Curse Breaker: Falls: Curse Breaker, #4

By Melinda Kucsera

Sarn faces an ancient monster with only a ragtag bunch of reluctant magical constructs at his side. If he fails, his home will fall.

But doubts assail Sarn. He's not sure he's the hero their world needs. And if he became that man, would he still be the father his son needs?

In a world where belief powers magic, how can Sarn prevail when his doubts undermine his magic?

Find out who in Curse Breaker Falls, the action-packed sequel to Curse Breaker Faceted.

Fans of Nicholas Eames, Julliet Marillier, Michael J. Sullivan, Mercedes Lackey, Margaret Weis, and Tracy Hickman will enjoy Sarn's struggle against dark forces to save his son and himself. Get Curse Breaker Falls today!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Melinda Kucsera
• Release date: Nov 20, 2018
• ISBN: 9781949145021

Melinda Kucsera

I write fantasy and science fiction novels and short stories usually at sword point. Everyone should have such eager characters......Hello readers!Yes, this is a fictional character speaking to you. My fellow characters just locked our scribe (Melinda) in a tower. She needs to finish our latest adventure.Want to meet us? Hop on over to get our first adventure for FREE: http://www.mkucsera.com/enchantedWe’re eager to entertain you with our magical mayhem. So go download our book! We're waiting for you.

Book preview

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

The Curse Breaker Series

Curse Breaker’s Companion

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Would You Leave a Review?

Want Free Stuff?

Fall Into Our Story

It’s Just the Beginning

Come, Dear Sinner

Mapping Trouble

I See You, Boy

Sister, Priestess

Angelic Heart-to-Heart

Honor Him

This Spirit Isn’t Made for Walking

You’re Not the Boss of Me

Map Battles

Can’t Touch This

Find Him

Passing Darkness

Chasing Sky Beams

Sinners’ Last Call

To Your Dark Father Fly

Caught in a Dark Web

The Cards Don’t Lie

Many Crossings

Dark Voices

Snakes and Menhirs

Visiting the Queen Tree

Ghosts and Golems

I Wish I Could Involve You

Ships and Spells

So Fall We All

Queen’s Gambit

I’ll Have to Confiscate That

Come, Children of Light

I Know How to Stop It

Tempting Repentance

Foiled Plans

Without the Right Tools

Characters Speak

Would You Leave a Review?

Want Free Stuff?

In Memoriam

We’d Love to Hear from You!

The Curse Breaker Series

His Angelic Keeper Series

Curse Breaker’s Companion

Robin of Larkspur

Divergent Heroes

The Curse Breaker Series

A high-fantasy action/adventure series full of magic and mayhem with a Christian bent.

Other books in the Curse Breaker Series:

(Suggested Reading Order)

Prequels

RELIC HUNTER

Main Series

CURSE BREAKER ENCHANTED

HIS ANGELIC KEEPER

CURSE BREAKER DARKENS

CURSE BREAKER FALLS

CURSE BREAKER BOOKS 1-4

(Includes Curse Breaker Enchanted, Curse Breaker Darkens, Curse Breaker Faceted, and Curse Breaker Falls)

CURSE BREAKER SUNDERED

HIS ANGELIC KEEPER HIDDEN

CURSE BREAKER HIDDEN

SPELL OF SHADOW & LIGHT

HIS ANGELIC KEEPER FALLEN

HIS ANGELIC KEEPER: TEMPTED

CURSE BREAKER FALLOUT*

CURSE BREAKER TRAPPED*

CHAOS RISES*

*Forthcoming

Curse Breaker’s Companion

A zany portal fantasy series based on the stories published in Melinda Kucsera’s weekly newsletter. Sign up at www.mkucsera.com/welcomecharacters to start receiving them in your inbox.

DRAGON SPELLS

ROGUE SPELLS

STORM SPELLS*

*Forthcoming

Dedication

O, Guardian most dear

stand with me when darkness falls.

