Aletta's head had not throbbed like this since her younger years. Past that, the biggest sensation that her body was reacting to was the extreme heat she was feeling. With the heat being oppressive enough to cause sweat to drip down her forehead and back, she couldn’t help but wonder: Am I in a forge? Her head was turned to one side, and her neck did not respond to her commands to move. She managed to lift her eyelids, but it was far more difficult than it should have been. The sensory blast of light that hit her eyes made the throbbing turn into a Seran miner pickaxing their way out of her skull. She knew she was thoroughly concussed.

When she could bear to keep her eyes open, she found herself in a vast stone cavern. It looked naturally formed, but signs of Seran expansion were readily apparent. The symptoms of molding magic were evident as she saw multiple indents that sank into the wall. Most of the indents contained what looked to be barracks. Each barracks held enough space for around twenty people. Each barracks had rows of beds and storage chests for personal effects. They all showed signs of use.

Despite the rooms' lived-in appearance, not a single soul was in sight. With her eyes thoroughly worked out, she focused on trying to move her head. The muscles in her neck ached, but she managed to shift her view to the other side of the room. The miner in her skull protested, and a new wave of pain and nausea swept over her. At last, she managed to move her head to get a look at the rest of the room, and the first thing she saw shocked her.

At the center of the room was a single pool of lava large enough to engulf a house. Well, that explains the heat, she thought to herself. Besides the out-of-place lava, her eyes were drawn to a complex magical diagram carved into the cavern floor around the pool. Various types of nethergems had been placed in the diagram. The amount of them was mind-boggling to her. Only a noble household could afford so many.

Besides, the gems in their own sections of the magical circles were all manner of things, from a Cockatrice corpse to standard alchemy ingredients. The complexities of this spell were far beyond her understanding. The amount of Flow needed to power it would be astronomical. She barely noticed the multiple tunnels leading out of the cavern behind the bizarre display.

Her eyes looked at the lava again, noting its central location in the circle. Even the Flow from the lava would not be enough for a magical process of this size. Aletta's mind flew back to her magic lessons, then, a thought struck her. Above the lava pool a thin beam of silvery light poured from the ceiling. A tube had been placed in the ceiling, leading to what she suspected was the surface. The moon's light had to reach the underground... the eclipse.

She must have been out for two days if it was already time for the eclipse. No wonder she felt so stiff. She could feel the painful numbness across all her limbs ebbing away as her attempts to move them forced blood through them. She may not know why she was left alone here, but she would take advantage of it.

With blood returned to her limbs, she could feel the chains around her wrists, ankles, and wings. She started to gather up the Flow stored within her wings. Right as she was about to cast, something interrupted her spell. Faerite chains. Dammit!

She would only get one shot to try something if she used up all of her Flow. Freezing the chains with an ice spell wouldn’t do much without a follow-up shatter spell. She could melt them, but scalding burns were something she wanted to avoid. She observed the keyholes on the shackles. She recognized them.

These were made by Simara, that bitch! Had she sold her out? The feelings of anger and betrayal threatened to push every rational thought out of her mind, but she calmed herself when she realized. She knew how to open these.

Her cheeks flushed at self-embarrassment and draining anger as she chanted, "Elato Von Carite." The Locks all popped off of her like it was their sole purpose. She collapsed to the floor, her legs unable to bear their old burdens so soon. Trick locks. Simara sold them to all sorts of characters, but she would leave an enchantment on them to escape if she ever ended up in one.

Aletta stood up like a newborn foal. Her legs were still fighting off the numbness, but desperation and fear of what would happen pushed her to stand. She hobbled towards the nearest tunnel and looked into it to find that it curved in a downward slope. Well, not that way. She looked at several more tunnels, and all had the same result. Well, this was a problem. Either they used a teleportation spell to get into this cavern, or the tunnels went down to a deeper place, then back up to the surface.

That's it! She looked towards the ritual circle. It may take her an hour, but she could draw her own teleportation spell using the materials from the established circle. Hells, it could take even less time if she used the power of the eclipse. She looked towards the various tunnels again. Better a slow but sure plan than randomly wandering to find the exit, she got to work.

Fifteen minutes had passed, and she was working in a frenzy to get the barest bones teleportation spell down onto the floor. Her tutor, Ezeel, would have had an aneurysm if he saw the quality of the work, but speed and fear did not create well-drawn spells. To her dismay, voices began to echo from one of the tunnels. "Satyr shit." Aletta cursed under her breath.

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Her emerald feathers began to glow as she shifted focus to the rocks above the tunnel where the voices were coming. Her mind envisioned the rocks collapsing, and the Flow made it so. The solid rock fell and collapsed the offending tunnel. The raucous clattering of stone on stone echoed throughout the cavern and adjoining tunnels. The emerald feathers on her wing faded. No more earth spells for today.

