Chapter 9

Eugene thought of Lark and Erin as he rode into the woods again. He had warned Erin to stay away from the boy and he had warned the boy too. But they believed they were smarter than him. They believed they could sneak behind his back in the gardens late at night and that he was none the wiser.

Well, they were about to learn otherwise. She would learn that when he told her to do something she would listen and do as she was told. Erin would understand that he would do the same to anyone else she chose to be with if he did not grant his permission. She would understand her options clearly.

He had come with fewer guards this time. There was no danger here he believed. Who was going to try to challenge a witch he wondered to himself?

They reached Keller’s cabin and brought their horses to a halt. Eugene dismounted and knocked on the cabin door. He didn’t wait for an answer but opened the door and entered.

Keller looked over his shoulder from the fireplace where he knelt adding logs to the fire.

“You have returned,” Keller said coldly. His eyes were narrow, shifty, Eugene thought as he puffed on his pipe creating clouds of smoke that billowed towards the roof of the cabin.

“I go to see the witch,” Eugene said. “She told me to make payment to you on my way.”

“That is the way,” Keller said sitting back and waiting for Eugene to give him the money.

Eugene placed the bags of money on the table before Keller.

Keller looked at Eugene a while longer before he finally sat forward and picked up the bag of money. He opened it and poured the coins onto the wooden table. He seated himself at the table and began to count the coins. When he finished counting he looked up at Eugene. “You’re short.”

Eugene felt his face flush as his ire rose, “It’s there. All of it.”

“No. If I take what you agreed to pay me plus what you owe me from before, you’re short.”

“I never agreed to pay what I never paid you! I made it clear I’m not paying the money you think you’re owed. Get it through your damn empty head!” Eugene shouted losing his patience. “Even so I have added some extra for you. The witch’s portion is a thousand only.”

“Oh, so it’s a thousand for the witch and the rest for me?”

“Yes, Hallelujah,” Eugene said sarcastically. “I do have some generosity in me. Now don’t forget it. Okay?”

“Keller smiled, “I was just pulling your leg.”

“It’s not funny,” Eugene said.

Keller swept all the money into the bag and closed it before tying it to his belt.

“Wait,” Eugene said. “Aren’t you going to separate your coin from the witch’s?”

Keller looked at Eugene. “What I do with my money, is none of your business.” He stood and walked to the door of the cabin. When he opened it, a chill wind rushed in as if seeking a fugitive. “I’m going to see Kalnedra and give her the money. Wait outside until I get back.”

Eugene stepped out of the cabin and Keller followed putting a padlock on the door. Before he headed up the path to Kalnedra he stopped and called out to Eugene.

“How many chances are enough?” he asked.

“One. Why?” Eugene asked.

“Just wanted your opinion,” Keller said. Then he turned and walked off up the path to Kalnedra’s cabin.

Eugene wondered why Keller had asked the question. He didn’t trust the man. He paced the clearing outside Keller’s cabin trying to keep warm in the chill evening as they waited for Keller to return. The air seemed to have suddenly turned much colder and his breath made little clouds every time he exhaled as he paced back and forth. His stomach turned and he felt as if some impending disaster lay just ahead.

Keller finally returned and Eugene stopped pacing as he waited for Keller to speak.

“It’s all arranged. You can go on to Kalnedra’s cabin,” Keller said coldly.

Eugene mounted up with his guards and left the clearing as they made their way towards the witch’s cabin.

They arrived a short while later and again Eugene instructed his soldiers to wait outside. He approached the cabin and knocked on the door.

“Come in,” came the voice he had heard before. He entered the cabin and closed the door. The witch sat at the table looking as if she had not moved since he had last visited her.

“Good evening,” Eugene said waiting for permission to be seated.

“Is it?” the witch asked.

Eugene hesitated, wondering what she had meant with her remark. “I hope so,” he replied trying to lighten the mood in the air.

