Ascension - (Alarian Warriors)

An hour passed with her sitting and waiting in total silence. She was on edge, wondering what had happened. Was Emerald still alive?

She closed her eye and drew in a deep breath. Her mind drifted to thoughts of Anzel, but it hadn’t been him she reminded herself. It was confusing and made her think about what might have happened to him. Why did Vincent look like her old bodyguard? Seeing Vincent had brought back memories but oddly no emotions. The thought of losing him triggered nothing, even when they had been so close. Her father would never have spared his life after what had happened on that day and yet she wasn’t saddened.

She kept glancing in the direction of the open door. When was he coming back? Would he even come back?

More time passed; she wasn’t sure how much, but finally the light was blocked out by a figure as someone came running down the stairs. She looked up, his scent wasn’t Vincent’s, but it was still oddly familiar to her. Her form stiffened as she put herself on guard.

“Princess!?” He incurred.

She watched his form flash to her cage in an instant. That ability! She knew that it was Alarian. And that voice! She knew that voice.

“Erosvent?... Is that you or another look alike?” Not letting him get the better of her. She had asked from the back of her cage while cradling her knees to her chest.

It was the only thing she could really do in this situation. It probably appeared weak to others, but it made her feel safe. She looked at the tall blonde man kneeling before her, pure happiness on his face as he nodded eagerly at her.

“We finally found you Princess! After all this time!” His excitement was slightly irritable. “It’s me!” He had a massive smile on his face that made her frown.

“Please stop disrespecting the dead by being so cheerful.” She bluntly replied.

His face immediately changed to resemble a scolded child. His eyes flicked to both sides of her cage, he clearly felt ashamed. With his sudden change, she found herself thinking that he hadn’t changed... Or he was a really good actor.

“Sorry my lady, I didn’t mean to...” He trailed off not really knowing what else to say, the air between them grew stale.

Vincent stood at the top of the stairs watching the two until things became awkward. The girl was scared and afraid so he could understand why she behaved in such a way. But when she told Eros off like that, he was slightly surprised.

He descended the stairs and moved to stand beside her cage, the whole area sickened him. The warlock had kept them in cages for years treating them like animals. He wanted to kill the man all over again. He’d found the mummified body upstairs while wandering around before the Princess had told him where to go.

Aveyon noticed Vincent’s demeanour change, his hands tightened into fists and his vision was focused firmly on the dead. Pulling herself forward she moved towards him, her expression seemed sad as she looked up to him.

“Thank you.” her voice drew his attention to her frail form.

Shaking his head. “I was far too late.”

That brought a curious thought to the surface of her mind. “How did you find us?”

“A cat- it’s a long story really, I can fill you in once we get you out of here.” he watched as her eyes flicked between the two men then added. “And generally, anyone that calls me Anzel, knows this guy.” He explained tilting his head toward the other male while Erosvent studied the cage. “Which is why I brought him along, I figured he would have some clue about the spell.”

He hadn’t quite understood that she was thanking him for Emerald, she knew deep down the elf was still alive. Erosvent was a clear sign that the right people had found them. The men seemed to be working together now, muttering things to each other about the cage.

She didn’t ask any questions knowing she would get her answers soon enough and allowed them to work. Watching as the two swapped places, Vincent sat in front of her his hands stretched out only millimetres away from the bars. The air warmed as Vincent started muttering under his breath, he was channelling essence and casting a counter spell she realized. He was chanting an ancient unbinding spell; it was one that she hadn’t heard but she recognized the language; an Alarian spell.

“Your teaching?” Aveyon asked Erosvent as she could feel the power building in the air. It had been so long since she had felt such power. A warmth radiated from the bars into her body, it was a wonderful feeling.

He shook his head. “He’s far stronger than me, I don’t really know how he knows what he does...there is much to tell Princess, so very much.”

She settled in to watch him work, his hands moving in familiar patterns. Vincent was powerful but he wasn’t Alarian or human, maybe he was something else entirely? “Amazing.” She muttered wishing she had such power.

“It doesn’t come easy for him though,” Erosvent added watching over the boy like a father would.

She noticed what looked like little strings of light appeared on the cage bars, they slowly fell away fading to nothing. He was undoing each strand of spell that bound the bars. It took several long hours for Vincent to remove the compacted spell from the cage. His hands fell to his sides as sweat poured from his brow, utterly exhausted.

