The Lies of the Immortal Queen

Gunhild

Alex easily jumped over the tall wall as he sneaked inside the castle that towered over the barren surrounding lands. The thick early morning mist hid his presence from the drowsy guards guarding the dungeon's entrance, allowing him to swiftly whisk past them.

"Heh, dumb fuckers" he giggled under his breath as he descended deeper, following its labyrinthine structure until he found the cell he was looking for. It was only guarded by one soldier, who kept leaning his head on his spear and was on the brink of dozing off.

"Your turn now" he whispered to the pixie peeking out of his jacket, who guided him here. The small creature nodded, hopping out and flying above the guard's head, humming a quiet lullaby, which Alex guessed was imbued with magic.

The guard fell asleep in no time, collapsing to the floor. He cringed at the loud clanking noise the armor made as the man hit the ground, but after a few minutes of silence went by and no one came to investigate, he guessed they were safe.

The pixie gave him a thumbs up, he sighed, shaking his head and walking towards the cage. He searched the guard and soon found the cell keys, opening it and causing the spell cast on it to disperse. 

"You should be able to use your magic now" he called to the young elf girl inside, to whom the pixie rushed as soon as the door was open, hugging and kissing her cheek "Come, I'll take you back to the forest, will you be able to get back home on your own from there?" she looked at the pixie before shyly nodding, reluctantly accepting his hand to stand up.

"W-why are you helping me?" she was quite wary of him, even though he saved her, he was still a human, and everyone knew that humans and magical creatures don't get along well. Regardless, the young man smiled and beckoned her to follow, which she did.

"I'm not like those old geezers who are only after money, my old man raised me differently" he said with a proud smile, carefully guiding the two creatures back to the surface. He stopped at the entrance of the dungeon, noticing that the number of guards on patrol had increased, making their escape more complicated "Do you have a way to make yourself invisible or hidden?" the two shook their heads "Well, I guess we are doing this the old way then" he took out his worn-out sword "I'll attract their attention, you sneak past them and head towards the forest" the elf girl was startled by his plan "Y-you'll get yourself caught, or worse, killed!" he scoffed "Please, these bugs here are no match for me" he twirled the sword with his wrist "Run and don't look back, keep running until you find your friends or family, understood?" she shakily nodded. 

Just as he was about to jump out, the girl tugged on his coat "May.." she mumbled "May I ask for your name?" he smiled "It's Alex" the girl smiled "Alex... I'll make sure to remember it"

Alex.

Alex..

Alex...

"Alex, are you up?"

He forced his eyes open, feeling oddly tired rather than refreshed "I'm up" he grumbled, sitting up and almost falling over in the process. When his blurry vision finally started to focus, he realized he wasn't in his tent, but inside the carriage.

"Wha..." 

"How are you feeling?" he turned and saw Freya sit in front of him, a worried expression on her face, which made him feel even more uneasy and confused "I'm... alright?" 

Why was she here? Did he do something wrong? Did he cause trouble again?

He jumped when she put a hand on his forehead "Your fever seems to have gone down, thankfully" 

Fever? What fever?

"Was I sick?" she gave him a confused look "You don't remember?" he shook his head "What is the last thing you remember?" he gave it some thought "I... remember sparring... and getting angry... very angry... and then heavy... and then sleepy... and vines..." he mumbled, letting out a scoff "I must have been hallucinating from the fever I guess, sorry for causing you trouble, how long was I out?" he had guessed it had happened yesterday or the morning before at most, Alex had quite the strong constitution and sicknesses wouldn't stick for long on him.