After Empire of Storms

Chapter 12

The darkness was eerily identical to Endovier's. 

Scraping her hands around the dark stone of her prison, the only sound was of Aelin's chains as they dragged on the ground around her. The prison was indistinguishable from Endovier, and Aelin scowled at the oppressive darkness. 

My name is Aelin Ashryver Galanthyius, and I am not afraid. 

Memories of the people she had failed still spun around in the back of her head, but they were not a punishment as Maeve intended they would be-- They were a reminder. Of the dark times that she had struggled through in order to find the light. Aelin laughed. Maeve's torture had done nothing more than motivate her. 

After each of those moments of her life, Aelin had changed. From Aelin to Celaena. From princess to assassin. From prisoner to champion. From assassin to queen. From human to fae. From Celaena to Aelin. And she would never be done changing. 

Aelin slid her hand over another piece of dark stone in the wall and winced. The rock had scratched her palm, and though she could not see her hand, the coppery tang of blood alerted Aelin to the growing pool in her hand. 

Smiling for the first time in what felt like weeks, Aelin dipped her fingers into the blood and placed it on her iron-covered arm. 

The Wyrdmark came easily to Aelin as she dragged her bloodied fingers through the dark and drew symbol after symbol on the iron encasing her body. And one by one, the chains fell to the floor. 

The last piece of iron to fall was the mask. The soft thud, and the Queen of Terrassen was once again free from her restraints. 

Shoving the iron to the back of the cell, Aelin practically ran to the opposite corner of the room, her magic starting to once again pool at her core. Testing her magic, Aelin shifted, closing her eyes to the bright flash of light. 

Her fae senses purred at the lack of iron. Finally, they seemed to say. Free.

Aelin strolled to the iron door, stretching as she did so. She could almost count the ribs jutting out from her skinny frame. Leaning down, Aelin moved her fingers across the dirt floor, dipping them back into the small puddle of blood in her hands, though the wound had already healed. She continued the patterns, creating a wall separating the front of the cell from the back. After finishing her work, Aelin curled up to sleep in the center of the room, ready to listen for approaching footsteps, and fell asleep. 

* * * * * 

Aelin woke slowly, stretching out each muscle until she stood. The sleep had not been peaceful, but it was the most rest that Aelin had received in a long while. Based on the state of her body and magic, Aelin guessed she had been asleep for at least a day.  

Aelin laughed to herself at Maeve's stupidity. She had lived without magic for over ten years, yet the power always seemed to find its way back to her. Aelin didn't need flames to destroy her opponents. 

Yet her magic had grown dramatically in size, as if it had been growing even while Aelin had the iron on her, and taking it off simply revealed the chasm of power it had been hiding. 

Reaching deep within her, Aelin pushed by the fire and reached for the small drop of water lying in the middle of the cache of magic. A small pearl of water appeared in Aelin's palm and she sipped from it greedily. 

The sound of soft footsteps alerted Aelin to someone approaching. Biting her lip in disgust, Aelin dove back into the pile of iron, hoping the form wouldn't look to closely at the bundle of chains at the back of the room.  

The iron door vibrated slightly, and Aelin placed the mask on her face as she turned to the door. A small slot opened near the bottom, and a tray of food was shoved through the hole. Aelin didn't dare move as the slot closed and another opened up near the top of the door. 

Two dark eyes looked through the slit, scanning the cell and the pile of chains for anything suspicious. But the male must have found nothing of interest as the opening closed and the footsteps faded away. 

Aelin laid among the iron for only a minute longer, not wanting to be near the iron for any longer than she had to. She knew she ought to be more cautious, but something told Aelin that Maeve thought she had won. If she only knew how far Aelin was from giving up. 

 * * * * * 

The next days passed quickly, and Aelin grew stronger with each passing second. The small meals were less than satisfactory, but Aelin ate them to regain her strength. 

Using her fire, Aelin would light up the room and forge weapons of pure flame. With nothing better to do, she practiced and trained. Her physical strength was wavering, but the power of her flames were not. 

And when the iron door finally opened, Aelin knew her plan. 

Lying down wrapped in chains, Aelin heard footsteps approach, then halt with much cursing. "I'm stuck!" The voice shouted. 

Several teasing responses answered the male's call for help. Four more sets of feet pounded into the room, and also froze in place. 

 Aelin stood, the iron melting from her forge-hot skin. The unknown fae males snarled at Aelin as she stood, a queen in all of her glory. They opened their mouths, no doubt to shout for help--

The males didn't have time to make another sound as blue fire shot down their throats and they crumpled to the floor. Aelin strolled past their prone forms, smiling down at the bodies and the Wrydmarks that held them in place. Grabbing a shirt off of one of the bodies, Aelin pulled the white shirt over her own head before running through the iron door.  

Two fae males stood across the room, weapons drawn. Aelin quickly sent a dagger of flame towards both and one fell without resistance. The other deflected the dagger into the stone wall, where it lay, burning. As she faced the second warrior, she met Cairn's sadistic smile with one of her own. 

"I have been waiting a long time for this, Princess," Cairn's smile only grew as Aelin summoned two hunting knives of flame to her hands and stepped into the center of the empty adjoining room. 

Aelin lowered her gaze and palmed her knives. "So have I." And with that, Aelin launched herself across the room at Cairn, eyes glowing as bright as her weapons. 

Cairn dodged her first attack, as Aelin slashed for his head with a scissoring motion. Cairn lunged forward, the broadsword aiming for her exposed side. 

Aelin spun away from his weapon and brought her knives down onto Cairn's exposed arm. He twisted away from the heat of the blades and retreated, staring at Aelin from the other side of the room. 

Aelin was panting, her weak body already starting to break down. Cairn's eyes glimmered, not even winded. So Aelin smiled and let Cairn lunge for her-- before slamming face-first into a wall of shining flame. Her power was slowly shrinking, and Aelin knew that she needed to save her magic for Maeve. 

The wall disappeared, only to be replaced with a whip of flame, which curled around Cairn's ankle and dragged him through the iron door Aelin had just vacated. The door slammed shut, and Aelin ripped open the skin on her left palm to write a final Wrydmark on the door. 

As Aelin walked away, hollow banging echoed through the empty room, which she quickly exited. 

Sorry for the short chapter. It's been a busy few weeks! If you have any ideas for this story, or even for a different story that you want to read (ACOTAR, crossovers, etc.) comment or message my account! I want to write as much as possible this summer!