The Moonlit Curse

Ch 2: Willful Denial

Slowly, Kiya opened her eyes. She was warm and bundled in thick, comforting blankets. The fire crackled in the stove in the corner, promising her continued heat and safety from the cold outside. A smile tugged at her lips, and she snuggled deeper into the mattress. For one sweet moment, she was sure that it had all been a bad dream.

But then the pain caught up to her and set the record straight.

Suddenly, white hot lightning bolts shot down her arm and back from her shoulder, causing every muscle to seize up and her fingers to go numb. She jerked away from the source of the pain, rolling to her left side, kicking away the blankets until she forced herself into a tight ball and bit down on the pillow to suppress her scream. She dug her fingers into her shoulder, hoping it would relieve the pressure and ease the pain.

After what felt like hours, but was less than a minute, the cramp subsided and Kiya was able to drag in short, rapid breaths. Sweat beaded on her forehead and slowly trickled down her neck. A warm wetness spread through her nightdress under her hand. The wound was starting to bleed again.

It wasn't a dream. It really happened. She'd been bitten by a...

No!

Kiya sat up and shook that thought from her head. It was a bear. It had to be. There was no other logical explanation. Werewolves didn't exist. The moon curse didn't exist. "Get yourself together, woman," she scolded herself. "So you got smacked around by a grizzly. That's no reason to give way to the delusions of old men."

Still, she reached for the silver pendant around her neck and clutched it hard in her fist. It didn't burn, and she wasn't repulsed. A small comfort as she looked down at the carved image of the goddess raising one hand to the sky, and the other down by her side holding a sword. An uncommon depiction, one that hadn't been used regularly in centuries. Nowadays, she was shown with her arms open to the word, ready to embrace and protect it with her light.

Kiya didn't care. The piece only served one purpose until this morning. Now, the small, heavy silver would remind her that there was nothing wrong. That it was all a bad twist of her imagination.

Dropping the pendant and brushing her fingers through her hair, Kiya swallowed her pain before stepping up to the wash basin. The water was colder than freezing and was soothing on her inflamed skin. She tried not to look at the black wound any longer than it took to change the bandages, but she did pause for a second to get a closer look at the spider veins. Were they... No... it was just an infection. That bear's mouth was probably filthy. She just needed to talk to Rick, the squad medic, and get a tonic or salve.

By the time she opened her trunk to get dressed, she had started to shiver from the cold. Finally, an advantage to the frigid temperatures of the north. Had she gotten hurt in the southern territories, there would have been a few more eyebrows raised if she left the room wearing several layers of cotton and leather.

Damn the north, the cold, and their freakishly large bears.

"She lives!" Quintin bellowed as she stepped into the dining room of the tavern, and Rick and Julien raised their steaming mugs and joined him in his mocking cheer. "Damn, lieutenant, you sleep like a rock. You've been out cold a whole day!"

"Kiya!" Elise leapt out of her chair and almost ran to throw her arms around Kiya's neck. "Red told me what happened. Oh goddess, you look terrible! Are you okay?"

"I'm okay, newbie," she shrugged and winced when Elise's hand grazed her injured shoulder. "How about you? You hit your head pretty hard. Do you remember anything?"

"Nothing," she grimaced. "I'm so sorry. I should have been more aware. I shouldn't have lost focus. What if it had been a werewolf?"

"Then farmers will have to start building roofs on their pig pens to keep them from flying away," Quintin snorted while the others laughed.