Copyright J.B. Norman
“Look out!” Prima cries as the door opens. “A witch! Quick, Vera, splash water on her so she melts!”
“Yes!” Vera exclaims as she reaches for the nearest glass of water.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Kat says, putting herself between Vera and the newcomer stepping into the room.
Right in time to get splashed by the water.
“This,” Kat tells Vera, wiping her now-soaked hair out of her face, “is Tenebella. She’s her to help us.”
“Who are they?” Prima asks, pointing to the five figures behind Tenebella.
“These are the Four Horsemen of Castle Ansangaar,” Tenebella declares.
“But there’s five of them.”
“Gwaedbran is a woman. She objects to being classified as a Horseman,” Tenebella says.
She turns to Kat.
“Hold still,” she says, waving her hand and conjuring a hot, desert wind to dry Kat off.”
“S-sorry,” Vera mutters.
“Now,” Tenebella says. “I believe there is an orb you need assistance with.” She looks over her shoulder. “Horsemen—”
“Hey-ho!” Tenebella’s five guardians call back.
“Stand guard.”
“Hey-ho!”
Kat leads Tenebella over the to the table where they’ve got the Orb of Cursemodias as safely secured as possible beneath a bucket with a bunch of big rocks and thick books piled on top.
“Orb’s here,” Kat says. “I’ll be over there, as far away from the Orb as possible. Have fun, Tenebella.”
Like a child unwrapping her Wintermorn present, Tenebella removes the pile of big, heavy things from the bucket, then lifts away the bucket itself, her hands trembling the whole time.
She gasps and her eyes go wide.
“This is the Orb of Cursemodias!” Tenebella exclaims. “It was thought to be lost when the oceans drank Caer Innis!”
“That sounds bad. Did, uh, did the Orb do that?” Kat asks cautiously.
“According to the legends, the sorcerer Cursemodias was trying to save Caer Innis,” Tenebella says, gingrly running her hands over the orb.
“Cursemodias was a good guy?” Prima exclaims.
Vera nods along in agreement. “I know, right? Curse-modias?”
“I suppose we cannot know for certain,” Tenebella admits. “For it was long away and much was lost in the downfall of that fair city.”
She frowns.
“But not the Orb itself, apparently.”
“Can you help us with it?” Kat asks hopefully.
“Ah, you wish to unlock the secrets and powers of the Orb,” Tenebella says, nodding thoughtfully. “I will assist how I may, but I fear such an object of great power is beyond my skills.”
“No!” Kat cries. “That is the last thing we want! We want you to help us keep it locked!”
Tenebella rolls her eyes. “Kat, you’ll never become a supreme master of the eldritch lore an redes of the elder days like that.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Kat mutters.
“Very well,” Tenebella says. “As a collector of the strange and ancient, I hereby lay claim to the Orb of Cursemodias. I shall bear it back to Castle Ansangaar, where my father’s foremost curseologists shall devote their full study to it.”
“Alright,” Prima says. “Road trip!”
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