“Done.” Was all he managed to whisper, he collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud.

Aveyon felt it was strange that she didn’t feel anything but curiosity for the boy. Erosvent, on the other hand, rushed forward out of concern. He was relieved to see that he had simply passed out and was sound asleep.

“If you could move away from the front, I’ll break the bars, my lady.” He instructed while dragging a limp Vincent out of the way.

She nodded before pushing herself up against the very back of the cage. With a heavy kick, he broke through the metal and then turned to drag Vincent further out of the way. She shimmied her way through the cracked bars and tried to stand for the first time in years.

Her legs couldn’t handle her full weight. It was no surprise but frustrating, nevertheless. Her limbs buckled; she nearly fell awkwardly to the ground. Catching herself on the cage she regained her composure. Kneeling, she cursed herself for being so weak. The cage was only large enough to sit in with her legs always bent. The strain on her muscles was to be expected.

“I never thought I would be this weak again, not since that day.” She could feel the mush between her fingers and tried not to think about what it was.

Erosvent reached for her, but she shook her head pushing herself up against the cage.

“DON’T!” She knew his aid wasn’t a threat, but she still wanted to do this on her own, more than anything she didn’t want him touching her. “I have to learn to walk on my own if I wish to do so later,” she told him as he reached for her a second time as her knees shook frantically under her weight.

“As stubborn as ever, I see.” He grimaced. It was nice to see that she hadn’t lost herself completely.

“And besides someone needs to carry Vincent out, I don’t wish to leave him lying with the corpses.” Pushing her body up once more, she motioned to his sleeping form.

“Could make a funny story to tell the others though.” he joked before moving to Vincent’s side.

“I see you haven’t changed either.” She commented dryly at his terrible attempt at humour.

She continued her escape one wobbly step at a time.

“It’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks, My Lady.” Erosvent moved with the speed of her people disappearing in a flash with Vincent in hand, up the stairs, out the front, and to the horse and wagon that was waiting for them. He returned to her side in an instant just as she was about to place her foot on the first of the steps.

“Show off,” she muttered.

Maybe now she could convince him to teach her to use essence the way it was intended. Then she could move just as fast.

Just then something struck her as odd. She couldn’t sense it...

“You don’t have it. How are you...?” His aura was gone and yet he was using his abilities with little effort. Her people could not function in the human world without one. She of course was the exception, being only half Alarian. There was only one other way that she knew of, but it was forbidden...

“As I said, I have much to explain.” He responded while offering her his hand, however, she just stood looking at it.

Deciding to ignore it she took a single step up and scrunched up her face as pain flooded through her. Having to heave her body up just that tiny amount was causing so much resistance. The moment she was about to take another he wrapped an arm around her waist to help support her.

She realized just how much she had changed in that moment when she froze in place. Tensing up in such a way she reflexively slapped away his hand then frantically pinned herself against the wall.

She tried to calm her breathing by taking slow deep breaths. The feeling of his hand on her had been too much, it felt alien and repulsive. It made her skin crawl. She knew he was only trying to help and that he wouldn’t hurt her, but the feeling would not fade.

“I can’t...Don’t touch me!” she finally whispered.

He thought he heard her voice crack with fear, it made him think that whatever this warlock had done to her had left a mark on her very soul.

Her knees were barely holding her weight; her muscles were throbbing in protest under the content pressure of her upper body. Using the wall behind her as leverage she pushed herself forward. Each and every step up the stairs was agonizing. She felt as though she was walking through quicksand, so much resistance consistently strained against her limps. Reaching the top of the stairs was such a relief, but something didn’t quite sit right with her.

She couldn’t help but glance behind her. She found him smiling up at her with what looked like a hopeful expression. Her mood darkened and her eye glazed over, there was no hope.

“What is it?” He asked confused about her sudden change.

Her vision fell to those who lay dead. “It is not right to leave them lying here.” She went to take a step back down into the basement, he grabbed her without thinking. She shook him off in a panic, but he still stood in her path.

“I don’t mean to disrespect My Lady. You do not have the strength. It would be best to leave them for a little longer and we will come back when you are well enough to bury them. We should lay them to rest properly I agree, but now is not the time.” He insisted then waited for her reply.

