Chapter 1: Quick Preparations
Leaving the meeting with Arch Midori and Hell’s Commander Akiva, I quickly make my way back to my little home. Closing the door softly behind me, I take a deep breath. The meeting was more successful than I expected it to be. Laughing at how silly I was, I shake my head remembering the nerves that had been rattling me the entire time in the hall. Taking a deep breath, I start to formulate a plan.
“One week. I have to be back with the spy in one week! With only his general location to go on. How can they expect that of me? Of anyone?!” Banging my head back against the door, I berate myself for already being negative. I’m strong and smart. And cunning. I really should have been a demon of deception. Most don’t even realize I’m a demon until it is far too late. I’m way too cute and bubbly! And all the pink I wear. Definitely not typical demon attire. “I’ve got this!” I say as I start to look around.
Grabbing a bag, I fill it with as many potions and spells as I can. Looking at the pile of parchment, I grab extra sheets and inks just in case more need to be written. After adding extra lower quality rings and gems to the bag, I carefully put on my precious lunar steel rings after checking that they are still in perfect condition and that their gems are still in perfect condition. Topping the bag with a couple changes of warm clothes, I close it tightly, and lift it to make sure it won’t become too heavy after hours of trekking through the cold, snowy mountains.
Wrinkling my nose at that thought, I go to my dresser. Digging through it, I find the warmest leggings, shirt, sweater and socks I can find and dress, immediately sweating. Turning to face the cabinet in the corner, I walk over and open it to look at what is kept inside. My armor. My lunar steel armor that I painstakingly made. Hours of hard work to get the best armor one could have. Taking out each piece of my lunar steel armor, I carefully look it over, before strapping it in place.
Making sure I can still move freely, I bend and squat, touch my toes and stretch. Satisfied, I grab the bag and throw it over my shoulders, making sure it sits low enough on my back to not get in the way of my wings. Buckling the lower strap snuggly around my waist, I take one last look at my home before I open a portal to the mortal realm near where the Valley of the Mystic Ice is located.
Chapter 2: The Search Begins
Stepping out into the cold frozen tundra, I look around and send out my awareness to see if anyone is in my immediate surroundings. Finding no one close, I take in where I've come to.
It's white. And cold. And kind of beautiful in a way. I can understand the appeal of it. At least with how it looks. But the cold. No thank you. I much prefer the warmth of Hell. Shivering slightly, I look up at the mountains surrounding me. Somewhere here is the spy I need to rescue. And the Chalice of Immortals. What even is that? Where do I start? Maybe one of these silly mortals can do those tracking spells I’ve read about in their silly fiction books.
Quietly laughing at myself, I push my awareness out as far as I can. Feeling a pinprick of something off to the northwest, I nod to myself and start to trek through the deep snow, focusing my awareness on the spot to keep from veering off track.
As I walk, I start to wonder about the Chalice. What could it be? Is it really as straightforward as its name suggests? Drinking from it gives you immortal life? I can see the value in something like that. But why bother moving it if that's all it does? We have long life spans, we don't need it. And what mortal would be foolish enough to want it? And to come here of all places to find it!
Lost in my thoughts, focused on the point ahead, I do not notice the being behind me until it is almost too late. Grabbing me from behind, one hand over my mouth, the other holding a knife to my throat, the angel says "Why are you here demon? This is angel territory. You're not welcome!" As I hear him start to say a spell, my training kicks in and I throw my head back, crushing his nose, twisting my way out of his grasp. Turning to face him, I ready a fireball.
"Why didn't you just attack me when you first saw me?" I ask, tense as I watch his every move. I notice his clothing is somewhat tattered, his weapons older and rusted. He wears no armor for protection. "Answer me angel!" I say with as much authority as I can, trying to sound more confident than I feel and I'm sure look.
"Why should I answer you? Your kind doesn't deserve anything!" he replies before attempting to dodge the fireball I throw his way. He almost makes it, but the attack lands on his right shoulder, causing him to drop his knife and fall. Advancing on him, another fireball ready in my left hand, I draw my sword and point it at him. "You should answer me if you want to live to see another day."
He looks up at me, then glances around us as if looking for something. Or someone. I take a quick sweep around me, making sure no one else has snuck up. Suddenly he begins to laugh. Confused, my face scrunched up, I take a step closer, the tip of my sword touching his throat. Looking at me, still chuckling a bit he says, "Killing me would be a blessing. I am shunned by my kind. I don't belong to a choir. They have sworn to never let me back."
I slowly lower my sword. He looks so defeated. If I didn't know any better, I'd think my powers of anguish were working on him. But I keep them on a tight reign. I try not to use them unless I have no other choice. “Maybe I could use him.” I think to myself. He probably knows the area. Maybe he even knows where my spy is. Sheathing my sword and crossing my arms, I look at him.