“Did you bring a piece of the boy’s garment?” she asked.

“Yes,” Eugene nodded and reached into his pocket. He removed the sliver of Lark’s shirt that had been cut when his clothes had been washed. He reached across the table holding out the strip of material for Kalnedra to take but she did not move. He dropped it on the table and only then did she pick it up. “I cut that from his shirt.”

She closed her eyes and inhaled as she rubbed her fingers over the material. “Such a young, innocent boy,” Kalnedra said.

“Not so innocent, I think,” Eugene replied.

“Who should direct the love of children? Should it be their parents or should they be free to do as they wish?”

“Their parents know what’s best,” Eugene replied coldly.

“Where is the item for your daughter?” Kalnedra asked holding out her hand.

Eugene hesitated.

“I need it or the spell is pointless. I also need a drop of your blood.”

“What?” Eugene said in disbelief. “You never told me that before.”

“I am not making this up. The spell demands it,” Kalnedra said matter of factly.

Eugene passed over a lock of his daughter’s hair and Kalnedra took it. She closed her eyes as she held the hair between her fingers. Her face betrayed nothing but when she spoke, her tone sounded almost sad, regretful.

“This is your last chance to change your decision,” she said flatly staring at Eugene.

“Why do I get the feeling that you are reluctant to do this?” Eugene asked.

“ ’Tis no matter to me. I have no interest in any of you other than to do your bidding. I find though, that so often people think they will be free from the consequences of what it is they seek to have people of the arts like me, do for them. There are always consequences. Prices demanded that no amount of money can ever prevent. Gods and ghouls count souls, not coin.”

“You speak as if you know of consequences that will follow. What is it you are not telling me?” Eugene asked as fear stroked the back of his neck making his hair stand on end.

“I cannot see the future. I only seek to warn you of what I have seen befall others in the past.”

“How is this bad? I am saving my daughter from a boy who will never be able to provide for her adequately. I have asked him… no, warned him to stay away and they have both ignored me.”

“If you believe it is right, then why do you question yourself and what it is you desire to achieve?”

“Because you seem to be telling me it is wrong! What would you have me do?”

“I would have you do whatever you wish to do. It is your life. You sought me out as a solution to your problem. I only act on your command.”

“Then act and keep your pointless dithering to yourself, witch,” Eugene said angrily. “I do not have all night!”

“As you wish,” Kalnedra said. “I need your blood.”

“What?” Eugene asked distrustfully. “How much?”

“Just cut your finger. A small cut will do.”

He pulled his hunting knife from its sheath at his belt and made a small cut across his thumb. Blood oozed from the cut. The witch had tied the piece of Lark’s shirt and Erin’s hair together. She now used the bundle to wipe the blood from Eugene’s cut.

“What is that for?”

“The person who requires the curse be placed on someone must share a part of him so the gods and ghouls can know who has demanded the person be cursed.”

“Why? Why is it important?”

“A curse cannot exist without the person who requires it be created, contributing a token of themselves.”

Kalnedra walked back to the fireplace where a cauldron bubbled away in a big black pot. As Eugene watched, she took a vial down from the mantel above the fireplace and opened it. She tipped it and poured dark fluid over the bloodstained hair of his daughter and Lark.

“What is that?” Eugene asked.

The light from the lanterns in the cabin was nowhere near good enough for Eugene to see the red taint of the liquid she poured over the bloodstained hair. She only needed a little but some of it dripped onto the floor. Then she replaced the vial on the mantel and began chanting in some language he did not understand.

As she chanted he felt the hairs on his arms, legs, and neck stand on end. A chill ran through him spreading goosebumps across his body. He knew it was sorcery.

