Freedom and Shackles

Her celestial coven had been her home. It had been her family. It had been her guardian. It was not always the kindest, and it did not always speak the easiest truths, but it had held her as one of its own children. And now she walked amongst them, yet not with them. Faye's head hung low, her arms twisted behind her back in arcane shackles, flanked, led, and followed by her armed neighbors and (what she morosely presumed to now be) former friends. Frankly, she hadn't even been aware of whatever sin she had committed this time. She simply answered the summons she had been issued and next thing she knew: magic shackles. This, she sighed, was a new one.

They trekked familiar roads into paths less traveled. Dirt turned into gravel under her feet the farther they walked from their homes. Faye smothered the fear that she might never see that home again as it escaped her view over the horizon.

Their silent march halted before a large gateway embedded in the stone cliffside. Far too big for it to be anything but ceremonial, Faye figured to no one but herself. Their coven leader, heading the party, turned as if to address the group. With a brief gesture, Faye's guards not only stepped back from them, but completely turned back towards the forest to leave. Now it was just she and the clan's most trusted mages. Shocked, Faye looked back at her former leader.

"Behind this door," their aged coven leader, Cosmos, began, "is not to be seen by the many. It's just us from here, Miss Lunith." With a wave of her hand that could only be described as elegant, Cosmos willed the door open. If she squinted, Faye could see a blue light in the distance struggling to make its way out of the otherwise pitch black cave. 

She clenched her teeth, fear beginning to seep into her heart. "Wise Cosmos, I don't understand..."

Cosmos shot her a wry smile, "Let us walk and talk then, shall we?" As she began to walk into the darkness, Faye couldn't fight the urgent compulsion to follow her.

The cave - no, it was more of a stone hallway - was exceptional in everyway. Every footstep they took shot out a pulse of blue phosphorescent light which climbed the rocky walls before fading into nothing. What she could only guess to be some type of fungus emitted the same oceanic glow as they approached, providing just enough light to guide the way. Their path ran parallel to still, glassy water, broken only by the occassional drop falling from the ceiling overhead. Faye had never seen anything like it; why were they showing this to her? Why in shackles?

"This cave," Cosmos said, interrupting Faye's rampant thoughts, "houses our biggest secret. It's no wonder you're confused, as there is not a mage alive outside this cave who is aware of what is housed here." Faye let it wash over her as Cosmos found her words. Her coven had a secret so well kept they weren't even aware they had a secret. If it wasn't right in front of her she would have laughed. "Centuries ago, our brethren found... an atrocity. That's the only way to put it."

As those vile words sunk into her soul, their journey stopped. Slowly, with the trepedation of a fearful child, Faye's gaze rose to meet something beautiful. Crystaline stalagmites lined the cave waves, coalescing into an ephermeral sapphire centerpiece. The azure glow that had led them down this path had crescendoed into a brilliant light. The quiet streams they had followed revealed their roaring waterfall origins. Faye stepped forward in a dazed awe, taking in everything she could. An atrocity? This was, for lack of a better term, magical.  

"Wise leaders, I don't see-"

"That crystal is a prison. And within it, a demon."

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An out of tune chord in a symphony. Delicate china shattering upon the floor. Faye's beautiful masterpiece crumbling into ash and brimstone before her very eyes. Her breath caught in her throat. The beauty in everything she had seen here fell apart in an instant. The calming light twisted in her eyes into a siren's call, the streams turned into traps, cornering her in a dead end with a demon. She stared at Cosmos. A demon?! Anyone who had ever heard of magic and witches knew that demons were not to be trusted. Not to be bargained with. And certainly not to be kept alive! Her head dropped. An atrocity was putting it lightly.

Her blood turned to ice as she felt a hand on her back. Her arms fell like rocks to her sides. Her shackles had been taken off but she felt like she couldn't move an inch. Cosmos, she assumed, was at her side, arm tense around her shoulders. 

"Miss Lunith, there's a horrible criminal in there who freed that demon. They're stuck in that crystal together. We've been looking for a way to be rid of them for centuries.." her leader snaked behind Faye, gently goading her towards the prisoner, "You can absorb their souls, Faye. You can save your coven!"

