Work Text:
“The wind flowed through my hair, my horse galloping through the field. We were so far from the castle I grew up in, and for the first time, I felt free. Nobody would dictate my life anymore. No more Prince Frederick. Just me, my horse, and the open world.”
I set the book down, heart racing. No matter how many times I had read The Escaped Princess, I still get emotional at the end of the first book when Princess Elora finally escapes her home and becomes her own free person. I looked out the window of my studio apartment. “When will I be free?” I thought to myself. Free from the expectations of my family, free from the job I loathe… I felt my phone vibrate and my morning alarm went off. Time to get ready for work. I groaned. I had stayed up all night reading. Again.
I dramatically rolled out of bed, audibly whining as I did so. I begrudgingly got dressed and headed out the door, to work. Well, first coffee, I thought.
I drove myself to the Divine Java, my favorite cafe. I ordered my usual and sat down, scrolling through my phone. I had some time before I actually needed to head to work. I could relax for a little bit here and wake up.
“Order for Elora?” I glanced up. Somebody with the same name as the princess in The Escaped Princess? It was a woman with black waist-length hair. I looked back at my phone.
“Do you mind if I sit here?” A woman's voice asked.
“Yeah, of course, go ahead,” I said, not looking up. I heard the chair squeak against the floor as she pulled the chair away from the table.
“Are you Taylor Ramsden?” The woman said. I looked up and silently gasped. The Escaped Princess had a limited edition release with the author's illustrations in it, and this woman looked exactly like Elora.
“I-I am,” I responded. I internally shook myself out of the shock I was feeling. Of course, it wasn't the princess. She’s a character from a fantasy series.
“I’m Princess Elora of Alstasia,” She said. I burst out laughing.
“Who put you up to this? Was it Josh? Madison?” I asked, still laughing.
“I am not joking. Alstasia is in trouble, and I was sent to find you, Taylor. Please, come with me.” Fuck it, I thought. Let's see what happens.
“Fine, but I have work soon,” I responded. She gave me a smile.
“That's not a problem. Come along now. We mustn’t waste any more time!” I followed ‘Elora’ out of the cafe. We went behind the building and into the alley.
“Stand still, and um, perhaps close your eyes.” She said.
“Wha-” I started to say and then the ground began to glow. Everything went black for a moment and then we were standing in an open field. Colorful flowers peppered the landscape. My legs gave out from under me…
“W-what the fuck.” I said, breathing hard. Everything was spinning and my body felt weak.
“Apologies, that's just a side effect of traveling between worlds. Happened to me when I traveled to your world.” Elora said. I looked around for a few minutes, taking in my surroundings. There wasn’t much around us, some trees, and a small river flowing nearby. I could hear birds in the distance. I could smell the earthy smell after the rain. It must have stormed recently.
“Holy shit. I’m here. Am I dreaming?” I stood up and took in a deep breath. The air here... It was different. Rejuvenating almost. “No… this is real. I can feel it.” Elora nodded.
“Now you see, I wasn't lying. Alstasia really is in trouble. I've been tasked with finding you. Come, we need to get to a safe place.” She turned, walking towards a clump of trees. I followed her and soon we were at a small house. We entered and inside was an old woman, sitting at the table in the center of the room. Incense was lit, smoke filling the room.
“Please, sit,” Elora said, pulling out a chair for me. I did so, and she sat across from me, next to the old woman. Her grey hair was in a neat little bun on top of her head.
“Show me your hands,” The elderly woman said. I held out my hands and she grabbed them. Her hands began to glowing purple. Her eyes closed and everything was silent for a minute.
“You are the one who was stolen. You were taken as a baby and taken to another world.” She said solemnly. I felt magic flow through me. It was warm.
“But with you here now, we can defeat the demon king Levlen!” Elora said.
“Woah woah woah, I've never even been in a fight! How am I supposed to defeat some demon?”
“Demon King .” Elora corrected.
“That didn't make this any better and you know it,” I snapped.
“Apologies. But we’ll train you. You’ll use magic.” She said with a smile. I thought for a minute, I couldn't say no. I had dreamt of something like this my entire life.
“I’ll do it,” I said. That night we ate dinner and went to bed. There were two beds on the floor above and that's where Elora and I slept.
The next morning I was awoken by the smell of meat and eggs. I wandered downstairs to find an array of sausage and bacon and fresh bread. I said down, my stomach growling loudly. A plate was set in front of me and I began filling my plate.