“What is this?” he demanded fearfully but the witch did not answer. She turned towards the cauldron holding her hands out towards the pot as she advanced toward it slowly. Her head dropped back and he could see her eyes had rolled back in her head. He felt the air around them stir as if someone had opened the cabin door but it remained firmly closed. The movement of the air grew stronger and he felt the wind in the cabin begin to pull at his clothes. The temperature dropped quickly and the windows began to frost up. As if watching time accelerate rapidly, he watched the frost quickly turn to ice as his breath turned to vapor. The witch’s voice rose louder and louder as she chanted.

The wind rose to a howl in the cabin and yet the flames of the lanterns remained unaffected, burning as if there were no wind at all.

Eugene suddenly felt faint and reached for a chair to steady himself. He missed it and collapsed to the floor. He rolled onto his back and was unable to move. He blinked and when he opened his eyes he was looking down at his body on the floor. He looked around in panic. How was this possible? Had he died? Had the witch lied and betrayed him? She still stood by the cauldron chanting as the whites of her eyes showed to the world. He moved over to her and tried to strike her but he couldn’t. His hands simply passed through her.

“What are you doing?” he screamed but the only person who could hear was himself. Then, as he floated, watching the wind swirling in the cabin, the cabin itself seemed to fade away. Images materialized before him and he watched in amazement as knowing filled his heart and his heart filled with fear.

In the images, he saw a man with a girl and the girl loving a boy the man didn’t like. The image of the man, the girl, and the boy changed again and again but it was always the same thing. The father of the girl did not like the boy she loved. The father was him. Lifetime after lifetime. It was him, Lark, and Erin. Then the images stopped swirling and turning and he saw himself, Lark and Erin seated before a mirror. The mirror had two smaller mirrors on either side which faced each other. They created a perpetual reflection in both directions of himself, Erin, and Lark. But in the reflections, a monster appeared. It was as if Lark had two heads. He knew what the monster represented. It was what he had asked the witch to do. He noted something else strange. In some reflections, there was no monster and in at least one there was no Erin. He was absent in a few as well. But, why, was he in the reflections? He had not demanded that he be involved in the spell.

He felt his anger rise as he realized the truth and he screamed at the witch. But right then he was nothing more than his soul, released from his body.

The witch’s chanting reached a crescendo and then finally she fell silent. The wind was gone as abruptly as her chanting ended.

Eugene felt himself being pulled back to his body and in the next instant found himself looking up at the roof of the cabin. He was one with his body again.

He shrugged off the confusion and sat up. The witch staggered back to the table and barely managed to stay standing as she grasped its edge. The effort of creating the curse and casting it had drained her of her energy.

“What have you done?” Eugene demanded angrily as he stood. “Why am I attached to the curse? My instructions were clear that the boy was to be cursed. Why have you cursed me?”

The witch looked at Eugene as she breathed heavily. “I did not curse you. Keller cursed you. You never paid your debt to him. I merely did his bidding the same way I did yours.”

“Damn you, I will have your head!” Eugene said reaching for his sword.

“Do you not wish to know how the curse works?” Kalnedra asked.

“Tell me,” Eugene said his hand resting on the pommel of his sword.

“The boy will live forever. Nothing will ever kill him until the curse is broken.”

“I did not want the curse to be broken,” Eugene said angrily.

“There is little chance that it will be broken. Ever.”

“How so? If you talk about breaking it, then it can be broken.”

“The boy will become a monster every time he releases his emotions for your daughter. Not only now but in every life she has hereafter. He will be so monstrous that she will never kiss him. The only way for the curse to be broken is if she kisses him with nothing but love in her heart. And she will never kiss him if he is a monster.”

“What? What do you mean every life hereafter? I only wanted them separated for this life!” Eugene said. He had heard everything the witch had said but this was what struck him the most.

“It must be every life.”

“Why? And why have I seen my daughter, myself, and Lark in so many lives?”

“You are eternally tied together. Every daughter you have in every life will be your daughter now. You will hate the boy Lark in every lifetime as he seeks out your daughter. He will know when she is born and he will seek her to end his curse and love her, marry her. He will know but you will not and neither will your daughter. Every life for you and your daughter will be new every time you are born.”

