Page 3 of The Bones of the Cursed
A pang shoots straight into my heart, the sadness so overwhelming that the room around me dims and a tingle starts in my fingertips. I glance down, shocked at the light blue light emanating from the tips of my fingers.
The woman gasps, eyes wide. Ice slowly trickles out onto the man’s injury, freezing his blood and effectively cauterizing the wound. It takes only seconds.
Joy fills my veins that this man now has a fighting chance until the doctor can tend to him, but dread quickly follows.
I stare at my hands, fear slithering along my spine like a snake. My eyes begin to burn, a sure sign tears are soon to follow.
Illegal magic. It wasn’t a weird coincidence at the school house.
Whipping my head towards the woman, I prepare for the worst. She’s staring at me, mouth open in shock. When our eyes meet, she reaches forward, grabbing my hand and causing meto flinch back. This doesn’t deter her; she holds on tighter and whispers so low I almost miss it.
“Thank you…” Tears stream down her face. “Thank you for saving him. We won’t tell a soul.”
The air whooshes from my body, relief overtaking the panic. I nod and quietly slip out of the medical tent.
What the hell was that? How am I going to explain this to the doctor? Oh Gods, how am I going to tell my mom that we have to leave again because of me? What if the sentries find out and I’m putting everyone I love at risk again?
The panic builds and my eyesight blurs. I’m gasping for breath, kneeling behind the tent, when Elion finds me. His gaze floats over me and then behind me at the rebels coming back to camp from the forest. “Come on, sis. Let’s take a walk and find some food.”
Grumbling, I follow him to the treeline about ten feet from where we stand at the back of the medical tent. The last time we went out, we ended up sorely disappointed, but I am thankful for distraction.
I walk further into the woods no longer sure where exactly we are, but knowing we are in a different territory than the one we lived in. We’re far enough in the woods that the camp in just a speck in the distance. The bombs have done a number on livestock and crops, and resources are dwindling. Soon the camp will have to pack up and move somewhere new, hopefully somewhere with more life-sustaining food and herbs.
We have been here for a little over a month, hoping and praying the world would find peace.
It’s only worsened.
An explosion rocks the ground.
The tremors in the earth are so strong that I’m forced to hold onto a tree to stay upright, the bark of the trunk scraping the palm of my hand. Elion comes racing towards me, having goneup ahead to search for fresh water.
“Are you all right?”
I read his lips, unable to hear his actual words over the ringing and the sound of my own erratic heart.
Smoke catches my attention in the distance.
My heart plummets.
“No…it can’t be.”
We take off running, praying that our assumptions are wrong.
I’m out of breath by the time we get back to camp. The smoke slowly rising, but still thick making it difficult to see.
Our camp should be here. Confusion wars with terror. Elion is yelling at me, but my hearing still isn’t recovered fully. My body is moving, but I don’t think my brain is processing what I’m seeing.
Bodies charred and unidentifiable. The smell of smoke and burning flesh permeate the air.
I gag, trying to ward off the stench. My knees buckle as I throw up what little I’ve eaten today. We were just here. If Elion hadn’t insisted we look for food, we would have been here.
Wiping my mouth, I walk to where our family’s tent was, kicking through the pile of ash. My toe catches on something. I pull my sleeve over my hand and gingerly pick up the item I kicked.
A silver ring.
My father’s ring that has been passed down through generations. The one he never took off. I clasp the heirloom to my chest, tears blurring my vision. Elion comes to stand next to me, placing a hand on my shoulder in comfort.
Seconds. Seconds was all it took for the bomb to destroy everything. A shout in the distance has Elion turning towards the trail about fifty feet away that leads through the brush and out onto the main road. The roads now occupied by sentries seeking out rebel groups to eradicate.