Deafen me when evil calls.

Push me forward when I stall.

Hold my loved ones all night long.

If I fail, help me stand tall

O, Guardian most dear.

-Traditional Shayarin Prayer

Acknowledgements

Thank you, J.C. You’re one cool Guy. Thank you for adventuring with us. You’re welcome to hang out with us anytime you wish. Though next time, could you leave the Adversary at home?

Fighting one villainess + her entourage was hard enough. Fighting two villains and their minions taxed us to our limits.

Love and hugs,

—Ran, Son of Sarn, writing on behalf of the cast of the Curse Breaker series and our scribe, Melinda K.

***

We’d also like to thank all those who weighed in on our cover dilemma and challenged us to think outside the visual box. You rock!

Would You Leave a Review?

Yes, we’re fictional characters, but we need reviews too! We exist when you read us. So, every review helps! We love feedback and reviews help other readers to decide if our adventure is right for them. (It is but they won’t know if you don’t leave a review.) If you’re enjoying this book, please consider leaving a review.

Thank you for reading Curse Breaker: Falls.

Want Free Stuff?

So do we! Who are we? We’re the stars of the Curse Breaker series, and we’re giving away a FREE preview of Curse Breaker: Sundered. (Yes, we can do that. We’re the stars, remember?)

Just go to https://www.mkucsera.com/Sundered to tell us where to send your preview. Your preview comes with several awesome bonuses:

Bonus #1:

Your email address will become part of the Newsletter-Dragon’s horde. Who is she? She’s the dragon who delivers our newsletter each week. That’s right.

We have a Dragon Email Delivery Service, and it’s so much more secure! She incinerates threats on sight and curious characters. Your email address will be safe in her claws.

Bonus #2:

You’ll get exclusive content, advanced access to extended previews, and our weekly adventure series delivered safely to your inbox by our digital dragon.

Bonus #3:

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Bonus #4:

You could appear in our newsletter and in a future book. How does that work?

We often ask readers for advice about how to deal with a certain dragon and her shenanigans. When we put out those calls for help, we collect the responses and act them out for your enjoyment both in the newsletter and in the books based on it.

We don’t use your email address for anything other than to:

That’s all the Newsletter-Dragon allows. All other requests are incinerated on sight along with the requester. She takes your privacy seriously. We, characters, do too, and so does our Scribe, but we prefer that Melinda write our books and leave her newsletter to us.

So, go grab your preview and your FOUR FREE bonuses. Here are those links again:

--The cast of the Curse Breaker Series

Fall Into Our Story

Hi Readers,

Thank you for joining us. Curse Breaker: Falls is mostly another father-son adventure. I say ‘mostly’ because certain characters muscled in on my page-time (the Adversary, Aralore, Snake Woman, and this nice cross-carrying fellow named J.C. among others). Most of the cast turned up for this one. So, get ready for another wild, fast-paced adventure.

For those just joining us, welcome!

The first three books in our series can be read as stand-alone books. Since each book builds on the one that came before it, we urge you to read the series in order for maximum enjoyment.

Curse Breaker: Falls picks up moments after Curse Breaker: Faceted ended, so it hits the ground running. Curse Breaker: Faceted & Curse Breaker: Falls were written and conceived as one book. But our editor convinced our scribe to split them because the book had two climaxes and two action-packed endings. (She thought you wonderful readers needed a breather before plunging back into our wild adventures. We disagreed, but we’re fictional.)

So, make sure you read Curse Breaker: Faceted first so you can experience all the epic teddy bear action. Bear to the rescue! (Yes, that’s a spoiler. No, we’re not sorry about it.)

Now for the moment you’ve been waiting for—we’re unleashing Aralore on the enchanted forest. It'll never be the same again. Neither will Mount Eredren. Watch out for the Adversary! He has plans, and we might be caught up in them.