“Why must I be tied to this? Why must my daughter be tied to this?” Eugene asked angrily.

“How many chances are enough?” Kalnedra asked meeting his eyes for the first time since the creation of the curse had ended.

Eugene’s lips moved silently as he repeated Kalnedra’s question. He had heard those very words earlier tonight. Who had said them? Then he remembered. Keller.

“Keller paid you to curse me,” Eugene said. Even as he repeated what the witch had already told him, his heart told him it was true.

“I only do what people pay me to,” Kalnedra answered. “Always pay your debts.”

“I hope you burn in hell,” Eugene said his voice little more than an angry whisper.

“It is done. No matter what you say the course is set.”

“Perhaps, but you will play no more role in setting any course for anyone else. Ever.” Eugene pulled his sword and with the same arc of drawing his sword, he drew it backhanded over Kalnedra’s throat. Her eyes widened in surprise as her hands flew to her throat. She tried to speak but she could make little more than choking or gargling noises as blood flowed through her fingers. Eugene stepped around the table as she clutched the back of a chair.

“Even a witch cannot withstand the power of a single, honest blade,” Eugene said smiling cruelly. “Where’s your magic to save you now?”

Kalnedra simply looked at him, her green eyes glowing like green fire. With a single swing, Eugene severed her head from her body. Her head slid from her neck slowly and then thudded to the floor as her body collapsed. Her glowing green eyes faded to blackness in the dim light of the cabin and then the lanterns died as if snuffed out by a single hand at the same time.

Eugene wiped his blade on the dead witch’s robe and then sheathed it. Then he picked up his payment from the table and left.

He closed the cabin and mounted his horse. His guards followed him without questioning their master. They had witnessed the strange events from where they had waited outside and thought it wise not to speak about it unless their master spoke first.

They rode back in silence and stopped again when they reached Keller’s cabin. Eugene held up his hand and the soldiers brought their horses to a halt. Eugene dismounted and without a word he marched up the stairs of the cabin. He did not knock but opened the door and stepped inside.

Keller looked up from the table when Eugene entered. He smiled and brushed his long silver hair from his eyes.

“Got your due then?” he said cruelly. “What did she tell you? How many chances are enough? Always pay your debts?”

“She did exactly that shortly before I removed her head from her shoulders,” Eugene replied. “The same way I’m going to remove your head from your shoulders.”

“Now you wait just a minute,” Keller said standing. His chair fell over as he stood.

“There’s no more waiting. This day is long overdue you son of a bitch,” Eugene said as he advanced slowly, his sword in his hand.

Keller was old. Too old to fight and too old to run. There was no escape. Realizing he had no way out he began to plead as he peed himself.

“Please Eugene, forgive me. Take everything I have. I’ll leave you alone I swear.”

“How will that help? The curse can’t be broken.”

“It can, your daughter just has to kiss the monster you’ve created and everything goes back to normal.”

“How do you know? Why would I trust you? You’re lying just so you can escape before I come back to slaughter your sorry ass!”

“I swear it!” Keller wailed clasping his hands together as if praying to Eugene as he knelt and looked up at him. “Try it. It’s that simple! Kalnedra told you! Don’t be a fool!”

“I was fool enough to trust you all this time. Look where it has got me. Your sorry life of lies ends now!”

Eugene drew back his sword to strike and Keller screamed his best scream feebly. His scream was cut off as Eugene’s blade severed his head and his vocal cords. His head thudded to the floor as his body toppled over to land next to his head with its unseeing eyes.

Eugene wiped his blade clean for the second time tonight. Then, using a poker, he scratched the burning logs from the fireplace and kicked them to the corners of the cabin. Hopefully, this place of evil would burn to the ground. Then he left the cabin. He did not bother to close the door. The cabin would either burn to the ground or the wolves would get Keller’s head and feast on it. Either way, it was fine with Eugene.