Curse of Rule Breakers

The lady hit the floor with her staff and bowed slightly, "I apologize for the delay in my arrival, I was a bit busy." She said caressing the ring on her hand.

"Lady Jade, that is not a proper way of presenting yourself in the court." Lord Rene furrowed his eyes at her.

"Brother Rene, as I've told you…I was busy with the matters of magic surrounding the forest." She raised her brow in frustration.

Sighing and ignoring her brother, she turned her attention to the crown prince once more, "My name is Jade Norwell, younger twin sister of Lord Rene and I am the court magician of the northern palace."

Eidan acknowledged her arrival and addressed straight to the matter at hand. "Will you cast a spell to create a barrier around the forest?"

"I have already done that your highness." She replied.

"Then it is decided, Lord Rene," Eidan turned to Lord Rene, "And Lady Jade…you are to assist me in this case."

"Yes, understood." Both said in loud voices.

......….

"The people of the court still do not approve of just the three of us going into the forest." Lady Jade puffed out the words.

"I know, but the prince is known for his right judgments and decisions, he is also a strong swordsman with exceptional magic abilities, so with us two he will need not worry much." Lord Rene walked beside her.

"Hmm, isn't his highness younger than the way he talks? I almost thought he was older than you."

"He is young, but we should not think too much as age is unrelated."

"Are you not going to worry about me?" She teased poking him with her staff.

"This isn't the matter to be discussed." He left her and picked up his pace.

"Huh…you!" Jade ran after him but soon they both came to a halt. Prince Eidan was standing outside the palace gates and turned his attention to the two approaching behind him.

The crown prince didn't pay attention to the quarreling duo and simply stated, "Good…you are here, we are to depart now."

"Your highness, were we not supposed to go in the morning?" Lord Rene asked in confusion.

"It is best that we act now when few eyes are monitoring us." Prince Eidan spoke in a low tone.

"Your highness just arrived at the palace a few hours ago and must take some rest." Lord Rene suggested.

"I will rest well after I have dealt with this Lord Rene." Prince Eidan disregarded his concern.

'So he's the kind that is secretly rebellious.' thought Lady Jade.

She raised an eyebrow but didn't question any further. "We are at your command, Your Highness." The twins whispered.

They mounted the horses and under the moonlight, they set off for the forest. Once they reached the outer edge, the light purple glow covered the whole forest. "Only those can enter who are permitted by me." Lade Jade told them.

Eidan moved forward and with a little push, he went inside.

"So you really were busy." Lord Rene admired her work and then both of them entered together. They saw Eidan moving forward with great care and observation.

"What concentration this young prince has." tilting her head, Lady Jade looked at him from behind. The woods got denser and the air became tenser, and a cold shiver ran through jade's whole body.

"Was it always this creepy?" Lady Jade mumbled to herself. A few more steps and they reached the stream which was now dried up. The moss on the ground was damper than usual and the trees dark dried up as if the life was sucked away from them.

The moldy smell scattered when they hopped off the horses and landed on the ground. The trio looked around and an eerie silence engulfed them.

"It's too quiet," Eidan muttered the words trying not to disturb the emptiness.

"What happened in here…or in the northern lands at all?" Lord Rene shook his head.

The young prince looked at the scene unfolding in front of him but stayed calm and asked in a low voice, "Do you know what happens to people who defy the eternal vow?" there was uneasiness rising around them. The twins gulped and asked, "What?"

They reached a somewhat open area where the trees were shrunk to the point of disappearing.

Eidan turned his head to meet their eyes and said, "The curse befalls them."

"The curse? What kind of curse." Lord Rene gripped his reigns to his defiant horse so it won't get scared and run away. They listened carefully to the crown prince's words.

"There is no defined curse for them, it appears haphazardly, affects the land and its people, and then leaves its traces behind. It is a mixture of all the bad things that can happen to a human place."

Eidan slowly unsheathed his sword and pointed towards a withered tree that hung inverted above them. Its roots are supported by the surrounding trees and draining the magic out of them.

"That…is the remaining effect or traces of a curse."

Lady Jade abruptly put up a barrier around them and evaded the first wave of resonance. However, it broke the barrier easily.

"Cover your ears!" she yelled.

Lord Rene held his head and shut his ears tightly but Eidan swiftly motioned his two fingers and cast a deafening spell on his ears.

He looked back at the twins and found them struggling. He stopped in his tracks to cast a spell on them too but,

"We are fine! You have to cut the tree!" Lady jade yelled again but Eidan could no longer hear for the moment so he did what he could.

He quickly cast a deafening spell on them and nodded. The trio, without hearing a single thing lunged at the tree to attack in their own ways.

The first slash from Lord Rene's sword made a creak outside the tree, it squirmed terribly but no voice reached their ears. The degeneration spell cast by Lady Jade opened up a hole in its moldy center and the last strike from Eidan's magic-embedded sword destroyed its body.

It was falling apart until the roots started sucking up the energy from surrounding the trees. Its roots were submerged in the soil and stretched out everywhere.

They felt a shockwave as it restored itself. The black mold covered the tree's branches and spilled negative energy on the uneven ground.

Eidan gave a signal to destroy the roots instead of its body. The twins looked at each other and shrugged at the prince. Giving them a glare Eidan pointed at the roots and made an X with his arms.

Now understanding the sign their mouth simply made an O, nodded in approval, and jumped in opposite directions.

While they cut the roots, Eidan observed the tree's body as it started wriggling and lashed out its roots at him.

'This energy… seems familiar but how?' Eidan thought. 'Who was it that broke the law and for what reason?'

Cutting the roots that were aggressively trying to kill Eidan, he gave up the thought of its cause at that moment, and with one foot he leaped towards the body. The twins were successful in removing all the roots from the nearby trees now it was Eidan's turn to destroy the curse completely.

He embedded his mana on his sword again and with a swift swing, stabbed the mutated tree. It kept absorbing Eidan's mana but hit its maximum capacity. With mana overflowing inside the tree it could not hold. It screamed in agony and busted into million sparks around Eidan.

"Ahh…I know…" he mumbled.

Landing on the ground safely he looked at the dark mist lifting away, "It was the dream."

In the end, Eidan sheathed his sword and spun around searching for the other two.