The Living Tower

Chapter Ten: The Journey Down

The iron chain mail and armor pieces would have been difficult to sneak around in, had it not been for Ellias' sigils that lightened their weight while maintaining their strength, as well as silencing them when they should have clanged together. The iron would also mask his and Salestia's scent from the fae. But, if the two wandered into sight, an attack would be inevitable. And while the metal would burn the enemy, a large enough number of fairies could persist in ripping the armor off.

Salestia emerged from the washroom in her armor, looking a bit uncomfortable under its metal pieces despite Ellias' modifications. Still, she lifted her chin and met Ellias' gaze with a burning determination. "I'm ready."

They would be laying the groundwork to come back and steal the sword later, but this mission was also admittedly a way for Ellias to assess her abilities. Whether she was holding back on purpose, he wasn't entirely sure. She'd claimed to be doing so when they initially fought at the library but now insisted she wasn't very powerful. It was at odds with what Ellias could sense within her. Perhaps she'd been inadvertently repressing her true strength for years.

If there were ever a time to lure that strength to the surface, it was tonight.

"Perfect." Ellias let his gaze dart over her armor one last time, ensuring it looked secure. "Let's go."

They had another matter to handle before they even got into fae territory. As Salestia had explained, the iron gate at the entrance to the caverns was monitored by citadel guards who required paperwork from fairy hunters certifying that they had the governor's approval.

It would only be a minor challenge for Ellias' magic. "I'll make the guards fall unconscious with a sigil set." he explained as he and Salestia neared the edge of the citadel. He drew a vial of white powder from his bag and briefly showed it to her. More bird bone. "I'll need to sprinkle this at their feet to summon enough energy for the sigils to work, so I need you to blind them while I do it."

Salestia nodded. "And they'll be fine when they wake up?"

"Yes. Hopefully, they'll awaken after we return, so we don't face more trouble on the way back in."

At the citadel's southern edge was a small park maintained by plantspeakers, and at the park's edge was an archway over a set of stairs that descended beneath the moon's surface. An inscription over the arch warned of the iron gate ahead and the fae caverns beyond.

Two guards waited at the bottom of the stairs. One opened his mouth to speak, likely to ask for paperwork, but Salestia put her hands up with blinding speed and flashed light in the guards' eyes. The man let out a yelp of surprise instead.

Ellias uncapped the vial and tossed its contents at the guards' feet. A surge of power rushed through him. He lifted a hand. Sigils flashed in the air. The guards collapsed.

Ellias stepped over the fallen guards, grabbed the lever that controlled the iron gate, and pushed it up. With a faint creak, the barrier between them and fae territory swung open.

"How will we close it from the other side?" Salestia asked as she stepped over the threshold. "And reopen it when we return?"

Ellias drew three witchstones—smooth black stones that glittered like the night sky—from his bag and lined them up on the ground in front of the lever. Seeing the question in Salestia's gaze as she watched, he said, "Witchstones are some of the most powerful tools we have. They're also the most difficult to use." It would consume a fair portion of his power to do this simple task. And he would have to use even more to go through the witchstone portal at the end of all this.

Once the stones were in place, Ellias straightened up and joined Salestia on the other side of the gate. He snapped his fingers as he passed through. Behind him, one of the stones lit up with his green witchfire. The lever moved itself, sending the gate swinging back into a closed position. A few flames danced on the surface of the second witchstone before dying out.