The Curse of The Ancients. Quintarra

"TIE HER UP!" a commanding voice ordered from behind.

A wave of adrenaline rushed through me, activating every instinct I had.

Dream or not, I wasn't going to let anyone treat me like this! And if they were more muscular and stronger, then I'd have to be wigglier and faster.

I don't know where all that courage came from but, using a split second of surprise, I broke free from one soldier's grip, dodging another one coming from the left, and slipped into the nearby bushes. I barely had time to catch my breath when a whole rain of arrows came pouring down on me.

"ARE YOU SHITTING ME?!" I cursed again, hating my dream with every fiber of my being for how real it felt.

A second later, my anger turned into revoltingly explicit swearing when an arrow flew right past my ear, barely missing my eye and leaving a deep gash on my right temple. My reflexes kicked in perfectly.

Burning pain shot through me.

Cursing everything and everyone, I exploded like a bomb.

Time itself seemed to stop…

I looked around in what felt like slow motion, just barely noticing three warriors advancing on me — and a thick, black smog…

Wrapping around their muscular necks as a deadly lasso, that dark void started choking the soldiers. Lifting them several feet off the ground, the smoky Kraken toyed with those men — who could have snapped me like a twig with their strong fingers — as if they were toys, twisting their limbs into the most unnatural positions.

And their eyes…

Peeking out from my hiding spot, I accidentally caught one of the warriors' gazes. Swollen with blood from the pressure, his pulsing eyeballs burst with a distinct pop, spilling out of their sockets like melted butter…

I nearly threw up.

The sight was beyond horrifying. Brutes or not, I couldn't just watch the product of my imagination tear people apart like rags — even if it was just a dream.

"ENOUGH! STOP IT!" I yelled in a commanding tone, trying to push through the smoky haze that separated me from the bloody massacre.

Hearing my anger, the thing finally paused.

"LET THEM GO!" I ordered again, trying not to let my voice crack, fully aware that I could easily end up in their place.

To my surprise, the black mist hovered in the air as a grim question. Dropping the lifeless piles of muscle to the ground it moved toward me.

Animal fear paralyzed my body — the body I had only recently learned to make solid. And that dark thing clearly had no intention of letting me use it to run away.

Grabbing me by the waist with a free tentacle, it carried me off into nowhere, leaving the nauseating traces of our unwanted presence behind…

I woke up in a cold sweat. To say I was more than happy to see my room — which had gotten pretty cluttered in just a couple of weeks — would be an understatement.

I pulled my knees up to my chest and hid under the blanket.

"OH MY GOD! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?!" Orin's caringly-shocked voice echoed through my head.

It took me a second to realize what she meant. Noticing the blood stains on my sheets, I quickly grabbed the little folding mirror from my nightstand — a cute vintage thing my grandma had given me once, that now served as my only reminder of her.

"How did you manage to do this?!" Orin started grilling me, showing up in my room at just the right time. Judging by the pile of clothes in her shaking hands, she'd been trying to sneak back some stuff she'd borrowed from me — including the new pair of jeans I hadn't been able to find for days.

But I wasn't in the mood for that. I simply stared at my messed-up reflection in silence.

The sight was far from pretty: a bruise was blooming on my left cheek, and my right temple was bleeding from a scratch that had come out of nowhere. Or at least its origin was a mystery to my friend.

Me, on the other hand…

I nervously looked down at my wrist. Noticing the finger-shaped marks on it, I accidentally dropped the mirror. It would've shattered if not for the soft carpet.

"How is it possible…" I mumbled under my breath, not believing my own eyes.

"What happened?! Spill it. Everything!" Orin demanded, sitting on the edge of my bed.

Despite how openminded my friend was, I seriously doubted she'd take my story as the truth. However, having listened carefully, her face got seriously pissed. Honestly, if I'd blamed it on an accident — or even Owen — she probably would've been less angry.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING?!" Orin suddenly went off on me.

"What's the big deal?!" I asked.