"You have two choices. One: I bring you to the brink of death and leave you. I won't kill you, that's what you want. I won’t give it to you. Or two: You help me. I'm on a mission and I could use someone that knows this area. And someone with insider information on the movements of the angels. Choose wisely and quickly. I don’t have all day." Keeping my face calm and neutral, I anxiously await his answer. I don’t really want to fight him. I might have the upper hand, but fighting isn’t my style.
Slowly sitting up, he looks at me contemplatively. I continue to stand there as if I really don’t care about his decision, but hoping that he will help me. This could be the difference between success and failure. Finally he responds. “I will help you rescue your spy. But I will not help you in a fight with the angels if it comes to that. I may not like them, but they are still my people. I will disappear at the first sign of a fight. But I want something in return. What...I don’t know yet, but I will call on you when I do, and I expect you to honor that. Or I will find and kill you.”
Looking at him closely, I weigh his words. I could just kill him and be done with it. But I could use the help. Nodding my head once I say, "Deal. You help me now, I will help you when you call." Glancing up at the sky I notice the dark clouds forming and coming closer. "We need to find shelter. It looks like a storm is coming. It will give us a chance to come up with a plan and get rest. Do you know of any close by that will not require too much backtracking?"
Getting to his feet, he points in the general direction I had been heading. “There is a cave about a mile that way. I’ve used it many times for shelter. We should fly there so as not to leave tracks in the snow. If anyone patrolls out this far, they will be able to find us.” He looks behind himself at what’s left of our footprints. They are almost gone from the wind blowing the snow around. Turning back to me, he jumps up into the air, spreading his wings out wide. “Let’s go and stay low to the ground. By the way, I’m Cael.” “Alice” I respond as I unfurl my wings, and follow behind, focusing on the areas around us, making sure he doesn’t lead me into a trap.
Within a few minutes, he lands in front of what looks like a sheet of ice. Landing near, I look at him questionly. I see no cave here, but he just smiles at me and walks to his left before stepping through the ice. Popping his head out he says “Come on little demon.” Cautiously walking over to where his head seems to be floating, I start to see how he walked through the ice. He didn’t. The ice is about one and a half feet away from the opening of the cave. Convenient. Slipping in, I can see evidence of him staying here before. Ashes from a fire, discarded items, no longer useful.
Hearing a sweeping sound, I turn to look back at the entrance. He’s gone! Taking quick steps, I peer out only to see him sweeping over the few footprints we left from landing. “Worried I went off to find some friends? Don’t worry. I’m a lone angel. I keep my distance. Always have really.” He turns to look at me, stepping closer while swiping clean his footsteps until he is right in front of me, waiting to get back into the cave. Stepping back, he enters the cave once more, putting the branch off to the side. Walking around me to a stack of wood, he piles it in the area where a past fire was. “Would you like the honors?” he asks with a smirk. Forming a fireball, I quickly light the lumber in front of me and walk closer, loving the warmth.
Chapter 3: The Plan Forms
“So what’s your plan?” he asks as I take off my backpack and sit down. “I really don’t have one. All I know is that he is in a mountain in the Valley of Mystic Ice. I figured I’d find where the most beings were concentrated then go from there. Oh and I have to be back within the week.” He just sits there looking at me before covering his face with his hand. Narrowing my eyes at him, I give a warning growl. He quickly holds up his hands and I relax out of my defensive position.
“I was hoping for a bit more of a plan than that. And time. We have our work cut out for us if that is all you have.” He starts to look around for something, then turns to me. “You don’t happen to have any blank parchment and some ink do you?” Nodding, I open my bag and grab a piece of parchment and ink. Handing them to him, he starts to make marks, seemingly random. As I watch, I start to realize he’s making a map of the Valley. “Ok we are here in this cave.” He makes an ‘X’ to mark our position. “This is where the prison is.” A ‘P’ get’s marked in the Northern direction, where I was heading. At least I was heading in the general direction I needed to. “Some of the strongest angels guard our prisons. But they really aren’t that smart. They are brutes. Spent their time training, not learning. Hard to beat them, easy to outsmart them.”
“There are various caves scattered along the way.” He puts a small ‘x’ where they are located. “We should definitely move as often as possible, especially as we get closer. You might even want to take Incognito potions then. Hope you have a lot.” He looks up at me to make sure I am following. Nodding, I circle the area around the prison with my finger. “Tell me more about the surrounding areas. I’m sure it’s not just a prison with guards here. There must be a city of some sort. How do we get through that to the prison? That’s step one.”
