The Elder's Curse by Andrew Walbrown (ereader for textbooks TXT) 📕

before. Though it was foreign to him, the feeling was not wholly unpleasant or painful, and for that Amantius was thankful.

Kona looked at him and snickered, clearly amused by what she saw. “For the man who so quickly jumped into a strange pool of water, you are being extra cautious with that doorway. Hurry, Ulam and Mazargo may be waiting for us.”

Amantius groaned. “Fine.”

An emphatic bang echoed off the narrow stairwell as Amantius passed through the threshold. The healing water shot from his clothes and possessions as a cohesive torrent defied gravity on its path back to the pool. Amantius had expected this, though, since he had seen Kona pass through twice already. But unlike when she activated the purple barrier, something unsettling happened to him. There was a rumbling deep within his body, his insides suddenly turning squeamish. He felt as though he had eaten heaps of unripe fruit or rotten fish, feeling ill to the core.

“Did the barrier make you sick?” He asked Kona as his arms naturally covered his torso. “Like you had to vomit?”

She shook her head. “No. Do you feel that way?”

“Sort of, it’s like…what the…HELP ME!”

Amantius fell to the ground, howling in pain. He felt as though an enormous cactus was expanding inside him, piercing his bladder and gut with a thousand needles. In his torment, he ripped off his shirt and watched his belly expand, the pain so terrible he expected a grotesque geyser of blood to start gushing from his navel. As he squirmed on the floor, he put a hand on his belly and felt a chilled condensation forming on the surface. Then suddenly, as his agony reached its zenith, a small stream of water slithered through his skin and into the air, snaking its way back to the previous room.

“I don’t know what to do!” Kona said as Amantius begged for help during the few moments he was not screaming. “I don’t think there is anything I can do. You just have to wait for all of it to leave your body.”

Amantius rolled back and forth on the floor, clutching his torso with both arms. He was in excruciating pain, easily the worst he had ever known. Often he wished for death, asking any listening deities to grant him mercy and end his life. But after the last drop of water left his body, he was quite relieved that his pleas had fallen on deaf ears.

“How do you feel?” Kona asked after Amantius reopened his eyes and surveyed his immediate surroundings.

“Better, I guess. And kind of empty,” he replied, struggling to annunciate each word. His throat burned from the screaming, leaving his voice hoarse and weak. “I probably shouldn’t have taken a drink, huh?”

A wave of relief washed over Kona’s face. “Clearly you shouldn’t have. When did you have a drink?”

“When I dunked my head underwater I sucked in some,” Amantius shrugged. “I was thirsty.”

“Oh Amantius, you’re lucky you’re still alive,” Kona replied with a soft shake of her head. “I’m surprised your bladder and stomach didn’t tear open when the water passed through you.”

“I know. But, maybe the water healed me after it tore me open.” Amantius made a sour face, the image of his internal organs being ripped apart causing him to shudder. “Anyway, it is over now. Let’s get going.”

Kona helped him to his feet, and after a few seconds to collect themselves, they climbed the stairs to the next room. It was not a very long climb, but the angle of the steps and the hard marble made for a somewhat exhausting ascension. This was especially true for Amantius, whose body was still recovering from the trauma of the previous room.

At the top of the stairs, they came to a door with large bright green letters glowing on its surface. Kona cautiously proceeded forward, opening the door to reveal a large empty room, much like the one where they found themselves after Pelecia’s counterfeit execution. Amantius gnashed his teeth as they stood in the doorway, mentally preparing himself for the circus of illusions he assumed awaited within. Without hesitation Kona stepped into the room and vanished into thin air, leaving no trace of her existence behind. She’s braver than I am, but I guess she also did not see her mother beheaded or have a pool of water try to eviscerate her from the inside.

Amantius stepped forward, finding himself instantly transported to a fenced-in courtyard in Yawan. Before him was a house built in the Kalikki style, with flower heavy vines pouring down the walls. Kona stood in front of him, her back turned towards him as the sounds of playing children drifted through the open windows. Much like in the faux Accaria this production of Yawan was ultra-realistic, the sights, sounds, and smells of the city perfectly recreated by the mystical forces at work. Had he not already experienced similar conditions during their first trial, he would have believed he was actually in Yawan.

“Can you hear me?” Amantius asked, remembering only she could hear or see him in the faux Accaria.

Kona nodded, her back still turned towards him. “Yes. I can.”

“Where are we?”

“In Yawan,” she replied, confusion and apprehension in her voice. “We’re standing in front of my home. I guess it is my turn to see something horrible, though I cannot guess what. Everything looks so peaceful. There are even children playing inside. Children, Amantius! I can hear their laughter, so why am I still afraid?”

Amantius stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder, a few stray locks of her hair gently covering his fingers as she turned to him. Though he could not explain why, there was something incredibly unsettling about the scene to him as well, but he was not going to tell her so. He hid his worries with a smile, wanting to be as strong for her as she had been for him.

“Remember Kona, none of this exists,” Amantius reassured her, trying to speak as softly as he could