Page 14 of Cursed (Court of Isles #1)
Chapter 14
I’d managed to pull myself together by the time we Phased to the wards. Phasing was a lot easier than pixie dust, and apparently having the portals closed to the outside world didn’t stop inter-island travel. At least, not yet.
We arrived at the wards the same time as Ranger X, who was flanked by a slew of men dressed in black, probably the other Rangers. X’s eyes landed on me.
“You did it.” Ranger X’s voice was quietly accusing. “You activated the spell to retrieve Silas without me.”
Silas stepped forward to interfere on my behalf. I put out a hand to stop him. It wasn’t his place to stand up for me this time.
Instead, I faced Ranger X myself. I felt the eyes of all the Rangers watching me as I spoke to their leader.
“I’m sorry we went behind your back. Atlas shouldn’t have lied to you,” I told Ranger X. “But we made the right choice. If we hadn’t activated the spell when we did, we would have lost Silas. ”
“It was a rash decision,” Ranger X said. “All three of you could have been killed.”
“Well, we’re not dead,” I said. “We’re here to help.”
A long, thick silence followed. I couldn’t tell what emotions were hiding behind Ranger X’s stoic expression.
“Thank you,” he said finally.
I knew it wasn’t only a thank-you for the offer to help. It was a thank-you for trusting my gut. For risking our lives to bring back Silas.
“What’s happening?” I changed the subject to a more pressing one. “The wards are failing?”
“Five dead instantly,” Ranger X said quietly. “A small group of Forest Dwellers. The east wards experienced a major collapse. We have one backup ward that’s holding, but most of The Forest has succumbed to the curse. Creatures are fleeing and wreaking havoc on the rest of the island.”
“How did you find the remains of those who died?” I asked. “If you can’t go past the wards yourselves?”
Ranger X’s gaze flicked to me. “They fell very close to the perimeter. A few more feet, and they would’ve been behind the safeguards. Not that there was much to find—the curse ensured their remains were nothing more than a pile of ash and salt.”
Silas cursed, ran a hand through his hair .
“I wonder if that’s how Eloise got a tick bite.” I turned to Silas, contemplative. “The wards must be what kept them out for centuries. If the curse is interfering with the ancient wards, then they’re probably not working like they’re supposed to and haven’t been for some time—allowing in foreign things like ticks.”
“It’s as good a guess as any,” Silas said. “Unfortunately, they’ll only continue to deteriorate.”
“Thankfully, you had the foresight to put additional backup wards in place last week,” X told Silas. “How long will they last?”
Silas shook his head. “Not long. They’ll give us a day—max.”
“With us having all our portals blocked off from the outside world, it’s too late to evacuate.” Ranger X’s face was tense. “We need to find a way to defeat this curse on the island or we’re all dead. There’s no escaping now.”
“Talk to me about portals,” I said. “How do they usually work?”
“They’re a very common way to travel,” Ranger X said. “We have Portal Writers in employ on The Isle who set up portals in a variety of ways for a variety of reasons. We heavily monitor all entrances and exits. We have controls in place to restrict the flow of people to and from The Isle.”
“I see,” I said. “How much effort does it take to create a portal? ”
“It takes a significant amount of concentration and energy,” Ranger X said. “That’s why we have a whole team. For the portals that are left up regularly, we anchor them to a magical generator to provide continuous power. It would be impossible for the Portal Writers as individuals to keep them going otherwise without draining them completely.”
“Just like curses need to be linked to a power source.”
“Exactly. Most long-lasting spells need some sort of power supply, or the spells will just…wither away and die.”
“Did the portals shut down because of the curse?” I asked. “Or was that a separate problem?”
“The portals could’ve shut down because the curse has just grown that much in strength,” Ranger X admitted. “Or it could be that someone layered another spell on top of the curse to silo us completely. We haven’t had time to diagnose the intricacies of it.”
“Have you considered that the wards themselves are the problem?” I blurted. “I mean, the ancient, original wards that are supposed to protect the island—not the ones you’ve set up as backup?”
Ranger X, Silas, and the team of men dressed in black all fell silent.
“What do you mean?” X finally asked. “We don’t touch the original wards as a rule. They were set by the Fae Queens centuries ago. The magic is so ancient it’s impossible to even maintain. We just leave them alone.”
“I understand,” I said. “But Silas believes the curse has been around longer than the Ranger Program. That the very magic of the curse is infused into The Isle’s energy, so much so that some of the protective wards don’t fight it off. They don’t view it as a foreign attack.”
Ranger X simply watched, waiting for me to continue.
“The curse is targeted at the island,” I said. “If whoever set this curse is powerful enough, isn’t is possible they could have threaded the curse through the original wards?”
Silas sucked in a sharp breath. “It would take strong magic, but I wouldn’t say it’s impossible.”
“That would explain why the island is having trouble rejecting the curse,” I said. “Because it’s an attack from the inside. What if your ancient wards are the power source for the curse?”
“That would mean the wards that were implemented to protect us,” Ranger X said, “are now holding us hostage.”
