The Enlightened Few - The Journey Begins

Escape

The pair descended swiftly to the ground floor and rushed out onto the courtyard leading to the castle. Ilmatar walked on air, his lofty build hardly matched his glidy nature, while Aden's robes swayed wildly from side to side with the wind. Ilmatar, however was wearing tight blue hose pants and a flamboyantly white puffy sleeved shirt, with puffy blue shorts. On either side of Ilmatar's shirt, a blue stripe outlined the border of the Erion crest. The symbol on the crest was a hollow, dark blue hawk with its wings spread out ready to take flight. These majestic birds were herded by the Erions and were used in delivering messages across kingdoms.

The sun was now hiding in the clouds; a shadow began eating away at the fiery city, these were the first signs in the coming of a storm. The wind blew harder and the frightened Apiritians could be seen scuttling into their homes. Aden was not afraid, but was displeased by the turn of events as he tried to focus on his mission, which was currently to depart from the city with haste. Ilmatar did not find it difficult to keep up with Aden, the wind helped his stride and he sometimes had to slow down so as not to overtake the young prince. They reached the castle gates within a matter of minutes, but instead of going through them Aden led them up some hidden stairs and passages that led to his towered room. The room was really not what we would imagine to be towered, a mere 6 meters above the ground, it was high enough for any Apiritian to consider too tall. The Apiritians were a strange folk, in the sense that they were tall by nature but afraid of high places. Aden was tall, climbing places and seeing wondrous views was a habit of his; in fact he always wanted to see beyond what everyone else saw.

"I need to get my dampening cloak, if I don't then I will beam like a beacon and I really don't want to make it easy for my father to find me." Aden was frantically throwing everything around the room, packing his small backpack with a few important items.

At the same time Edan was climbing up the tight spiral staircase leading to the prince's bedroom. The stairs were never ending, seeing as he was returning from the lowest point of the castle, the dungeons, which has been converted into more practical rooms after the war, like apothecaries. He was worried about his prince, due to his absence, and at the same time glad that the monk teachers had not checked up on him. The distraction of the storm had probably gotten everyone preoccupied with safety for the people.

Nearing to the hidden door, Edan heard a commotion emanating through the walls. He ran up as fast as his legs could take him, tripping ever so slightly along the way.

Edan pushed the door wide open, only to reveal his long awaited prince in the middle of the room with a strange figure hovering over a bag, "Sire, you have returned!" With an exasperated pause and much observation at the goods being inserted into the bag, he continued, "What in the world are you doing Sire? Have you gone completely mad?" Aden stopped and looked directly into Edan's eyes, he was shocked at the way Edan was talking to him, but understood that it was probably out of frustration. He knew he had not been open enough to Edan with his thoughts and it seemed that his behaviour was starting to rub off on the poor servant boy.

"Edan, don't question me! I hate it when people question me. You, of all people should know that!"

"Sire, I am sorry. You have been acting strangely for days now, it is as if you have been possessed. You are even permitting strangers to enter your chamber, what in the hell is going on? Should I call on your father?"

"Edan, stop it! You are starting to aggravate me, simply be still a moment while I pack. I will be gone before you know it."

Edan walked toward Ilmatar with long strides and was ready to lash out at him, out of sheer anger, something unfathomable for him. "What have you done to my prince? Have you no shame? You are a disgrace to your kingdom, you sorcering swine!" Edan tried to hit the man, only to find his arm had been blocked by Aden's grip of it.