CHAPTER 6: THE SHADOW OF THE CURSE
Alina Glade tightened her grip on the hijacker's collar, her knuckles white. The laughter coming from the man on the floor was grating, a sharp contrast to the professional silence she tried to maintain.
"You're very brave for someone in zip-ties," she said, her voice cold. "But your boss is cornered, and the Association is already tracking this train. It's over."
"Is it?" the hijacker sneered, his eyes gleaming with a disturbing light. "I'm just saying... you're depending on that partner of yours an awful lot. It's a shame, really. I hate to be the one to tell you, but he's already a dead man walking."
Alina's heart skipped a beat, but she didn't let her face show it. "What do you mean? Dario is one of the top cadets in our year. There isn't a single mercenary on this train who can touch him."
"Mercenary?" The hijacker cackled, a wet, hacking sound. "You think we'd rely on mere thugs to handle Sorcerers? You kids are nothing but ants compared to our newcomer. We have the real 'strongest' with us today. You're going to regret ever stepping foot on this carriage."
"Shut up!" Alina snapped. She swung her hand, a sharp smack echoing through the room as she silenced the man. "You still have enough strength to run your mouth? It's pathetic. Dario isn't going to lose to some nobody criminal. He's..."
BOOM!
The heavy steel door at the end of the compartment didn't just open it exploded inward. The metal groaned and twisted as a human shape was hurled through it with the force of a cannonball. The body skidded across the floor, smashing through wooden seats and scattering luggage before finally slamming into the back wall.
Alina spun around, her breath catching in her throat. Through the dust and the settling debris, she saw a familiar dark brown shirt.
"Dario?"
She rushed over, her boots clicking frantically on the floor. Dario Cale lay crumpled against the wall. His face was masked in blood, and his breathing was shallow and ragged. His eyes were rolled back, showing only the whites.
"Hey! Dario! Are you okay? Talk to me!" Alina grabbed his shoulders, shaking him gently, but there was no response. Dario, the boy who had just taken down twenty men without breaking a sweat, was unconscious. He hadn't just been defeated; he had been broken.
"What the hell happened to you...?" she whispered, her hands trembling.
"Oh, what a lucky day I'm having," a voice drawled from the doorway.
Alina looked up. A man was stepping through the ruined door frame. He walked with a terrifying ease, his hands shoved back into his pockets. There wasn't a single scratch on him. Not a speck of dust, not a drop of blood.
Is he the one? Alina thought, her mind racing. He took Dario down in seconds... and he didn't even break a sweat. Who is this guy?
The man stopped, tilting his head as he looked at Alina. "What are you staring at? I know I'm handsome, but don't go falling for me just yet. We've still got work to do."
Alina stood up slowly, her Jinx energy beginning to swirl around her hands in a protective aura. "Who the hell are you? What did you do to him?"
"Him?" The man gestured dismissively at the unconscious Dario. "Yep. I thought he'd be stronger based on the way he was shouting, but he barely lasted two attacks. He was a bore. So, what about you, little girl? Are you going to attack first, or should I just get this over with?"
Alina didn't wait for him to finish. She thrust her palms forward, pouring every ounce of her frustration and fear into a single point.
"Jinx Manipulation - Minimum: Blast!"
A sphere of concentrated blue energy erupted from her hands, screaming through the air toward the man's chest. It was a direct hit or it should have been. The man didn't move. He didn't even flinch. As the blast reached him, a shroud of oily, black energy flared around his body, swallowing the blue light whole.
Bang! Boom!
Alina fired again and again, sending a barrage of energy blasts into the corridor. Each one hit the dark aura and vanished like stones dropped into a bottomless pit.
"Oh, come on," the man sighed, shaking his head. "Your power is way weaker than the last guy's. This is insulting."
The dark energy around him began to thicken, smelling of rot and old graves. It pulsed with a rhythmic, sickening heartbeat.
"That energy..." Alina's voice trembled. "You're one of them. A Curse User."
The man snapped his fingers, a wide, wicked grin splitting his face. "Bingo! You figured it out. See? You're way smarter than that dude on the floor. Although, I don't really think of it as a 'Curse.' To me, it's more like a blessing from God."
The black energy began to warp, solidifying around his hands into jagged, obsidian-like points.
"Curse Manipulation - Minimum: Claw."
The air hissed as the man lunged. He moved with a speed that defied physics. Alina barely had time to cross her arms.
"Jinx Manipulation - Minimum: Shield!"
She manifested a barrier of blue light, but the moment the man's dark claws struck the shield, she felt the difference in their power. It wasn't like hitting a wall; it was like being hit by a speeding truck. The Jinx shield shattered like glass under the weight of the Curse energy.
"AAAAHH!"
Alina was sent flying backward, her body crashing into the hard plastic chairs of the seating area. The impact knocked the wind out of her, and she felt a sharp, searing pain in her forearms where she had blocked the strike.
"Shit..." she groaned, trying to push herself up. Her hands were shaking uncontrollably, the skin bruised and blackened by the touch of his Curse energy. "I can't... I can't move them. My arms..."
She looked up at the man, who was slowly walking toward her, his dark claws dripping with shadow.
Where did a Curse User come from? she thought desperately. And how can he be this strong? This wasn't in the briefing. We're just students... we weren't supposed to fight something like this.
The man stood over her, raising his clawed hand for the final blow. "Don't feel too bad, kid. You lasted longer than most. It's just your bad luck that you ran into me on this train."