“It would also serve as an easy explanation for the precise targeting,” Silas agreed. “The wards already target the island to protect it. If someone wove a curse through them, the targeting would already have been taken care of. It’s ingenious, really.”
Ranger X cursed under his breath in agreement. “They’d know that we wouldn’t be examining those ancient wards. We don’t touch them; they’ve stood the test of time for millennia.”
“Everything lines up,” I said. “For example, the portals. People can still travel within The Isle’s perimeter, which means it’s crossing the wards that gets us into trouble.” I paused. “You also mentioned that the remains of the Forest Dwellers that were killed were piles of ashes and salt?”
Ranger X nodded.
“When I treated Irina for the curse, she had extremely high salt content in her body,” I said. “Salt is somehow interacting with the curse. Aren’t your ancient wards tied to salt crystals at the bottom of the lake?”
Mutterings came from the Ranger crew as the group digested my theories. There was a lot of uncomfortable shifting and eye contact, but nobody refuted my claims.
Finally, one Ranger from the back called out, “Hey, Doc—you got any idea how to fix the wards?”
“Actually, I do,” I said. “But it’s sort of a change in plans.”
Ranger X, Silas, and the entire Ranger army waited for my miracle plan.
I met the gazes of all of them when I said, “I say we destroy the wards completely.”
Real dissent sizzled beneath the surface from the Ranger crew who stood behind their leader, though nobody dared speak. Next to me, Silas’s posture straightened. I could tell he was waiting for someone to challenge my somewhat bizarre and absurd sounding plan. Even I could admit it was a real Hail Mary of an idea.
“I don’t understand,” Ranger X finally said. “The wards are the only thing keeping this island alive. We saw what happened when the temporary ones collapsed this morning. If it weren’t for Silas’s failsafe wards, we’d all be piles of ashes and salt.”
“Short of actually breaking the curse which, frankly, sounds impossible,” I said, “this is the only solution.”
Ranger X and Silas shared a gaze.
“Let’s start from square one,” I said. “Is it possible to break the curse? To just…dismantle it somehow so that everyone is saved, and the island is left untouched, and we all gallivant off on our merry ways?”
There was a long silence as I suggested a far more logical solution.
“Because if there was a way to do that, I’m pretty sure you guys would’ve thought of it by now.” I shrugged. “I can only guess at the technicalities of curse-breaking, but I have to think you guys have put the best Spellbinders on the case, and they’re coming up empty.”
“It’s true,” Ranger X said quietly. “Even Lily’s tried to break it with her Mixology skills, but it’s too complex and too powerful for one person. It’s hard enough for her to come up with an effective antidote. Similarly, the Spellbinders keep striking out, saying they’ve never seen magic like this before. Breaking this curse completely could take…” He let out a huge breath. “A lot more time than we have left.”
“In lieu of actually breaking the curse, since that is not a feasible option,” I said, “we need to disconnect the curse from the power source.”
Ranger X drew in a sharp breath. “That’s dangerous. The pent-up magic could lash out and spread over the island like a virus. Disconnecting a curse from the power source without having a curse-breaker in place is dangerous for everyone. It’ll spread like a virus until it eventually loses steam. But we could lose a lot of people before that happens.”
I turned to the head of the Ranger Program. “If we destroy the salt crystals and effectively disconnect the curse from its power source, how long do you think we have before the entire island is overtaken by the curse—assuming it spreads like a virus until it fades away?”
Ranger X shook his head. “Not long. I’d guess about an hour. ”
“How long does it take to get a portal up?” I asked. “Assuming that portals will function once the wards are destroyed.”
“One portal writer can erect a portal in a few minutes under normal circumstances,” Ranger X said. “But for extenuating circumstances or very large portals, it can take a lot longer and require significant effort. We have generators, but it takes time to get them hooked up as well. We’d probably have to rely on the strength of individuals with the short time we’d have.”
“Not to mention,” Silas added, “We can’t forget that someone is behind the curse, and they won’t sit back and watch while we tinker with the logistics. Once we start breaking wards, I’m sure they’ll be alerted to the fact that the curse has started to wane. Which means we could be under an active attack at any given moment.”
“How many portal writers do you have on The Isle?” I asked.
Ranger X calculated. “Twenty, give or take? We’ve got thirteen on staff with us, and there are a few others—Irina being one—who dabble in their spare time. I’m sure we could round them up if needed.”
“We don’t have a lot of options,” I said. “We’re pressed for time, and we’re in a lose-lose situation. We can either wait for the backup wards to collapse and cross our fingers, or we can try to get ahead of it despite the risks. I vote the latter option. ”
“With all due respect, who are you to decide what happens to our people?” One Ranger stepped to the front and stood next to his boss. “You’ve only been here a few days, and you are proposing a plan that’s almost certain to get us all killed. You’re talking about the lives of our friends and family, wives and children.”
“Alessia is risking her life as much as the rest of us,” Ranger X said. “She gets a vote equal to everyone else.”
“It’s all right,” I said quietly. “I am new here. I don’t expect to gain your trust immediately. The only thing I can tell you is this: I belong here. I belong with you all. I barely know this world, but I can say with certainty that I will eventually come to love The Isle as much as you.”
