Dawn painted the mountains in pale gold as three horses left Vale Manor and wound toward the north. Mist clung to the road, swallowing the sound of hooves. I rode in front, Sera beside me, Reiss following with our packs and provisions.
The world here looked almost peaceful—rolling fields, quiet farms, a sky too bright for the kind of story I was trapped in. But every mile we covered pulled us closer to Ardenth, a place whispered about in the novel as the cradle of cursed mana. The spot where the first Vale ancestor had struck a bargain with darkness.
"Are you certain about this?" Sera asked. The wind tugged loose strands of her silver hair. "The last expedition that entered Ardenth never returned."
"Then we'll be the first to do so," I said. "Besides, what better place to understand the curse than where it began?"
She frowned. "You sound too confident for someone who nearly blew himself up yesterday."
"I call it optimism."
Reiss snorted behind us. "I call it madness."
By midday the road narrowed into a path through the forest. The trees grew twisted, their bark streaked black as if burned from within. Even the air changed—thicker, colder, humming faintly with magic. The horses refused to go farther, so we continued on foot.
Every step felt like walking through a memory not my own. Faint voices whispered through the leaves—words I couldn't understand. Sera stopped once, placing a palm against a tree.
"They're not ghosts," she murmured. "They're remnants of mana. So much power leaked here that the forest remembers."
I glanced at her. "You can hear them?"
She nodded. "Not clearly. Just sorrow."
Figures—of course the cursed forest would mourn. Everyone connected to Lucien's bloodline seemed to.
By evening, the ruins of Ardenth appeared between the trees. Broken towers clawed at the sky; shattered runes still glowed faintly along the stone. In the center stood a black altar, half-buried in vines.
"This is it," I said quietly. "The birthplace of the curse."
Sera drew her staff. "The mana is unstable here. Don't touch anything."
Naturally, I ignored that advice. The closer I stepped to the altar, the louder the whispering became—like a thousand voices overlapping.
Then something answered back.
The ground trembled. A fissure split open, spilling shadow like liquid smoke. The air filled with a shriek that wasn't sound but pressure. A shape clawed its way out—a figure of black armor and hollow eyes, taller than any man.
"An echo," Sera gasped. "The curse's guardian!"
I raised my hand, trying to summon mana. It erupted too fast, raw and violent. The guardian swung its blade, a wave of dark energy tearing through the air. I barely dodged; the blast scorched a crater where I'd stood.
Reiss charged, sword flashing. The blow passed through the creature like wind.
"It's pure mana!" Sera shouted. "You can't cut it!"
"Then we'll burn it!" I roared, forcing the curse to obey. Black fire ignited around my arm. It hurt—every nerve screamed—but I hurled it anyway. The fire struck the guardian square in the chest. For a moment it seemed to dissolve—then re-formed, angrier.
Sera slammed her staff into the ground, chanting. Runes flared around the creature, binding it. "Now, Lucien!"
I gathered every scrap of power left inside me and thrust my palm forward."Abyss—Consume!"
The world went white, then black. The roar faded. When my vision cleared, the guardian was gone, leaving only drifting ashes and silence.
I fell to one knee, chest heaving. Sera rushed to my side, grabbing my wrist."Your mana—it's stabilizing."
I looked down. The black smoke that usually crawled over my skin was thinner, calmer. "So fighting it made it listen," I muttered. "Maybe that's all cursed mana is—fear waiting to be faced."
She smiled faintly, relief softening her eyes. "Then you've taken your first step toward mastering it."
We made camp among the ruins. Reiss stood watch while Sera tended a small fire. The flames reflected in her eyes, making them glow gold.
"You risked your life without hesitation," she said. "Why?"
"Because I've died once already," I replied. "Death doesn't scare me anymore. Failing does."
For a while we sat in silence, listening to the forest breathe. Finally she asked, "What will you do if you truly master the curse?"
"Rewrite everything," I said. "The council, the crown, even fate itself."
"That sounds like something a villain would say."
"Maybe." I smiled. "But maybe the world needs a villain who remembers being human."
Her expression softened. For the first time, she didn't look at me like a monster.
Later, when the fire burned low, she touched my arm lightly. "Rest. Tomorrow we return before someone notices we're gone."
I nodded, though sleep felt far away. Above us, the stars shimmered through the mist, cold and endless.
I stared up at them and whispered, "You wanted a villain, didn't you? Then watch closely. This one's not following your script."
Somewhere deep within the ruins, the altar pulsed once—like a heartbeat answering my challenge.