—Ran, son of Sarn, the official greeter, writing on behalf of the cast of the Curse Breaker series and our shy scribe

It’s Just the Beginning

[Excerpted from Curse Breaker: Faceted]

Sarn couldn't shake the feeling he was forgetting something important. So much had happened this afternoon, and he still had to go to work tonight. Fate only knew what he'd find tonight.

What happened?

The Queen of All Trees held her peace. Her presence was comforting but not her silence.

Why won’t you talk to me? Every bloody thing I encounter talks in my head, so why not you?

I don’t talk in your head. Ran’s frowning face popped up in Sarn’s field of view.

I know, and I’m glad you don’t. Sarn tweaked his son’s button nose. But I wish she would because I want to know what’s happening and she knows.

But Shayari’s sylvan Queen remained silent. Her branches arched over his head defining the limits of this oasis, this place outside of time.

Why would she hide them? And who from—the mist, the Ægeldar, black lumir or all three? Sarn rose, eyes widening at the realization. He had been here before. A snatch of a dream from two weeks ago floated back to him, but it faded before he caught more than a glimpse.

Time flowed past them in twinkling ribbons of the night sky. Each one was edged in violet light barely perceptible against the white glow of the Queen of All Trees. Constellations diverged behind her and merged again once they’d woven around the shield she held. Sarn stared at the radiant edge of her sphere of influence until it resolved into symbols. She lowered a branch and inclined her crown in an invitation.

Go have a look. Maybe you’ll learn something.

Sarn glanced over his shoulder. A ghostly Bear glowered at Sarn with fathomless eyes. In their depths, hands spun around a numbered countenance as time unspooled. What did a day mean to a spirit who’d lived forever?

Where had such insight come from? Sarn stepped back. He’d gone too far into the weird today. Another time perhaps.

But Ghost Bear was nodding his white limned head. Well, you’re sharper than you look.

Shadows lanced the Queen of All Trees shaking her trunk. Her oasis flickered. A white chess piece dropped through her branches. Sarn fingered the carved edges of a pawn.

What does this mean? He held the chess piece up. A branch relieved him of it, but its owner declined to answer. Why won’t you speak to me? Have I offended you in some way? I’m sorry if I have. Sarn toed the silver leaves under his boots. A lump formed in his throat. I make a mess of everything I touch.

No, you don’t. Ran leaned into his leg, his little face upturned. In those trusting green eyes, he could do no wrong. Sarn rested his hand on his son’s head, thanking the boy without words for that trust.

The Queen of All Trees stabbed at something and her oasis shattered into a cascade of twinkling shards.

What’s happening?

Sarn staggered toward her—the symbol of all his hopes and dreams. His Queen was under attack, but by who—the Ægeldar, black lumir or something else?

He had to help her. Before he could, everything disappeared into a white flare.

***

Eam’eritol neem’eye —screamed Sarn’s magic as it pounded against his skull seeking a way out.

It was back—the green magic that always came when he called it. And he'd forgotten how loud it could yell when something upset it. His map flickered in and out of view, demanding an update. The Queen of All Trees must have restored his earth magic.

Dropping to his knees, Sarn wiped the blood dripping down his lips onto his sleeve while his magic repeated its warning, eam’eritol neem’eye—black lumir. His magic screamed at Sarn to get up and eradicate the problem.

Where is it?

His magic shut up, but it kept trying to escape his rested body.

Sarn punched the silver leaves in frustration. If his magic was right, another black lumir crystal was—what? Exposed? On the loose? What exactly happened earlier?

Why won't you tell me what’s going on? I’m not a witless child.

But everyone believed he was including his own magic. Sarn dropped his aching head into his hands.

Papa? Ran crashed into Sarn’s chest seeking reassurance, but he had none to offer anyone, not even his beloved son.

Sarn held his son as he regarded his Queen. It’s not over, is it? There's more going on.

