The Tree of Purity and Life

CHAPTER ONE

The sound of a key scraping the steel prison bars followed by the clacking of a tongue. The prison mage was bored out of his mind. With a deep sigh he sat down on his chair that was facing one of the cells.

The prison mage wore a long purple cloak with black shoulder caps. The back of the cloak had an embroidered raven with his wings spread and his beak open, but it was missing his eyes. The black shoulder caps resembled where he was allocated in the prison.

Black stood for The Hallak. The most dangerous floor of the prison where the captives were given the highest penalty.

Immortality

There were no lights on this floor but a single torch that the prison mage carried with him. The cells were small and there was no window. Everything was loud- like an echo through a deep cave. The only heat that this floor had was the warmth of a lit torch that was carried from one side to the other. It was pure torture on its own.

''Time to read this masterpiece.'' He said, chuckling while he reached for a bunch of hardcover books underneath his chair. With a grin on his face and opening his book, the mage sat back down into his wooden chair. One leg over the other, the tip of his white gloves touching the right corner of the page to turn it over.

Seconds.

Minutes.

Hours.

Had passed by. The prison mage closed his book, having finished all of it. He reached back for his wooden crate that had all the hardcovers stored in it. Placing the one he just read at the far end. A cough escaped one of the captives mouth that echoed, catching the mages attention.

''Who said that!'' He yelled, clearly being not sound of mind and lacking sleep.

''Cedrick....'' A gentle female voice responded- and an echoed chuckle followed before it all went quiet again.

Sliding down off his chair with every second that passes. Cedrick had a hard time trying to keep his eyes open. The night was ice-cold and even him- a well respected mage had not much of choices in life. He crossed his arms and started hugging himself, closing his eyes and slowly drifting off into a deep slumber. Trying to find that warmth that he was missing.

At all cost, do not close your eyes and do not sleep.

It was the one rule they had to follow in this prison and Cedrick just failed to obey it. He was well aware that if anything would go wrong, it will cost him his life.

Not far from Cedrick, was a small cell. Smaller than all of the others. It was easily missed, but it wasn't built to be recognized. Standing was one of the only options, but sitting was somewhat possible. They would endure constant pain from their wrist shackles pulling their arms up. Their legs were chained to the ground. Movement was restricted, and painful to even flinch.

The sound of chains hitting the wall woke Cedrick up. His eyes opened wide and he proceeded to scan the area around him. The floor had five cells which were all filled with prisoners, five Hallak and one single mage. Cedrick was confident enough to feel relaxed but even more cocky to fall asleep. He knew that if one escaped, he had their heart in his hand.

''Cedrick'' a deep voice spoke but no echo followed. The mage got up from his chair and grabbed the torch from the table. Making a swirl with his hand, a small flame appeared on his palm. Guiding that to the soaked cloth that was covering the top part of the torch, it lit up.

The flame was not much of help as most of the floor was still covered in shadows, but no one has ever escaped the facility before so why should he be scared. He raised his arm, moving the torch upwards while he marched forward to the right cells. Checking them one by one, he confirmed everyone was still chained up.