Save.... the coven? Her throat was dry, her mind was racing. She could do that, but.. If she were to absorb the demon.... No, surely they'd have a way to free her too. Faye forced herself to look up at Cosmos. There was no motherly comfort that she so often radiated, holding her here she emanated pure hate and desperation. This, Faye realized, was her end. There was no way out for her. If she were to absorb the demon like she was being told to, she'd be killed to to be rid of it. If she refused... she'd be exiled, killed either way.. There were no options here. She shifted her gaze to the crystal. Now that she really looked, the gem was cracking. Whatever was keeping it together was running out of time. It was, she supposed, now or never. And within the crystal, she made out the silhouette of the person trapped within. She wondered briefly about his last moments, about how cruel he must have been to be unleash such a monster on the world. And how she now too, would be a victim of his crimes. 

Silently, she shrugged Cosmos off her arm, acceptance settling in her gut. She delicately placed her fingers on the face of the crystal prison before her. Magical energy swept under her fingertips; she could feel its desperation, its pent up energy begging to be released. The air within the chamber had gone stale as she closed her eyes, extending her powers into the crystal before her. Her spirit extended out of her physical form and into the lingering mind of the figure before her. In her vision she saw a man - the man - meditating. 

"It's time to go" Faye whispered after a time, unsure if to herself or to the man. His eyes opened suddenly, pitch black. After a moment he stood, giving her a better look at him. He was an elven man, quite tall with fiery hair. Beyond the normal, his pale skin was splattered with inky black splots. He had a foreign, cthonic eye below his chin; his left arm completely rotten away with demonic magic. She grimaced, there was no longer a man and the demon he had summoned. There was one soul trapped in this crystal, not two. She found herself wondering if there ever were two.

She extended her hand. "It's time for us to go..." she said emptily, "Out of the crystal."

Without any hesitation, the man gripped her hand in his, his black eyes peering straight through hers. Delicately, she retracted their spirits, carefully guiding his, fitting it gently into the nook of her own like she had done with so many spirits before him. She felt the sharp, unfamiliar prick of demonic magic latch into her essence as she returned to her own conciousness. She was surprised otherwise how... normal she felt. Before her, the once radiating crystal sat shattered at her feet. Hesitantly, she turned to where her coven leaders were waiting for her. Cosmos stood at the front as always, sober expression on her face, flanked by her must trusted mages, armed and ready to put her down. 

"I'm glad you were cooperative, Miss Lunith. This was a very honorable deed you've done. It really is a shame what must be done now."

Faye stared in disbelief. She knew, and yet to physically be in the moment felt... different. She felt the world shift around her, the air grew boiling hot. She staggered, catching herself before she fell. No. This isn't where she was going to die. Not by their hands. Not after this sacrifice she's made. This... this rage in her. NO. She clutched her head in her hands. This wasn't her. NO. She reached into her spirit, holding tight to her newfound addition. This rage... this was his rage. But was this only his desire to live? 

"NO," she shrieked. She pulled from her essence like she had done many times before "Summon!" She cried as she charged her executioners. And materializing before her, a man, no longer a spirit, fiery red hair and demonic arm charging right there with her, howling with the frenzy of an uncaged beast.

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It was night when she emerged from that damned cave. How long had she been in there? She felt weaker than she ever had before, but she couldn't stop. She slipt past the fighting, letting her new demonic soul roommate distract them as she escaped. She was sure it wouldn't be long before they were on her tail again. Before she had the whole coven on her tail. So she ran. And if she was lucky, she'd be alive in the morning to figure out a plan to get rid of her new demon friend without getting herself killed. 

'Save the coven,' she scoffed, it was never about saving the coven... She supposed that under certain circumstances, demons were to be bargained with. And certainly kept alive. Maybe she had been too judgmental. Maybe she was losing it and the adrenaline was wearing off. Who's to say. But for the time she would run, each step bringing her closer and closer to freedom.