literature

Towering Lows

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The knight ran up the last few steps anxious to see what awaited him at the top of the tower.  After fighting his way through the monsters and mages, the very least he expected was that the princess was alive and breathing in her prison waiting to be rescued.  He reached the door and paused to take a deep breath before pushing it open, perspiration and rain dripping down his hair and face.  He stepped inside a warmly-lit room, a fire dancing in one of the walls and candles illuminating the rest of the sphere.  He quickly glanced around to find that the room was empty.

He whispered, "This can't be right.  She is supposed to be here."

"Are you yet another adventurer testing fate?"

He jerked back at the sound of the deep female voice.  He hesitantly spoke, "Where are you Miss, that I may save you?"

"Who informed you that I needed saving?" the voice boomed menacingly.

"Everyone knows the tale of the princess locked in the tower, unable to escape her fate.  Against her will she is forced to live with monsters and mages until someone is finally brave enough to rescue her.  I made it past these hindrances and am here to save you!" his passion for the journey crept into his voice.

"I am not who you seek."

"But you must be!  This is the location of the princess that was once labeled the most fair in the land.  You have to show me your face!" pleaded the knight.

The fire shimmered and cracked, "I am here and yet you do not see."

The man turned to the fire to see something move within the flames.  He backed against the wall, "You're one of them!"

She replied wearily, "I am not who you seek."

As he watched, the shadow formed into the shape of a female face.  He clenched his teeth as he sputtered, "B-but where is the p-princess?"

The face simply stared at the knight.  Seeing this calm façade the man panicked; he spun to run out of the room, but the door had disappeared.  Something about this apparition terrified him and caused his words to stutter, "W-where is the d-d-door?"

The mouth moved, "You may still rescue the princess as no other has done or you may be able to leave.  Both require a test, one more difficult than the other.  Rarely does a man survive."

He swallowed painfully, "Which is the more difficult?"

"The one you are truly meant to take."

His eyes darted around the room, reconfirming that there was no escape route.  He forced his mind to calm, reminding himself that this was simply facing another trial similar to the mages.  He rebuilt the barriers around his mind, shocked to realize that they had all completely dissolved.  Finally he was able to squelch his panic, realizing that it was almost entirely caused from the presence of this apparition.  His eyes narrowed, "And which path am I supposed to take?"

"You have incredible control."

The corners of his mouth twitched as he gave his thanks before repeating his question.

"I will not tell you the things you already know."

He raised an eyebrow, "Very well.  What is this test?"

"First, what is your name adventurer?"

"Arrin Tretter of Glashowin."

"So Arrin Tretter of Glashowin, what do you expect to gain from this challenge?"

He pondered the question; he inherently knew that if he was to lie this fire-dweller would instantly know and he could only assume that the consequences would be dire.  He finally spoke, "In truth, not really much.  I knew that many of the others expected to gain the princess's hand in marriage; frankly, I didn't believe that I would be so lucky.  I did want to help rid the world of a little more evil, but I knew that this was insignificant to all that exists in the world.  Frankly, I was hoping to at least rescue one soul from the dangers that are evident in this world while expecting to only potentially gain the gratitude and friendship of the maiden."

The fire-demon smiled, "You are wise to speak the truth of your desires.  You really have so little expectations?  You really were not planning to demand her hand in marriage and force her to give you half of the kingdom and the crown?"

"I couldn't possibly expect that!  I knew that she was a lesser princess, not even in line for the throne.  I didn't think that she could possibly bestow me half the kingdom.  I wasn't sure that her father, the king, would be happy with her return, especially when I heard…" his voice tapered off.

The demon's eyes narrowed, "When you heard what precisely?"

Arrin sighed, "When I heard that the king was the reason the princess was imprisoned in the first place."

The demon stared into the knight's face before finally asking him to explain.

Arrin looked down at the stone floor, "It was the king that made the pact that enabled the monsters to be able to capture the princess.  Every member of royalty is magically protected unless someone willingly gives away this protection, like the princess's father gave away his daughter's.  He was hoping that some rich knight would take her away or that she would quickly die giving him the ability to rule without worrying about the livelihood of yet another daughter."

The fiery voice sounded surprisingly cold, "Is that so?"

Arrin shrugged, "It's what I've heard."

