Curse

"Why?"

The question seemed to contain all the anguish and confusion that words alone could never fully express. It hung in the air like a dark cloud, its weight pressing down heavily on Ivan's shoulders making it hard to breathe.

The sheer weight of that single word, imbued with a father's grief and disbelief cut through Ivan's heart like a knife.

"Why Ivan?" Berg spoke up again, this time he slowly got to his feet. Turning towards Ivan, his old eyes were filled with tears,

"Master It's not li -" Ivan tried to speak up in his defense, desperate to explain to Berg that the situation was not as it had seemed.

"It's not like what?" Berg's heavy voice resounded, the pressure coming off him increasing by the second as Berg's expression shifted from agony to rage.

"You that I took in a son would do such a thing to me, have I not treated you with love? Have I not raised you like any father would? Yet… yet you do this to me." Berg spoke strongly, his voice softening at the last part.

"Master please, let me explain, it's not like that," Ivan cried out, desperate to prove his innocence, but his pleas didn't seem to move or convince Berg.

"Looking at you right now is so infuriating, I just wish I could slash you right now. I just wish I could do to you what you have done to my son. Berg roared angrily in response to Ivan's pleas. But I can't, I just can't, the time we've spent together won't allow me to. I'm not a killer either." He added difficulty.

"Instead."

With a heavy breath, Berg raised out his right hand and unfolded his hand fully, exposing his aged palm.

A thin line suddenly appeared on the palm and it started bleeding immediately.

Upon seeing Berg's blood Ivan's face paled. He didn't really understand the reasoning behind Berg's actions but his instincts told him it couldn't be anything good.

As soon as a drop of Berg's blood dropped onto the stone-cold floor, the air thickened as he began to speak, his voice sounding ancient as if carrying the weight of centuries-old oaths and vows. The runes on Berg's bracelet pulsed with a light blue hue as Berg's word's echoed in the room.

"On this day, by my blood, I pronounce. On this hour, I snare you, Ivander Rostov Marquez," Berg's voice echoed through the room, each word laden with sorrow and rage.

"Cursed are you by my pain and my grief. You have caused me great loss with the death of my son and you have ended the life of an innocent, Chenai.

"You will never know love, you will never know peace. This burden you will bear till the end of your days. You will thirst for water, but bitter gall will be your drink. You will be despised by men, they will use you and discard you."

"You will have no place to call your home. You will wander the lands with no destination. forever alone." As Berg spoke his voice rose with each word, gusts of wind accompanying every sentence.

It felt like in the grand tapestry of fate strings, there was movement as some strings were disconnecting from each other and finding their way to new strings and connecting them. A heavy aura settled in the room.

As Berg's curse hung heavy in the air, Ivan's pallor grew paler as he felt locked, as if his movements, no…his very destiny, were being restricted. "Master, it's not-"

"LEAVE!" Berg's roar silenced Ivan's protests, his eyes flashing with anguish and resolve as the air around him became unstable, ripples in the space causing a disorienting shift to occur in the atmosphere. The runes on his bracelets pulsed more furiously.

As Ivan took a hesitant step forward, the ripples seemed to distort the air before him. His perception shifted, reality warping as his foot landed. With a disorienting jolt, Ivan found himself cast out from the room, the weight of Berg's curse heavy on his shoulders.

***

In the corridor that led to the western exit of the Haven, Rodbar, Mark, Ara and the Prince, Stefam were all present discussing what should be their next line of action.

They were careful to explain to each other what they understood from the overall situation in the Haven to come up with a concrete plan of action.

At this point, Romnwell was already awake, but he was very quiet. Seeing there was nothing he could do again he resigned himself to faith. After all, there was Mark, Ara and not to mention the prince who so easily took care of him, and there was Rodbar now, there was no way he was going to convince the man to aid him, he was well and truly defeated.

As they were discussing their next line of action, Rodbar and Stefam suddenly felt a disturbance in the space ahead of them. Mark and Ara both felt it, but later than the first two.

Rodbar and Stefam eyed each other with apprehensive gazes and they both took cautious steps back. Rodbar urged Mark and Ara to step back. Ara was confused as to why they were behaving that way, but Mark had an inkling as to why.

The disturbance in the atmosphere intensified each moment, causing the four of them to stare anxiously at the spot where it was. After some seconds the aura from the disturbance became more defined and Rodbar's eyes flashed with recognition.

'Berg? Is he finally coming? Did he find Chenai and his students,'' Rodbar thought to himself silently.

"Stand down everyone, that's Berg's spell."

Rodbar's words caused a wave of relief and anticipation to wash over Mark and Ara.

'Master Berg is fine.' Ara thought with a sigh of relief. "I hope he was able to find Ivan and Dela."

The space began to churn more aggressively and a moment later a figure suddenly appeared before them, his form landing with a stagger as if he were expelled forcefully from a space.

"Ivan?" Ara asked in surprise and elation. "Is that you?"

Ivan stood before the four, the words of Berg's curse still ringing loudly in his ears, his shock and disbelief very evident.

He still unconsciously held on to the bloodied dagger that Chenai had used to stab herself. He didn't seem to realize that there were people In front of him or hear Ara calling out to him.

Romnwell raised his head to look at Ivan and his brows furrowed in surprise when he saw him. What had Romnwell surprised was the dagger in Ivan's hand, but thinking about it deeply, he felt like maybe he wrestled it off someone, dismissing his confusion.

His actions did not escape Stefam's notice, as the young Prince eyed Ivan scrutinizingly.

"Ivan where is Berg," Rodbar's voice beckoned to Ivan. This time he seemed to snap out of his shocked reverie as he finally noticed there were people In front of him.

"Where's Dela and Master Berg?" Judith asked with concern.

"Where's Chenai?" Mark asked also.

The three of them immediately threw questions at Ivan upon seeing him.

Ivan's expression was still dazed, but it suddenly changed to a scowl as Mark uttered 'Chenai,' the name seemingly flipping a switch in him.

Seeing Ivan's strong reaction to Chenai's name being called, the rest of them were a bit surprised as they wondered why he reacted like that. The response caused a slightly tense feeling to fill the atmosphere.

"He seems to be holding the same dagger that the imposters have been using." Prince Stefam's casual voice cut through the tense situation.

Hearing his words, the rest suddenly seemed to notice the dagger in Ivan's hand. Their demeanours suddenly changed as they all stared warily at Ivan.

'Why is he holding that dagger? Why did Berg expel him from where he was? I've known Berg long enough to know that he can't accurately pick a place to transport someone or an object, unless he has prepared beforehand. He isn't all that proficient with his space manipulation. Even if he did, Did Berg know we were here to have sent him here intentionally?''

'It's obvious that's not the case, that means Berg expelled him from his presence intentionally, but it could have been to send him away from danger. Arrgh, this whole situation is confusing me.' Rodbar thought to himself with a confused expression.

"Where's Chenai?" Mark asked again, his voice this time sounding not so friendly.