Cursefell by C.V. Dreesman

of your being.  You are far from a monster, Thera.  You are the warm hope future days command for those lost in a world of monstrosities."
     I wished I could believe him.  My mother had been attacked and wounded.  My cousin turns out to be a mermaid trying to kidnap me.  Galead was a mystery.  And I had used Medusa's curse to turn two men to stone.  Hope was not a word I would have used.  Happy endings seemed like dreams that would forever be far from reach.  This was not how a girl imagines her life will go.
    *
         Crisp cool water cascaded over Isabel's head, running rivulets of micro-rivers down the length of her body, as she emptied half the jug over herself.  Very little liquid reached beyond her bare feet as every drop was absorbed into her skin before it could puddle.  Her body rippled, dry patches of scaly cells fading into the smooth skin she had worn before.  The transformation was completed in a matter of minutes.
     I tapped Galead's shoulder once I was able to stop staring in transfixed wonderment at that unbelievable scene.  He had stood nearby, but turned his back to avert gazing until the whole process was completed.  We took up seats at the cell's solitary table once more.  He took a seat beside me this time.  He laid his dagger on the table with a loud thud as a warning to the captive.  I thought it was unnecessary, but as Galead had said, Isabel would be strong once she had been rejuvenated and he wasn't going to take any chances with my safety.
     "A man of his word.  I like that.  Better hold onto this one, Thera.  Good men are hard to find and all that," Isabel taunted.
     I wasn't taking the bait.  She would have to try harder to distract me.  Besides, Galead and I were not a real couple no matter what my friends believed.  It was just a front.
     "What did you mean earlier about me bringing hope?" I asked.
     "Your good sir knight didn't tell you?" she teased, winking Galead's way as she said it.  "Just what took so long with the water then?"
     "Isabel!" Galead growled at her, bringing his palm down hard on the old wood.
     "Alright.  You don't bring hope, but you are the key to our hope.  There is a spell that will end the curse forever.  No more hiding in skins we do not belong.  Never again being hunted by those afraid to see us as we truly are.  No more living in a prison without walls.  The power of the Circle will be broken.  We will take back what was stolen when the curse was placed on your ancestor, and on mine."
     "What was stolen?" I was confused.
     "Our lives.  Our humanity.  We are being punished for something our ancestors did countless years ago.  We have been robbed of our life by those holding power, those with the magic to shift the balance and profit by it."
     "You mean the Circle."
     "The Grey Circle.  Grey being the neutral balance between light and dark and in all things.  What lies they speak.  The Circle is merely the figurehead for the elite power of a small few at their corrupt center.  Those hoarders of the power magic buys them will continue to savagely reign unless we end it.  For that, we have a spell, and for it to work we need you."
     "A spell.  Magic.  But I'm not a witch."
     "We don't need you for the casting of it.  We need the curse you carry.  The power derived from Medusa's curse flows from her to you, in your blood.  Without you there is nothing we can do to break it at its source."
     "What do you mean by we, Isabel?  Who else is involved in this?" Galead interrupted, wary.
     "An old crone versed in magic.  She will cast the spell," she reluctantly told him.  "To work this spell we need you, Thera."
     "You need my blood.  Like a drop or..."
     "Not any from you.  We need Medusa's pure blood.  Only you can get it for us."
     "Her actual blood?  But she's dead."