"You made it much farther than I realized," Shane's voice drifted out of the growing shadows.

"I was just trying to get far enough away that the bandits wouldn't be able to find us."

"The rain obscured your tracks and trail. Even if they had dogs, I doubt they'd be able to follow it."

"Is there any unwelcome company nearby?"

"Not that I found, and we should be far enough from the road to evade notice."

"I have no idea where the road is. I just avoided going deeper into the valley."

"It's probably best to continue traveling like that."

"Then let's go with that plan for now." I touched my heels to Milly's sides, and she sped up to a faster walk.

The rest of the night passed fairly uneventfully, at least as far as I could tell. I didn't hear Shane scaring off any predators, at any rate.

"This way. I found a decent campsite."

I followed the werewolf uphill as he zigzagged around trees and massive rocks much taller than us.

"If nothing else, it won't be easy for soldiers to search among all these boulders," I commented.

"That's what I'm hoping. There's a mountain lion in the area, so I'll have to find it and chase it away before sunrise."

We rounded another boulder and entered an open grassy area with a fire in the middle. On one side, knee-high rocks had been piled to form three walls with branches across the top, creating a low lean-to.

"The cat must have cleared out most of the game. The only thing I caught was a squirrel. I found lots of edible roots though."

"We can add half a trail bar to the soup for flavor," I said as I got off Milly's back and dug through a saddlebag.

Shimmers of orange and green reflected off the pot as I pulled it and a trail bar out. By the time I turned around, Shane was walking over.

"I'll get the soup started while you unsaddle Milly."

"Sure," I passed the pot and trail bar to him before leading Milly to the side.

It didn't take me long to get her settled and stash my gear in the lean-to. I came back to the fire and sat across from Shane as he stirred the soup. He tossed half the trail bar back to me, and I tucked it into the side of my backpack for another day.

"I assume you're curious about the curse?" Shane asked.

"Yes, although I know everyone has things they don't want to talk about."

His eyes never left the soup. "It was a case of mistaken identity while I was riding back to the logging camp. A sorceress discovered her husband and daughter murdered, and people had seen a strange man on a black horse just beforehand." He grimaced. "Guess what color my horse was during that trip."

"Black?"

"It must have just happened because there was a lot of commotion. As soon as I rode into the village, people started shouting and hiding. The second she came outside and saw me, she started casting."

He broke off, his eyes distant with memories. I waited silently.

"It froze me on the spot, and I could feel it seeping into my bones. The sorceress's sister came outside and called to her, telling her I wasn't the right man. Her eyes widened, but as I found out later, she was casting a blood curse – there was no way to break it off. Had it been almost any other spell, it could have been reversed afterward by her or another powerful magician – but not a blood curse."

"What's a blood curse?" I quietly asked.

He continued staring at the soup. "It's usually a last resort spell or cast on an enemy who landed a fatal blow. It lets them create a super powerful curse that no other magician can change or lift – but it takes their life as the price."

It took a moment for the implications to sink in. "So there's no way to change it?"

"No," he replied shortly. "The sorceress did try before the spell killed her. I saw her eyes widen in horror at her mistake, and I felt the magic shift, but it wasn't enough. I blacked out even as she collapsed.

"By the time I came to, it was midnight, and I learned the sorceress's sister had taken me into her house. My body ached so badly I could barely stand the first day, so even though she was grieving, she let me stay there while I recovered. She didn't have magic, and even though she knew a bit about it from speaking with her sister, it didn't help since her sister had never cast curses before."

With a sigh, he ran a hand through his hair. "It didn't take us long to discover some of the curse's effects, such as the day form. And no, being in a house doesn't stop the shift. The two necklaces had appeared around my neck during the spellcasting, although we weren't sure what they did at first. It took some testing to discover the one I'm wearing allows me to take my human form at night. The other necklace lets me find it like a compass pointing north.

"So, this necklace just tracks? That's all it does? That... seems kind of strange."

He shrugged, tension still in his shoulders. "As far as I or her sister can tell, that's all it does. It's never done anything else, other than drop out of someone's pockets, regardless of how well it's secured."

With a slight smirk, I commented, "I kind of noticed that."

He snorted. "I never thought that necklace would be of any use, but that mule of yours has proven otherwise."

We both glanced at Milly, who was happily grazing on the other side of the clearing.

I murmured, "I traveled with my father to the Hawkese Harbor quite a few times growing up, but I don't think I ever heard any rumors of a sorceress or sorcerer around there. It isn't exactly something I keep track of, but as far as I know, there are two in the King's court, and a few in other kingdoms."

"This one didn't want anything to do with royalty, and apparently someone had a problem with that."

"Would King Cedric really have ordered someone to kill her?" I furrowed my eyebrows, trying to align my King's reputation of fairness with such an assassination.

"It wasn't Cedric – he would have been her first suspicion, and he isn't foolish enough to put his life in jeopardy like that. This was shortly before that noble tried usurping the throne, so the sister thinks she rejected the rebels' attempts to convince her to join them, and it was their version of retaliation."

"That is so wrong..."

"On many, many levels," he firmly agreed.