighed.

“Anna, is it enchanted by any chance?” she asked.

“Yeah, with silver mana,” Anna replied.

“Then he’s probably telling the truth,” Elaine said.

“Oh, well, why the fuck is a prince dressed like a commoner and sleeping at roadside inns?” Anna asked.

“Because the sorceress who laid the curse on our kingdom would try and stop us if she found out, so we left in secret and have kept our true identities secret, until now,” he replied.

“Oh, I guess that makes sense, but it doesn’t explain why you have divine power,” Anna said.

“The royal family in Thornvald is known for their divine magic,” Issaic added.

“Seeing as I’ve never heard of Thornvald until today, how was I supposed to know that?” Anna asked.

“You’ve never heard of Thornvald?” Arthur asked.

He almost looked hurt.

“No, should I have?” Anna asked.

“Well, yes,” he replied.

“Okay then, tell me about it,” Anna said.

“Uh, let’s see, it’s deep in the mountains to the northwest of the empire in a fertile valley…” he replied.

“Lad, why don’t you tell us what you want before you start giving us a lesson?” Thokri asked, interrupting Arthur.

“Right, I want you to join us on our quest,” he replied.

“Bah!” Thokri said.

“Bah? What does that mean?” Arthur asked.

“It means no, lad,” Thokri replied.

“But why?” Arthur asked.

“Ya said yer quest was to lift a curse. We can’t help ya with that,” Thokri replied.

“But she was able to defeat one of the dark generals! Surely you could do something,” Arthur said.

“I punched him until he quit moving. I don’t think that would work on a curse,” Anna replied.

“No, but if you were to slay the sorceress, it may break the spell,” he said.

“It’s not possible for a curse that covers an entire kingdom to be an active spell, so killing her wouldn’t do you any good,” Elaine replied.

“But there has to be a way!” Arthur said.

“Oh, there are plenty of ways. It’s just killing her isn’t one of them,” Elaine replied.

“So, what would you suggest?” Issac asked.

“The simplest way to lift the curse would be to get the one who cast it to do so. But I'm guessing that’s not going to happen,” Elaine replied.

Arthur shook his head no.

“It’s not. We’ve tried to reason with her, but she just kills our messengers and sends their dismembered corpses back with mocking letters,” he said.

“Well then, I'd suggest you go and find a mage’s association that specializes in curses and hire them,” Elaine replied.

“We can’t afford them,” Arthur said.

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“What do you mean you can’t afford them? I thought you were a prince?” Anna asked.

“The curse had bankrupted us! The crops failed causing a famine to spread, and to top it off, the plague had wiped out most of the smaller villages!” he replied.

“Oh,” Anna said.

“If things keep going like this, the kingdom will fall,” Arthur added.

“Have you asked the temples for aid?” Barika asked.

“We were told they couldn’t spare anyone because of the looming threat the dark one poses,” Arthur replied.

Both parties were quiet as they digested Arthur’s words.

“I want to help them,” Anna said.

“I wish we could, but we don’t have an expert on curses in our party,” Voekeer replied.

“Uh, actually, we kind of do,” Lyreen said.

“Who?” Voekeer asked.

Lyreen pointed at Anna.

“ME! I can’t even do magic!” Anna replied.

“Maybe not, but you can break any spell by touching it!” Lyreen said.

“Well yeah, but I can’t touch the whole kingdom, now can I?” Anna asked.

“You wouldn’t have to if we can find the origin stone!” Lyreen replied.

“The what now?” Anna asked.

“The origin stone is the focal point of a passive spell, kind of like the gem in the hilt of your sword,” Lyreen replied.

“So, if we find that stone and I smash it, that should lift the curse?” Anna asked.

“Not quite. See, smashing it wouldn’t work. You’d have to push some of that weird power you have into it,” Lyreen replied.

“So long as the origin stone is the source of the curse’s mana, that might work,” Elaine said.

Lyreen shook her head no.

“There’s no way a spell that covers an entire kingdom has a single mana source. It’s got to be distributed,” she replied.

“Then what good does destroying the origin stone do?” Elaine asked.

“Like I told Anna, I don’t want her to smash it. I want her to push that weird power of hers into it. Basically, she’s going to poison the curse,” Lyreen replied.

“I’m not following you here,” Elaine said.

Lyreen sighed.