The demon let out a head-splitting shriek and extended well beyond her grate.  Arrin backed into the wall to try to avoid the demon's rage, the heat quickly breaking through the barrier around his mind sending piercing arrows of anguish and rage into his heart.  He doubled over in pain, adding his own cries to the tumult.   The apparition's presence quickly delved into his thoughts clawing her way in until she could see and hear his every thought as he writhed on the floor.  Realizing what she had done, the pain she had caused withdrew as quickly as it came.  She watched as the knight collapsed panting as she shrunk to the size of a coin in her prison, guilt coursing through her.   

Arrin was eventually able to look up and saw that there was a very human presence about this demon.   He had never heard of a demon being capable of feeling guilt.  He wondered what this meant as she spoke, "To pass the test you must answer just one more question: who am I?"

"Do I have to just go off the knowledge I already have or can I ask for more information?"

The demon seemed to think for a moment, "You are allowed to ask five questions, but be aware that there are some that I am unable to answer."

After a moment's pause, Arrin asked his first question, "Are you the last enchantment or obstacle I must face before I can rescue the princess?"

"Yes."

"Can you actually cause me physical harm?"

She answered in a surprised tone, "No."

"How long have you been in this tower?"

"Fifteen years."

"Have you done things you regret?"

"Yes."

"Are you capable of love?"

She paused before answering, "Yes."

Her curiosity was irking her like an itch underneath her skin that she was unable to scratch.  Why did he ask such a strange array of questions? She was unable to ask him any additional questions and was caught in the rules of the enchantment, unable to say anything until he guessed her identity.  Would he be the one to finally realize the truth?

Eventually he voiced his ruminations, "You are the Princess Aricia!"

He watched in awe as the fire-demon began to shine different colors changing quickly from orange to purple to blue and back again.  The colors shifted faster until with a blinding flash of light a girl hung in mid-air in front of him.  She was arrayed in a layered dress of various oranges, reds, yellows and pinks: a rainbow of fire.  Garnets adorned her neck, head and ears, even her wrists and hand had ornaments of silver work and gems.  She had blonde hair, seemingly flowing down her shoulders.  Purple eyes shined in the light.  

She inquired in a subdued tone, "How could you possibly know?"

He smiled, "Knowing that you were the last obstacle, meant that there was a reason it was you and nothing else.  Not being able to cause me physical harm is a common limitation of humans turned demons, particularly when the original deed was done by someone else.  I knew that Aricia had been in this tower for fifteen years.  Only those who are good feel regret for their actions, and I knew despite everything the princess would remain pure in that one sense.  And lastly I knew that love was the one thing that would remain, despite all that your father has done for you."

She spoke as if she was commenting on the weather, "I suppose that you expect for me to ride off with you into the sunset to live happily ever after, despite what you said before."

The knight paused before asking, "What do you desire?"

"A quiet life, away from these wars."

"Then that is what we shall do.  I know of a place where we can live peacefully.  It is a long journey, many leagues away, but there we shall find peace," he replied.

Smiling her first radiant smile in over a decade, "That would be magnificent."

Shyly grasping her hand, he led her to the opening that appeared when he broke the spell.  Before stepping through, she glanced around the quarters she had inhabited for fifteen years.  The memories were harsh, full of death and pain.  But now, the future had a positive outlook.  Now she could finally have a home.
Oxy-moron titles are awesome...just saying. They help make it a title of epic awesomeness. :XD:

I recently found this on my computer as I was transferring data from one laptop to another. Of course this was on the adeptly named Short Story file, but hey I found it.

From what I remember I was aiming for a different take on the damsel-in-distress in the tower theme. The knight comes to rescue her from the beast to find something rather unexpected.

Edit 10/21/10: I'm now thinking of reworking this idea from a different concept. In this new form the trick to breaking the curse would lie in keeping your sanity to remember who the demon truly is while the demon's very presence basically makes you go insane. In this perspective the knight's questions would be geared into gauging how human the demon remained. What are your thoughts on the matter?
© 2010 - 2024 allieryan
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Mahira-MCAquila's avatar
This is very interesting, and it certainly works well as a different take on the whole damsel in the tower theme. It was full of unexpected things throughout, and kept the attention of the reader.
Your idea of reworking it sounds interesting, though...I don't know if it would necessarily be essential. Like...I don't know if any themes or concepts in the story would really change, you know?