The Search for Lexxie: Part 9

The Search for Lexxie: Part 9

----- Liberation -----
(Also: This story takes place between Books 2 and Books 3 of the Destiny Bound series.)

It was a relatively short trip to Vehjin Palace.  The ever-curious Paige was uncharacteristically silent; the evening's events still playing in her mind.  Her friend's health weighed heavily on her, but an inspection of the facilities Demitra recommended did show the staff to be competent in their medical applications.  While it would have been better had she been in her homeland, with the medical staff of the estate taking care of her, Nalla seemed to be in good care.  Enough for Paige to focus on the task at hand.

Demitra was on a ledge of the outpost, which nestled itself high in the desert sky, held aloft by enormous pillars over the chasm below.  She pointed ahead, downwardly as Paige approached.  "There.  That small cave entrance ahead.  It has winding corridors which should take us to our destination."

Paige blinked.  "How do you know this?"

"I am from Vabbi," the woman paused a moment, then said with resolution, "A lifetime ago…"

"Okay," Paige fought back her curiosity.  "So what do we do?  Do we glide across this gorge?"

"Do you have the ability to do so?" Demitra asked.  She hadn't meant the question to sound condescending.

Paige held her hand to her chest.  "I'll have you know, I'm champion glider in Applenook and Claypool, three years running!"

An astral-finger tipped hand was held above her as Demitra sprinkled sand over her person.  It fell around her, clinging to a seemingly invisible object on her back.  Once covered completely, a bright purple light came from the sand, solidifying into a set of purple and black wings which sparked with electrical pulses.  She turned, smiled to Paige.  "You wish for me to do such for you?"

Paige was already at work, affixing an apparatus to the backpack she wore.  She double-checked the joins, nuts, and bolts and when satisfied, she attached it to her person.  "No thank you; I came prepared!"

Demitra grinned her large lips at the woman's resourcefulness.  "I am intrigued by our mutual acquaintances.  I wish to explore such topics after our adventure, if, that is, such a thing is within the realm of possibilities.  Valandra and Ember, the only two lovers which have held my heart; and you know of them both."

"Ember is as close to a big sister as I've ever had in my life.  We've known each other since childhood.  As for Valandra: Ember told me about her.  I never met her, but I heard she's a wonderful person."

"She was not," Demitra quickly said, then added, "but, I suppose, that is what made her great."

Paige was about to interject, when Demitra suddenly dove off the platform.  Her electrical wings expanded, caught the air, began to flap, propelling her to their destination.  "Oh gods above," Paige breathed heavily.  "I… I can't believe I'm doing this!  How exciting!"  She took a step off the ledge, and ungracefully sank.  A moment later, she pulled the draw-string, causing her magical wings to sprout from the device.  It glider caught wind and stabilized, much to Paige's relief.

Ahead of her, Demitra's feet landed gently, her wings falling to the sand it had come from, behind her.  She glanced back to see Paige planting her feet onto the ground, albeit with more of a thud than the Djinn had made.  "Masterfully done!  'Three years running,' indeed!"

The woman went about folding the glider back to the sides of her bag, looked up with a large grin that made Demitra lightly chuckle.  Both made their way with stealth through the corridors leading to their destination; both determined to see the quest to its completion.  A split in the corridor caused a pause.

"Two paths, huh?"  Paige already logically began to look at the possibilities.

Demitra held out both palms, pointed to each of the paths with a hand.  She sighed.  "Normally, I could emphatically sense sorrow from a captured person, having felt Lexxie's presence here before.  But, whether it is the location, or my weakened state at the moment, I cannot."

"Okay.  Well, let's think this through then.  Balthazar had a factory here.  A place of heat.  If he…"

"Had?" Demitra asked.

"Yes.  He was defeated… Just… how long have you been gone?" Paige asked, before she ever considered the question may be taken rudely.

"A bit too long, it would seem.  Another topic for later, perhaps.  Please continue your analysis, Lady Paige Dejarin, daughter of the Dejarin line?"