As Sarn asked the question, her radiance faded, and she vanished with it. His cave reappeared, messy as always. Under his knees, one hundred forty-four interlocking circles burned brighter than the sun for a heartbeat then died away into shadow.

But he had his answer. Sarn hugged his son as his world crashed down around him again. How could it not be over? Didn't the Queen of All Trees defeat the Ægeldar and seal up the black lumir?

She must have because there were no tentacles barging into his cave, and the mist wasn't seeping under his door. So, what was irking his magic?

How could it not be over?

Sarn stared at the wall across from him. Nothing made sense anymore. Had something else happened while he was fighting the Ægeldar—something to do with black lumir?

Ran squirmed until he let go. How could what not be over? What are you talking about?

I don’t know.

Sarn shook his head. He scanned his cave seeking answers amid the piles of clothes and books scattered about. The ratty mattress taking up the back half of the hemispherical cave called to him. But Sarn blinked away the need to sleep. If something had happened, he needed to know about it preferably before it endangered him and his son.

Why’d the Queen Tree go away?

Ran set his stuffed bear down so he could touch the intersecting circles on the floor. They no longer glowed. And that worried Sarn.

I don’t know.

When Sarn touched them, the power sleeping in their curves made his fingers tingle. Her mark still protected them. A weight slid off his shoulders as his worries lessened. Ran would still be safe here when this was all over—if it ever was. Thank the Queen of All Trees for that.

Sarn shifted so he sat outside her mark then scanned his cave. His magic reported back seconds later that everything was as he’d left it—no foul mist, no wraiths. That just didn’t seem possible after the afternoon he’d had, and it wasn’t even over yet.

Light speared through the ceiling and swirled around his son’s toy, lifting it. Bear winked a twinkling button eye as the light funneled into its fuzzy body then the stuffed bear floated back into Ran’s outstretched arms.

Ran poked its belly. Are you back, Bear?

Bear’s stitched lips twitched then returned to their customary smile and Ran echoed it as he hugged his now animated toy.

Great, so Ghost Bear had decided to stick around. He should be glad Bear would be protecting his son, but Sarn distrusted the ghost’s motives.

Do you know what’s going on or why she fled? he asked, but Bear just gave him an enigmatic look. Wonderful, now Bear was playing mute. Why was everything magical so cryptic? Fine, don’t tell me. I’ll figure it out on my own.

Never doubted it, Bear finally deigned to reply.

I liked you better when you were helpful. Ran scowled at his toy until Bear hugged him. The boy unbent enough to smile and tender his own opinion on things. Maybe the Queen Tree is spying on bad people.

Maybe, Sarn replied, liking the idea more and more as he considered it.

In fact, that sounded more plausible than what he was thinking. And spying just happened to be something he was good at. Sarn regarded the bare stone floor. A gray patch between discarded clothes called to him.

Just a touch, just a taste, and your magic will race…

[End of Excerpt.]

Come, Dear Sinner

Come, sinner, dear, play the game of ages. Light and dark, good and evil, all on stage take their turn, and still, we play for the age.

Win the game, determine its heart—an age of good, or bad, its winners write the page. They create the cage inside which we rage.

—fragment attributed to the Book of Ages

Mapping Trouble

Mount Eredren groaned, and the ground under Sarn’s knees trembled. Ran rushed to his side, frightened of the shaking.

What’s happening?

I don’t know, but I’ll find out. And if I can, I’ll put a stop to it.

After all, something had attacked the Queen of All Trees' magical glade before she'd sent them away, and that something might still be trying to break through. Was her sylvan refuge truly a place outside of time as it had seemed or was it somewhere near enough he could go to her and—what? Offer a mythological magical entity his aid?

What can you do? You can't even get your magic to behave most of the time. A sarcastic voice reminded Sarn, and it sounded too much like Bear for comfort. But it wasn’t. That entity had gone mute since the Queen of All Trees had returned them to his cave.

How’ll you find out? Ran regarded Sarn.

