The Daughter of Cursed Steel Chapter 6: Chapter 6: The Weight of a Goddess’s Curse

Read chapter 6 of The Daughter of Cursed Steel by Ashfell on NovelPedia.

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.