Chapter One

What the hell is a crow doing this deep in the woods? Normally they prefer much more open areas not the dense forest It’s currently in. Or is it a raven? It’s hard to tell at this distance.

Either way it did not matter much to Shuka as long as she could sell its feathers. She drew back her hunting bow’s string, an arrow already nocked in preparation for this moment, and carefully took aim at the lone bird. As she loosed her arrow she felt a flicker of hesitation. Something about the crow seemed off, as if it wasn't a bird at all and she hoped for just a second for her shot to not find its mark. The arrow cared little for Shuka’s objections and thudded into the side of the creature, straight through its heart. The crow let out a startled caw as it fell from the branch it was perched on and hit the ground dead. Shuka let out a sigh of relief. She almost expected her arrow to go right through it or for the crow to turn to smoke or some other eldritch nonsense. Just as she was about to go over to retrieve the apparently mundane bird, she felt a chill go up her spine. Suddenly the forest became covered in shadows and the crow she thought was dead stood up with Shuka’s arrow still sticking out of its body. It turned its head, so its piercing red eyes looked straight at her and spoke with an old and withered voice that dripped with malice.

“you dare strike down my familiar? I will not forgive this ill you have given me with any less than the finest curse I have ever crafted. You shall live the rest of your days a villain, looked at with naught but mistrust. All the misdeeds of others shall be placed upon your shoulders and never again will you be trusted over another.”

And with its finale word spoken the witches familiar dissolved into wispy black smoke that flew down her throat and she felt an unearthly chill spread throughout her body. In the moments that followed the shadows receded, the unearthly chill left, and it almost seemed as if nothing had happened at all. But Shuka knew that that couldn’t be farther from the truth.

*

Shuka ran up to the tower placed perfectly in the middle of a small clearing and franticly started knocking on its door. In the next few moments, she started pacing back and forth anxiously for what felt like an eternity, lost in her thoughts.

Fuck, what do I do? Ralisdor might be able to help me but what if he can’t? He is the best spellcaster for miles so if he can’t help then who can?

When the door finally opened a man in an intricate blue and purple robe was standing in the doorway. He was a man in his forties who had neat black hair and was wearing a pair of spectacles. He was a man Shuka knew well, after all he had been teaching her magic for the last year.

“Oh, Shuka. Why have you come to my tower? Your next magic lesson isn’t until tomorrow. Is something wrong?”

“Yes, somethings wrong Ralisdor! A witch cursed me for killing her familiar and I don’t know what to do. I thought you might be able to help since you know so much about magic.”

Ralisdor looked at his apprentice with suspicion. It seems he did not fully trust her story

“Is this some sort of prank?”

“No! Please if you don’t believe me then check with magic but I am telling the truth.”

“Fine, I will check, but if you are lying to me, I will be very displeased.”

And with that Ralisdor began manipulating the mana within him to form a spell. The specific spell he was casting was one meant to detect and reveal magic. Once Ralisdor was done his eyes shimmered with magic and he looked over Shuka carefully.

“Hmm. It seems there really is some sort of spell attached to you. I do not now what it does, but it is far beyond what you could cast so at the very least I know you didn’t do this.”

“Can you dispel it?”

“I can try but this is quite the sophisticated spell we are dealing with here. My capabilities in this area are limited and this spell might need a specialist.”

Ralisdor started weaving magic again, but this time instead of gathering mana around his eyes to create a lens for him to see through, he concentrated it all into the palm of his hand. Once the spell was ready, he released all of the built up mana in a wave that passed through Shuka harmlessly.

“Did it work?”

“No… it looks like the spell is attached directly to your soul instead of you body like most enchantments. Soul magic is not something I am very familiar with and even a small mistake could have severe repercussions.”

That doesn’t sound very good. But how am I supposed to find an expert soul mage here in the middle of nowhere.

“What if we went to the library and found a book that could help? Do you think you could remove the curse then?”

“Well it is worth a try I suppose.”

Shuka sighed with relief. It wasn’t perfect but the nearby town of Rainsburg had a very large library considering Rainsburg itself wasn’t all that impressive. Even Ralisdor used it from time to time and he was already quite the accomplished mage. If she couldn’t find a book on curses there, then there were few places in the entire Celestial Empire that would have what she needs and none of them were close by.

