The Weight of a Curse

Would you be able to fight against your fate despite knowing the inevitable end? I still wonder what kind of story I want to write in this book. What would be the best way to convey all these emotions accumulated in my chest, swirling within me like a storm?

The Zephirion Empire has been the guardian of humanity for countless generations. A kingdom sustained by the power of Caleus, the God of Creation, who protects the balance of this world. His blessing grants power to the four Ducal Houses, which are under the emperor's supervision and maintain stability within the Empire. However, every five hundred years, this balance is threatened.

The Void is the origin of chaos. It is an existence older than the gods, an abyss of darkness that seeks to consume all of creation. It manifests in the world through Rifts, fractures in the barrier that separates reality from the abyss. From them, nightmare creatures emerge, monsters that destroy and corrupt everything in their path.

To seal these Rifts, the priests of the Temple of the Sky use divine power to purify them. However, the appearance of these fractures always leaves consequences, and one of the most feared and well-known is the Curse of the Void.

Each time the Rifts open, some children are born marked by their influence. It is said that they are fragments of the abyss, infiltrated into the world, for when the Rifts disappear, they die as if absorbed back into them. The Temple of the Sky has decreed that these children are abominations and must be exterminated before their mere existence corrupts the world and its inhabitants.

Throughout history, hundreds of them have been hunted and mercilessly executed. The records of their very existence have been erased. They are like shadows, like whispers in the hallways of the Empire's history.

But this story is not about those who were erased. This is the story of the girl who defied fate itself.

On a cold winter night, in the slums of the Empire, a dark-haired, pale-skinned woman named Elara—whose name means 'Bright Star' in the ancient tongues—clung to the hope of a new life. Her life as a prostitute had left invisible scars, but when she found out she was pregnant, she saw in her daughter an opportunity to escape that world. However, that hope turned into horror when she discovered the dark mark on the lower part of her daughter's left wrist.

Her daughter had been born with the Curse of the Void.

Elara felt her breath hitch.

"No... it can't be...", she whispered.

With a broken voice. Terror struck her immediately. She knew what happened to cursed children; she had seen them ripped from their mothers' arms and burned in public squares. She couldn't allow that to happen to her daughter.

She turned to the only person she could trust—the midwife who had helped her give birth.

"Please, say nothing...", she begged with tears in her eyes. "I will do anything… anything, just... just let me go."

The midwife, an elderly woman, gently took her hand and nodded calmly. This filled Elara with hope, as she believed that, for the moment, everything would be fine.

The woman finished tending to her and walked towards the door, and as she left, a smile could be seen on her face.

The Temple of the Sky offered great rewards to anyone who turned in the cursed ones from the Void, as their mission was to eliminate them. This meant that friends and families were often easily betrayed because of this.

...

Hours later, Elara woke up to the sound of horse hooves pounding in the streets of the slums. She remained still, her instincts screaming at her—she had to run. A few minutes later, a loud knock shook the door of the ramshackle room where she was staying.

"Open in the name of the Temple of the Sky!", roared a firm voice from outside.

Elara felt the world crumble around her.

"No… please, not now...", she murmured, hugging her daughter tightly.

Without thinking further, she took a tattered cloak and wrapped her daughter in it, making sure to conceal her mark.

When the door burst open, the knight saw her—she was already jumping out the back window. She slid over the rooftop and fell with difficulty into an alley while hearing the soldier shouting to his companions.

"She jumped out the window… go around the back."

The cold bit at her skin as she ran through the dark alleys. The sound of the soldiers chasing her filled the air. Fear and despair were evident on her face. In the distance, the bells of a faraway town rang ominously, accompanied by shouts and torches shaking in the darkness.

"Stop the woman! She carries a cursed one from the Void!", "Find the impure one! There can be no forgiveness for the cursed of the Void!", the soldiers shouted as they searched the slums.

