The Cursed Expedition: The Finale
By Carter Nielson
Part Six: A Debt Fulfilled
For part 5, click here.
Cedric’s head jostled around as Jared dragged him through the small opening in the hillside that faced the ruins. Since Cedric had been knocked out, Jared hadn’t cared much for Cedric’s well-being and as a result, his head was throbbing intensely. As Jared dragged Cedric’s bound body through the entrance into the hill, Cedric could hear him muttering to himself. All Cedric could pick out over the sound of dirt scraping on his head were phrases like, They will know I’m serious now… The witch will reward me… and other things, all relating to the witch. Cedric tried to muster enough strength again to fight back, but the mental strain was too much. He came here to find success in life, to pursue his passion. Now it looked like he would never leave this frozen island. The idea that he might die there inside that hill was all too present in his mind.
Jared dropped Cedric’s legs. Cedric could barely speak, but he managed to wheeze out, “Jared, why did you bring me here?”
Jared let out a maniacal cackle, “Oh buddy, I’m sure you can guess. Look around, check out the interior design. Gorgeous, isn’t it?”
Cedric looked around as much as his bound body would let him. The cave was mostly barren save for a stone lectern, and etched into the lectern were the same runes Cedric found outside of his tent a few days back. On top of the lectern was a large bowl, and behind it was a stone slab blackened throughout time, surely from the countless rituals that took place there. No, no, no, no, not this, Cedric thought, as the horror sunk in regarding the nature of his surroundings. As if to confirm the thought, Cedric noticed bones strewn about the cave… they appeared to be human. Cedric’s body began to contort in a soundless and painful cry. This was the end.
Jared noticed Cedric’s crying and cackled once more. He was stirring something in the large bowl on top of the stone lectern, humming as he did it.
“You must be wondering why, Cedric. Why you? Why am I doing this? Why must it end like this? Well, you already know why it has to be you, don‘t you? Your stupid uncle had to spoil that, didn’t he?”
Jared turned his head to his right, his eyes vacant. He answered himself, “Well, yes. He did spoil it. Your traitorous ancestor broke the one rule we have. The one rule! So, naturally the other followers of Freya here in Qaanaaq must reap what is owed. I am sorry it has to be you, but I’m so glad I get to offer you up.” Jared reached into the inside of his animal skin coat and dropped whatever it was into the bowl. “When I got here, they gave me this same brew. That’s when I knew they were right, and that your family needed to pay.”
At this, Jared walked over to Cedric again. Cedric would’ve squirmed or tried to fight, but he felt powerless and let Jared take him to the stone slab. As Jared dragged him closer, Cedric realized the parts of the stone slab he thought were black were actually darkened with blood. Jared managed, with some effort, to hoist Cedric onto the stone slab and tie him down to it. Atop the altar, Cedric could see back out the entrance of the cave. Outside, there were several figures all dressed in the same animal-skin cloak that the old woman wore, and that Jared had worn the whole trip. The sight should’ve terrified Cedric, but apathy had sunk into his soul by now. This was his end, and there was nothing to do about it.
Cedric heard shuffling behind him. Jared grabbed Cedric’s chin and pulled it down with one hand, and with the other he pinched his nose. Coming from his peripheral sight was their hostess, the woman who had opened her home to Cedric and Jared. She was holding the bowl from the lectern, chanting something indistinguishable. She brought the bowl to Cedric’s lips and poured.
The drink was bitter, grainy, and had chunks of unknown herbs in it. Cedric gagged, but Jared was still pinching his nose closed. After he swallowed, Cedric gasped for air. As he gasped, the light from the cave’s torches went out. The torches’ light was replaced by bright light coming beaming from the cave’s entrance. Cedric sat up on the altar. Then it hit him — he wasn’t bound anymore, and there was no one around him.
Strangely enough, Cedric was calm and his body felt rejuvenated. Where he had felt mind-numbing horror and apathy towards death just moments ago was replaced with curiosity. He felt as though he was supposed to be here doing this. But doing what?
