Amarantha's Daughter

Velaris

She had barely opened her mouth to scream when she landed in freezing cold water. As Koschei hadn't bothered to prepare her for a swim, she got swept under and struggled to break the surface, gasping for air when she finally made it.

Was this an attempt of murder? Or did Koschei know she could swim? It wasn't that common, but she had been brought up in royalty. Something she would thank her lucky stars for every day and never take for granted again. That she could swim, not the other part.

But she couldn't stay here unless she wanted to freeze to death. This water was extremely cold. Where the hell was she? She could see lights in the distance, quite a sizable city, one she didn't recognize, but land was land. People with no other options must be content with what is offered, she thought and started swimming.

Behind the city of the many lights was a snow-covered mountain that towered over the other mountains in the horizon. The stars shining on the night sky didn't exactly take away from the beautiful view. It didn't look like anything she'd seen before. Just where had Koschei transported her? Was this where the Lady of many faces lived? How the hell would Dianthe be able to locate her if she had so many faces?

First things first. Try not to drown as she swam the longest distance in her life thus far and then get out of the water to avoid drowning and/or freezing to death.

-

If you asked how long it took her, she'd probably say the whole night, cause that's what it felt like, but hours would probably be a more correct answer.

-

She could have cried from relief when she saw a ladder on the pier. With all the ships currently moored, she was also grateful it was night. It would have been a lot more difficult to navigate the waves if ships had been coming in and out as well.

Using the last of her strength, she dragged her sorry wet ass out of the water and onto the pier of the strange beautiful city. Stars Eternal, Lady of many faces, Defender of the rainbow, Cursebreaker. She'd memorized the names. It sounded like a scary creature. But what choice did she have? She couldn't stand here and feel sorry for herself.

Judging by the look of the citizens currently out and about, she deducted it was still late in the night. Or maybe very early. Most of the people she saw were drunk, and either faltering or straight up crawling. Yet, no one was fighting. There were no screams in the distance. It didn't seem like an unsafe city to be wandering around in.

The chance that someone as intoxicated as these people out so late would be able to help her was slim, but she had to try. She walked up to a woman who was in the midst of locking the doors to a bar. "Excuse me. I'm looking for..." The woman turned around. She was quite tall,  had brown hair and was extremely beautiful. She was also a faerie. What the...

The woman seemed just as surprised to see her. Whether the surprise was due to Dianthe being human, or her being soaking wet was unclear. "Yes, my dear?" She replied nonetheless surprisingly friendly.

Dianthe swallowed, cleared her voice and tried again, pretending that seeing a faerie for the first time wasn't a biggie at all. "Uhm... The Lady of many faces... She's also called Stars Eternal, Defender of the Rainbow and Cursebreaker..." - "I have a message for her."

The woman nodded and put on a smile. Dianthe could see it was strained. Not a good sign. "I see..." She said.

Dianthe waited patiently, for about a minute, then she asked. "Do you know where I might find her? It's important."

The woman seemed to be contemplating something, but after another long minute she nodded and raised a hand to point at something in the distance. "See that big mountain? There's a palace up there. Someone up there will be able to help you."

Dianthe's face lit up in a smile. Faeries couldn't lie, so it must be true! What a fortunate person to run into! "Great! Thank you so much!"

The woman nodded, but Dianthe could see in her eyes that she thought something was wrong. Not a human-friendly city then.                 

She walked further into the city as the palace the female faerie had pointed to was on the other side of it. A sparkling river accompanied her, twisting and turning like a snake through the streets. The buildings were crafted out of white marble, warm sandstone or red stone. Many of them had green copper roofs and white chimneys. Not only were the streets pristinely clean and decorated with flower beds and nice benches, it was also warm. Somewhere along her swim, she'd lost her shoes and she was truly thankful to the magic that warmed the streets. The air even seemed to hold a warmer temperature the further she made it into the heart of the city. She was still wet, but at least she wasn't as cold.

She passed many different shops, restaurants and cafes. Though closed now, she could imagine what a bustling life the city would have in the day. Maybe this Lady of the many faces wasn't a bad person? How could they be, when they lived in a paradise such as this? It seemed the worst was behind her. She thought as she strolled happily towards the mountain. Words she would regret, immediately.

She hadn't thought about what issues might arise when trying to reach a palace way up in the mountain. Said issues were currently staring at her. They were uncountable and insurmountable. Dianthe had never seen such an impossibly tall monster of a spiral staircase in her entire life! It was the sight of nightmares. She could feel her mouth dry up completely just by the thought of climbing it. Because it would have to be climbed, or crawled. Whichever took her to the top.

Why couldn't the palace have been on the ground? Who wanted to climb like 15,000 steps just to get home? These were the types of questions that roamed her mind as she started her ascension.

Dianthe wasn't a trained soldier, but she wasn't lazy either. She often went on long hikes to avoid her sister, but that was nothing compared to these stairs. They were each a foot high. It didn't take her long to get winded. Round and round she went, with only the occasional slitted window to offer a breath of air and a glimpse of progress.

It felt like she was making no progress at all. She couldn't even overlook the city yet and she was getting dizzier by the second. Winding around, over and over with her eyes downward to avoid slipping, her stomach churned. She'd missed supper to spy on her sister and gods knew how much time had passed since then. That's what you get for being a nosy nelly; Tricked into making a deal with an Immortal Sorcerer, and even worse; these stairs. They had to be the invention of some wicked torturer. At least it explained why the woman seemed to have such an issue with telling her to come here. She definitely knew about these stairs. Dianthe wouldn't wish them on her worst enemy.

Nothing but the sound of her own breathing and stumbling steps filled the narrow space. There was no point in counting the steps when she had no idea how many of them there were, but now she almost wished she had. Not knowing made her believe she'd been walking for hours. What if the stairs were an illusion, a trap? She couldn't think along those lines, or she'd never make it out. At least she couldn't see the door she'd entered through when she looked down. That was something at least.

The next window, if you could call it that, felt like a pat on the back. She was definitely making progress, but the palace had seemed so impossibly high above. Even if her clothes had dried, she'd sweat through them again. Her hair was plastered to her neck and face and her heart was pounding. Even as she was taking a break, the stairs seemed to twist around in her vision.

Dianthe walked on, and on, and on and on. She was weezing, sweating and regretting every single decision in her life that led up to this moment. The only reason she didn't turn around to go back down was because she had lost any sense of progress. She had been walking for hours. For all she knew, the door could be right around the corner. It probably wasn't, but what if it was? She passed a stone with strange markings, as if someone had put their hand through it. Like a handprint. But it could all just be fabrications of her imagination. The many questions that had been whirring in her mind had quieted long ago. Now there were only two thoughts: Left foot and right foot, and they went on and on.

When she finally saw the door, she didn't even believe it. She stopped in front of it, suspiciously eyeing the wooden details on it and carefully touched it. It was real. She had made it to the top. If she'd had any energy left, she might have screamed of glee, but all she could muster was to open the door.

There, on the other side of it were three tall men. With wings.