A Perfect World

Chapter 25

** First of all, this story hit 10k reads and I'm completely over the moon about it. Thank you all so, so much for reading this. It means so much to me.

I know I've been taking my sweet ass time with respect to updating this fic. It's mostly because I've been simultaneously working on another story that I have deadlines for. It sucked having to put this on the back burner and I'm excited to get back into it. I hope it's worth the wait.**

AEDION POV

Even with Fae eyesight, Aedion could barely see. It was that dark. He wasn't exactly scared, but he was definitely starting to think over his actions. It made way more sense to send Lysandra down here. She could have shifted into something with night vision (that was a thing right?) and be able to get in and out of this place in no time. Especially since there didn't seem like a way to get back up. That particular discovery also had him wishing that he had confirmed Lysandra's location before jumping down there. He hoped that she was up there, but who really knew where she had gone off to? Certainly not him. 

In any case, she original recon had been accurate. Secret chamber found. Now to find out what it was hiding. According to Lysandra, there was a foul stench coming from it. So far, Aedion couldn't smell anything, except for moss and wetness. It probably wasn't a scent worth following but he had little to work with. So follow it he did. 

Whatever this place was, it wasn't clumsily hollowed out. The floor beneath him was made of carved stone and the walls likely were too. The more he sniffed, the more he detected. The coppery smell of rust soon filled his nostrils and his ears detected what was almost certainly running water.

Quietly, he pressed onward. What he thought was a chamber, quickly proved to be a hall. The widest hallway he had ever seen opened out into a huge cavern. Now, Aedion had been to the cellars of this castle before and they were by no means small. If Varese was known for anything it was for its variety of ales and malts. Being that the Ashryvers were the ruling family, their collection was beyond impressive and the underground room stocked with it was easily the grandest feature of this otherwise forgettable castle. 

The particular cavern that Aedion stood in put even that to shame. A new smell caught his attention: the unmistakable, coppery notes of rust float on cool night's air. Whatever this cavern was, it was well ventilated—this was actually slightly amusing concerning how stuffy the library overhead always was. Cautiously, he followed his nose to the far side of the expanse. He placed his hands on the cool, rough wall, exploring until he found the rusty, metal he was searching for.

Except, it wasn't rusty. Huge metal chains were attached to the wall, deeply embedded in it. A matching set was anchored in the ground and Aedion cursed as he stumbled on them, trying to figure out how long they ran. Whatever these were keeping subdued was massive. That much was clear. It was also new. The chains were smooth, barely broken in. This sent Aedion into a full panic. If there was no rust on this thing, then the only source of that smell could be blood. Sure enough, as he followed the length of the chain to its end, the enormous manacles, each broad enough to fit around his wide shoulders—were covered in blood. 

"Is that—"

Aedion whipped around at the voice that had erupted out of nowhere. 

"Lysandra!" he shouted, followed by a string of swear words. "You were supposed to be keeping watch—"

He froze. Lysandra had brought someone with her, bound at the hands and face stuffed into a knight's helmet. 

"I was," she replied, pulling off the helmet to reveal his cousin, Amaelia. "She followed, I apprehended. How's that for keeping watch?"