Conway's Curse (8 page)

Tion ran and spun around as he snatched up his pike. The miniature sun guttered, and Tion saw the wizard collapse to his knees. Conway pushed what was once again just a heavy skillet off his chest and sat up. He crawled to the wizard’s side, and Tion saw the woof turn in their direction. “Conway! Look out!” he shouted as the woof gave up trying to dislodge the pike and advanced on the men. Silent except for the clacking of its claws on stone, the beast ran, and Tion screamed. He threw his pike, but the woof only howled as the weapon buried itself in its opposite flank. The woof crashed into the wizard, knocking him to the ground. Blood welled as claws raked the ragged wizard warrior. Wylde scrabbled on his back as the woof regained its feet and slowly advanced. The wizard kicked at its dripping muzzle, but the beast still advanced. It pressed one clawed paw against the wizard’s chest, pinning him to the ground, and opened its jaws wide. Blood and foam dripped from its fangs to land, smoking, on the wizard’s tattered clothing.

“
No!
” Conway screamed and scrambled toward the beast. As the woof bent its head to tear the wizard’s face off, he screamed again. “Leave him alone!”

White light exploded throughout the entire square. It spread like wildfire, snuffing out the little blue sun as easily as a child snuffs a candle, and coalesced into a ball, touching villager, house, and shop as though it were searching for an outlet for its rage. To Tion, it seemed to roll lazily until Conway’s desperate cry rang out. Straight as an arrow, the ball shot across the square and slammed into the woof with the force of a hurricane as it burst, throwing shards of brilliance in all directions. The woof’s surprised yelp was abruptly cut off as it hurtled through the honey wagon, through a cottage, and literally splashed against a tight wall of trees.

Kail bounced and sloshed away from the impact as the honey wagon momentarily held its shape, complete with gaping hole through the tank, and then collapsed in on itself, spewing spew in all directions. He woke, dazed, dripping, and disgusted. Tion ran to his side despite the smell. “Kail, are you all right?”

Kail held his arms away from his sides and stared at Tion. “Well, fuck a nymph. Isn’t this how we got started?”

Dawn’s
break was anticlimactic in the aftermath of the woof’s demise. By its light, Tion helped Kail to his feet, laughing and crying with an excess of emotion. Together they staggered toward Conway and Wylde, dripping and shaking in each other’s arms.

“Conway, are you all right?” Tion asked as he stood beside the wizard and his friend. Conway’s face held a mixture of longing and regret as he held Wylde, but he nodded.

Villagers began clustering around the quartet, murmuring softly. Someone gave Kail a bucket of water, which he promptly dumped over his head, groaning at the chill. Tion doffed his shirt and wiped his partner’s face with it.

“Wylde, can you stand?” Conway spoke softly, sweeping the wizard’s lank hair from his face as he cradled the warrior.

Wylde opened his eyes and promptly wrinkled his nose. “What’s that smell?”

“It’s my curse,” Conway said sadly. “It’s always bad luck for someone.”

“Then it was also good luck for someone else.” Wylde struggled to his feet with Conway’s help. “These things always balance.”

Conway’s face lit up. “They do?”

The wizard nodded sagely. “And speaking of balance….” He clasped his hand behind Conway’s head and drew him in for a kiss. “I’ve wanted to do that since I first laid eyes on you,” he said when he let go.

Conway’s face suffused with more than early morning light, and his mouth dropped open. Wild suspicion in Tion’s gut finally gave fruit, and the sprite laughed. “Go on, lad, kiss him back!”

Hesitantly at first, then with eager conviction, Conway kissed the wizard. Tion felt Kail’s arm slip around his waist, and together they watched the first blush of color swirl around the two men. In minutes, as the blood from their wounds mingled on their faces, the blush deepened to a shade of rose that stained their cheeks with happy anticipation.

One of the villagers spoke, pointing a finger at Wylde. His voice was a ghastly, gasping mixture of outrage and disgust. “Why, he ain’t nothing but a feckless rump wrangler! That jus’ ain’t natural!”

The wizard’s face contorted angrily, and he gently pushed Conway toward the sprites. Wylde dashed at the blood dripping down his cheek with his palm. He stared at the red smear in his hand for a moment and then, without warning, balled his fist and threw the stain at the chubby man. Bright blue light imploded, and the villager shrieked as the brilliance compressed around him, collapsed in on him, and swallowed him whole. Like a living thing that had eaten foulness, the swirling light barfed the still-shrieking man back out, only now the shrieks were decidedly less than human.

“The only thing unnatural here is your apparent inability to appreciate the fact that my friends saved your
feckless
ass from a woof that frightened you like a scared rabbit. Best you be one.” Wylde waved his hand negligently, and the swirling blue light dissipated, leaving a rather plump hare where the villager had once stood. It keened like a cornered rabbit and then bolted across the square and disappeared beneath the baker’s porch.

Wylde slumped, and Conway caught him before he fell. Together they sagged back down onto the scorched stones. Tion and Kail took up defensive positions to either side of the pair, both glaring at the wide circle of staring faces.

