Fallen Angel

Escape

 Before Leira could open the door, she heard voices on the other side. It was almost relieving to her, even though those were the enemy’s voices she heard. It removed some of the tension in the air. There were only two voices speaking: one of a man and the other of a woman. The man sounded eager, anxious, and a bit nervous. The woman’s tone was even and calm. He mentioned something about the crystal, and what they would do with it. The woman did not respond to him, as if she was thinking.

 The room on the other side must be a meeting room of sorts, where they formulated their plans and strategies. It clearly was not the way out of the fortress. But Leira was intrigued by their discussion on the other side. What did they have planned?

 Her eavesdropping was cut short when she heard footsteps moving towards that the door the group was huddled around. She motioned for them to hurry away and hide. They ducked behind one of the staircases as silently as they could. The doors flew open and a cloaked figure strode into the foyer.

 The cloak concealed the person’s face—in fact, it hid their entire body from view. The being seemed to glide across the floor rather than simply walk. It slowly scanned the room. Leira prayed that the figure hadn’t heard them.

“Is something the matter?” the man’s voice echoed through the room.

 The figure stared out at the room once more before turning around and moving back into the room. “I thought I sensed a disturbance in here. Perhaps it was merely my imagination,” the woman said.

 As the doors closed again, the group silently moved towards the opposite corridor.  They snuck down this hall in hopes of finding the exit. Marissa seemed a bit awestruck from their near encounter.

 “That man’s voice… It sounded so…familiar,” she muttered to herself once, staring off into the distance. Leira figured it was best not to pry and left the woman to her thoughts.

 When all hope of escape seemed lost, another door appeared before them. It was surrounded by large windows that showed the world outside. It was a dark night with clouds hiding the stars from view. The full moon managed to shine through the clouds, sending light into the hall. Leira could make out dying trees outside in the barren wasteland.

 Even if they could escape, she had no idea where they were. How could they get home?

 As they walked towards the exit, eager to be rid of this place, several Relinquo materialized in front of the door. Leira instinctively pulled out her sword, ready to defend herself. But how would they defeat these monsters when they could not use fire? They had to sneak out; setting a fire would make it blatantly obvious that there were intruders in the fortress—or rather, escaped prisoners.

 Leira began to fight anyway, thrusting her sword at one of them. Kyle helped her and together they fought the creatures. Their blades slammed together, the noise echoing through the empty halls. Marissa launched an arrow at one, knocking it onto its back. The group was so caught up in the battle that they were unaware of the Relinquo appearing behind them.

 It captured Marissa, binding her hands behind her. She yelped in surprise. Will moved to strike it with his own blade, but another Relinquo was faster, and grabbed him. Frustrated, Leira managed to knock over one with her sword. It was then that she began to feel truly hopeless. Her muscles screamed at her to stop. Her limbs felt as though they were made of lead, and were ready to fall off at any minute. She was weak, tired, exhausted. She felt ready to collapse at any second. It was a bad time for her knees to buckle, causing her to fall to the floor. She still gripped her sword tightly in her hand, not ready to give up.

 A Relinquo lifted her up and forced her forward. Resigned, the group allowed themselves to be pushed back towards the foyer. It was a feeble attempt at escape, one they knew would most likely fail. But they had to try; they had to keep going, even if they were weak and tired.

 The Relinquo forced them towards the meeting room, no doubt taking them to their commander. The doors were shoved open to reveal the man and woman from earlier. The room was rather large, similar to a throne room. The walls were covered with large windows letting moonlight stream in. The floor was the same black marble. There was little decoration in the room, and it seemed rather empty. The only thing in it was a throne-like chair with a small round table and chairs in front of it.

 The woman appeared unfazed by their entrance, as if she knew all along that the four of them were inside the fortress. The man, however, appeared stunned. He was tall and slim, with short, disheveled, black hair. He looked sickly and worn, as though he had been working himself way too hard. His dark eyes stared only at Marissa.

 The Relinquo released them and disappeared from the room, leaving the four of them to face the man and woman. The woman chuckled and said, “I knew I sensed someone in the castle. They were found in the corridors near the rear exit, master.”

 The man said nothing though, still staring at Marissa. It seemed as though he was struggling to think of something, but was failing. Marissa appeared equally startled, and let her bow slide out of her hands onto the floor. “Max…” she whispered, her eyes beginning to water.

 “Y-you…I know you, don’t I?” he stammered, sounding confused.

 “I’m sure that my master had no affiliation with the likes of you. If you w—“

 The man cut her off though. “No! Minerva, I—I’m sure I’ve met her before.”

 Fury spread through Leira like wildfire. Minerva! Leira pointed her sword at the cloaked woman, her anger burning hot within her.

 “Such violence against me and my lord is unacceptable,” Minerva spoke in monotone.

 “You have it! The crystal you took from the Capitol! Give it back!” Leira shouted. Kyle and Will joined her, ready to fight.

 Minerva chuckled. She held out a hand in front of her, palm facing upward. A large glistening crystal appeared in a small flash of light. It floated above her palm, filling the room with color. It was clear and glass-like, but the light it gave off shone a rainbow of colors. “Is this the gem you refer to?” she said, laughing.

 Kyle’s eyes widened. “I-impossible! How could you have the whole crystal if you only had one fragment?”

 Minerva laughed at his statement. She waved her hand and the crystal vanished from sight. “You thought you had all of the fragments!”

 The man turned to stare at Minerva. “What’s going on here? Who are these people?” he demanded.

 In that instant, Leira could see a purple glow from underneath the hood of Minerva’s cloak. Was it her eyes? “These people are spies and should be dealt with accordingly, sir.”

 Maximillian drew his sword from the sheath at his waist, pointing it at the four of them. In a much darker tone than before, he said, “I shall dispose of them myself.”

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A/N: I loved writing this chapter. It feels like everything is coming together...