*

The library of Rainsburg was a rather intimidating building given the relative squalor of the buildings around it. Rainsburg itself wasn’t destitute by any means but its old wooden structures looked all the more shabby when compared to the towering stone building that is the Rainsburg Library. It was four stories tall and twice as wide with stairs that went up the small hill it was located on. There was not a single place in Rainsburg where you were not a few steps away from being able to see the library in all its glory. Ralisdor stopped Shuka once they reached the entrance and spoke to her.

“I can find the books I’m looking for on my own, but you should probably see if that Quanso friend of yours is working today. The library is rather large so it would be useful if you had someone who works here help you.”

That seems reasonable enough. I have only been in the library a few times before so the help would definitely be appreciated. And besides, I would have to tell him about the curse at some point anyway so might as well get it out of the way now.

“sure, just find me if you learn anything.”

And with that Ralisdor walked of into the long rows of bookcases. Shuka then started looking for her childhood friend Xorvos. It didn’t take that long to find him after all he was the only Quanso in Rainsburg after his father left. He was 7 feet tall and had grey skin. His vaguely reptilian head and long, thick tail gave him a rather inhumane appearance beyond what the occasional Elf or Halfling would have. He was wearing a rather plain commoners’ outfit and his ever-present black gauntlets. He was in the process of putting books back into their places when Shuka found him.

“Hey Xorvos over here. I need your help with something.”

Xorvos looked over in surprise.

“Shuka? You don’t come here very often. What do you need?”

“A book on curses or soul magic.”

“Soul magic? Is Ralisdor teaching you that now?”

“no, I got cursed by a witch while I was hunting, and I need to figure out how to remove it.”

Xorvos stopped what he was doing and turned to face Shuka.

“Are you sure? That seems pretty unlikely.”

“Yes I’m sure. Why would I make this up?”

Shuka looked at him in irritation.

How could he not trust me? It was bad enough when Ralisdor did it but we have been friends for years.

“Sorry your right, I’ll take you to the head librarian, she can look in the records and see if we have anything that could help.”

And with a newfound sense of purpose Xorvos was striding towards the head librarian’s office. Once he got there he knocked firmly on her door with a gauntleted fist. The sound of metal hitting wood reverberated throughout the building and from the other side of the door someone let out an exasperated sigh.

“Come in”

Xorvos walked into the room and then spoke in a polite tone.

“Head Librarian, this is my friend Shuka. She has been cursed and wishes to remove it. Could you please look through the records and see if we have any books that could help her?”

Shuka winced at his words.

Did he really have to tell her about the curse? This isn’t exactly information I want everyone to know about.

The librarian looked straight at her with cold eyes before speaking.

“And how do I know your not just lying about being cursed? For all I know you could just use what you find in these books to learn how to cast curses yourself.”

What? That’s ridiculous how could she say that?

The librarian was starting to annoy Shuka, but before she could say anything Xorvos stepped in and intervened.

“Now please be reasonable here. Any book open to the public shouldn’t have the information necessary to teach someone how to cast a curse and even without your help we could find the book ourselves with enough time. This will simply make things more convenient and it wont cause any harm to anybody”

The librarian was sneering at Shuka but then gave Xorvos a friendly look as she addressed him.

“I suppose your right even if your choice in friends is questionable at best. Give me a moment and I will look through the books.”

As she said this she got up and retrieved a large tome from a nearby bookshelf and brought it back to her desk. Xorvos took this as his cue to leave and nearly had to drag Shuka out with him. She was still mad, and it clearly showed on her face.

“Shuka you have to calm down. If you let your emotions take control over, it can only end badly.”

“Oh, come on you saw how she looked at me. She thought I was some sort of criminal, how am I supposed to stay calm after that?”

“Even if you feel angry you have to have some self control, otherwise you will just end up making everyone your enemy.”

“I know that, but its not that easy. I can’t just change how I feel on a whim even if I know its not going to help me. And I don’t want to pretend I’m not mad every time something makes me angry.”

“Just please try to not say anything rude when we go back in there.”

Shuka did not respond but Xorvos could tell from her body language that she begrudgingly accepted. After a couple more minutes spent in silence the head librarian came out from her office.

“I have looked through the books, but we do not currently have any books on the topic of curses or their removal that are open to the public.”

Xorvos saw Shuka give an annoyed look but she remained silent.

“Head librarian what about books from the forbidden section? I can understand if we are not allowed to enter ourselves, but you could go and find the information we need.”

This time it was the librarian who got an annoyed look on her face. She pointed an accusatory finger at Shuka and sneered.

