Swords of Gilded Crimson

Chapter 50 | A Prison's Attributes |

I was met with a singular hallway, which continued onwards in one direct channel, as well as splitting for a further two more passages to its left and right. Candidly, I'd reached my limit of having to deal with such crossroads, and all the nuisances that might be lurking within. Though what unnerved me more so, was the absence of any more guards in the vicinity. The hallway, for all its vast scope, failed to render any drifts of the scents of human soldiers. Under its obscurity, the expanse was oddly still, and wholly silent.

In my haste, and reluctance to try and disfigure which passage may lead to what, I stalked into the central channel. The further I advanced, the more dimmed it became. But the growing darkness was only a nudge to gear myself up for what had to be a threat choosing to await me, rather than to chase. I sheathed one of the swords I'd acquired from the courtyard into the belt of my tunic, for a free hand. Though my step was more of a stride, with each moment further into the prison's central hallway, the underlying trepidation only grew.

... Until finally, there was something to focus my energy onto. The central channel came to an end, albeit a temporary one. I ran a hand across this end- a rigidly bolted door of steel. With a few forceful shoves from my shoulder, the bolts blasted open out of inevitability. The door stood aglow with a gentle golden lustre from my reiner for several seconds, though it appeared I wasn't the only one who had remarked that picture.

What lay on the other side of the otherwise impenetrable doorway, was a sickening multitude of iron-barred cells, aligned in series of orderly rows and columns. Each was more or less a cage; exhibiting beaten, tortured and vilely mutilated fae. Embittered bruises, gapes and scars struck out distinctly to my first glance. In others, hunched over figures covered what they could of themselves with the tresses of withered hair. I almost balked at the sight when the nearest of them turned to gape at my arrival. Only in a small number of the prisoners, did a ray of hope threaten to emerge. In most, there gushed the instinct to crawl towards the back of their cells in fear that I brought more tortures. I remembered then, that through Eleodor's glamour, my ears still appeared as subtle and round as the humans that must only make an appearance to torment them. For many of them, I wondered if torture was indeed their first experience of humans, at all.

These had to be the fae taken into imprisonment as soon as they emerged in Torrine, on account of that damned route they'd taken to escape Veyren's conquering of the Dawn Court. They'd absconded one imprisonment to land directly into another. One that was certainly charmed against their chances of another act of fleeing; the entire chamber resonated with the heavy scent of faerie magic.

Not faebane, Strycanine or Anthirax, but only with the stench of what must be Veyren's wards, in his faerie form. When a few of the prisoners mustered the courage to plead for help, seeing as I hadn't yet reached for any vessels of torture, they appeared to clamour and wail, where I walked. Yet, I heard not a sound other than my footsteps.

It meant Veyren had charmed the entire chamber against any discovery of their sound as well as scent, explaining why I hadn't been able to sense either when outside. There was but one tapered lane leading through to the end of the chamber, where there was another door of steel faintly in sight.

As I made a brisk walk down towards the adjoining door, I reassured myself that should I get the opportunity, I would return for them. But in that moment, all that I could work up the nerve to watch them for, was for the instance that despite all my want for it not to be, Nikolai had been imprisoned along with them, in a similar manner.

Many of the imprisoned fae even had wings, though the texture and form of the wing of a faerie hailing from the Court of Dawn was distinctively unlike the Aedgian wing. Rather than a dark, membranous frame, these were light in colour, and looked to be more a collection of feathers.