My friend just stared at me as if I had two heads.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW DANGEROUS ASTRAL TRAVEL CAN BE?!" Orin tried to shame me like a schoolkid after a failed parent-teacher conference.

And somehow, it kind of worked.

"Well, I…"

"I-I…" She mocked me. I had nothing to say to that.

I looked at her again, pressed my lips together, and tucked my cold feet under the fuzzy blanket.

Did I feel guilty for hiding all this from my best friend? Maybe. Was I sure that I'd actually been in the astral plane? That thought just wouldn't settle in my head…

Part of me wanted to argue with Orin, to calm her down, to make excuses for myself and throw facts at her about how impossible it was to do stuff like this — if not for the fresh bruises and that stinging cut that were making me panic way more than my friend.

Orin took a deep breath and rubbed her temples, which were practically throbbing with stress.

"One more time. From the very beginning."

Chapter 6

After that hell of an adventure, I swore off touching the Grimoire altogether. I was even afraid to fall asleep thinking about that mysterious place, terrified of ending up between life and death again — if it weren't for that alluring sensation that shot right through my body every time I remembered that intangible thing. That chilling, deadly presence, capable of killing with a single touch…

And it obeyed me.

Orin strictly forbade me from doing any more astral travel without her careful guidance. Keeping everything I'd seen in mind, I agreed without much of a fight.

But then, one rainy night, it found me on its own.

"No, no, no!.." I muttered under my breath, finding myself in that all-too-familiar place again.

After all my visits, I never would've thought my little paradise could turn into such a traumatic spot for me. In every sense of the word.

Luckily, when I looked around, my fears slowly faded. I was all alone on a wasteland I already knew.

"Get me out of here!" I commanded the creepy whatever, standing guard in nothing but a raggedy old t-shirt and cream-colored granny panties, which was my second unpleasant surprise. Looking down at my bare legs, I gritted my teeth in frustration. "NOW!"

A mocking breeze blew at my back, tousling my already messy hair. I stomped my foot in annoyance, almost stepping on the sharp edge of a small rock.

This time, my stay promised to be a long one…

Unable to believe my luck, I rubbed my sleepy face with my hands.

"Okay, fine. Alone, and thank God for that." I calmed myself down, sighing in relief at the realization that I wouldn't have to fight for my honor and dignity.

Why were my most vivid dreams always so horrible?! And what if Orin was right, and I really was in the astral plane?

That would mean…

I quickly shook my head, trying to chase away all the dark thoughts. My skepticism stubbornly refused to let me admit that this could possibly be so — no matter how convincing the evidence to the contrary.

Remembering that day, I unconsciously touched my cheek. The faint traces of a purple bruise were still visible. The horrifying realization crept over me in the form of goosebumps.

"If that's really true…" I started connecting the dots, against all logic. "I need to get out of here — now!"

I spun around frantically, trying to find the nearest shelter, which turned out to be easier said than done. All that surrounded me was wind-swaying grass and tall trees, which I'd have to reach by walking down a dusty path.

I pursed my lips, sizing up my chances.

If my judgment wasn't failing me, from the looks of it, running into people for help wasn't in the cards for me for at least five miles — that's how far I'd have to trek to get to those towering mountains, where there might be at least one tiny settlement. Luckily, a shimmering lake also spread between us, which meant I had a shot at finding fresh water and maybe even food. All I had to do was get there in a raggedy t-shirt, barefoot, and remember how to fish.

Well, here goes nothing…

I stepped onto the sun-warmed path and almost melted with pleasure.

In my own way, I lived in a jungle too — a concrete one with a bunch of skyscrapers — and I almost never got to enjoy warm sand, except for the occasional trip out of town where the main attraction was a half-dried pond full of toads. Though, to be honest, I'd always loved nature, and peaceful days away from the noisy city circus felt as a reward for all my hard work.

Of course, on the other hand, I'd much rather prefer an actual one — like money, for instance… But that goddamn café!