“As far as I know, the only way to create a passive spell that covers such a large area is to use secondary stones,” she replied.

“Oh, I get it. So, we use Anna’s power to damage the connections between the stones which would cause a chaining failure!” Elaine said.

“Exactly,” Lyreen replied.

“So, you can lift the curse?” Arthur asked.

“So long as that sorceress isn’t using an exotic magic, yes,” Lyreen replied.

“And if she is?” he asked.

“Well, Anna’s power can disrupt anything, so it would just be a matter of figuring out where to use it,” Lyreen replied.

“Then will you help us?” Arthur asked.

Anna looked at the rest of the party who all glanced at each other before Voekeer took a step towards the prince.

“We’ll try,” he said.

“Thank you so much!” Arthur replied.

“Don’t thank us till we do something, lad,” Thokri said.

“You’ve already done more than anyone else we’ve talked to,” Arthur replied.

Elaine gestured down the road.

“Tell us about the curse,” she said.

Arthur nodded, and both groups started off again.

“I’ll never forget the day that curse fell upon us. It was just before midday, and I was on the training grounds when there was a crackling sound, and a foul odor filled the air. Suddenly the world was plunged into darkness,” he said.

“Darkness?” Anna asked.

“Twilight, as if the sun had just gone down,” Issac replied.

“Sounds like a miasma,” Elaine said.

“It does, and it narrows down the types of magic we could be facing,” Lyreen replied.

“So, did the crops die from some strange malady, or was it just the lack of light?” Elaine asked.

Arthur and Issac looked at each other. It was clear that neither knew the answer.

“It was the lack of light, ma’am,” one of the other men replied.

“Then it’s probably shadow magic,” Elaine said.

“That or corruption,” Lyreen replied.

“You know, corruption sounds more likely considering foul smell,” Elaine said.

“Does it matter what kind of magic she’s using?” Anna asked.

“We’ll need protection from the curse until we can dispel it, and knowing what kind of magic was used helps,” Elaine replied.

“How?” Anna asked.

“Specialized magic is usually weak to its opposing type, so in the case of corruption, purification magic would work best,” Elaine replied.

“I get it. So light magic would work against shadow then, right?” Anna asked.

“Exactly,” Elaine replied.

“I should be able to bless some talismans to drive away the curse if it’s based on either of those magics,” Barika said.

“That would be perfect!” Lyreen replied.

“I’ll have to come up with something for myself,” Elaine said.

“At least wear one while you sleep,” Barika added.

“Oh, definitely,” Elaine replied.

Thokri walked over next to Voekeer.

“We’re gonna need some horses, lad,” he said.

“I was thinking the same thing,” Voekeer replied.

“Why?” Anna asked.

“Mountains are at least a year’s walk, lass. Good horses will cut that down to three or four months,” Thokri replied.

“But good horses are expensive. Do we have enough?” Anna asked.

“I have more than enough to buy all of us good mounts,” Arthur replied.

“We’d appreciate that,” Voekeer said.

“There’s a large town about a week north of here. We should be able to find a horse market there, sir,” one of the other young men said.

They began discussing horses, a topic which held little interest for Anna, causing her to drift away. She ended up walking next to Rose who seemed to be keeping as much distance between herself and the young men as she could without being too conspicuous about it.

“They still make you nervous, don’t they?” Anna asked.

Rose nodded yes.

“We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” Anna said.

Rose shook her head no and gestured down the road, indicating she was willing to continue.

“Well, just let me know if you change your mind,” Anna said.

Rose nodded again.

“And if they give you any trouble, I’ll toss them for you if you’d like,” Anna added.

Rose gave her a playful shove and shook her head while smiling.

They walked next to each other quietly while the others chatted about horses and magic until they reached an inn later that evening where they stopped for the night. The prince and his men joined them as they ate dinner, and despite the fact they’d just met that morning, both groups seemed to be getting along like old friends.

The door burst open, and armed men poured into the inn as they had the night before. One of the men’s gaze fell on her, and they locked eyes for a moment. He searched her face before looking away. After a few minutes, they turned and left the inn.

“Looks like that hair dye worked,” Lyreen said.

“Yeah,” Anna replied.

“Miss Elaine, those three men you mentioned earlier, did they happen to be acquaintances of those ruffians?” Issac asked.

“It’s possible,” Elaine replied.

“I see,” he said.

With that, they all went back to eating their meals.