"Oh, well… There was a furnace thing here at one point.  It was rumored it's where the Forged were being made.  Perhaps this is it?  And, if that's so, we follow the heat where it's coming from.  Can you feel it?  Over here," Paige took a few steps down the corridor to the right.  "Here I can feel the heat touching my face.  If this corridor is a giant exhaust vent, then, in theory, we'll find its source."

"I shall follow your lead then, Lady Paige Dejarin, daughter of the Dejarin line," Demitra gave a nod.

"You know… You can just call me Paige.  In fact, please do so.  It's awkward otherwise."  Paige could have almost swore she saw Demitra blush.  The woman was a mystery; a puzzle to be solved.

"P- Paige it is then."

Further down the pipe, Paige recoiled as the immensity of the heat grew.  Her cheeks were already glistening with sweat.  A look to Demitra showed the woman to be unaffected; Paige was almost envious.  She told herself it was due to the Djinn's tolerance for the heat, but in truth, she was amazed at the woman's resolve to help a stranger.

The couple came to stand at the vent's mouth; before them was a giant forge: an entire room dedicated to the construction of Balthazar's minions.  Pipes and gears whirled and turned, as conveyer belts brought various pieces of metal to and fro.  Even after his defeat, the fires continued burning as his underlings continued their reign.

Demitra took in the scene, frowned in disgust.  "It is here those which wreak havoc upon these lands are spawned.  While they are not Joko's forces, they continue to slaughter my former people of Vabbi.  Had I the power, I would snuff these flames out for good with all the pain they have caused."  Scowled at the creatures of molten metal and flames as they roamed the Forge, their very presence a blight on the world.

"Wait, shhh," Paige pulled the woman down as a wandering patrolman followed a path below them.  After he had passed, she whispered softly.  "He's carrying a whip.  I bet if we follow him we'll find where the slave pens are.  Lexxie's got to be in one of them!"

"Impressive deduction, Lady Paige Dej- Paige."

Both women slinked down to follow the guard; Paige with an acrobatic maneuver to minimize noise and Demitra floating down like a feather.  She watched the rambunctious woman, and with a look back, she offered a blushing smile.

"Father taught me to sneak.  You have to stay low and move fast."  The woman was, indeed, stealthy.  She moved from rock face to rock face; cover to cover, her eyes trained on the whip-cracker.  "Now!" she said as she threw down a curse beneath the monster's feet.  The Forged instantly froze.

Demitra held out a palm toward the being, brought her fingers in to make a fist.  Crystal shards erupted from within the creature, piercing its armor from the inside out.  Demitra let her fist go, causing all crystalline shards to dissipate as sand.  The armor collapsed on the floor.

Paige looked at the woman.  "What… What was that?"

"Your friend's sister?"  Demitra pointed to the cage, at a small Asura in the corner.  She was tinkering with a piece of Forged armor, paying no attention to the commotion outside.  All other prisoners in the pen were pressed against the outer cage, longing for escape.

"That has to be her, but we're going to free them all, if we can," Paige said.  "Lexxie!  Is that you?" she called out.

The asura only briefly perked her ears up, slightly at hearing the name, but continued with her work.

"That is the being I felt from Nalla," confirmed Demitra.  She glided over to the cell's lock, ran her fingers over it, channeled her power into it.  A moment later the lock dissolved into grains of sand and the bars flew opened, the prisoners rushing out, fighting the coming Forged and their way to freedom.

"Lexxie, come on!  We've got to hurry.  Come with us and I'll take you back to Nalla!  Please, we're here to rescue you!"  Paige shouted over the battle in desperation.  She approached the Asura, who was continuing with her work.

"We shall take her forcefully, if reluctant, yes?  The time is now, Paige!"  Demitra said, exploding a group of approaching Forged with magical spikes.

Without waiting for a response, Paige hurried the Asura along their escape path.  They came to stand beside Demitra, who placed her hand on the Asura for a moment, then recoiled with a shocked expression.

"What is it?" Paige asked, commanding a spell to trap two rushing Forged.

"She… She is happy here."  Paige's bewildered expression prompted the Djinn for a further explanation.  "I can… tell by touch, the feelings within others (sometimes without touching), but… She… Lexxie is happy here."