“Well, I’m impressed.” A man spoke up as he pushed his way through the crowd. “My name’s Trager.” He held his hand out to Conway, who shook it gingerly. “I didn’t think there was a man alive who could shut that fool up.” He paused long enough to throw a significant glare around the loose circle. It touched a few and outright slapped a few more before returning to its owner like a boomerang. Trager held out his hand to Wylde, who looked at it dully before Conway nudged his shoulder and the wizard clasped it, briefly. “Tell you the truth, I don’t know which was worse, Wylde. The woof, or that guy. One herded everybody together in fear, and the other tried to divide everybody with fear. Neither was a good thing.”

Tion relaxed, and Kail followed his lead. Conway glanced briefly toward where the villager had disappeared, then murmured to Wylde. “Will he stay like that forever?”

Wylde looked up into Conway’s earnest face and smiled. “You truly are the balance of me, aren’t you.” It wasn’t a question. “No, the spell is only temporary. I haven’t the strength to make it permanent.” The wizard’s smile widened to a grin. “I suppose someone should coax him out of there, though, before he changes back. Not a lot of room under that porch, I think.”

“It’d serve him right,” Kail said, laying his hand on Wylde’s shoulder and grinning at Tion. “He was right enough about the wrangler bit, but nobody calls my friend feckless.”

Marvin
, Trager, and several men Tion didn’t know trudged up the stairs with buckets of steaming water.

“They should be just about done,” Conway said. “After a hot bath and some sleep, you’ll be good as new.”

Wylde grinned. “I’m all for the bath, but I don’t think I’ll be getting too much sleep any time soon.” He clasped one of Conway’s hands and kissed it.

Conway looked puzzled, and Kail groaned. “He wants you naked, Oaf.”

“Duh,” Conway said. “I don’t plan on taking a bath with my clothes on.”

Tion laughed. “Leave it be, Kail. He’ll figure it out. Don’t you remember our first time?”

Kail flushed. “How could I forget? You were so smart, and me saying, ‘You want to put what, where?’” He peered at Conway, who still looked confused. Kail shook his head sadly. “The state of education these days,” he muttered.

“Wylde, there’s one thing I still don’t understand.” Tion looked at Conway, then at the wizard. “Given what you said earlier, I thought Conway’s curse was only rogue magic, but that fireball he produced, that was something more, wasn’t it?”

Wylde nodded. “More, as in he has more natural ability than I do, if that’s what you mean.”

Conway looked startled. “Do you mean it? I can do magic?”

Wylde chuckled. “I’ll be hard pressed to keep you from it.”

“Then maybe I’ll be able to change the guys back to their proper size.”

“Hold up, Oaf.” Kail stood on his chair to meet Conway’s gaze head on. “I don’t know about Tion, but I like being big enough to kick your ass.”

It was Wylde’s turn to look startled. He looked at Kail, then at Conway, who shook his head, smiling. “Never mind. I’ll tell you later.”

Kail planted his fists on his hips. “What I want to know is, what’s with all those damned scrolls?”

Wylde the Wandering Warrior Wizard blushed as deeply and as thoroughly as Conway once had. “It was the first spell I ever cast. It was supposed to help me find the one person I needed as much as he needed me.” He glanced at Conway. “Only I was sloppy. Instead of saying ‘a person whose need was
like
mine’, I said ‘a person whose need was
as great as
mine’. Plus, I forgot to specify that the person had to be male.” He brightened and winked at Tion. “There were a
lot
of scrolls.”

Marvin called down from the balcony as Trager and the strangers filed down the stairs. “It’s ready, boys. First come, first served!”

“You go,” Conway said. “I’ll keep the sprites company until you’re done.”

“I have a much better idea.” Wylde winked at Kail. He took Conway’s hand and led him to the stairs. They were nearly to the top when Tion heard Conway gasp and Wylde laugh.

One of the strangers commented to the other as they left the inn. “I should’a brought my wife here for our honeymoon. I had no idea the tub was that big.”

Kail watched them leave. “You know, by the time those two figure things out, the water’ll be cold, and it sounds like there’s enough room.”

“You are still kind of stinky,” Tion agreed. “Why not?”

Kail leaped from the bench, and Tion followed in hot pursuit.

“Have fun, boys,” Marvin called as they ran past him and down the hall to their room.

Tion
and Kail trooped into the bathing room with towels draped over their shoulders and nothing else on. Wylde started and grabbed a towel to cover himself. “Hey! What’s the big idea?”

Kail rolled his eyes. “Humans and their morals,” he said to Tion. “I don’t see what the fuss is. The tub is plenty big enough,” he said, splashing hot water at Wylde. To Conway he added, “He’s a bit of an oaf, isn’t he?”

Wylde glared down at Kail. “I can hear you, you know.”

Conway smoothed the frown from the wizard’s face with the palms of his hands. “Trust me,” he said, laughing. “He knows.”

Born during one of the worst fires in L.A. history,
Patric Michael
escaped to the foothills of the Cascade Range where the world is a lot more green, even in summer.

His wide-ranging and varied career, from ship building to making special effects movie props, has given him enough material for a lifetime of stories.

He constantly reinvents himself with each new thing he creates. Now, it is as a writer of what he loves to read, but only when he can convince the cat that his keyboard isn’t the only place in the house to sleep.

Visit Patric’s web site at http://www.patricmichael.com and his blog at
http://blogs.patricmichael.com
.