The wind roared like a beast denied, clawing at their bodies as Alexander and the sacrifice lady plunged from the heights of the castle wall.
Air thinned as they fell, rushing past them in howling currents that made Alexander's ears ring. The clouds they dove through were dark, thick, almost viscous, like the heavens themselves refused to let them pass without consequence.
Alexander could barely think. The sensation of weightlessness was crushed beneath the pounding terror that gripped his chest. they were being devoured by the sky. Every second stretched into eternity.
She didn't hesitate. The lady clenched her teeth and thrust her hand out. Even as they spiraled downward, she reached for his soul essence.
Alexander felt it immediately, the surge of siphoning pressure like ice claws raking through his mind. His eyes flared wide.
"Stop! It's too much" he tried to say, but she was already drawing.
His soul sea rippled violently. What was once a lake, exhausted from the battle, was now being dredged deeper.
The golden water churned and twisted, pulled by her will, and in that moment, Her lips moved silently, etching runes into the air, sigils borne of a tongue that spoke words of power.
The first summoning circle blinked into existence below them, a glowing ring of glyphs burning with golden ghostlight. It hummed once, then shattered into motes.
It barely had an effect on their fall.
The sacrifice lady hissed darkly. "Not enough".
Her hands moved and her fingers danced gracefully in the air as they fell freely towards certain death.
Another circle, larger, more complex, rippled into form, interlocking lines and radiant veins of golden light threading its structure.
They collided with the second circle, it immediately shattered into motes of light, but it still managed to break their fall, reducing the speed they were initially falling.
The lady pulled Alexander closer to herself, he was half passed out at this point, but she still stabilised him and then hugged him tightly.
She clenched her free hand into a fist and forced two more into reality. Each circle flickered beneath them like falling platforms, catching a breath of their fall before crumbling under the pressure. Her hand trembled.
A fifth, sixth, and seventh ring. Alexander could no longer tell what was real and what was drawn from within his soul. His vision blurred. His head pounded. It was like his thoughts were leaking from his ears. He wanted to scream. No words came.
The eighth circle held. Just barely. Their fall slowed into a glide, then into a slide. But the ground still welcomed them like a spike.
They landed with a jolt, harder than bone should allow.
Darkness.
…
When Alexander opened his eyes again, the sky was no longer above him. A wooden spike had pierced through his abdomen, blood pooling slowly beneath his back, thick and warm.
He gasped, a wet, painful inhale. The world wavered.
Footsteps echoed, and her shadow cast long over him.
She dropped to her knees beside him, her face taut with panic hidden beneath a cold mask. "Hang in there Alex, This isn't the end of your path," she said, and placed a palm over his chest.
Then she ripped the wooden spike out of his abdomen without a second thought.
Alexander wanted to laugh. He wanted to curse. He managed neither.
Her fingers glowed faintly. She poured what she could into him. Not her essence, Still his. Just cycled back.
The wound closed halfway. Enough to stop the bleeding. Not enough to let him stand straight.
When she pulled her hand away, her knuckles were white.
Alexander coughed. "You nearly made me drool for the rest of my life."
"You're welcome."
…
Time passed, how long, they didn't know. The air was thick with heat and soot, the environment foggy, if not for Alexander's essence sustaining them, they wouldn't be able to see beyond a meter.
When Alexander finally sat upright, he saw it.
A gorge that stretched like a gaping wound in the earth, lined with smoke and fire. Shacks and scaffolds stacked in layers, platforms of rotted wood and rusted iron. Thousands of people, slaves moved like ants across stone fields. Some dug. Some hauled. Others simply collapsed and were dragged away.
Every wrist glinted with chains.
Towering iron watchtowers stood above them, each manned with soldiers wearing crimson armor. Their eyes were sharp, and whips hung from their sides like swords. There were too many. Thousands.
Alexander exhaled slowly. "So… what's the plan?"
The lady didn't answer. Her eyes were fixed on the workers, calculating.
"The plan…", she paused for a second. "We become less than nothing," she said at last.
He looked at her. "That sounds like the opposite of what we want to do."
"We need to blend in with the slaves, it might not seem to be the wisest decision I have made thus far, but all the guards here definitely follow a strict protocol, blending in with them will be too risky… and who will think a princess will choose to endure the life of a slave even if it was just for a single day."
She reached for him again. He flinched.
"Relax," she said. "I'm not siphoning much this time."
Alexander rolled his eyes, but his soul was already aching, raw and tender like burned flesh. Still, he nodded.
She channeled the remaining fragments of his essence and wove a glamour around them. Their clothes dulled, armor faded into brown tattered gowns, their features blurred slightly, just enough to pass as malnourished slaves.
"Come on, let's find a suitable group to mingle with, we'll gather information from them".
She supported Alexander up, the fog was thick, almost to the point of being fake, and Alexander wasn't wrong about that.
The fog was a massive spell supported by the power of sorcery, meant to keep the slave blind and the guards loyal.
"Over there, there's a small mining group". Alexander pointed out, but at that moment, the last of his essence ran out, and just like that, he couldn't see beyond a meter.
Same for the sacrifice lady, luckily for them, they spotted the group before Alexander ran out of essence.