“Good to know you’re smart; you’re going to need it to rescue that spy of yours.” He begins to tell me about the city as he draws it out on the back of the map of the valley. It’s only protected by the mountains. No walls to go over or get through somehow. It’s essentially built into the mountain side. They created passageways into the mountain to connect the various places. But there are also homes around the central spaces that we will have to get past. It seems those are mostly for workers and gatherers. Those that help fuel the army as needed. Probably not the best fighters. The only full fledged fighters are those guarding the prison. Everyone else is there to support the city and prison.
The prison itself isn’t centered in the city like I thought it would be. It’s further up the mountain, and in the middle of it. There are always two guards at the entrance. How many are inside isn’t widely known. The guards change shifts every two hours. During this switch is our best chance to get inside. That is the only time the entrance is not guarded. But it’s barely a minute from the time the first set of guards go in and the next set comes out. Who knows if there is a spot for us to hide in. We have to hope there’s something. A closet or a room. Even just an alcove hidden in shadows. That’s all we can really plan. Without knowing the exact layout of the prison, or where the spy is, we have no idea how to move forward after getting into the prison. That will have to wait until we’re in the moment. Unless we can find someone who knows the layout and we can get them to tell us the information. Unlikely, but an option.
The next few days continue much the same. We move from cave to cave. Sometimes we move multiple times a day, only stopping for a few hours to rest or to get out of sight of patrolling angels. So far that’s only happened once, and I quickly say an incognito spell. But it’s bound to happen more and more frequently. So we travel carefully.
Planning each step takes up most of our time. How we approach the city. How we move through and up the city. How we approach the prison and get through the entrance. From there we are blind. We’ve talked about getting information from someone within the city. But if they can’t or refuse to give us the information, they could sound an alarm. We’re better off figuring things out once we’re inside. We talk through every step daily. Multiple times a day.
It’s been 5 days and we are approaching the outskirts of the city. The first houses are visible from the cave we’re in. We plan on entering the prison at midnight. Most of the angels will be sleeping. Only the guards at the prison will be awake. I plan on leaving most of my pack here at the cave. Every incognito spell I have, plus a few more I write up. Cures, energy bolts, a few protections. All that I feel will be valuable to help keep me hidden and protected. And if I have to get into a fight, I have attacks. I pack a few greater heals as well. My sword and knives will be with me too. The rest I can leave here, even if it means leaving them behind.
I try to relax and rest. I need my strength to get through this mission. To save the spy and get him home. Whatever information he was able to gather will be useful. This chalice is obviously important. So his information is important. I need to get him back. I will get him back.
Chapter 4: The Rescue
What seems like days later, it’s almost time to head out. I look over each piece of armor and my rings. I strap the pack on tightly. Check that my blades are all in place and secured. Saying an incognito spell, we step out into the freezing night. Shooting up into the air, we fly towards the city, me above Cael, to try and hide me from unwanted eyes. We fly fast, making our way to the heart of the city as quickly as possible. With only 30 minutes until the spell dies out, I will need to take another before we continue up to the prison.
After almost 20 minutes of flying, we touch down beside a large building. Cael said it’s a theater, but it’s not used much now that the city is mainly a prison city. Either way, the shadows create spots to hide from prying eyes where we can catch our breath, regroup and I can cast another incognito spell. Digging one out of my bag, I look up to where the prison entrance is just visible. It looks like there’s a covering to shelter the angels on guard. Looking at the clock tower, I see we have 10 minutes before the guard change. Casting the spell, I signal to Cael that I am ready to go. With a silent countdown we both jump into the air, our wings flapping to bring us close to the mountain edge as we fly up. We veer slightly to the right so we come up to the prison out of sight. Upon flying to the prison’s level, we land quickly and hug tight to the mountain side.
Taking a silent, but deep calming breath, we start to inch closer to the entrance. I know the guards can sense Cael, but there are angels everywhere here. One more shouldn’t alert them to any trouble. Even from way up here we can hear the clock tower chime midnight. Listening carefully, we hear the doors open and footsteps heading into the mountain. With no time to lose, we quickly follow behind, our steps silent. Once inside, Cael looks around and then pulls me into a deep alcove to the left. We stand quietly, waiting for the next set of guards to walk out. My hand clenches the knife at my side, ready to strike if I have to. Suddenly we hear footsteps coming closer and the new set of guards pass us, going outside and closing the door behind them.
Taking a few moments to adjust to the sudden darkness, we peek out from the alcove. We creep down the hall, hugging close to the wall. A light is up ahead, along with a door. As we get close, we can hear the guards laughing at something. Inching past the door, we continue down the pathway. We come to a fork. Cael looks at me to make the decision. I look at both pathways, focusing on my gut and intuition, and reaching out with my awareness to see if I can locate a demon that might be the spy. I should have asked for his name.
