Zombie and the Beast

- 6 -

After riding uphill for almost two hours, Lara finally reached the old intersection she'd been looking for. One of its legs had been blocked with a low stone wall ages ago. It led to the village of Alstein, which was situated at the border of the cursed forest of Shinseg.

Lara hid the bike in the bushes and adjusted the straps of her backpack, hesitating. There was a good reason the road that once lead to the little village had long been abandoned and invaded by plants. No one dared going to Alstein. Of course, that meant it would be the perfect hiding place. She could definitely stay there until she looked alive enough to be able to take the boat home. If Cal had come back after visiting it, so would she. She took a careful first step between the trees, almost expecting them to grab her and pull her into the deepest, darkest parts of the forest. A giant mouth suddenly opening under her feet, ready to swallow her whole, wouldn't really have surprised her either.

Nothing happened. She exhaled and took a few more steps, listening intently to the forest's sounds. Lara walked amongst calling birds, rustling leaves, and humming bees, just like she would have at home. She pulled down the hood of her sweater and took her time to study her surroundings. The forest seemed much more normal than expected. Then again, no one knew where exactly the curse of Shinseg started. Filled with all kinds of plants and flowers, the forest would be the perfect place for her to find the ingredients she needed to make more healing potions. She wondered how far she could go into it without becoming cursed and disappearing forever.

Soon, she walked into the village. She bit her lower lip and looked around. Surprisingly clean streets led to perfectly preserved houses. White with red roof tiles, they contrasted nicely with the trees and green moos that covered the lawns. Insects buzzed over tiny purple flowers that smelled like honey while birds sang from rooftops and windowsills, bringing some life to the village. Lara shivered as she walked by a woman, frozen in an eternal run. She was looking behind, her eyes wide and mouth fixed in a silent scream.

Alstein was said to have been cursed around the same time that the kingdom of Shinseg had disappeared, together with everyone who had been visiting it at the time. Some of the village's inhabitants, probably even all of them, had been turned to stone. Lara walked through the quiet streets, shuddering at the ghastly expressions of those she walked by. They ranged from surprised to terrified, forever stuck in place.

"What happened here?" she asked a man who had fallen backwards against a wall, his arms raised defensively and his face contorted in a mix of pain and fear. She wondered if he could hear her. She turned away, hoping for his sake that he couldn't. Spending eternity like this, aware of what was happening, would be much worse than death.

She reached the village's centre. The market place was still decorated with lanterns and cloth flags that had long lost their colours to the sun's rays. A few wooden booths were placed on the side, advertising all kinds of mouth-watering specialities. Most of the villagers were gathered there, standing in front of a stage with their mouth agape and eyes wide. The rest were scattered around a wishing tree, whose branches were decorated with tiny dragon amulets and silky ribbons.

Behind the stage and a row of houses was the forest, much closer to the village's centre than Lara would have imagined. A narrow road lead into it, its tiny cobblestones as free of dirt and weeds as the rest of the streets in the village. Light and shadows played on it every time the wind found its way through the trees' crowns, like the ghosts of those who once walked on it. Lara shivered and looked away.

Leaving the eerie scene behind, Lara started looking for a house to hide in. She could still remember vividly the first time she'd heard about this century old curse. Cal had told her about it shortly after she'd arrived, eager to show her why people in her town distrusted Dragon-Magic so much and warn her about ever using it. She hadn't meant to anyways. Her parents had made sure she knew that, although Isladians hadn't stolen their Dragon-Magic, they were also prohibited from using it in every last kingdom of Centrix, just like the few descendants of the Magic thieves that had survived centuries of oppression and the Great Purge. Her parents wouldn't have let her travel without a promise not to do anything that could put her at risk.

Cal had sat with her at the kitchen table, his expression somber as he'd described the village.

"It's curses like this one that caused the Great Purge 200 years ago," he'd said that day. "Once in a while, people who were treated worse than dirt and never learned to control Dragon-Magic and their feelings would explode... That's what people here associate with Dragon-Magic. That's why people thought my father was crazy when he married my mother. That's also why I never contradict people who assume I don't have Dragon-Magic because I'm his son and why you should always be careful."

"I've never heard of a curse like that on Islada. What kind of curse is it? How did it happen?" had asked Lara quietly.

"No one knows what happened or why... It looks like the villagers' energy is being used for another spell, like they are permanently being drained of their energy. If that's really the case, the only way to free them would be to break that spell. That doesn't explain why they turned to stone, though."

"Can we help?"

"I'm afraid not," had answered Cal. "I've been to Alstein a few times since moving from Islada and nothing ever changed, no matter what I tried. I think it might be related to the curse of Shinseg, since it's at the border of that kingdom. I never dared look for the source though, since no one has ever come back from those woods."

Lara bit her lower lip, hoping for the sting to take away the pain brought by thinking about Cal. He'd cared for her from the moment she had arrived, quickly becoming like a second father to her. Not only had he shared his knowledge with enthusiasm, fully supporting her idea of bringing Symbiolism to Islada, but he'd also believed her and taken her to the guards right away when she'd mentioned Mark's bullying.

Lara stopped walking in front of a house that was far enough from any of the stony inhabitants for her not to feel permanently watched. A squirrel scurried past her. She opened the door and walked in. The house smelled of flowers and oranges. Sunlight came in through the windows, illuminating a tidy room that seemed to have been used as living room and kitchen at the same time. Lara frowned and swiped her hand on the surface of a chest of drawers. Why was everything so clean? Shouldn't there be dust everywhere? She had never heard of any spell that could preserve everything this perfectly. She wondered how it was possible, despite all the plants, animals, and insects. Surely there should be at least some pollen or dirt in the houses after centuries of being abandoned.

Too exhausted to try and figure it out, she pushed the chest of drawers in front of the door, just in case the village's inhabitants decided to move while she was sleeping. Then, she opened every door until she found a bedroom. The bed looked comfortable, with smooth white sheets. She put down her backpack and fell on top of the mattress, finally giving way to her emotions. She let all of her fears out - of rotting alive, of never being able to see her parents again, of having caused Cal's arrest, of being found and executed... She cried until her eyes burned and her throat hurt. She fell asleep sobbing.