The Cursed Ring

I was beyond exhausted. Aggie didn’t look to be in much better shape, though he kept any complaints to himself. I almost wished he’d voice at least one aloud so I knew we were suffering the same.

More trees, more endless green and brown landscapes swallowing us whole. It was more of the same old sights and smells-

The tantalizing smell of roasting meat wafted towards my nose. My stomach rumbled painfully. I felt drool forming at the edges of my mouth. I quickly wiped my mouth on my sleeve. I was starving.

“Aggie, can we-”

He cut me off by raising his hand. “Absolutely not. I told you, we don’t want to draw too much attention.”

I groaned in protest. “I’m famished. I need a real meal, not these small things we keep hunting. Real nourishment.”

“There’s nothing wrong with what we’ve been eating! Ya just ain’t eating it!”

“Lizards and frogs are not food!”

“Food is anything edible!”

“Those things are not edible!”

Arguing with this damned demon was making my blood boil. I felt the heat rising in my belly. I growled and balled my hands into fists. Just one little fireball wouldn’t cause that much commotion. I wanted to fling it right into his face.

As my magic started to flare to life, I felt a familiar chill creep up my spine. I let my magic go. I glanced over at Aggie and we exchanged glances.

“Did you…?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Yup.” Aggie nodded.

Aggie turned and changed our course. He ducked under a low hanging branch. I followed after him, careful to match his pattern to avoid any hazards.

As if it was mocking me, the smell of meat grew stronger. My stomach rumbled so loudly that even Aggie looked back.

“Sorry,” I muttered, trying to hide my embarrassment. It just smell too good. And I wasn’t lying when I said I was famished.

Tendrils of light gray smoke rose over the trees. The forest thinned until another walking path gave way. Aggie crouched low and motioned for me to do the same. We crept forward on our haunches. I constantly had to put my hand in the dirt to keep myself upright.

As the forest gave way, the smell grew stronger, joined by additional scents like spices. We stopped behind a low bush line to peer out at the town just below us. There was a gradual slope several feet down, making for safe passage into the town. The rest was surrounded by low cliffs like the one we were hiding on.

“Tsk. Damn, of course.” Aggie grumbled to himself.

I tried to keep my excitement contained. It was only the second town I’d seen since I arrived and it looked much more hospitable than the first village. I had no way of knowing how far the legend spread, but based on Aggie’s behavior, I assumed it was pretty well known in the areas we would be traveling in. That would make things a tad more difficult.

“…is your magic in the town?” I turned my attention back to my mentor. His annoyance was clear on his face.

“It would appear so.” He scowled.

“So, how do we do this? I assume we can’t just go walking in.”

“Nope, the humans know what both of us look like cause of the legend. Ya ain’t gonna find anyone else with looks like yers and mine.”

It was as I figured. Even trying to mask our appearances with cloaks and the like, it would just be a matter of time until they figured it out. There was no way we could get in with making a scene. A thought hit me.

“Wait, Aggie, they aren’t going to have a problem with me, right?”

After all, I was the Great Mage from their legend. Rather I’d think that I’d be revered as a hero. Even undisguised, I should have no trouble entering the town and looking around.

Aggie furrowed his bro. “Ya ain’t wrong. Chances are that they’d welcome ya with open arms, but it’s not like ya can easily sense my magic without using yours. Whatcha gonna do, start lighting things on fire?”

He had a point. The only way I could feel the energy from his magic was by using my own. I couldn’t constantly keep bringing it up. Not only would it tire me quickly, but it definitely would be suspicious. I just imagined me bringing up fire to my palms over and over again. I wasn’t a pyromaniac but I could easily convince them otherwise. I didn’t want to get them on my bad side.

I huffed. “So, what can we do? Can you color your hair or something?”

He blinked at me. “Color my hair? What does that mean?”

“You know, like use something in a different color to change the color. I don’t know what you people use for dyes. Maybe berries.”

Aggie perked up. “Never heard of anyone using dye in their hair, but that might just work. Only because we lucked out with the trees we’re near.”

“Sorry, I don’t know anything about the local flora, so you’ll have to explain.”

“The sap from these trees is infamous for its dark color. Also a pain to get out if it gets on ya. But, it should do the job to color my hair. Luckily for me, I got magic so removing it should be a cinch.”

Aggie scooted over towards one of the trees. To me, it looked similar to a normal pine tree from my world, but he would know better than I. He stuck a sharp finger into the tree, piercing straight through the bark. A glob of dark brown slowly oozed out of it and started to drip down the side. It smelled kind of sweet, maybe like molasses.

He caught it in his fingers. He started working it into his hair, starting at the roots and sliding it down to the ends. The sap covered the color of his hair easily, but it stuck together oddly in some places. He had to constantly go back and resmooth some of it out.

By the end, he looked like someone completely different. His wild hair was tamed because of the stickiness. The purple strands were completely hidden, dark brown – almost black – taking its place. Like this, he almost looked presentable.

The worst part about it was the smell. He smelled sweet, and it had me craving breakfast.

“Damn, now I want pancakes.” I frowned as I looked him over.

He narrowed his eyes back at me. “Pancakes? What are you talking about?”

“Never mind. Let’s just get into town.”

