The demon. Garren paused for a split second. How? He didn’t have time to think on it; he had to do something to get her away from Haldis.
Garren wrapped his arms around Oriana in a tight squeeze, lifting her off the ground in a giant bear hug. With her arms trapped in his embrace, she let out a screech that had Garren’s ears ringing and Haldis covering hers in pain.
He could feel her breaking free of his hold. She was strong, stronger than him. Garren did the only thing he could think of and barreled through the front door of Haldis’s home. The wood splintered, chunks flying out into the street.
The impact loosened Garren's grip enough that Oriana’s arms came free. She brought one up, grabbing him behind the head and flinging him over her shoulder onto the dirt packed street. Pain seared through his spine.
Oriana growled down at him, but before she had the chance to race back towards Haldis, he swung a leg around, and caught her ankle. Oriana went crashing to the ground beside him. He rolled quickly atop her and held her wrists down above her head.
Oriana spat in his face, bringing a knee up in between his legs hard. Garren could no longer breathe. His strength left him momentarily as the pain between his legs grew to an excruciating crescendo. Oriana used the opportunity to throw him against the building next to them, wood cracking from the impact. Garren crumpled to the ground, sucking in heavy, agonizing gasps.
“Oriana,” he rasped as his breath returned. “This isn’t you. You need to take back control. Beat the demon.”
She laughed at his words, narrowing her sickly yellow eyes at him. He gulped, finding it hard to look at her deformed face, but he didn’t tear his gaze away for a moment.
“You know nothing of Oriana, boy. She is weak, just like you.” The monster of bloodlust stalked toward him, stepping closer with each word until she was less than an arm's length away. Garren struck, his fist hitting her square in the center of her chest. The blow threw her backward so hard that she slammed into the side of Haldis’s home, leaving an indentation in the building, cracks crawling outward from the spot.
Oriana slunk to the ground, unmoving.
Garren pushed himself away from where he leaned against the house across from Haldis’s, wiping away the dribble of blood that had escaped from his mouth.
He stood over her and peered down at her face, covered by her pale, disheveled locks. Oriana jolted upright, staring straight up at Garren; her eyes had returned to their vivid green, her face no longer a monstrous deformity.
“Oriana?” he breathed, taking a tentative step toward her.
She stood, her eyes glazed over with a faraway look full of anguish and exhaustion. Taking a small step toward Garren, she reached her hand ever so slightly in his direction. And then she ran, bolting straight for the Phantom Wood.
“Oriana!” Garren bellowed, half sprinting, half limping after her, but she had already disappeared into the forest. By the time he got there, the trees wouldn’t let him in. An invisible shield had been raised, pushing him back every time he tried to enter. He barreled into it repeatedly, desperate to force his way through the barrier.
“Oriana!” He slammed his fists on the enchantment once more before finally giving up and turning to limp his way back to Haldis’s.
When he returned, Haldis was sweeping up the mess of wood chips that used to be her front door, but she dropped her broom upon seeing him. She came to grip his arm, leading him to her own chair by the hearth. He gladly sat.
“We have to find a way, Haldis. We have to break the curse.” His voice held an emotion he hadn’t felt in a long time. Haldis only nodded in response, brushing a loose strand of hair from his forehead like his mother used to. “I’m sorry about your door. I’ll fix it before nightfall.”
Haldis smiled tenderly at him before walking to her small bookshelf and pulling a book from the shelf. She dropped it into his lap. Garren looked down at the large tome reading the words Gods and Curses etched upon the cover.
“The Gods and their curses have been evident in this world since the beginning. I’ve looked through this book too many times to count. It has been passed down through my family for many generations. These stories are written by their own hand. My family has kept these stories secret, only passing them through our direct line of descendants.” She handed it to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Many of these tales have been forgotten or twisted into something that no longer resembles the original history. I’ve not found much about breaking curses, only how they were inflicted or what they were. Maybe you will find something I could not. We start our research now.”
Garren reached up and placed his hand over Haldis’s, where it still rested on his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. “We start after I fix your door.”
21
Oriana
2nd day of the Twelfth Month, 1774
No, this isn’t happening . It was all a dream. It had to be. It wasn’t the full moon. But Oriana could not deny the scene laid out around her.
Garren stood in front of her, sweat dripping from his forehead, chest heaving with deep, exhausted breaths.
He took a single step toward her. She felt herself doing the same before she stopped, turned, and fled.
It was time. She had to leave. She had to set into motion the plan she only hoped would work to keep herself trapped for the rest of eternity. It was the only way, and it was something she should have done long ago. The plan had always been there in the back of her mind, but she’d always held hope that the day would never come when she had to use it. That she would miraculously break the curse or defeat the bloodlust on her own. But she hadn’t, so the time had finally come for her to leave.
She could hear Garren’s voice calling out for her. She ignored it, accepting the fact that this was the end. She would never see him again.
Smoke trailed after her through the wood, spreading out, and cloaking her as she fled. She didn’t want anyone following her, especially not Garren.