“That might be acceptable if SHE wasn’t so obviously trying to learn how to curse people herself. Even going in alone is too much of a risk with her around.”

Fury consumed Shuka as she bit back a less than polite reply. Instead she angrily turned and left the small office, slamming the door on her way out. If she bothered to listen then she would’ve heard Xorvos franticly apologising to the librarian but she wasn’t paying attention to that. The angry hunter walked out of the library and sat down on the steps leading up to the building. She knew she was being irrational and tried to calm down but all she could think about was that look of contempt the librarian gave her. A few minutes later Xorvos found her still sitting on the steps writing something in a notebook. He sat down next to her and was silent for a few moments, fidgeting awkwardly, unsure of what to say before he finally spoke up.

“what are you writing there?”

Shuka looked up to him, her brown eyes full of anger and determination.

“It’s an apology letter. Not that I think she deserves one, but I need something to distract me. And besides your probably going to get me to write one later anyway”

Looking at her open notebook Xorvos could see it was full of scratched out sentences. The longest apology was only about two lines before she decided to try again.

“maybe you should write that later when you’re a little calmer. And I’m not going to make you apologise to her. She was rude to you first and you didn’t actually do anything that bad so she should be apologising to you first.”

Shuka scratched out her latest apology and closed the book.

“Good. So, did you manage to talk her into helping after I left?”

“No, she was pretty mad. She’s not usually like this, I don’t know why she was so distrustful of you. Did you do something to annoy her?”

Shuka supressed the anger that welled up inside he from the implication that this was her fault. Getting mad at Xorvos wouldn’t get her anywhere and he didn’t deserve it.

“I think it might have to do with the curse.”

“What make you think that?”

“Well when the witch cursed me she said something about making me a villain and people not trusting me.”

“Well that would explain her behaviour. Hopefully, we can remove this curse soon and clear things up with her. Have you met anyone else other than me and the librarian since you were cursed?”

“Just Ralisdor but he seemed to trust me. The curse is probably less effective on people who know me well.”

“That would make sense.”

Shuka looked towards the small town she lived in her whole life and let out a sigh. All the anger from before had left her by now but in its place, she now felt worry.

The librarian said they didn’t have any books that could help me available to the public. If that’s true then I doubt Ralisdor is going to find anything and we are going to have to find a specialist to remove this curse for me. the only two places I can think of that would have a specialist like that would be Sidus and Lancrin. Sidus because it’s the Empires capital and it has a lot of divine casters that could help and Lancrin because it’s where all of the arcane casters in the empire gather. Lancrin is the closer of the two but it is still halfway across the Empire from Rainsburg.

The young woman looked back to Xorvos and she got an idea.

“Xorvos, you’ve been working in the library for two years, now right?”

“yes.”

“Then do you know where the forbidden section is?”

Xorvos frowned deeply at this. He knew where she was going with this, but he also knew he wasn’t a good enough liar mislead his friend, so he spoke truthfully.

“I do but I have never been in there before and I do not know what sort of security measures they have. And most importantly I won’t help you steal anything.”

“But I need this book. Who knows how long it will take to remove this curse without it and its not like stealing it will hurt anybody.”

“It’s still wrong.”

“to who?”

“The library! You are taking something that is theirs without their permission and using it for something the head librarian clearly stated she did not want it used for.”

“she only said that because of the curse, and I will return the book after I’m done with it. As long as I don’t get caught there is nothing about this plan that will harm anyone.”

“Laws exist for a reason, we can’t just break them when it’s convenient for us.”

“The forbidden section is there to prevent the wrong kind of people from using the books inside for bad things, but they still have those books to help people like me get rid of unwanted curses. The only reason its not happening like that this time is because the very curse that book is supposed to get rid of is preventing that librarian from seeing reason.”

Xorvos got a conflicted look on his face. All of this sounded so logical, but a crime was still a crime and he couldn’t just start breaking the law because it sounded logical to do so. But before he could decide the doors to the library flew open as a masked figure wearing a dark cloak and wielding a bow burst out from the building. Before anyone could react, the figure ran down the stairs and around a corner while shouts of ‘THEIF!’ and ‘STOP HIM!’ were being yelled from inside the library. Moments later the head librarian came out the building herself and after looking around for a few seconds her eyes landed directly on Shuka. Her face once contorted with anger now twisted into a smug smile.

“You think your so clever, don’t you? I can tell an illusion when I see on. Did you really think you could get away by dropping your disguise the moment you leave my sights? GUARDS, GET THEM!”