I Become the Baby Tiger in a Beast Taming World

Chapter 82 - 80: Divine Vision: Dark Family Home Movies (2)

I struggle to hold the vision. So overwhelming, so clear. It must be because it’s a game feature, not a bug. This is vital information about the Riddlehoeven family, and the curse that Niall detected. An ancient curse that the family, or more accurately that brat Lothair, brought down upon everyone.

I have to see this thing through. I want to know how this ends. We all need answers!

* * * * *

Fyrefernes’ clawed feet strike the carved design that glows with a phantasmagorical light. The symbol almost seems alive.

Then, Fyrefernes begins to CHANGE. FAST.

His shape grows threefold in just a matter of minutes. The bright sheen of his scales becomes tarnished and corrupted by something dark and foul. His yellow eyes turn the color of a cold moon on the darkest night. Ominous tendrils stream out like a deathly halo.

[Tremble before me! Are you trembling, little human?]

Fyrefernes’ eyes seem to spit hideous fire. Acrid smoke fills the space between him and Lothair, who recoils, bent backwards, staring at his previously faithful beast. He grips the cold wall for support. His posture screams that he miscalculated. Badly.

He tries to repair the relationship. [Fyrefernes. I humbly beg your--]

[SILENCE!]

Dark demonic golden and black fire lashes out, and then Lothair’s screams of torment fill the claustrophobic space.

Fyrefernes is merciless. [I curse this entire house. This is the fruit of your neglect. This is the terrible fruit of your dismissal of me. The rewards of your insolence. May your suffering be quick. I once loved you well, after all.]

What a terrible mistake he has made.

Lothair is too young to realize just how grossly he has miscalculated. How he has brashly, heedlessly thrown open a door that he can’t easily close. However, he does realize that he has ignored his beast taming training and all the wisdom from his parents.

[Please, Fyrefernes.]

He kneels before the mighty beast, his eyes downcast, the golden claws on the dull stone floor hypnotizing him.

[Please. I’ll be better to you. I’ll be kinder. I won’t dismiss you. Just give me another chance.]

But it’s too late.

He can feel the darkness clawing at him through the bond. As if he is being ripped apart from within. That combined with the scorching black and gold fire makes his torment blessedly brief.

He stands up, because some stupid honorable impulse tells him to die on his feet like a man. However, that’s not much comfort while he slowly dies.

As Lothair is immolated, Fyrefernes’ voice rules his mind and his last thoughts.

[Oh, Lothair. You won’t have the time to learn. And neither will I. I regret that I have but one life to give to curse your bloodline and your home for all eternity. I loved you. But you treated me like a possession, not family. I was a new carriage to you. A new set of clothes. A toy. Not a brother. Now, your house will see its beasts taken away in future. You won’t be alive for that. Your parents will not be. They were always kind to me, so I regret what I’ve done to them on your account. They deserved better than you. And I altered the runes, so they will reinforce the curse.]

Within moments, there is nothing left of Lothair. but a burned out husk. And Fyrefernes is no better off. When Lothair’s parents discover the hidden chamber, their screams can be heard in the village and for miles around. They close the chamber off without even bothering to investigate. Lothair’s name is stricken from the family records. No one in the village mentions his name. Lothair’s mother gives birth to a new heir just before she dies. No one knows that Fyrefernes has cursed the family, because no one can ever talk about Lothair. And no one knows about the hidden chamber.

* * * * *

"Blaze!"

Lamant’s and Kaline’s voices reach me as my cheek rests against something cool and dry. I open my eyes and jump back.

A dragon skull. I was resting on a dragon skull this entire time. And the shape of it looks so familiar. Fyrefernes?

In the vision, he looked like he burned to ash, but maybe this artifact survived. This remnant of him. Somehow, his skull has lain in this chamber ever since.

I scramble away as fast as I can. Somehow, I think it’s a sacrilege to rest so close to Fyrefernes’ corpse. Not to mention that the curse might rub off on me. God! I’m already cursed because I’m in this house. I belong to Kaline. My fate is tied up with hers.

Overwhelmed, I can’t stop myself. I completely lose my lunch.

Comfortingly, Kaline scoops me up and holds me, kissing my ears. [Whatever you saw, it can’t hurt you. We won’t be angry. Just tell us.]

[Get me out of this room. I never want to see it again. It should be destroyed.]

