Hope in the Highlands

8

Bruises littered Kaji's skin making her entire body ache. Her muscles screamed in protest as she sat up. Rocks, boulders, and dust surrounded her, so she shoved them off and looked around.

Ashric lay a few feet away from her with a large boulder on his leg. Kaji crawled over to him and lifted it off him, but it wouldn't budge. Slowly, his eyes opened and met her gaze as he groaned. "Kaji..."

"Ashric, you're okay." Kaji sighed in relief but used the wall to her left to help brace herself as she kicked the boulder. It tumbled away from him.

With another groan, Ashric sat up, rubbing his leg.

"Did you break it?" Kaji looked at Ashric from head-to-toe. Blood oozed from his forehead and a few other scratches. More than that, there were burn marks on his chest and arms that she hadn't noticed before. "Wh - Ashric, the burns?"

Ashric grimaced. "Isolation. It's why I didn't come for you immediately."

Kaji gasped and placed her hands gently upon his shoulders. "Ash... I'm so sorry."

Ashric smiled at her and lightly kissed her forehead.

Frowning, Kaji finally realized that she had been able to see more details about him. Standing to her feet, she held out a hand for him. As Ashric stumbled up and braced himself against the doorway they hovered in, Kaji's eyes traced across the vast chamber they had fallen into.

Circular walls surrounded the main area which they stood inside. Stone seats rose above and fell below them in a half-dome. Towering in the center of the room, a gaping pillar that glowed bright teal pulsed. In the seats around them, bodies wrapped in chains lay scattered and discarded. Most of them were in varying stages of decomposition, which nearly knocked Kaji off her feet. She gagged and Ashric placed his arm on her.

"Who's there?" a deep voice asked.

Kaji flinched. A stranger's voice was the last thing she had expected to hear.

A rough-looking man leaned against the pillar, secured by shackles and chains. His ankles and feet chained tightly so that all he could do was stand. Iron bars locked his chest and collarbone into place, while his arms were shackled around the pillar, pulled behind his back. A collar enclosed around his neck, with no leeway in between it and the pillar. A similar one resided on his forehead. From his position, the man obviously couldn't see Kaji and Ashric.

"Prisoners," Ashric began. "From above here."

The man laughed. "No one has wondered down here for a millennia."

"Who are you?" Kaji couldn't help herself, or her curiosity. Ashric's arm around her tightened as if he was afraid she would go right up to the strange man.

"I was once the great wizard Shaan. My comrades and I were locked down here by the Ancients, cursed to live for eternity so that our magic could energize the pillar. We found a way to die, but my friends could not do it alone, so I had to stay," Shaan said, his voice a raspy whisper. He truly sounded as if he hadn't talked for thousands of years.

"You... sacrificed yourself so your friends didn't have to suffer?" Kaji asked.

"These bodies..." Ashric started.

"They are my comrades. Why were you imprisoned?" Shaan asked.

"War prisoners," Ashric answered before Kaji could. "They stole our homeland and tried to destroy the Highlands. We fought back and we lost."

"How much do you want your freedom?" Shaan's voice lowered darkly, giving Kaji the shivers.

"I would do anything to see my family again." Even if Kaji was terrified, she had to agree with Ashric; to see her parents again, Kaji would risk anything.

"On a pedestal in front of where I am restrained, is a ring. Take it."

Ashric started forward, but Kaji held onto him tightly. With his limp, they were slow to navigate their way around the dead bodies and down the complicated arena down to the center, but at last, they made it.

Up close, it was easier to see the teal energy of the pillar making the chains glow brightly. Blackened veins popped out against Shaan's emancipated and nearly transparent skin. Whatever those chains were, it was obvious they were leeching something from Shaan.

Ashric reached out and grabbed the ring. As it left the pedestal, a loud humming buzzed through the air. Kaji grasped onto Ashric's arm as he pulled her protectively closer to him, but nothing else happened.

They looked around for a moment before their eyes settled on Shaan. "In order to free me," he started, "You will need three items; a gemstone that can cross dimensions, a cooling shaft, and third, badges of honor. Bring these items to me, and I will be freed."

Kaji frowned. "I thought you said this was about us being freed!"

Shaan smiled, but it was faint, like the rest of his body. "It is. Once I am freed from here, I can help you escape. All of you. No one will be left in this prison and the guards, well... you shouldn't ask questions about what I will do to them." Shaan's eyes gleamed wickedly and Kaji shivered again.

Kaji met Ashric's gaze for a long moment. Desperately, she wanted to know what he was thinking. Should they do it? Kaji had a terrible feeling that they shouldn't. Was it worth the risk? Absolutely. To see their families again, to return home, to be set free, to be together at last, to restore their hope, to see the Highlands again...

"Yes."