"Okay, pull yourself together!" I grumbled, losing focus with my wandering thoughts.

Standing on my tiptoes for some reason — probably to make less noise — I ran the first few feet, silently praying I wouldn't trip over my own clumsy legs or step into something slippery and gross. A couple more sprints like that, and I made it to those twisted trees, getting up close to one of them.

Somehow, the massive trunk, which spread into a dense, dome-shaped canopy, was glowing with an azure light as if absorbing it.

"No! It's… giving it off?" I corrected myself, watching a tiny shimmering speck slide confidently under the bark.

It traveled down the twisted trunk like a waterslide, slipped into one of the roots, and vanished underground.

My jaw dropped when I realized this wasn't just a tree — it was the heart of this valley. And it wasn't alone. Similar giants stood a fair distance apart, but close enough to keep every inch of the blooming forest nourished, feeding it with stored-up energy like solar batteries. I counted at least five of them on my way to the lake.

Grabbing a random stick I found, I turned it into a walking cane and kept going.

The lonely path led me steadily toward the mountains, splitting off only once, forcing me to choose between continuing on or stopping by the water.

Obviously, I went with the second option.

Tropical savanna — that's how I'd describe my surroundings — turned out to be pretty welcoming. During my hours of wandering, I spotted a few birds I recognized from pictures of Africa, and only ran across a couple of green snakes peacefully sunbathing. Hearing my cane rustling, they made a wise decision to hide in the grass.

The day slowly slipped into the afternoon, but the mountains still seemed out of reach… Luckily, I at least made it to my first destination.

Spotting the inviting glimmer between the trees, I sprinted toward the lake, scratching my feet on prickly thorns and sweating even more. But I didn't care.

Once I reached the water, I dove right in.

Warm on the surface and cooler below my waist, the lake was deeper than I expected. The crystal-clear water that cooled me down in seconds told me it originated high up in the rocky peaks. How long it had taken to make its way out here, I had no idea, but the size of the lake clearly showed it had been at least a few decades.

Washing my dusty face, I felt the life-giving drops on my cracked, dehydrated lips. An overwhelming thirst hit me.

I scooped up handfuls of water and gulped it down greedily.

"Oh god…" A deep sigh of relief escaped my chest.

I spread my arms and legs, leaned back, and let the shimmering water carry me. Perhaps a reckless decision, but I closed my eyes, allowing myself to relax — just for a moment.

But my little nature retreat didn't last long.

The water I'd swallowed hit my empty stomach like a rock, waking it up and reminding it that it was all alone in there — and me that every move I made had consequences.

Giving in to my hunger, I climbed back to shore and went looking for food, drying off as I walked.

My brilliant plan was to find two things: local edible plants that wouldn't kill me, and supplies to make a fishing rod and start a fire so I wouldn't freeze at night. And while the first part worked out — some cute meerkats led me to low bushes with wild berries that looked like red currants — the fishing gear I had to literally scrape together from sticks and whatever shit I could find.

"Seems edible," I said to myself, tasting a handful of the juicy, slightly tart little berries. Of course, I only ate them after making sure all the rodents were still alive and well after their meal.

Swallowing the chewed berries, I picked up the fishing rod.

"Papou2[2] would've loved to see this…" I muttered, trying to impale the worm I'd dug up.

To sum it up, my fishing gear consisted of a pretty sturdy stick, a thin vine wrapped around it, and a hedgehog-shaped thorn — after stepping on a few of them with my bare feet, I could confirm they were sharp enough to hold a worm. I apologized to the little guy a few times, then hooked the slimy bait, wrapped it around, and cast my makeshift fishing rod as far out into the lake as I could, wading in it up to my knees, just in case.

About twenty minutes later, I was freezing.

"Okay, let's try something else…"

I got back to shore, tied on a longer vine, hooked another worm, and cast again. This time, I sat down on the sand to warm up.