I paused, surveying a captive audience of intense men, then continued.
“I am choosing to be here, alive or dead, because there is no place else in the world I belong.” I expected a feeling of loneliness to wash over me at that admission, but instead I only felt relief. “You don’t have to take my ideas or use them, but please, just listen before you make your decisions. If we are to die here in the coming hours, I’ll be lifeless next to you.”
There was a long, heavy pause in the air. Then, slowly, the Ranger who had questioned me bowed his head in a long, reverent motion. The rest of the Rangers followed suit, until the air was rife with attentive silence. Their nod wasn’t one of blind loyalty, but an agreement to listen, which was all I’d asked of them.
“Thank you.” I turned to X. “If you got all twenty of your portal writers together, could they create a pretty big-ass portal?”
A half-smile from Ranger X. “I’d say so, yes.”
“If the wards are down, there’s no stopping portals from being open, since the problem lies in crossing the wards?”
“In theory.” Ranger X shifted uneasily. “I’ll run it by my tech team to get their opinion, but what you’re saying makes sense.”
“I propose this plan.” I scanned the eyes of everyone watching me. “Silas will Phase the two of us to the perimeter of The Isle. There, we’ll destroy the original salt crystals that power the wards—and presumably the curse.”
Everyone waited silently for me to continue.
“Meanwhile, you all will gather every single person on this island, along with any cooperative creatures, into a central place. The second the wards have collapsed, the writers can get a portal to the mainland up and going—to MAGIC, Inc., or wherever is safe. You usher as many people through as you can in the hour between us breaking the wards and the island becoming uninhabitable.”
“It’ll be tight,” Ranger X said. “Even if things go perfectly, we’ll be cutting it close. Portals aren’t a free for all: we have to send people through in waves—four at a time is the maximum we can do. There will be lines and chaos.”
“This is the most time we’ll ever have,” I said. “The curse will only keep closing in on the island, and we’ll have less and less time. Even if we keep patching things, we’ll eventually all be backed into a corner like sardines. If we’re going to try this, the time to try it is now.”
“How’re you gonna break the salt crystals?” another Ranger asked. “You just know how to collapse an ancient magical system that’s been protecting us for centuries?”
“Do you know how Silas sets up the wards?” I asked. “How he manages and repairs them?”
A quick shake of the Ranger’s head.
“Then you don’t need to know how he breaks them,” I said. “You’ll have to trust we can get it done.”
“I don’t like it,” a third Ranger voiced. “It’s too risky, and there are too many wildcard variables.”
“Anyone is free to disagree,” I said. “I’m crossing my fingers that one of you has a better idea.”
The extended silence grew more somber by the second. The time to speak was now, but nobody could find their voice.
“What will happen to the island?” another Ranger asked. “We just leave it behind to fall to the curse?”
“I admit I’m not an expert in curses,” I said, glancing at Silas for backup. “But from my understanding, without a power source, the curse will weaken as it travels until it eventually withers away. Like a hurricane. It might crash to shore as a Cat 5, but it won’t maintain that level of destruction as it winds its way inland.”
“That’s correct,” Silas said. “Hopefully much of the island will be salvageable once all is said and done. I’ll set up as many backup wards as I can to stave off the curse before we break the crystals. We can rebuild things. It’s the people we’re most concerned about—the lives we’re not willing to risk. No, we do not want to abandon our island. But we will always choose the people on it first.”
“What do you think?” Ranger X finally asked Silas. “Can you break the wards?”
“ We can.” Silas inclined his head toward me. “I will follow Alessia’s lead, wherever she goes. I trust her with my life.”
Tension drew Ranger X’s forehead together. I could see the worry biting at him, the weight of this decision heavy in a physical way on his shoulders. I hated this for him, but it was in these desperate times that exposed the reasons that Ranger X had been appointed to his role. It was because the islanders trusted him to have their best interests at heart, not only in times of good but in times of evil.
“You break the crystals and destroy the curse.” Ranger X inclined his head toward me and Silas. “We’ll take care of the rest. ”
“Thank you,” Silas said quietly. “It is the right choice, X.”
“You’ve got a Comm?” Ranger X asked Silas.
Silas nodded, fumbling with something from his pocket, then fastening the band around his wrist.
“She’ll be with me,” Silas said. “If anyone needs to reach Alessia, go through me. We’ll be together until the end.”
It sounded like a threat and protection all at once, a promise of until death do us part—just not the sort of one I’d been ready to make to Simon at the altar just days before.
The promise of a mortal marriage felt so fickle at this moment. Until death do us part, sure, but that sort of death strolled up slowly. It was the sort of death in which old age would have claimed me or Simon and left the other behind by default in a natural way.
This sort of promise took my breath away. It made me feel weak, like my insides were bathed in ice. My muscles trembled with nerves and terror and sadness and determination. Like if death did part me and Silas, the loss would be so great I’d feel it beyond this life.
I reached for Silas’s hand, squeezed it.
“Good luck,” Ranger X said.
I sucked in a deep breath. “We’ll see you on the other side.”