Chapter 6: The Weight of a Goddess’s Curse

Chapter 6: The Weight of a Goddess’s Curse

The years went by, and now snow covered the ground.

Rina and Sophie were sitting on the porch, watching Rachel who was now 5 years old playing in the snow.

Around her, the white slowly turned red as blood seeped from her eyes, nose, ears, and mouth, staining the snow beneath her.

Then Rina spoke.

"Rachel, if you start feeling lightheaded, you need to stop playing and rest."

Rachel turned, wiping the leaking blood from her mouth.

"Okay, Mother."

But then Rachel looked toward Sophie.

Tears ran down her face, a deep frown etched into her expression.

Rachel ran up to her.

"Mother Sophie, are you okay? Why are you crying?"

Rachel climbed onto Sophie’s lap and wiped her tears.

"Mother, what’s wrong with Mother Sophie?"

Rina looked toward Sophie, worry filling her eyes.

Sophie usually hid her emotions.

"Are you okay, Sophie?"

Sophie looked toward Rina and spoke, her voice trembling and broken.

"I... I’m sorry... everything is... my fault... if I was... more careful... Logan... would still be here... and Rachel... and you... wouldn’t... be suffering... like this..."

"It’s not your fault," Rina said, worry clear in her voice as she looked at Sophie, who was now being hugged tightly by Rachel.

"There is no way you could have known it would end up like this. Even without the note Logan dropped, they may have eventually found us anyway, so don’t..."

Rina stopped mid-sentence.

The sound of crunching snow came from the side of the house.

Rachel glanced toward the approaching sound, and a smile spread across her face as the elf came into view.

"Auntie Lyssara is back!" Rachel called out happily.

Lyssara stepped into view, walking toward them through the snow.

Elyndra sat on her shoulder, bundled in a heavy winter coat that covered her wings, protecting them from the cold.

Rachel climbed down from Sophie and ran toward Lyssara, but then stopped as she noticed the child-sized woman sitting on her shoulder.

"Auntie Lyssara, who is that?" Rachel asked, pointing at Elyndra.

Elyndra glanced at Lyssara before speaking with a gentle smile.

"This is your Auntie Elyndra. She was also a close friend of your mother, your father, and Sophie. You can trust her. She is the kindest person I know. She came to help."

"Wow, she is shorter than me," Rachel said as she looked at Elyndra curiously.

Rina stood up from her seat.

"I’m glad you made it. It must have been a long trip. Please, come inside and warm up."

They entered the house and gathered around the table.

The fire crackled in the fireplace, warming their cold bodies as they drank warm tea.

Rina prepared some food for them.

While they sat around the table, Lyssara and Elyndra warmed themselves by the fire, resting after their long journey.

After a moment of silence, Rina spoke.

"You’ve been gone a long time. Was it hard finding Elyndra?"

Lyssara exhaled softly before answering.

"Yes. That damn bastard, Thamiel… after we refused to help detain Logan, he made plans to come after all of us. Since I stayed with the elves and they refused to let him near me, I wasn’t troubled much. But Durog and Elyndra had to go into hiding."

She leaned back slightly, irritation in her voice.

"I went to Elyndra’s village first, but I couldn’t find her. They said she went deep into the forest, somewhere no one could track her."

Lyssara paused, glancing toward the fire.

"Then someone mentioned they had seen Durog a few years back. So I went to the dwarven village. I found him deep in his mine, drunk as usual, working away at the land the dwarves gave him after the Demon King was defeated."

Lyssara let out a short breath before continuing.

"Thamiel did try to go after Durog," she said. "But he could not reach him. Durog’s mine is a labyrinth. He dug it that way on purpose. Anyone who tried to hunt him down ended up lost inside… and died there."

A faint, grim edge crept into her tone.

"Honestly, it suited him. It became a steady source of income. He would loot whatever was left behind."

She shook her head slightly.

"Eventually, Thamiel gave up on him. He shifted all of his attention to Elyndra instead. He thought it would be easier to track her down in the forest."

A faint, tired smile crossed her face.

"Eventually, I finally reached him, and from him, I learned Elyndra had contacted him to build her a house far out in the middle of nowhere. He gave me directions."

She shook her head again.

"It still took a long time to find her. No one knew anything. They were both hiding well. But eventually, I tracked her down… and then made my way here."

Her gaze lifted to Rina.

"It was not an easy journey."

Rina looked at Lyssara, concern in her eyes.

"I’m glad you made it here safely. I do have a question, though. You were all part of the hero’s party… why is Thamiel trying so hard to capture all of you? Wasn’t he your friend? What is wrong with him?"

Lyssara met her gaze, her expression hardening slightly.

"Thamiel was never truly our friend," she said. "He was only part of the party out of necessity."

She leaned back in her chair, her voice carrying a quiet irritation.

"He is a zealot of the goddess. Everything he does is for her."

Lyssara glanced down at the table before continuing.

"If I had to guess, bringing her our heads would make him look better in her eyes. The ones who allowed Logan to escape… punished and delivered to her."