"It has to be a trick.  Brain-washing, or something.  Why would she be happy as a slave to a dead god?"  Paige said gravely.

"Of this, I know not.  Perhaps she is too far gone to understand the situation in which she was placed?  It explains why I was not able to ascertain her exact whereabouts while…"

"Oh Kormir's veil and Lyssa's eye!  It just can't ever be easy can it?  If I leave her she'll only think she's happy, yet, if I take her, she'll fight us the whole way.  But…"

Demitra threw up a shield to halt a large approaching Forged construct.  The monster wailed and began to pound upon it, cracking it more with each blow.  "Whatever the decision, it must be made quickly!"

Paige swore.  "Gods dammit!  No time to think.  I'm sorry Lexxie, but the long challenge is always greater than the easy answer."  She held her fingertip to the Asura's forehead, used blood magic to draw just enough energy from the girl to cause her to fall asleep.  She lifted her up using the adrenaline the situation caused.  "I'll carry her.  I can draw us a portal to get back to the ledge but you'll need to be my fists if we're caught!"

"I shall provide you an opportunity to escape.  Take leave now!" Demitra shouted as the large monstrous Forged broke through her barricade.  After seeing Paige was well on her way, the Djinn turned to her enemy.  Instantly her body glowed a vibrant blue, contrasting in the red atmosphere of the forge.  "Come then; let me show you the price you pay for enslaving others!"

Paige was nearly knocked over by the explosion which came from where she'd been.  She hoped Demitra was okay, but had confidence that the woman was powerful enough to overcome the monsters.  She continued running through a gauntlet of guards, ignoring shots and weapons as they targeted her.  "I am Paige Dejarin, and you are not stopping me!" she cried as she ran.  Approaching the ledge, she threw forth a sand portal and dove into it, resurfacing with Lexxie in tow, at the mouth of the exhaust vent.  She sat the young girl down, then turned to see if Demitra's status.

The woman was running toward Paige, a large contingent of Forged behind her.  She channeled her magic into the ground ahead, causing it to ripple and wave like small pool of quicksand.  With a leap forward, she landed in it, appearing beside Paige within the exhaust.  She turned, held her hands above them, the magically pulled a pile of sand down to block the entrance.

"Impressive," Paige said with a smirk.

"It has been quite some time since I've felt… like I used to," Demitra said with a playful wink.  She glanced down to the sleeping Asura.  "Will that one be alright?  I have yet to feel such disconnection as I did within her."

Paige looked over the girl.  "I pray so.  She's alive; just sleeping.  When she wakes up, she has a long journey ahead.  I'm not going to let her or Nalla down.  I read once," she said with a hopeful smile, "that faith can change the world.  I have faith that these sisters will be reunited and will be better for it."

"I know you believe such; this, I can feel from you.  You exude hope, Lady Paige Dejarin, daught- Paige."

"Thank you.  In the end, hope is the one thing we should never lose."

"Even if one loses their humanity?"  Demitra said this in almost a whisper, but Paige heard without necessarily meaning to.

"It doesn't matter.  Even if I'm battered and broken, and spent… I'll always spit in the eye of fear and tell them I still have hope," Paige suddenly became self-aware and blushed.  "At least… that's what I believe.  It was probably a quote from a book I read."

Demitra smiled warmly at the woman.  "You, Paige: I like."

Paige turned a shade redder, then stood, picking up Lexxie.  "We should go.  We have a teleportation mechanism nearby.  If you want to, you can accompany us back to Tyria.  I know of a certain someone that would like to see you…"

"I would very much like that, Paige.  I have not seen Ember in quite some time."

Paige smiled, began to walk slowly out the corridor.  "We did a good thing here today, Demitra."

"Indeed, we did Paige," Demitra said.  "It was a good thing I was summoned to assist; a feat I am still very much curious about."

"I'm curious as well, because I have the feeling that there's something more to it than just following a ritual scroll.  Perhaps," she patted the torch handle at her side, "perhaps it has something to do with this?  But, there is always tomorrow for answers."

"Perhaps," Demitra said, staring at the torch.

[To be Concluded...]