Elara swallowed her fear and kept running, forcing her legs to move faster. Her breath came in ragged gasps. She knew that if they caught her, there would be no mercy for either her or her daughter.

The baby in her arms stirred with a weak whimper. The newborn had barely been born hours ago, her cry just a murmur carried away by the wind. A black mark lay on her, a cursed symbol that condemned her existence from the very first breath.

Elara continued running through the alleys of the red-light district, trying to hide from the temple knights, but it was useless. If she wanted to escape them, she would have to leave the district and go somewhere new, leaving behind everything she had ever known. But there was no time for doubt—now the most important thing was to keep her daughter safe.

With determination, Elara veered towards a bridge, her feet slipping on the wet stones, running without looking back.

"You will not escape, impious woman!", shouted a group of soldiers, blocking her path ahead.

Torches illuminated her figure as another group of soldiers appeared behind her—she was surrounded. With desperation in her eyes, she looked around. There was only one option left.

"My little one... I am so sorry...", she whispered, lowering her gaze.

Taking one final deep breath and holding her daughter tightly, she jumped into the freezing water.

The impact against the water was brutal. The current dragged her violently, but she never let go of her child.

"Hold on, my love... hold on...", she pleaded, struggling to keep both of them afloat.

The voices of the soldiers faded as the current carried them away from danger. Elara swam with all her strength until her body could take no more. She found a shore, and with the last of her strength, she dragged herself out of the water, cradling her daughter against her chest.

"We will live... we will find a home... I promise", she said to her little one, holding her tightly and kissing her forehead, as she fought against pain and exhaustion.

...

After days of exhausting travel, with her body weakened and hope dwindling, the icy wind of the night blew through the forest. The moon, pale and distant, barely illuminated the rocky path where a woman trudged with difficulty. Her arms clutched her small child wrapped in tattered blankets, her heart pounding in the same frantic rhythm.

By nightfall, Elara arrived at a small, remote village, far enough away to be beyond the Temple's direct control. There, she was discovered by the village chief while wandering the outskirts—a man hardened by years of struggle and harsh life. He immediately recognized her as a stranger.

"Looks like you haven't eaten in days...", the man said in a gruff voice. "I don't want trouble in my village...", he continued as he observed her.

"P-please… we have nowhere else to go…", she said with a broken, tired voice, struggling to stay on her feet.

The man fell silent for a moment as he tried to see her better in the darkness. When the moon emerged from behind the clouds, its light revealed the terrible state she was in, and also the tiny creature she held in her arms as if it were her greatest treasure.

"I don't care who you are or where you come from. Just follow the village's rules, and you will have a place to stay", the man said, lowering his gaze and stepping back.

Elara nodded, barely able to contain the tears of relief.

"Thank you... truly, thank you", she said with a trembling voice, trying to keep her composure.

The village chief guided her to his home, where he offered her temporary shelter and a warm meal for herself and her daughter. Once again, Elara thanked the chief for giving them a chance to live.

After dinner, he showed them a room they could use for the night, bid them farewell, and left them to rest.

In the darkness of the room, Elara broke into sobs as she realized they had survived. She clutched her little girl tightly as she gazed out the window and whispered a prayer of gratitude.

"T-thank you... thank you…"

Then, she looked down at her little one sleeping peacefully in her arms and smiled, making a decision.

"Your name will be Lyria... which means freedom", she said as she gently brought her face close to her baby.

"My greatest wish is that you may be free from the fate that has been imposed upon you", she murmured, lifting her gaze once more to the sky, as if pleading for someone to fulfill that wish.

And so, Elara and Lyria managed to settle in that village. The chief gave them an empty cabin on the outskirts of the village, which would be their new home. As time passed, they slowly integrated into the community, always living with the constant caution that one day, the past might catch up with them. And it would.

!!CRACK!!

The sky seemed to fracture as if reality itself was breaking apart. The fate that Elara had feared was drawing near, creeping ever closer to the village.