Kaline doesn’t say another word. She whisks me out of that claustrophobic secret room and holds me tightly. I feel like a complete wimp. I also am drained. I want to sleep for a week.

[Lothair. I hate hm.]

Kaline rubs her cheek against my futr. [Who’s Lothair?]

[Ancestor. Well, not really. Maartenwitz won’t find him in the records. They just erased him. The tragedy. His beast..]

I tell her everything before I lose my nerve. I have to.

While I’m narrating my tale, trying my best not to reveal the gruesome parts, Kaline gasps, sobs, and hisses in outrage.

[But how could the dragon DO that?}

I sigh. [Because Lothair was idiotic. Because he treated Fyrefernes badly. He didn’t listen to your great-great-grandparents or whoever they were. I don’t know. We don’t know when this was, how long ago. Maybe they didn’t always teach young people to respect beasts back then.]

Kaline hugs me as if she’ll never let go. [I’ll never be mean to you.]

[And I’ll never do what Fyrefernes did, even if I’m angry. There are better ways to deal with conflicts, aren’t there?]

Suddenly, a soft furry cheek brushes mine. Lightning rubs up against me. [Are you well?]

I tell her what I saw, and all she does is snuggle closer. As if she can take away the horror of what I saw. The lasting curse on this house, and on me.

[Niall will break the curse.] She licks my face. [Don’t be sad, Blaze. Please. I can’t bear it when you’re in pain.]

Awww.

Demos, Gussie, Lobo, and Peridot are there too. Somehow I sense their energy, a weird web surrounding me.

Demos growls. [Fyrefernes should have just gotten out of there. He planned revenge.]

[You really think that?] Lobo sounds dubious. [Maybe he just got carried away. Dragons can be hotheaded, you know. And he was young.]

[Not possible.] Demos sounds certain. He will not be swayed from his opinion. [Fyrefernes was unbalanced. He had a few scales loose in his head. And Lothair did not know how to be a tamer, anyway. Fyrefernes sought revenge. And we are all paying for it.]

Meanwhile, Kaline is breathlessly telling Lamant the story.

His eyes blaze with an unholy intensity, and he clenches his jaw so hard that Gussie cries out, sensing his pain. "GODS! I want that room gone. But first, we are going to bury every poor creature in that room."

"Not yet."

Niall’s voice is an anchor in this storm. A calming influence.

Lamant growls, holding his daughter. "Niall, that room is evil."

"Agreed, but letting the evil continue would be worse," Niall says with his brutal honesty. "I can break the curse now that I know. I’ll need several hours in that room. And then, yes, burying those poor creatures will be fitting closure."

Kaline frowns. "Especially the dragon skull. That may belong to that nasty old Fyrefernes. But what about the other creatures? Fyrefernes died. And the room was shut up, and no one knew about it. So, how did all those creatures and that jaguar-scorpion get in there?"

I think back to what the jaguar-scorpion said. How he had been there longer than anyone knew. That he was cursed.

That he was not beast before, but became a beast.

[Kaline, that thing was Lothair.]

Kaline gasps. "Father! Blaze thinks that Lothair changed into that scorpion. Because of Fyrefernes’ curse. He became a monster."

Lamant lets out an outraged sound. "That fool boy! That reckless boy!"

Demos growls so loud that it makes my head hurt, and Gussie shrieks. "That boy!"

"But he’s dead now," Kaline says fiercely.

Lamant’s silence reigns in the chamber, a regal cloak. Then, he whispers, "What a waste. What a waste of life, of potential. What a curse on this house."

Niall clears his throat. "I’ll prepare for the curse-breaking ceremony. Should take a few hours. We need to do it at midnight or in the wee hours. The world is silent and still then."

"As you think best," Lamant mumbles.

Lightning rubs her nose against me.

And that’s when it hits me. Amid all of this chaos and craziness and dark family angst, it hits me. The truth about Lightning and me. I’ve been so blind.

[Lightning. I need to...to go somewhere with you.]

She goes still. Very still. [Now?]

[Yes. Now.]

But Kaline won’t let me go. And I rethink my impulse, and getting totally swept away.

[Later.] I sigh, burrowing into Kaline. [When she feels better.]

[Well.] There’s a smile in Lightning’s voice. [Finally, a bright spot in this dark day.]

I can’t wait to be alone with her.