Needless to say, attempt number two was a complete failure as well…

On the bright side, I had plenty of time to examine my scratched-up legs and get laughed at by a passing pelican. Spotting something in the water, it shot down toward the lake like an arrow, and expertly snatched a flopping fish in its huge beak, showing me exactly what a loser I was. The seasoned hunter landed triumphantly on a rock nearby and started swiveling its head, judging me from every angle.

"I'm no ornithologist, but you're what they call a jerk chicken!" I grumbled at it.

The arrogant bird gulped down its catch, quacked mockingly at me, and flew off. I smirked back.

But a second later, my gut told me that it might've been more of a warning…

Animals, especially birds, are pretty sensitive to predators. And knowing my luck, I figured my proud solitude wasn't going to last long.

A loud crack of a broken branch came from behind me.

I gripped my fishing rod tighter, ready to fight off those warriors from before, quickly trying to remember all the anti-muscular-guy moves I'd Googled back in my own dimension. Except I didn't need any of them, because when I turned around, I saw something fangy watching me from the bushes.

A lump of fear stuck in my throat.

Judging by its narrowed, hungry eyes, the creature figured out I was about to bolt. Our staring contest quickly turned into a race for survival.

Gathering every ounce of courage I had, I sprinted toward the forest path on my right.

"DON'T LOOK BACK! DON'T LOOK BACK! DO NOT LOOK BACK!" I begged my curious brain, which was screaming at me to turn around.

Hearing a furious roar behind me, my cracked heels moved even faster.

For some reason, at that moment, I thought my salvation lay deep in the woods. I could hide between the trees, climb up high, or run out onto the main road in some blind hope of finding help. Except to get there, I'd have to cross the sand that conveniently surrounded the lake for about fifteen feet in every direction, turning my run into a pathetic shuffle.

This place was checking off EVERY SINGLE ONE of my nightmares!

Somehow, I made it to the nearest trees. Then I made the mistake of looking back.

The thing chasing me was completely unfamiliar. Charging on all four massive, clawed paws, it bared its fangs — set deep in its skull — and drilled me with two pairs of blood-red, hungry eyes. Spikes as long as horns stuck out from its head, short fur covered its chest and striped back, and its tail was bare and quick as a whip. The upper part of its body was covered in a thin shell, like it was some failed experiment in crossbreeding an armadillo, a lion, and some crazy Cretaceous-period reptile.

"HOLY SHIT!" I squeaked like a pig.

Hearing my pitch, the creature snorted steam from its wide nostrils. After a sight like that, it took everything I had left not to collapse on my shaky legs.

A killer machine the size of a refrigerator was chasing me… Through unfamiliar jungle…

Slowly but surely, panic started to creep up on me.

For a second, I lost control and slapped myself across the face, turning the other side of my cheek crimson.

"PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER!" I held onto my shit-stained panties. "I need to figure out what it can do… Climb trees? Spit poison? Fly?! Nah, probably not. That thing's way too bulky…"

Running through different options in my head, I decided to outsmart the creature using its own lack of agility. But just as I reached the deeper part of the grove, another unexpected twist threw a wrench in my plans.

Losing sight of my pursuer, I glanced back for a second, and missed a twisted root right in front of my feet. I tripped and went flying face-first.

Everything would've been fine, except my adventure wasn't over.

A second later, I was hanging a few feet off the ground, having conveniently landed in some kind of net trap. Shooting upward, it snapped shut around me. I smacked my head on a thick branch.

An enraged roar from the hungry beast sounded below me.

Turns out, I was right — the thing couldn't climb trees. Taking that as a small victory, I threw my head back and sprawled out in the net as much as the space allowed.

"WELL, WELL, WELL…" a loud all-too-familiar male voice drawled from below.

I made a bitter face at the problems about to land on me, noticing that the wild beast had suddenly disappeared — probably scared off by these brutes.

Honestly, understandable.

"LOWER IT!" a commanding order echoed in my half-asleep brain.

A whipping sound arose as the cut rope dropped me to the ground.

