Read Online Conway's Curse by Patric Michael - Free Book Online Page B

face with it.
     
    “Wylde, can you stand?” Conway spoke softly, sweeping the wizard’s lank hair from his face as he cradled the warrior.
     
    Wylde opened his eyes and promptly wrinkled his nose. “What’s that smell?”
     
    “It’s my curse,” Conway said sadly. “It’s always bad luck for someone.”
     
    “Then it was also good luck for someone else.” Wylde struggled to his feet with Conway’s help. “These things always balance.”
     
    Conway’s face lit up. “They do?”
     
    The wizard nodded sagely. “And speaking of balance….” He clasped his hand behind Conway’s head and drew him in for a kiss. “I’ve wanted to do that since I first laid eyes on you,” he said when he let go.
     
    Conway’s face suffused with more than early morning light, and his mouth dropped open. Wild suspicion in Tion’s gut finally gave fruit, and the sprite laughed. “Go on, lad, kiss him back!”
     
    Hesitantly at first, then with eager conviction, Conway kissed the wizard. Tion felt Kail’s arm slip around his waist, and together they watched the first blush of color swirl around the two men. In minutes, as the blood from their wounds mingled on their faces, the blush deepened to a shade of rose that stained their cheeks with happy anticipation.
     
    One of the villagers spoke, pointing a finger at Wylde. His voice was a ghastly, gasping mixture of outrage and disgust. “Why, he ain’t nothing but a feckless rump wrangler! That jus’ ain’t natural!”
     
    The wizard’s face contorted angrily, and he gently pushed Conway toward the sprites. Wylde dashed at the blood dripping down his cheek with his palm. He stared at the red smear in his hand for a moment and then, without warning, balled his fist and threw the stain at the chubby man. Bright blue light imploded, and the villager shrieked as the brilliance compressed around him, collapsed in on him, and swallowed him whole. Like a living thing that had eaten foulness, the swirling light barfed the still-shrieking man back out, only now the shrieks were decidedly less than human.
     
    “The only thing unnatural here is your apparent inability to appreciate the fact that my friends saved your feckless ass from a woof that frightened you like a scared rabbit. Best you be one.” Wylde waved his hand negligently, and the swirling blue light dissipated, leaving a rather plump hare where the villager had once stood. It keened like a cornered rabbit and then bolted across the square and disappeared beneath the baker’s porch.
     
    Wylde slumped, and Conway caught him before he fell. Together they sagged back down onto the scorched stones. Tion and Kail took up defensive positions to either side of the pair, both glaring at the wide circle of staring faces.
     
    “Well, I’m impressed.” A man spoke up as he pushed his way through the crowd. “My name’s Trager.” He held his hand out to Conway, who shook it gingerly. “I didn’t think there was a man alive who could shut that fool up.” He paused long enough to throw a significant glare around the loose circle. It touched a few and outright slapped a few more before returning to its owner like a boomerang. Trager held out his hand to Wylde, who looked at it dully before Conway nudged his shoulder and the wizard clasped it, briefly. “Tell you the truth, I don’t know which was worse, Wylde. The woof, or that guy. One herded everybody together in fear, and the other tried to divide everybody with fear. Neither was a good thing.”
     
    Tion relaxed, and Kail followed his lead. Conway glanced briefly toward where the villager had disappeared, then murmured to Wylde. “Will he stay like that forever?”
     
    Wylde looked up into Conway’s earnest face and smiled. “You truly are the balance of me, aren’t you.” It wasn’t a question. “No, the spell is only temporary. I haven’t the strength to make it permanent.” The wizard’s smile widened to a grin. “I suppose someone should coax