Sarn shrugged. The only way I know how—by magic.

Is the Queen Tree okay?

I don't know, son. That's what I want to find out.

And the cause of the shaking?

That too.

But first, Sarn touched the cold stone of his home and scanned its nooks and crannies one more time. While he mucked about with magic, his son would be vulnerable. Whatever had attacked the Queen of All Trees might already be here.

Ran looked up at him with scared green eyes that thankfully didn’t glow—yet.

Sarn bit his lip and pushed that thought away. Now wasn’t the time to freak out about his four-year-old son eventually inheriting his power. With luck, that day would take forever to come.

Ran’s gaze darted around the cave as the ground shook again. He clamped his stuffed bear against his skinny chest and chewed on its ear. If that sarcastic spirit Bear was still inhabiting the ratty thing, it gave no sign. Bear's button eyes stayed dark and as impenetrable as the black magic-stealing mist they’d fled from earlier.

But that mist was gone. The Queen of All Trees did something to get rid of it. I need to find out what. If Ghost Bear knew, it wasn’t saying. Sarn glared at the now inanimate toy in his son’s arms.

The ground heaved hard enough to send Ran crashing into him. Sarn caught his wide-eyed son in a one-armed embrace, and the dust dotting his son’s tunic reflected the green glow of his eyes. Those pinpricks were a remnant of the Dryskellions’ grace.

Do what I can't, son of Adam, the last Dryskellion had said mind-to-mind before she'd disintegrated into a silver mist with the others.

‘Do what I can’t.’ Her final words rang in Sarn’s head bringing her sacrifice to mind, but he suppressed the memory before it could replay. Her final words galvanized Sarn. He let go and his magic flowed.

Emerald light gushed out of his hand, carrying his awareness through the door to the tunnel beyond and away from his son. The Queen of All Trees defeated those killer tentacles. Ran will be okay, Sarn told himself as the distance between them mounted, stretching the tie binding them. He held his son huddled against his chest tight, but he could just barely feel the boy trembling at his side. His mind raced away from his body and his nervous son, riding the magic’s sparkling wave.

His magic swept over everything it passed in its relentless search for answers. Candles lit on his head map. They marked every person his magic encountered, turning them into a cloud of fireflies all heading somewhere. What galvanized them? Some new danger, a resurgence of one already defeated or did they know something he didn’t? Is the Queen of All Trees in danger?

Sarn searched his mental map for her silver symbol as he followed the twisting tunnels deeper into the lowest level under the mountain. A wall of white light sprang up, knocking his magic and his sight away from the Ægeldar. How did I get here?

Her light stabbed the darkness. This shield reminded him of the one around the Queen of All Trees’ glade. It must be her doing.

Are you still in there, my Queen? Earlier she'd had trouble getting around the Litherians' wards—until he'd done something to help. Bear still needed to explain that.

When Sarn ran his hands over the sparkling wall, patterns emerged. He counted a hundred and forty-four interlocking circles before realizing there were chains within chains. It was the most elegant spell work he’d ever seen. Was this barrier meant to keep something in or out?

Had the Queen of All Trees defeated that many-armed monster, or was it still in there trying to escape?

Just the thought of that creature from the pit sent a cold shudder through Sarn. He reeled as something hooked his magic and yanked him through the bowels of the mountain—and the wall of his cave. What the hell?

Sarn flew right over the head of his kneeling son. A breeze ruffled Ran’s hair and the boy looked up, still chewing on his stuffed bear’s ear. But if he saw anything other than the finger-long stalactites dripping on his head, his little face didn’t show it. Sarn caught one last glimpse of his discarded body, still clutching his son in a one-armed embrace, then he passed through a wall into yet another dim tunnel. The Lower Quarters had miles of them because the Litherians had gotten lazy when carving them out.

Where’s this thing taking me?

