Breaking The Balance

Breaking The Balance - Freedom At Last

Caitlin's POV (Good job to everyone who guessed!)

The prison was cold and ominous. The wind whistled through the endless maze of corridors and it raised goose bumps along my arms, hairs standing on end and a shiver rattling down my spine. No sense of hope or even a sliver of happiness could be sensed in the atmosphere of this hellish place – only despair and pain. My hands twitched, feeling the magic at my fingertips, prepared to use whatever measures I had to in order to get Jordan out alive. One of the few advantages that came with my... condition, was that I was extremely good at being stealthy. Controlling the shadows that I hid in meant that anyone who looked my way merely saw darkness where I stood – a veil of black shielding me from the curious eyes of the world.

I could hear whispers all around, echoing down the corridors from where the guards stood and the hisses from the prisoners as I passed them by. The madness that was seeping into their minds was evident, their chanting of unintelligible nonsense and the constant rocking I could see out of the corner of my eye made me wonder how long some of these people had been here. I could have become like them if Ianite hadn't freed me in the old world – if we hadn't beaten the Shadow in war and if Jordan hadn't made his decision that altered the minds of all those around him. Yes, I remembered. Even Jordan himself can only revisit the locked memories in times of stress and mental weakness, in the forms of nightmares and panic. It was my lady's gift to me, allowing me to remember the people who had freed me from my tormenter. I had therefore made it my vow to protect them in any way I could.

I ventured further down, heading into the bowels of the prison – using my magic to read the air ahead of me, paranoia causing me to move slower than usual. The sound of alarms blaring on the upper levels startled me, the pounding of heavy booted soles and raised voices thundering past my hiding space causing my breath to quicken and the caterwauling of the prisoners to cease for a few moments. Once I was sure that all the guards had cleared out, I slipped out of the shadows and snuck down the last staircase – the mossy cobblestone cracking in several places and the steps being so steep to walk down that it would be hard to escape without giving yourself a concussion.

"Jordan? Andor?"

All I could hear were pain filled groans and heart-wrenching whimpers, coming separately from the two cells in the corridor – the figures within the dark, moulding cells almost impossible to see in the blackness. The figures were thin, curled into balls and rocking slowly back and forth much like the other prisoners I had seen on my way down here – except these two were surrounded with blood spatters. Dry, crusted blood coated the floors of both cells, the stench of iron causing my nose to wrinkle in both disgust and sympathy for the pain these two had endured. I stepped towards the right-hand cell and gently broke the lock on the door – stepping into the cell and edging across the room to see the tortured soul. Old, dirty bandages and haunted eyes gave me all I needed to know – this was Andor. His wings were gone...

After getting Andor's attention, I unlocked the other cell knowing who would be inside. I sat next to the broken shell of a man and waited in silence – knowing that if I tried to get his attention it could drive him further into darkness. Jordan's head lifted after what felt like an age and his normally warm brown eyes were empty and void of all joy. Recognition flicked across his face, along with confusion – as if he was staring at a ghost he once knew. I sighed and grabbed his arm, pulling him to his feet and gesturing for him to help me carry Andor out of this hell hole. With one arm over each of our shoulders, the wounded prince began to stagger out of the prison – hopefully to freedom.

Jordan's POV

The piercing alarms would not stop ringing; growing louder with each staircase we climbed in our search for an exit. I had no idea how this figure had gotten into the prison and how we were managing to sneak past groups of guards without being seen with a heavily injured prisoner wedged between us. It took a lot of effort to move my feet forward, most of my energy spent on trying not to pass out from exhaustion and malnutrition.