The Living Curse: Book One of The Living Curse series by J.D. Swinn Page A

picnic table with peeling red paint, they unwrapped their impromptu brunch.  He was slightly uncomfortable at how intently they watched him eat the first bite of his meal, but he enjoyed it nonetheless.  He now believed what she had said about the humans and their use of fat, sugar, and salt.  The food was delicious, but sat very heavily with him.  Obviously seeing this on his face, the girls next told him that this was why Guardians didn’t endorse fast food.  It wasn’t the best pre-battle choice, they told him.
                  “By the way,” said the shorter of the girls, “I don’t think we’ve actually introduced ourselves.  I’m Mira.”
                  “Nameh.” said the other girl, sparing the formalities.  “Oh, and just so that you know, we don’t usually eat fast food.” she said, indicating the salads.  “But every now and then, you just need some French fries.”  She said this almost poetically, as if her words had been deeper than they actually were.  The conversation evolved, and changed subjects, flowing more easily than he anticipated.  They began to discuss Guardian training, and how long they had been fighting off the record.  Nameh told him that she had been ‘vigilante fighting’, as the Guardians called it, for several years, and that Mira joined her on some occasions.  He admitted that he had only begun about a year ago, shortly after receiving his mark.  At the mention of the Shask, a pensive look crossed Nameh’s face, deepening her features.
                  “So, just to clarify this one more time, you want us to join the Vine to help them find the Relic, right?” she said, staring off into space.
                  “Yes, that’s basically it.” he said, confused by her expression.
                  “This may seem like a stupid question, but do you have any idea where it is?” she asked.  He thought about this for a moment, before responding.
                  “It could really be anywhere in the world.  Travel isn’t a problem for warlocks, especially the Great Warlock.  They say that he traveled often, always to different places.  Not to mention the fact that those places have changed greatly since his time, what was once a city may now be a wild, uncharted jungle.  Where we stand right now was probably a forest or an open field in his time.” he looked up at the buildings towering above them, imagining powerful trees in their stead.
                  “Then there’s no way of tracking it?” Nameh started, “Magically, I mean.”
                  “We’ve tried, but he went to great lengths to hide it, and keep it hidden.  He also designed it to be found only when magic declines, which means we can’t use modern magic to find it.” said Max.  He referred to the magic developed after the Warlock’s death, often called modern magic, even if it was hundreds of years old.
                  “Is magic really in that much of a decline?” asked Mira.  Max’s eyes searched her face before he responded.
                  “Although the Vine is gaining more and more magic through absorption, we’ve lost a lot of our spells and techniques through time.  There have been a lot of raids on our libraries, and books were burned.  The same has happened to the Guild, although they have access to a greater wealth of magic.  The Guardians have been a major problem; they’ve got a lot of ulterior motives behind the ‘Protection of Humans’ that they front.  They’ve been secretly killing warlocks by the drove.”  Nameh picked at her nails, tiring of the conversation about corruption.  Corruption was just another reason that she was leaving.
                  “Isn’t one of your friends a warlock?” asked Mira.  A smile crossed the boy’s face that emanated pure amusement.
                  “You mean, isn’t he