Hope in the Highlands

5

Kaji awoke slowly and though her body ached, everything was perfectly healed. No broken bones or bruises, no pain or difficulty breathing. She stood up and her head spun as he looked up to the dim lights of the prison far above her.

"Hello?" she screamed as loud as she could. Her voice was hoarse and thick and her tongue wanted to stick to the top of her mouth.

She looked around and from what she could see in the glowing white light of the rune, the walls were thick with vines, plants, insects, bloodstains, and other things Kaji didn't want to think about. Shuddering, she crossed her arms and tried to find something to sit on.

Everything was coated in a thick layer of moss. Pools of filthy water collected in areas where it dripped from the wall. Kaji wrinkled her nose and paid close attention to where she stepped. From the dimming light of the fading rune, it appeared as if this "pit" wasn't really a pit, but a chamber with several tunnels leading in other directions. Kaji glanced up at the hole, where faint voices of prisoners and guards barely dribbled down to her ears.

If she started exploring the tunnels, she wasn't confident that she could find her way back. Getting lost down here... Somehow it frightened her more than the idea of never winning a fight and being stuck here forever.

Kaji shivered and crossed her arms. As a mental game to keep herself occupied, she tried imagining what she would do if she were home.

The Highlands had beautiful rolling hills and lush fields placed there by the hand of the Holy Father Himself. Everywhere one walked, one could feel His Presence in the mist. Kaji's people of course, had their own legends about the mist and where it came from, but something about it healed their land. The Holy Father used the mist to help the trees grow wide and tall, the plants to grow greener, the animals to be healthier, the people to be more numerous. To them, the mist was sacred, just as much as the land, the creatures, their families, and the Ancient Stones.

"What are the Ancient Stones, Papa?" Kaji asked Belron as a young girl. "Where did they come from?"

"Like all things, they come from the Holy Father." Belron bounced her in his lap.

Kaji grinned. "Yes, but what are they?"

Belron played with her hair before placing her gently on her warm, wool bed. "There is a legend that a man loved a woman so deeply that he gave up everything he had, the very power that the Holy Father had gifted him with, just so he could be with her forever. The stones are pieces of his heart that he displayed in the Highlands to express his love for her."

Kaji giggled. "Do you ever think a man will love me like that, Papa?"

"Someday, my dear. Someday."

Tears formed in Kaji's eyes but she blinked them back. More than anything, she wanted to know where Ashric was. He was the only thing solid in her life; the one thing she hadn't lost, that hadn't been ripped away from her. They had loved each other before they had been captured and taken as war prisoners, but being imprisoned together had only strengthened their bond. There wasn't anything she wouldn't do for him and Kaji believed that Ashric would do anything for her.

*****

Time became a meaningless word in isolation. Ashric's thoughts became a jumbled mess; just an insane focus on the flames flickering in front of him and enduring the sweltering heat.

"Kaji....!" Ashric cried out in pain, leaning up against the wall behind him. If he sat down, his legs would ignite on fire. So he stayed and stood, unable to move except to shift his weight slightly to the left or right. Guards' footsteps thudded outside the locked iron door to his right.

The raging inferno formed a dance of death and heat and pain, leaching all thought and real consciousness from Ashric's mind. Unable to sleep, eat, or move, Ashric stared into the flickering crimson and golden flames as their light flared in his vision.

Each flame formed a member of his family that he would never see again: his father, his mother, his sister, his younger brother... Ashric screamed from the high temperatures searing his skin, but this time he wasn't sure if it was from the physical agony or the internal pain of losing his family.

"Kaji!"

*****

"Ashric..." Kaji whispered as tears dribbled from her lashes. She had finally found a semi-dry rock to sit upon listening to her mind conjuring up all sorts of terrible scenarios and explanations for his disappearance. Where did he go? It was an agonizing question that held no answer, similar to ones that had plagued her for years; how would she ever win a fight to escape from here and would she ever see her parents again?

The last thing she remembered, other than several confusing, fever-induced dreams and memories, was lying in Ashric's arms. It was the only place she felt completely safe anymore, partially because she knew he would protect her against anything. After that, her thoughts formed nothing, other than waking up and the events that landed her in this horrible pit.

Wait, Kaji thought. Ashric made her drink something. It had tasted foul, but that was when she had woken up feeling better. Could he have given her something to be rid of her fever? If so, where did he go? Her heart sank.

He made a deal, she suddenly realized. Whatever it had been, it was the reason he was missing, Kaji was sure of it. A terrible sadness and sorrow overwhelmed her and she collapsed onto the ground, sobbing. Each tear was a constant reminder of the direction her thoughts had taken, the terror inside that refused to leave.

What if Ashric is dead?