okay here we can acknowledge the HEIGHT DIFFERENCE HELLO NESTA HAD TO ROSE ONTO HER TOES TO PEER OVER THIS SHOULDER I SWEAR TO ALL THAT IS HOLY PROTECTIVE CASSIAN IS UGH MY HEART CANNOT TAKE IT
Summary: You are Feysand’s daughter and you’ve just come home from your studies in the Day Court. Azriel needs someone with extensive training in magic in order to complete a mission for the Night Court. You happen to be just what he needs.
Note: I’M BACK. To the people who have been waiting a looong time for me to update this fic, thank you for your support and sorry to keep you waiting. Hope you enjoy!
CHAPTER FIVE
It was eleven fifty-four when a pair of guards showed up to take the next watch. Silently and swiftly, you incapacitated them with your daemati gifts and Az dragged their unconscious bodies away from the castle, deeper into the woods where they would not be found or wake up for hours. But before Azriel carried them off, you studied their features long enough to weave a quick glamour spell to place over yourself and Azriel.
Your heart pounded as you climbed the steps to the castle’s eastern tower, where the guards from the current shift were waiting. You silently prayed to whatever gods might be listening that they wouldn’t notice anything amiss. Earlier when you asked Azriel why you couldn’t just knock these guards out as well, he explained that someone would surely notice their absence in the castle. So, you begrudgingly agreed to his insane plan.
You let Azriel walk slightly ahead of you as you neared the top of the stairs. Then the most peculiar thing happened, Azriel suddenly changed his walk, favoring his right leg and carrying his weight lower. He wore a bored but content expression that took over his previously grave demeanor. You had to stop yourself from gawking because you were now approaching the other two guards.
“Davenport. Alston.” He greeted each guard by name with a nod of his head. They returned the nod before walking past to leave us to start the next watch. You waited until you were sure they were gone to drop the glamour and then punched Azriel in the arm.
“Ow, that hurt.” You were sure it didn’t. In fact, your knuckles were likely suffering much more than his thickly muscled bicep.
“You should take up acting. I’ve seen theatre performances less convincing than what you just did. And I’m sure everyone would appreciate that face on the stage.” And you did not lie, the shift in physicality was alarming, but very impressive. You could have sworn he blushed at the compliment.
He shrugged it off, “Centuries of sneaking and spying will teach you a few things.” The little smile at the corners of his lips was nearly enough to make you swoon. You even caught a flash of dimples for a split second. But, then his face returned to its grave stoicness. “We should continue.”
You shook off the stupor caused by his unearthly beauty and nodded. This was not the time for swooning. You headed towards the castle and just before entering, you dropped your glamours and Az shrouded you both in his shadows. In the dark and dank castle, you barely saw anyone walking about. And those who you did see paid you no mind, the shadows easily concealed you both in the dimly lit space, and you both made no sound as you slinked through the halls.
You reached out with your gifts and laid a metaphysical hand on the fortified walls of Azriel’s mind, and then caressed it, running your nails down the surface. You could have sworn his steps faltered for a moment before he let you in.
‘So, what exactly am I looking for here?,’ you spoke in Az’s mind.
‘I have no idea. But, you should know it when you see it, or rather feel it.’ Your brows furrowed. How the hell were you supposed to find something you didn’t even know what you were looking for? But suddenly, you felt the telltale crackling of magic in the air, it was faint, but you knew what it had to be. You halted your footsteps and Az stopped beside you. You stopped in front of a tapestry, feeling the buzz of magic grow stronger as you approached it. You laid your hand on the intricate designs, it was just an ordinary tapestry, nothing special. You moved it aside and found nothing but a wall behind it.
Your eyes narrowed on a particular brick in the wall, it was slightly more worn than the rest. Taking a chance, you pushed on the stone, which gave in and sunk a few inches into the wall. A panel slid back with a soft click to reveal a dark hallway.
You and Az shared a wary look before slipping through the opening. Through some sort of mechanism or enchantment, the torches on the walls lit themselves with a soft whoosh, illuminating a long and narrow hall. You and Azriel whirled around as you heard the door behind you close with a soft thud, and upon inspection you couldn’t find any way to get back out. You supposed it didn’t matter since you had to go onward anyway. With a shrug that was much too casual for the situation, Azriel led the way.
Your steps were the only thing you heard as you treaded down the dark passage. The air was thick with anticipation for the trap that was likely soon to come.
“Remember what I told you,” Az murmured and you nodded silently. Back at the inn, Azriel told you about what kind of traps to expect. There was one where the ground crumbled beneath your feet, opening to reveal jagged rocks meters below. That would be easy enough to bypass with your wings. There were a few more but even so, the passage that Az infiltrated had since been closed off. Who knew what was waiting for you in this one?
You were drawn out of your thoughts by a soft hissing that filled the air. Before you knew it, a thick fog began to seep through the ridges in the dark brick walls. You both froze. What was this? An attempt to blind you? But then your nostrils were met with the foul, sharp scent of something chemical. Az reached out to touch the fog but then quickly drew back with a hiss, his skin starting to blister.
“Hold your breath!” you managed to shout before holding your own. With your magic, you summoned a current of air to keep the fog away from you and Azriel. As you sprinted further into the tunnel, the whirlwind of air pushed the fog past you and back the way you came. You finally reached an area without toxic fog pumping through the walls and slowed down, releasing your breath.