I grunted from the impact.

"SEIZE HER!" I heard once again, just before my consciousness faded into darkness from sheer exhaustion.

Chapter 7

When I finally opened my eyes, everything was hazy. I felt the surface beneath me — I was lying on the floor.

"God, did I fall out of bed so hard that I dreamed up all that nonsense?" I thought for a second.

But no such luck.

Expecting to see my painfully familiar bedroom clutter, I tried to push myself up on my hands and flopped right back down, only then realizing they were tied.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" I protested loudly, spitting out some thatch.

"YOU'RE AWAKE?" that now-familiar voice boomed right above my ear, ringing like a monastery bell in a rusty bucket.

I shot an angry glare from under my brows and saw a man in front of me.

As it turned out, my situation was pretty damn grim. I somehow got my pathetic body upright and stared at the stranger through the rusty bars.

"A CAGE?!" I snarled at him, getting a perfectly smug smirk of incredibly straight, almond-shaped teeth in return.

"Just the way you like it!" the warrior sassed me. He raised his thick chestnut eyebrows slightly and nodded at the thin silver chain around my wrists. "Don't even try to teleport. Not a single chance."

I involuntarily mimicked his lecture with a scornful face.

He didn't look like those soldiers who'd beaten me up on the road, but at the same time, he wasn't that different from them either.

Squatting in front of me, the stranger studied me with contempt in his hazel eyes, as if we were old enemies. His thick, chocolate-colored hair — that matched an equally impressive beard — was pulled back into a massive bun, about the size of his pumped-up chest muscles covered in dark fabric and metal guards on his shoulders — probably his most vulnerable spot.

I made a note of that, in case I had to fight him.

Judging by his looks, he wasn't much older than me, and his attitude reminded me of a little boy who'd just gotten a new torture toy. A pretty ancient one, though… I still couldn't tell how far I'd been thrown in time and space.

"General!" a soldier called him from behind. Judging by his rather dull uniform, I figured he was just a regular guard.

The stranger gave an acknowledging nod, then turned back to me.

"Have a nice time!"

I smirked back at him.

The twitch at the corner of his chiseled lips hinted that if he'd had a muzzle on hands, I'd already be wearing it.

My overseer left. But not too far though.

My prison looked more like a medieval pirate dungeon than a modern cell. On either side of me were two more cages, connected by thick bars. And judging from the stone wall the buff jerk had disappeared behind, I was a little past the entrance to this hole stinking of piss and alcohol.

Whoever had been here before me, I didn't want to know…

For entertainment, I had a modest window — also barred, of course — and a stupid chain on my wrists that, despite how thin it was, wouldn't break no matter how hard I tried.

"What are you even made of?!" I muttered under my breath, trying not to draw any attention.

My little jail accessory just glittered mockingly back at me.

After stressing myself out, I shifted my focus to the general. Or more precisely, to his most outstanding feature — his firm ass, brazenly peeking out from behind the right corner of the ceiling alcove like a chocolate candy in latex wrapping.

Judging by the voices, he wasn't alone.

I pricked up my ears, trying to make out what they were saying.

"What are you doing here?" my overseer asked. His tone told me he wasn't exactly thrilled about the unexpected visit.

"What do you think?" countered another voice, much colder.

If I had to describe their dynamic, I'd say it felt like a dance of ice and fire.

"I'll handle it myself! Stay out of this!" the general ordered.

A suppressed growl echoed through the empty stone chamber. My body responded with goosebumps. A very strange feeling…

"I need to see her…" the stranger replied. "Let me through!"

"Haven't you had enough?!" the general shot back with mocking sarcasm. Though, I could have sworn there was a hint of genuine concern in his voice — as though they might have been old friends.

An awkward silence hung in the air.

Then, without getting the desired permission, the unexpected visitor took matters into his own hands. He smoothly ducked under the general's muscular arm, slipped past him toward the spiral staircase, and quickly headed down to the cells.

"RIKER! DAMN IT…"