***

Outside Mount Eredren, a lone man opened and closed his mouth and the most inconceivable things fell out. Dirk wanted to go into the enchanted forest? Why the hell would he want to go there? It was about to be destroyed.

The Adversary stared at the fortyish fellow. Feeling his disguise slip, he pulled his everyman’s face into a mask of skepticism. Some of his dark presence spilled through before he could stop it, and Dirk shivered.

Are you sure that’s what you want?

Dirk nodded and gestured to those confounded standing stones. I want to see what they want to show me. I can meet your interested buyer—what's his name? —later.

You mean Straymos.

Dirk ignored the Adversary and regarded those menhirs. Their double ring of trouble enclosed the meadow. Well, there went that plan, for now.

Beyond those creepy standing stones, the enchanted forest extended massive branches, and they arched over the invisible cordon those damned menhirs maintained. Both the forest and the menhirs were a relic of a dead age. Someone should rip them out of the ground and toss them out like all the other rubbish left over from the so-called ‘Age of Magic.'

Dirk! Listen to me.

But the man wasn’t listening to anyone. Without a backward glance, Dirk broke into a run heading for those damned menhirs and the forest giants beckoning to him. Dirk looked ridiculous with his dirt-smeared clothes flapping in the wind. Blood had soaked into the hem of his trousers and ichor had streaked his tunic. What a picture the conman made to the tradesman and green-uniformed Rangers he passed. Of course, they didn’t give Dirk more than a passing glance as they strode toward the mountain brooding behind the Adversary.

Run along to your little lives, your petty concerns. Pay no attention to the dark force tearing your world apart. The Adversary finger-waved to those oblivious mortals. His bland countenance fell into shadow as a pawn dropped onto the grass at his feet.

The Adversary picked it up and cursed. The Queen of All Trees had made her play right under his nose. Damn, she was good. He hadn’t seen nor sensed her meddling. But she’d drawn Dirk off the path he’d laid out for the conman. Damn her!

Setting his plans to send more black lumir crystals out into the world aside, the Adversary examined the black pawn. The irony of it made his lips quirk into a crooked smile under his deep hood. Finally, he’d found a worthy opponent. Now it’s my turn, Queenie, he sent on the wind blowing out of the northwest. And what a turn I’ll take.

She didn’t answer. Rumor claimed she never did. Talking was beneath her. But she would beg in the end, they all did. And he would bring her into the darkness and bind her like all the rest of the mighty who’d fallen at his feet.

Whistling a jaunty tune, the Adversary tossed the pawn into the air. It spun nine times widdershins—a good sign—then vanished into his pocket. In a swirl of dark cloth, the Adversary turned to follow Dirk. This round wasn’t over yet. Nor could the conman escape so easily, not while he carried a piece of the Adversary in his heart.

Before the Adversary had taken more than a couple of steps, a reverberation in the magic dragged his attention to a black hole cut in the mountain’s feet. Well, well, well, what have we here?

Every strain of magic had its own key, and every spell, its own song. But this one was strange. Either there were several mages or one mage slinging spells from more than one magical discipline.

Perhaps Aralore’s merry band of zealots had left a few mages alive. That didn’t seem possible given the sword-loving priestess’ proclivities. Might this be a distraction?

What are you up to Queenie? The Adversary strained his ears for more information. His bones were tuning forks. Each one vibrated in sequence until he identified the tones he was hearing.

Three distinct tunes merged into two somewhere close judging by their volume. The Adversary rushed through that vertical bar of black back into the mountain. He could reclaim Dirk later. After all, there was no escape from the Adversary, not for a man who’d sold his soul for a few precious coins.

***

Tunnels flashed past at dizzying speeds away from the Ægeldar. Sarn struggled but couldn’t break free. What caught me? And how did it catch me?

Sarn felt around for it, but he had no idea what he was looking for. What did a ‘capture’ spell look like? Was that even what had ensnared him?

The magic infecting his blood and bones didn’t