Fortunately, the smell faded as we trekked back through the forest towards the trail that sloped downward. It was well traveled, pock-marked with divots from wagon wheels and horse hooves. The center was smooth from endless footsteps that traversed across it. We stayed towards the center, avoiding the gouges in the dirt. It didn’t take us long to reach the town. Unlike with the villagers, no one was waiting to question us at the entrance. We entered unabated.

“Where to?” I asked Aggie. Unlike him, who had opted to don a hood despite his newly acquired hair color, I remained uncovered. I could tell I was starting to catch attention, and honestly, that was what I was hoping for. I was pretty excited about being back in a town. Maybe I could get to sleep in a real bed!

Aggie gave me a look, but I didn’t bother to hide my excitement. He sighed and adjusted his hood. “Uh, well, guess we look for like an inn or tavern, some place to gather info-”

“Great Mage, is that truly you?” Someone called out to me from a nearby window. I turned to look and saw a young woman waving her hands frantically at me.

I gave Aggie a quick glance and he just shrugged. Well, couldn’t hurt to check it out. We changed our course and headed towards the building. She disappeared from the window and met us right outside the door.

“Great Mage!” She was practically crying tears of joy.

“Yes, I’ve been called that. Is something wrong?” I tried to remain calm, but it was like I was meeting a fangirl. Her reaction to me was completely different than that of the first village. I quite liked it.

“Your timing couldn’t be better! We were going crazy with worry as to what to do! I am so sorry for calling out to you so suddenly, but this is an emergency. The jewelry shop has been cursed! Please help us!”

She bowed her head so deeply she nearly toppled over.

“Please raise your head. I don’t know if I can help, but I’d like to try. Can you tell me what you mean by cursed?”

Behind me, Aggie was looking around. I left him to his own devices and instead focused on the trembling woman before me. This time she looked like she was going to cry out of fear. She wore her emotions on her sleeve.

Before she could answer, Aggie was at my side. “Something in the shop has come under a curse, yeah? I imagine it’s a smaller piece of jewelry, perhaps a pendant or a ring.”

It was like the young woman realized Aggie was there for the first time. “Ur, sir, you are quite correct. It’s a ring. It was all fine until a few days ago, and now it’s causing all sorts of problems. May I inquire as to who I owe the pleasure?”

I pointed a finger towards him. “Aggie, my mentor. He’s teaching me magic while we travel.”

The young woman’s face lit up. “Oh, perfect! Then perhaps you are an expert at cursed items?”

Aggie gave her a wry grin. “Something like that.”

I tried to keep my face neutral, but I wasn’t sure what Aggie was up to. As the young woman led us inside, I instantly felt the air change when we stepped through the door. The heaviness of Aggie’s magic weighed down on us, making me feel like I was walking through sludge. I caught glimpses of darkness in the corner of my eyes, but when I turned towards them, all I saw were the cluttered shelves of jewelry and trinkets.

Aggie, on the other hand, was in the zone. He strode forward with confidence oozing off of him. The young woman and I stood back, watching him in silence. She gave me a confused look, but I just shook my head. I had no idea what he was doing either.

The Demon Lord moved around the shop, turning a corner around a set of shelves. His pace slowed as he eyed each of the pieces placed out. He finally stopped in front of a small silver box with its lid open. From where I stood, I couldn’t see what he was looking at, but the sizing did fit that of a ring.

The young woman gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. “Yes, that’s it! That’s amazing!”

Aggie reached into the box and plucked out the ring. He held it up so I could get a better view. I saw the darkness wrapped around it, lines of dark blue spiraling over its surface. Unlike with the deer, there wasn’t much oozing out of it, but it still seemed unstable, like it could break free any minute.

Aggie nodded at me and grinned wider. “Yup, Mage, just as yer thinking. This thing can hold it, but only for so long. It’s lucky we found it when we did; just a bit longer and the magic could have broken free in a sort of quasi explosion. Pretty scary stuff.”

“An explosion? What are you talking about?” The young woman looked between the two of us.

“Don’t worry.” I patted her on the shoulder. “Nothing, just some magic stuff. My mentor will take care of it in a jiffy.”

“J-jiffy?”

Aggie snorted. “Don’t mind her, she always uses such strange words. Well, it’s time to remove this curse for ya.”

Aggie stuck the ring on his finger and his magic instantly came to life. The power in the ring fought back, but he snatched it up, dragging it back into his body. I could see the pattern unraveling as he devoured it back up. His hand pulsated between black and blue and tan as the magic wound back into him. It took a few measly seconds, and the ring was completely drained. Now I could see a silver band with a pattern engraved into it. The room around us had lightened, the darkness gone with it.

Aggie popped the ring off his finger and stuck it back in the box. He walked back around the room to stand before us. He gave us a thumbs up. “All done!”

The young woman blinked. “Huh, really? That quickly?”

I brought a little of my magic to life, my hand hidden behind my back so as not to scare her. Sure enough, nothing reacted to it. I let it go and slowly nodded in agreement.

“Yes, he’s gotten rid of the curse. It won’t bother you anymore. You have my guarantee, as the Great Mage.”

She excitedly clapped her hands. “Wow! Mages are amazing!”

Yeah, we kind of are.