Ascending Light

Departure

Crysen followed the purple fairy, Lexin, out of the cell, as the others took wing behind them. He glanced back just in time to see Kayleen turning down a hallway and out of sight. Crysen had felt the sincerity of the three fairies as they offered to help Crysen. Even if they only wanted to escape, Crysen was their best shot at doing it.

They flew for a long time through the winding passages of stone walls before they encountered the first set of stairs. They were barely lit, with only a couple of candles placed on the wall, meaning they probably weren't used very much. Crysen and the others flew up them quickly and Lexin paused to peer into the corridor it connected to, before continuing swiftly.

Soon they reached an even longer staircase. It was well lit and winding, which meant taking a chance at encountering someone. Lexin held up here hand for them to wait and flew a bit up the staircase. After a minute she came back and said quietly, "It's too long for me to tell anything. Should we risk it?" She looked at Demaosi.

Demaosi looked thoughtful for a moment. He walked over to the staircase and looked at it a minute before shaking his head. "No. It's too busy." Crysen wondered how he knew, but didn't ask.

Lexin nodded and they kept going for a long time until they saw another staircase. This one they went up without a second thought. It was dark and unlit, which meant it was mostly unused. It led them up to a part of the castle that was ragged and seemed abandoned. The red paper that covered the walls was peeling in several places. What looked like slash marks were embedded in the wood in various places. It was a creepy sight to behold and made Crysen shiver briefly. Lexin took a left and kept going, only stopping when they heard noises.

Everyone froze as the noises grew closer to them, coming from an adjoining hallway. Shuffling and tapping. Crysen felt the urge to go towards it. He glided a little closer then felt a hand wrap around his arm. He glanced at Lexin before staring at the shadow coming closer on the wall of the hallway. It was a person. They were using the wall to help them walk. Crysen pulled away from Lexin and heard her yelp softly after him, "Prince Crysen!"

The person was male and small like Crysen was. He had long white hair that covered his face and a white gown which was covered in blood. He had an arm wrapped around his abdomen like it pained him. As if feeling his gaze, the person looked up and his icy blue eyes grew wide. "So you were here after all." He coughed than and blood oozed out of his mouth. His body shivered and he started to fall. Before he could hit the ground, Crysen caught him and sat down, pulling him into his chest much like he had Kayleen.

Syht gasped. "My lord! After all this time you're still here?"

The fairy looked up at Syht. "I'm his favorite toy, of course I'm still here. Who are you?"

Syht looked devastated at this new admission. "I was sent with a group to save you shortly after you were taken."

The noble fae gave a gurgly laugh. "Well thank you for trying. I'm afraid I won't make it out of this place. He screwed up but I'm too wounded to escape."

Lexin watched him with a sad expression and looked at Crysen. "We need to leave him, Crysen. He'll only slow us down and we need to get you out."

The frost fae nodded. "I'm going to die, light fairy. You shouldn't concern yourself with me. Get out now, while you still can." He took a raged breath. "They'll come looking for me. I'm sure they're searching the castle already. It won't take them long to reach this place. Go."

Crysen shook his head, swallowing back tears. He couldn't leave a frost fairy to die. This person was like him. Special. He refused to let him die here. He thought about picking him up, but realized he couldn't carry him alone. The others wouldn't help. Kayleen wasn't here to do it. He needed to do something to help this fae. He searched his mind as Lexin tried to tug him away and then gasped. Healing. He could heal the fairy.