The Daughter of Cursed Steel Chapter 7: Chapter 7: Descent into Madness

Read chapter 7 of The Daughter of Cursed Steel by Ashfell on NovelPedia.

Chapter 7: Descent into Madness Weeks and months passed. Elyndra became Rachel’s mentor. They spent long days practicing spells in the open fields, the sky tinted gold by the setting sun. Rachel struggled, her hands trembling as she tried to control her mana. Rina stepped into the room as Rachel was getting lessons from Elyndra. Elyndra noticed Rina’s approach and turned toward Rachel. “Go ahead and take a break. I am going to speak to your mother for a moment.” Rachel nodded. “Yes, Auntie Elyndra. I will get myself a snack and be back in a bit.” Elyndra smiled at her. “That is a good girl. Go on, then.” As Rachel left the desk she was sitting at, she turned and ran out of the room, full of energy. Elyndra fluttered closer to Rina as she looked at her worriedly. “So how are you feeling? I can tell by the dark circles underneath your eyes. Are you still struggling from that voice or whatever it is?” “Yes,” Rina said. “No matter what I do, nothing helps. The only thing I can do is take some potions to help numb my mind. I had an alchemist create some mind-numbing potions for me. That is the only thing I can do to stop myself from going crazy from whatever this thing is.” Rina let out a tired sigh before continuing. “But anyways, I came here to see how Rachel has been doing. Is she getting any closer to learning healing magic?” Elyndra looked down as she sighed. “No, not at all. She is not gifted in magic. So far, she has been unsuccessful at conjuring healing spells. It might take a few more years before she can successfully cast even a basic healing spell, or any spell for that matter, but with all the effort she has been putting in, she should eventually get it. We just have to keep encouraging her, and eventually she will be able to cast it.” As they were continuing to talk, all of a sudden, the sound of shattering glass came from the kitchen, along with a loud, painful scream from Rachel. Rina and Elyndra quickly turned toward the direction of the sound as they ran to see what had happened. As they entered the kitchen, they saw Rachel with a giant gash above her left eye. Shattered glass covered the kitchen floor, and blood was splattered across the corner of the kitchen table. Rachel looked extremely scared as she stumbled around the kitchen, looking completely disoriented while blood streamed down her face. “Mommy… where are you? I cannot see,” Rachel cried, reaching blindly with shaking hands. Rina’s scream tore from her throat. She rushed to her daughter, holding her as gently as she could, terror gripping her heart. “I am here. I am right here, Rachel.” Elyndra quickly fluttered over, examining Rachel, as Rina did her best to stop the blood leaking from the giant gash above her left eye. It only took one look from Elyndra to notice that the light in Rachel’s eyes was gone. Rina looked at Elyndra worriedly. “What is wrong with her?” Elyndra held her hand up as magic pulsed from her palm, quickly scanning Rachel’s body as she spoke. “She was struck with a modified curse of blindness. It seems another one of the dormant curses within her body has become activated, but this one will not stay active for long. This curse seems to have a duration and should go away within an hour or two, but the curse also seems to have a random activation, so she will need to be more careful, as it can afflict her at any time.” Rina then started to have a massive headache as an accursed voice slithered through the back of her mind, speaking to her like it always did. Look, another curse placed on your child. How many more are you going to allow to affect her before you finally accept my deal? The voice continued to whisper like poison in her ears. She is only going to get worse and worse, and you will never find a cure for her. So just take my power, and we can end the goddess once and for all. “Get out of my head. I need to care for my daughter right now.” Years had gone by as Rachel studied under Elyndra, and the time had finally come where