“You didn’t tell me about that one,” you said as you huffed for air.
“I would’ve if I had known,” he replied, though not nearly as winded as you, “Quick thinking by the way, that was a very smart move with the wind magic.”
You tried but failed to not blush under his praise, not meeting his eyes. You felt his hand under your chin, raising your face towards his own. You couldn’t help but swoon a little under his intense gaze.
“I love to make you blush,” he spoke softly with his lips so close to yours, “And I’ll remember how much you love praise for later.”
You didn’t know it was possible, but you felt your cheeks grow even warmer. Speechless and most likely gaping like a fish out of water, you backed away from his grasp (even though it was the last thing you wanted to do).
“Not the time, Az.” you murmured and turned on your heel to continue your trudge down the passage, but he easily caught up to you. Damn his long legs.
“I know,” he said, “that’s why I said I’d remember it for later.” You scoffed in disbelief but before you could retort with a witty comeback, the passage ended. A large wooden and metal door stood in front of you. You knew that if you used force to break it down, the noise would draw attention. So you paced your palm over the lock and used your magic to feel for the mechanism within. Once you figured out how it worked you shifted the pins inside and put your other hand on the knob, which turned with a soft click.
But before you could push the heavy door open, Az laid a hand over yours, making you pause. He pointed to your forehead and in response, you opened up your mind to him.
‘I think the beast is behind this door. Let me go in first.’ he said in your mind. You nodded and stepped aside. Soundlessly, you followed him into the large space. It was dark but fairly large and very tall. The underground cavern was lit only by a moderately sized skylight high above the ground. But in the center of the room, lay an enormous sleeping wyvern. It was as terrifying as it was beautiful. Its scales were marred with scars and scratches but sunlight glinted off of its dark black surface. A heavy iron collar was clamped onto its neck and chained the creature to a nearby wall.
You immediately summoned your magic, manipulating the air around you and Az so that no sound or smells could reach the wyvern, rendering you both invisible in all ways but sight. Skirting around its enormous body, you made your way to the huge door behind it. The door stood at least twice as tall as a normal door and much wider. There must be a serious arsenal of weapons or something on the other side. You soundlessly unlocked this door with magic in the same way as the last one.
But when you stepped through, what you didn’t expect to be on the other side was another wyvern, only this one was wide awake and glaring at you with bright yellow eyes. You were so shocked that you lost your grip on the air spell, so its snarl was definitely audible to the sleeping wyvern, who promptly shot to its feet in alarm behind you. It let out a deafening roar and then charged towards the door. You had to make a split second decision. Which angry wyvern did you want to deal with first? You decided to take your chances with the seemingly less violent one. You used your magic to slam the huge door shut and lock it just as the huge beast on the other side rammed into the splintering wood. You could hear its muffled growls from the other side and the cavern shook from the force of it trying to break down the door. You could only hope that the door would hold.
You and Azriel spun around to face the other wyvern in the much smaller space. It was backed against the farthest side of the room, eyeing you with rage and fear. But strangely, it was not trying to attack either of you.
“Is it injured?” Az asked, “Why isn’t it attacking us?”
“I don’t think it’s hurt.” At least it didn’t seem so. “I think it’s guarding something. But it doesn’t look like any secret weapon could be behind it. Unless it’s a lot smaller than we thought,” you pondered aloud. Hesitantly you took a step towards it.
Azriel’s hand shot out to seize your wrist. “What are you doing?” he asked bewildered.
“Look at it Az. It’s terrified. I have to try to help it.” You couldn’t help but feel drawn to the creature.
“Help it? It probably wants to eat you. Don’t you remember what it’s friend did to me last time? What it’s trying to do again?”
Of course you couldn’t forget, you healed the consequences of their last encounter yourself and could still feel the ground shaking from it trying to break through the door. But, you pulled away from Az’s grip anyway and warily walked towards the beast.
Another low warning growl rumbled through its chest. You reached out to it with your mind.
‘Please, we’re trying to help you.’ you tried to reason with it.
‘HELP? ALL HUMANS DO IS CAPTURE AND ENSLAVE US!’ it snarled in your mind.
‘But we’re not human, we’re fae. Please,’ you said, ‘let us help you. You’ve been in the mortal world far too long. Let us take you home. To Prythian.’
The beast paused and cocked its head at that.
‘PRYTHAN…,’ it purred, ‘I HAVEN’T SEEN PRYTHIAN SINCE WE WERE TAKEN DECADES AGO.’ It paused again. ‘CAN YOU REALLY TAKE US HOME?’
‘Yes,’ you assured it, ‘but we need you to show us the weapon you’ve been protecting.’
The beast considered it for a moment, still not knowing if it could trust you. But then you sensed something shift in its mind. It figured that taking this risk with you would be better than staying in this prison as a slave to the humans. It rose from its crouched position against the wall and stepped to the side, revealing a makeshift bed of sorts, made of hay and blankets. No, not a bed, a nest. In the center of which sat three shining onyx eggs.
Author’s Note: I wrote this chapter in a short lived burst of inspiration and productivity, so it’s unedited oops. And I know this chapter was all plot but I promise there will be more smut to come ;). If you liked this, please show your support by liking, commenting, and reblogging and all that good stuff. If you wanna to be added to the taglist for this fic, you can leave comment below :)
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