She returned to work on her only hope, and then more voices began to chorus from various tunnels. Sweat beaded from her brow as the panic and intense concentration vied for control. Another tunnel sounded as if Serans were about to pour from its entrance. She looked up and saw four hooded figures approaching from the offending corridor. Her sapphire feather glowed, and a wall of ice blocked the tunnel. The feather's light faded.

She had to finish now. One final adjustment and one more cast to delay. Her ruby feathers glimmered and faded, and a firewall surrounded her and her drawn magic. She began to chant out the teleportation spell.

Time slowed to a crawl as she made sure to enunciate every word. A poorly drawn spell was dangerous, but combining that with inaccurate chants was suicide. She could hear magic being cast from the tunnel she blocked. Loud impacts sounded as spell after spell was cast to break into the room. Commands and shouting echoed around the room, but Aletta was too focused to hear what they said.

As she was about to finish her spell with the last two phrases, a single white stone hand reached through the flames, oblivious to the heat. Her heart pounded as the hand mockingly made a fist, then wagged a finger at her like it scolded a child. She was on the last phrase. The hand used the extended finger, casually scrapped at her only hope, and destroyed it. The spell failed, and despair took hold as she fell to the ground.

The rebound of the spell hit her, and blood oozed from her nose. The Firewall had stopped, and she looked up to see the demon that had trapped her. The figure stood above her, draped in an obsidian black robe with wings spread out behind him. His wings, though she immediately recognized the wings. His feathers were only red and blue but so evenly spread that they blended, and the wings looked purple. To have such an evenly colored set of wings was highly costly. Only so many families could afford it.

The figure spoke, and her body froze. "Considering the stress and the speed at which you did this, I would give you a passing score. I was right in saying you are a very talented caster princess." His voice only further confirmed her fears.

Tears of anger filled her eyes as she screamed at him, "What is the meaning of this Ezeel?! Why did you kidnap me? What in the Void is this blasted ritual you are trying to perform? This much Flow could destroy a small city!"

Ezeel's expression remained stern, his eyes clouded with a mix of regret and determination. He approached Aletta slowly but didn't answer immediately. Instead, he studied her for a moment, his voice heavy with conflicted emotions. "Aletta, please understand that I never wanted it to come to this," he finally said, his voice firm. "This empire is on the brink of destruction, and the only hope lies in summoning an Obsidiar. The ritual we perform tonight will bring forth that hero but requires a great sacrifice."

Tears streamed down Aletta's face as she listened to Ezeel's words. "An Obsidiar? You are doing all of this for a child's fairytale!" She seethed.

"It is not child's fairy tale the Obsidiars are very much real and I am calling on their help." Ezeel confidently declared.

"Even if it is true, why me? Why did it have to be me Ezeel? We were close, and you were like family to me!""

Ezeel's gaze faltered, and he sighed deeply. "Aletta, I didn't choose you willingly. The ritual demanded the blood of a royal, and you, being the exiled princess of the first bloodline, were the only one who could fulfill that requirement without significant casualties. I tried to find an alternative, but there was none. I didn't want it to be you, but I had no choice."

Aletta's anger and fear began to boil over. "I don't care about the people of this empire. All they have done is cause me to be locked in a cage all my life. Their hope and dreams led me to live like I was dead." She stood up and slapped him as hard as she could. Ezeel took it with no resistance.

As she vented her pain and betrayal at him, a nearby Seran approached her, "You disrespectful little..." He raised his hand to strike her, but Ezeel gripped the Seran's arm. He whispered a word, and his wings shimmered blue. A gust of icy wind slammed into the Seran, and he collided with the cavern wall. He went limp but was still breathing. Ezeel turned towards all the other robed figures in the room and shouted, "No one is to harm her!"

Ezeel's shoulders slumped, and he took a step closer to Aletta. "I'm so sorry, Aletta. I know you can't forgive me, but I want you to know I'm doing this to save our people. You may not care for them, but I do. The ritual won't take your life, but I don't know what side effects it might have. Please, try to understand."

Aletta's anger and confusion battled with the remnants of her trust for Ezeel. She would not... could not forgive him. She was about to escape into the wide world, but another person who wanted to control her life stood before her.

As tears started to flow, she whispered, "If you knew it was going to kill me. Would you still be doing this?" Ezeel refused to meet her eyes. Aletta exploded, "Ezeel, you'd better hope this kills me; otherwise, I'm going to feed you to a lurker when this is over!" Ezeel turned away from her and walked towards his men.

"Once our people stop throwing themselves into the machine of war for the promise of food for their families. Once our people do not fill the mines and cough up blood and soot. Once our people are free from your father and the noble houses. Only then will I give you my head, but not a day before." He ordered his men to restrain her. He started to prepare for the ritual that would change his people and their world’s fate forever.