Shaking the thought from my mind I turn towards the left path. “This way,” I whisper. And quickly take off, following that feeling that led me this way. As we go deeper and deeper, more forks show up. At each fork I don’t hesitate to follow whatever it is that is guiding me. Finally we reach a dead end. Only a door stands before us. I know for a fact that the one I came for is behind this door. I don’t know how. But I do. It’s been about 20 minutes. Maybe 25. The door has a strange lock on it. I didn’t even think about how I would open the door.
Cael moves me out of the way. Touching the lock, he says something under his breath and I hear a click. I look at him with a raised eyebrow and he just shrugs. Wanting to ask more questions, but knowing we don’t have the time, I reach for the door and pull it open. Lighting a small fireball in my hand I walk in, looking for the demon. I find him crouched in the corner, weak from lack of blood and whatever torture he’s been through. Dropping down next to him, I pull my bag around to grab two heal potions. Helping him drink the first one, I hand him the second as I put my bag back on.
Reaching a hand down to help him stand, he looks me over. “How did one so young manage to get in here?” Looking over my shoulder he crouches in a defensive position. Grabbing his arm quickly to stop him from attacking, I quickly say “I had some help. We made a deal and he’s not gone back on his word yet. It’s been almost 6 days. We can trust him to help us out of here.” Pulling two incognito spells from my waist band, I say one casting it on the spy. The other I cast on myself. “We have to be quick. The only guards we should have to worry about are the ones outside. It’s not worth the time to wait for the change. We need to get out now.”
Leading the way back up through the prison, more slowly due to the spy’s injuries, we hear nothing until we make it to the room where the guards were laughing earlier. Not too much further to go. Glancing at Cael and the spy, I hand both knives to the spy, and pull out my sword. We need to be ready. As soon as the door opens, we need to attack. I have flame strikes rolled up in my belt, one in my hand. Lightning breath is my strongest attack, but I prefer fighting with Pyrokinesis.
Nodding to Cael, he walks up to the door and flings it open. Shooting a flame strike at one guard, I rush the other with my sword. I hear the spy and Cael follow behind with their own attacks, one focusing on the guard I managed to hit with my flame strike, the other joining me. Throwing a fireball at the guard in front of me, I quickly swipe at the back of the first guard with my sword. I manage to make contact behind his left knee. He goes down hard as I twirl to dodge the attack of the second guard. I feel pain racing down my right arm, almost losing my sword. Switching hands before it hits the floor I glance towards the door. How the other guards haven’t heard us yet I will never know, but I will take that advantage any day.
“RUN!” I hear Cael yell. Looking, I see one guard down, the other struggling. But I can hear more coming. That advantage didn’t last long. The three of us run to the edge of the prison platform and jump, our wings unfurling. Cael and I each grab one of the spys arms, making sure his wings can hold him, and keep up with us. We fly straight down the mountain, keeping as close to the side as possible. We’ve almost hit the city level when the alarm sounds and guards start flying behind us. “We should split up. You take your spy. Try to make it back to the cave. Or just go home. Get out of here if you can. I will try to distract them!.” I try to respond, not wanting to split up, knowing they could kill him for helping us, but he just yells “GO NOW!” before pushing us off to the side and turning to fly back into the mass of guards.
Not taking the time to think about what might happen, I pull the spy with me, urging him to go faster. The further down the mountain we can make it before I open a portal to Hell the better. But I can see the fight and flight has drained him. I don’t know that he can make it much further. And our incognito spells must be close to running out. We don’t have much time.
I feel the spy start to slow and drop. I won’t be able to carry him myself while still trying to escape. Deciding quickly to drop and land, I cast a protection spell on myself and then one on the spy. Calling upon the powers of Hell, I manage to get a portal open. Shoving the spy though, I throw one last flame strike, coupled with a fireball before hopping through myself, letting the darkness wrap around me and close the frozen tundra from view.
Chapter 5: The Return
Laying there for a few moments, I let the warmth of Hell seep into every pore. Sitting up, I see the spy looking even worse. I quickly get up and go to him, grabbing him under the arms to drag him into my rooms. Ripping the bag off my back, I pull out the heal potions and cures I have left. Making him drink a cure and then heal potions, I grab two sheets of parchment and ink, quickly scribbling a note down on each, one to Arch Midori, the other to Hell’s Commander Akivа. Glancing at the spy to make sure he is stable enough for me to leave, I run to the door and grab the first Imp that passes by. “Bring these to Arch Midori and Hell’s Commander Akiva. Quickly. Go! Your life might depend on it!” Hearing the threat in my voice the Imp takes off at a run, almost flying to deliver them as quickly as possible.
Returning to my rooms, I get some cloth and water to start to clean off his wounds, especially the older ones. Sitting down beside him, the adrenaline quickly leaves me. Swaying at the sudden loss, I fall over, the bowl of water clashing to the ground. The last thing that crosses my mind is remember that Cael said he wouldn’t fight with me. But he did. Darkness takes over as my head hits the floor.