She gave a small shrug.

"I’ve never been one to follow the goddess or all their beliefs, so I cannot say for certain what goes on in his head."

As the conversation continued, Rachel quickly grew tired.

Once the active curse subsided and the bleeding stopped, she nodded off and fell asleep in Sophie’s arms.

Elyndra then fluttered over to the sleeping Rachel, looking down at her with a sad expression.

"So this is yours and Logan’s child. I can see the resemblance. She’s a cute child. I can’t believe what Lyssara said was true, that the goddess cursed her."

She paused, her gaze softening.

"I would like to check on her while she’s sleeping. It will make things a bit easier. Can you take her to her room and leave me there for a bit with her?"

Rina nodded and walked over to Sophie.

Sophie shakily handed Rachel over to her.

"All right, follow me. The room’s down the hall this way," Rina said.

They walked through the hallway, Elyndra fluttering behind them.

Rina gently laid Rachel on her bed.

Elyndra drifted down and hovered beside her.

Rina stepped back, then quietly left the room and shut the door, giving Elyndra the space and silence she needed to examine Rachel properly.

Elyndra placed gentle hands above Rachel’s body, magic glowing softly around her.

As the spells revealed the truth, Elyndra’s eyes filled with tears.

"How could the goddess do this to a child?"

Two hours passed as Elyndra continued to scan Rachel’s body, searching for any way to help her.

Eventually, Rachel’s eyes fluttered open.

She looked sleepily at Elyndra sitting beside her, faint light pulsing from the fairy’s small hands.

"Auntie Elyndra… what are you doing?" Rachel asked.

Elyndra’s focus broke as she turned toward her, noticing she had finally awakened.

"Do not worry about it," she said gently. "I was just checking your body. Your mother said you were sick."

Rachel gave a small, confident smile.

"Don’t worry. I’m really strong."

She pushed herself up, placed her feet on the floor, and ran toward the door.

She opened it, then quickly spun back around.

"Auntie Elyndra, do you want to come play with me?"

Rina was already there, standing quietly at the doorway, waiting for Elyndra to finish her examination.

Elyndra’s expression softened as she looked at Rachel.

"Not right now, child. I need to speak with your mother. Go play with your Auntie Lyssara and Sophie."

Rachel turned her head down the hallway, spotting them in the living room.

A bright smile spread across her face.

"Okay."

She ran off down the hallway toward them.

Elyndra’s expression shifted as she looked at Rina, her tone becoming serious.

"Come in. Close the door."

She hovered beside the bed, her glow dimming slightly.

"I scanned her multiple times. I double-checked everything. We need to talk. I will tell you exactly what I found."

Rina stepped into the room.

Rina’s heart clenched.

"Can you help her?"

Elyndra shook her head, her wings dimming with sorrow.

"I cannot break it. This curse is not natural. It was tailor-made. It will not kill her, but it will torment her for the rest of her life. She is filled with hundreds of curses that carry the goddess’s power, but most are dormant. They will slowly activate as she ages. It is as if the goddess planned for her suffering to deepen year by year until she begs for death."

From the depths of Rina’s mind, the whisper laughed.

See? Even the fairy knows. The goddess toys with your child. She wants Rachel broken. She wants you broken.

Rina’s tears splashed onto the floor.

"Tell me the curses. I must know everything."

Elyndra took a breath.

"I do not know what they all do, but I have identified the ones affecting her. There are two curses that seem to always be active."

"The main curse she bears is a modified Damage Amplification Curse. Normally, it would shatter bones and destroy a child like her from even the slightest touch. This version only affects the body, not the bones. A light touch feels like being punched. That is why everything bruises her. She is… impossibly strong to endure it."

Elyndra then took a slight breath before continuing.

“The second curse that is always active seems to be a modified anti-healing curse. From the look of Rachel’s arms and cheek, you must have noticed that her scars are not healing properly and are leaving marks.”

“Yes, I tried to heal the wounds, but it doesn’t work.”

A soft creak drew their eyes.

Rachel stood in the doorway, silently watching and listening, wide-eyed, before quickly running away.

As they heard Lyssara from down the hall calling out in a playful tone,

"Rachel, I’m coming for you."

Elyndra flew closer.

"I will keep searching. There has to be something I can do. Have you tried different types of healing magic on her?"

"Yes, I have contacted druids, priests, and even tried high-quality healing potions, and none of it works. We have had countless healers try, but it’s as if she is immune to healing magic," Rina said, holding back her tears.

"Hmm..." Elyndra thought as an idea popped into her head.

"Then let me teach her magic so she can heal herself. If she casts it herself instead of someone else casting on her, it may bypass the curse. I cannot watch a child suffer like this. If this is truly the goddess’s will… then perhaps the goddess is not who we thought she was."

Rina’s fists tightened as her nails dug into her skin, blood slowly dripping down to the floor.

"She is not a goddess. She is a monster."

The whispers slithered in the back of her mind.

A monster wearing a goddess’s mask. And monsters must be slain.