Erosvent and Anzel had both been great friends to her. It was just like her royal guards; they had always known the right things to say. “Promise me?” She offered finally.

He placed his hand over his heart and bowed to her, an old tradition the royals used to do. It was his promise to her. He then continued to lead her outside the old manor.

The wooden front door that had always blocked her escape stood before her. Her hand reached forward and twisted the small door handle. She was expecting to wake up any minute now and find herself still down in the basement.

She pulled the door towards herself, opening it inwards, the first thing that hit her senses were the scents in the air. The crisp fresh smells invaded and overwhelmed her senses.

She stepped outside into the soft light, the colours were blinding, and the moonlight felt like it was welcoming her into the night. Despite the cold breeze, she felt warm. A single tear ran down her cheek as the strain from keeping her eye open set in.

She couldn’t bring herself to close it. The sight was far too beautiful. She had forgotten what the outside world had looked like. The wind tugged at her white hair and rags of clothes, it nearly proved too powerful for her slender form, but she held her ground. The sweet-smelling air filled her lungs, the soft blades of grass under her feet tickled and she couldn’t get enough of the feeling. Freedom.

With the sun having already set the colours around her were dull and dark to anyone else. However, to her, they were brilliant and vibrant. She couldn’t stop looking at the green of the leaves that hung from the trees.

It seemed what appeared to be a forest had grown around the manor she had been trapped in. The surroundings were completely different from what she remembered when she had first seen it.

How much more had the world changed? There was a paved road to the entryway of the building, but she ignored it completely, far too enticed by the feeling of the earth beneath her feet.

The sounds of horses reached her ears and her vision fell on the wagon. Erosvent was already making his way over to it and she soon followed.

“Can I see Emerald?” she questioned, looking up at him as he mounted the horse.

“My wife is taking care of her; we’re headed there now.” He nodded.

She then slowly walked to the rear of the wagon and with great effort hoisted herself up and climbed in. She was quite proud of her efforts this evening, her legs wanted to disobey her at every turn, but she remained strong.

She pushed herself to the front of the wagon so that she was just behind Erosvent and settled in next to Vincent’s sleeping form.

“He looks exactly like Anzel,” Aveyon said as she went to move a strand of his hair that had fallen across the boy’s sleeping face. She stopped and put her hand back in her lap, she didn’t know this man and she needed to remember that.

“I don’t understand it myself, I found him when he was a boy and even then, the resemblance was there,” Erosvent commented as he grabbed the reins and started the horses forward.

They may look the same, but this boy was far from her Anzel. This person was not the one who had protected her for as long as she could recall.

A thought lingered as she turned her gaze to the stars, why had she just about touched him, for no reason than to move his hair? His presence was quite odd to her, so familiar. That familiar feeling wasn’t because of his appearance, she couldn’t pinpoint it.

“I fear that it means...” She trailed off wondering when and if any emotions would return to her. No tears came for the loss of her most trusted friend.

“I agree Princess; it means Anzel has passed on.” Erosvent, however, was raw with emotion.

His soul may have been passed on to another, she knew people were reborn, it was a part of her duty as an Alarian Royal. However, they were never meant to return to a form similar to the last. But it had been something her mother had believed in and had taught her about, though they normally did not have an exact resemblance.

“I know what you’re thinking, but it is not so, the cycle of rebirth is broken.” Erosvent injected.

“What!” She was shocked, that was impossible. “How?”

“We really aren’t sure how it happened, but no new children have been born alive for decades.”

“My father...” She hissed with hatred. “Forever ruining lives.”

“Possibly yes, but I honestly believe there is a lot more to it than that. He was only the beginning.”

She sighed; the realms had definitely changed. They continued on the earthy trail for what seemed like an eternity until the forest surroundings began to thin in density and the road became rougher.

Looking around she could feel her body tensing as a light fog began to sweep over the horizon. With each passing minute, the fog grew in intensity and soon consumed everything around her. She could barely see in front of her so she made sure that there was no physical contact with Vincent, after all she was unsure of how she would react. They were now deep inside a thick white mist, and it was making her nervousness grow. She couldn’t see where they were going or where they had come from.