The Reaper's Curse #1 - Complete

Blue Eyes

Night has fallen by the time they reach the wall, the shadows cold and wretched. Alicia faces them with a little more bravery with Oliver at her side, a steady presence that keeps her hands from shaking and her mind from wandering.

Jumping down from her horse, she stares up at that imposing wall, knowing what lies beyond that ancient stone but not wanting to accept it just yet. She turns to her horse—taking a breath—and begins grabbing her supplies from the saddle, intent on ignoring whatever hurts she's feeling to get through this ordeal with something of herself intact.

All they need to do now is find an entrance to the tomb from the outside, which shouldn't be too hard considering she already knows where one is. She was just never brave enough as a child to wander into it, even when her brothers dared her to. She was raised on the Traveller stories and she wasn't going to test the validity of them.

She faces the wall as Oliver lights a lantern and holds it up. It does nothing to light the monstrous wall that resides over them, trapping them in its shadow.

"I used to come here frequently as a girl," she says, needing to fill the quiet with something other than the croak of insects and the drum of her pulse in her throat. "My brothers and I would try to climb to the top. But we'd always get to a height where we'd get too scared to go any further."

"No one's ever climbed it," Oliver tells her, a fact she knows now but didn't as an excited little girl, eager to best her brothers at everything. The further up the wall, the smoother the stone gets, either made that way by water and rain, or sanded down to prevent anyone from climbing. The wall is as old as Muovea itself, so no one really knows.

For so long it stood as a useless barrier, a shield from the sun, something to throw stones at, a damper for the market in some residences where it blocked the view of the sky. But now they'd all be dead without it.

Perhaps the Faceless queen knew of the trials they'd have to face.

"Come on," Oliver says, snapping her from her reverie. "Let's find that entrance."

Removing the saddles from their horses and letting the animals roam free lest Grey Bloods happen upon them, Alicia and Oliver starts towards the thick shrubbery that surrounds the darkened crack in the stone.

Maybe if her brothers were here to dare her onwards, she'd feel fewer nerves with the need to prove herself. But they're not here and she's just a girl wandering into the dark, knowing there are monsters in the shadows that don't take kindly to strangers.

She never thought she'd be stupid enough to go back into the tomb.

They clear the weeds together and after some time they reveal the tunnel. Alicia's conviction weakens as she gazes into the mouth of darkness.

Oliver's hand brushes against hers, the lightest touch that manages to arc sparks across her skin. She looks up at him, steadying her breath as he watches her, studying her face, that worried glint in his eyes. She won't get used to that look, not when it's for her expense.

Alicia smiles softly at him and even has the nerve to intertwine their fingers, squeezing his in reassurance. They move towards the tunnel, Oliver's lantern barely piercing the dark. Her heart warms slightly as Oliver keeps a hold of her hand.

Their steps echo against the stone that curves around them, throwing the noise they're making back at them. Alicia's heart picks up its pace, the tunnel just as foreboding as it was when she was last here.

She's suddenly very thankful that Oliver doesn't let go of her hand.

They wander further into the cold, musty air, the stench throwing her back six years. She was still a child then. She feels like a child now.