Cedric slid off of the altar and walked around. He noticed his winter gear was gone, replaced by a rough-spun tunic. He walked towards the entrance, but the closer he neared towards the light outside, the hotter he felt. Eventually Cedric couldn’t sustain the heat, and retreated back into the cave. Cedric inspected the cave with more scrutiny; there were no more bones on the floor. The altar and stone lectern were now unstained and had sharp edges as if their shapes had been freshly chiseled. Did I just go back in time? Cedric wondered.
Cedric heard a moan of pain from behind. He whirled around quickly, and saw nothing. Then cries of agony and screams of fear bombarded him from all sides in the cave. The quiet calm that had settled over Cedric vanished. Cedric could barely make out shadowy effigies of people all around the cave. Some were fighting with invisible foes, their arms raised in defense. Others were curled in fetal position, while the rest stood still, looking at Cedric.
A scratchy voice from behind Cedric rose above the tortured clamor. “The gods have a sense of humor, do they not, nephew?”
Once again, Cedric pivoted and turned around. From out of the burning light walked the woman who had been haunting Cedric these past few days.
He stumbled backward. “No, not you! Go away!”
She limped forward slowly, leaning heavily on her staff with each step, and croaked out, “Relax Cedric. I’m here to help you. Your Uncle Charles was spot on about our family’s history.”
“Well, if you’re my ancestor, how am I seeing you?” Cedric asked, taking another step backwards.
The woman responded calmly, as if she was talking to a child, “You just drank a brew used to commune with spirits, the very same that the berserkers of old used in battle. Nephew, the separation between Midgard and the afterlife is much thinner than you might think.”
So I’m still in the cave with Jared. thought Cedric. “If what you said really is true, why am I here with you and these… things.” He motioned to the pained shadows all around. “And why are you here?”
The woman smiled warmly, “I’m here to guide you, my kin. I’ve been cursed to wait for the debt to be paid for the ritual I did so long ago. To wait for my family to fulfill the gods’ demands.” She looked around. “As for them, they are the spirits of those who didn’t have our blood, failed sacrifices. They are waiting for you to free them.”
A weight fell on Cedric’s heart; he really did have to die. But at least it would be worth something. At least there was purpose to his suffering.
Cedric was still apprehensive about the woman, but it all lined up with what Uncle Charles told him. He took a deep breath and asked, “What do I need to do?”
A raspy yet jovial laugh came from under the woman’s hood. “Good nephew! You must simply be at peace with the situation. The gods, though fierce, have their kindness. If you endure this well, Valholl is your reward. Sit and endure, my kin, but endure it well.”
As the last word left her mouth, she faded out of sight. The screams of pain and torment from the spirits surrounding Cedric intensified. So the pagans were right, imagine that.
Cedric did just as he was instructed, he sat… and the enduring began. Right as he sat, flashes of the horrible deaths of the spirits around him. Moments turned to minutes, and minutes to hours as Cedric endured every single failed sacrifice intended to balance the scales of this old curse. He was an old woman who was burned, a young child who was hung, a man being flogged. It seemed as if those who sought to complete the ritual had tried every type of execution. What they had lacked was the correct sacrifice, and that was Cedric. He accepted this truth through the pain. And then Cedric was back in his own life, with Jared standing over him. Cedric roared in pain, his whole body jolting, unable to move because of the bindings on his limbs.
“You’re back, good.” Jared smiled unsettlingly. “I’m glad you at least were successful.”
“Hurry up and do it,” Cedric demanded.
Jared raised a dagger fashioned from bone, gripped by both arms and plunged it downwards.
Right as the dagger was about to strike true, Jared disappeared. Where Jared had just been, stood his ancestor, the woman. A single tear slipped down her cheek.
“I am so proud of you, my kin. Go and feast with the gods,” she said, extending her arm towards the cave entrance. There was still the light from before, but it wasn’t as blinding. Through it, Cedric could see the aurora borealis in all of its glory contrasted with the night sky.
“Are you coming too?” Cedric asked.
She snorted. “Magic has its price, and the kind I used to ensure our family’s safety has no place in Valholl. Go, nephew. You have earned it. Thank you for righting my wrongs and the wrongs of others.”
Cedric slid off the sacrificial altar, and walked out into the open air.
