Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN

" H ello." Lomar offered a bright smile. "And who do I have the pleasure of meeting?"

"This is Fionna from Acca," Kormac stated, resisting an urge to bristle as his friend turned on the charm.

"The witch you requested?" Lomar exclaimed in surprise. "I expected an old crone."

Fionna cocked her head and offered a smirk. "Even crones start out young. And you don't look ill, sir."

"Forget sir. I am Lomar, former general, at your service." He swept a bow that he must learned in a foreign country since they didn't indulge in such frivolous nonsense here.

"You are still my second," Kormac growled. "I won't replace you."

"You should. We both know there is no cure to what afflicts me. No offense, lady witch," Lomar added with an apologetic note.

"None taken. As to a cure, let's first see what I'm dealing with. Do you mind if I check you over, Lomar?"

"You can touch anything you like," drawled his friend, and Kormac clenched his fists.

He couldn't have said why Lomar's flirting bothered him. It had never been an issue before. They'd often competed to see who could woo a woman into falling into their bed. Lomar's easy manner won more often than not. Being warlord attracted certain types, but also scared off others.

"Behave, Lomar," Kormac chided. "Fionna is here to help, and I don't mean by relieving tension below your belt."

"What belt? They took that away along with my shoes." A quip that fell short. Kormac could see the effort Lomar put into appearing cheerful, as if everything were fine.

"If you could stand still." Fionna paced around Lomar slowly, staring at him intently. She crouched to eye his feet and chafed ankles. She pursed her lips at his wrists and finally stopped to eye the medallion dangling on his chest, glowing a soft purple.

"So?" Kormac couldn't stand the silence.

"Your friend is most definitely bound by a curse of some sort. The dark threads of it wrap around his entire body."

"You can see it?" Kormac couldn't contain his surprise.

"Oh yes. I've never seen the like." She shook her head.

Lomar slumped. "Meaning you don't know how to remove it."

"I didn't say that. Surely you didn't think this would be a quick process where I walk in, snap my fingers, and poof, you're cured."

The corner of Lomar's lip lifted. "Actually, I did kind of hope it would be that simple."

"If it helps, I assumed you were either mad because your brain went rotten, or you were drugged. Congrats, you really are cursed."

Kormac cleared his throat. "Can you remove it?"

"I will try, but like I said, this could take time. I don't want to rush and make things worse." She positioned herself directly in front of Lomar and leaned closer to the medallion hanging on his chest. "This is interesting. It's old. Very old, and imbued by magic, the purpose of it defined by runes in a mostly forgotten language."

"You recognize the symbols?" Kormac pushed away from the wall he'd been leaning against.

"Yes. It is a combination of three that are meant to emit a warning and provide protection against…" Her brow creased. "I don't recognize the third marking, but I can have someone at Mystic Keep look into it for me."

Kormac groaned. "That will take too long. The birds take at least two weeks of travel to exchange messages."

"Who says I need a bird?" She offered a mischievous smile. "I'll need a quill and parchment to draw the symbols so I can pass them on."

"I'll send someone for them now." Kormac stuck his head out of the cell and gave the order, sending a soldier jogging.

He returned to hear Fionna questioning Lomar. "I want to know more about what you're experiencing. I've been told you like to kill at night when you're not wearing the warding talisman."

"Not me, the thing inside my head." Lomar grimaced. "It took over my body and murdered men I knew. Men I respected and liked."

"You had no control?"

Lomar shook his head. "I was a spectator to what happened. Even worse, it was as if those attacked couldn't fight. They would stare right at me and not move to defend themselves even as the blade swung."

Her lips pinched. "Mesmerizing paralysis."

"You've seen that type of thing before?" Kormac asked sharply.

"Not in humans, but there are some animals that are capable of freezing their prey."

"It would explain why Khaal managed to kill so many," Kormac murmured. "We thought it might be because his men trusted him, but them being unable to act would be a better explanation as to why none fought."

"Might I touch you?" she asked, holding out her hand to Lomar.

A slow nod and Lomar placed his fingers lightly against her palm.

Kormac tensed and his hand went to the hilt of his weapon, ready to act.

Nothing happened other than Fionna closed her eyes and murmured, "The threads binding you are dense and unlike anything I've ever seen. I see no beginning, no end."

"Can you cut it?" Kormac offered what seemed like a simple solution to her explanation.

"Perhaps, but I am worried about those strands whipping if severed. Could be the curse is transferrable too. What if I snip it free and it finds someone else?"

"When Ioan—another soldier carrying the curse—died, the affliction ended with him, or so we thought until we visited the source of the infection."

"Or you haven't found its new host," she quipped.

"Pretty sure we'd notice people being murdered which seems to be what this thing does," was Kormac's dry reply.

She stepped away from Lomar. "Your warlord said this thing in your body speaks to you?"

Lomar nodded. "Yes, although it's faint so long as I wear the medallion. At night it whispers for me to remove it. Given my worry I might give in, we've resorted to chains at night."

"And when you remove the talisman?" she asked.

Lomar shuddered. "It is quite vocal. It cackles quite a bit about revenge and how it will return to kill us all."

"Are you sure it said return?"

"Yes, why?"

"Because that would indicate an outside source that can act through others but not yet directly." Fionna glanced at Kormac over her shoulder. "You say this affliction started after the discovery of a cave."

"Yes."

"I'll need to see it."

"Why? Can't you cure him without it?" Kormac had no interest in returning unless it was to bury that cave again.

"Maybe. I want to observe his condition a bit more before I tackle those dark threads. But even if I do manage to lift it, the danger of someone else getting infected remains."

"Can you get rid of what's causing it in that cave?"

She rolled her slender shoulders. "I won't know until I see it. If it's too strong for me alone, then I am sure the witch queen can be persuaded to send a coven to eradicate the source."

"You think we're dealing with some kind of monster?"

"I can't say for sure, however, I've never heard of a curse that speaks to its host." She turned to Lomar. "I'd like you to remove the medallion."

He slapped a hand over it and retreated. "Not a good idea."

"My understanding was the affliction hit at night."

"Yeah, but it's been whispering hard since you entered the cell."

"And what is it murmuring to you?" she asked, stepping closer.

"I'd rather not say." Lomar shook his head.

"You can't shock me. Tell me."

Lomar's jaw tensed before he blurted, "Burn the witch."