“So, today we’d like to start your training,” Elora said. I quickly agreed and once breakfast was finished, we all went outside.
“You are the one who wields the power of the gods,” The old woman said once we were outside. “I will teach you how to wield this power.” The old woman's back straightened out, and she tossed her cane aside, stretching out her limbs as she did. Sounds of cracking and popping followed.
“This world is a book in your world, yes?” Elora said, sitting on a bench next to the house. I nodded. “Do you know who Levlen is?” I shook my head no.
“No, the book followed you and your escape from the castle and you defeating the prince you were supposed to marry.”
“Ah. Well, here we worship five main gods. Darphen- the king of the gods, Tielia- the queen of the gods, Thera- the goddess of the earth, Edorr- the god of the sea, and Aulla- the goddess of life. But there was once a sixth god, the god of death, Rhuthar. He once led the souls of the deceased to the heavens, but grew tired of his place and challenged Darphen to a battle. Whoever lost would be sent to the underworld for eternity, never to see the gates of Ilo, the name of their plane of existence, again,” Elora said. She looked up to the sky momentarily before continuing. “ Darphen quickly defeated Rhuthar, and banished him from Ilo, but not before stripping him of his name. Rhuthar took on the name Levlen, and created the demons.”
“So, Levlen feels wronged and wants revenge?” I asked.
“Precisely. He seeks to destroy the precious creation of the Gods. Us.” Elora finished.
My training began soon after. We started off with the basics, what magic is, and how to properly wield it.
We spent the next month rigorously training. Magic came easily to me, and soon I could easily defeat Esyn, the old woman. I learned she was from a tribe dedicated to training the one who will defeat Levlen, the gods chosen, me.
I had just finished training for the day, chatting with Elora when it happened. First, the sky turned red and clouds began to swirl in the sky. Then the ground began to shake violently. Cracks in the earth appeared. One opened up and I saw Esyn fall.
“No!” I screamed, running towards her. The ground beneath me opened and swallowed me.
I woke up on the cold ground, my body aching. I cupped my hands together and created a small flame. I was in a small cavern, and on the walls were crude drawings. I inspected them closer. It depicted a man, in chains, leading others up a staircase… and then a battle, and finally the man falling from the sky and the ground consuming him.
“We were just slaves to him.” A man's voice said. I jumped and spun around. A man sat in ragged clothes, chained to the wall. He stood up. “I stood up to him one day. Tielia begged me not to, but he nearly killed her. So I challenged him. I would've won but he plays dirty. He took Aulla and used her as a shield… I couldn't hurt her and he knew it. he used that opportunity to throw me from Ilo.”
“You’re Rhuthar,” I said. He flinched at the name.
“I was.” He responded. I looked back at the wall, then again at the god.
“What about you raising a demon army? Planning on destroying the world? What about the events going on above?”
“I am no King of demons. The storms above are no doubt from Thera, sensing you are ready.”
“Ready for what?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
“You must defeat Darphen. Free the other gods.” He looked at the chains around his ankles sadly. “Only when he is defeated will these chains disappear.” He hobbled over to me and places a single glass orb in my hand. “Break this and you’ll be brought to Ilo. Aulla managed to sneak this to me many years ago.” I took a moment to think, formulating a loose plan.
“I’ll be back for you,” I said before smashing the orb on the ground. Clouds surrounded me, and I found myself in a bright white land. I was standing in a hallway. Golden murals of past battles of the gods, and of the birth of the humans of this world lined the walls. They were beautiful. I began moving forward through the hall until I came upon a large marble door. It took a lot of effort, but eventually, I was able to slip through the entrance.
I gasped and my hand flew to cover my mouth. There was the king of gods, sitting on a throne, smiling menacingly at me. Around him were three gods, shackled to the throne. On the ground lay a goddess, blood pooling around her and soaking her long brown hair.
“I’ve been waiting for you.” The King said, standing up. “I’ll give you one chance to turn and run away.” I stood my ground, charging my hands with electricity. The king's eyes began to glow red with anger and he charged at me. I swung at him but he easily avoided my hands, instead hitting my back and sending me flying.
I hit the throne, gasping out. A goddess with long golden hair came over and helped me up.
“We are powerless against him, but know we’ll help you in any way we can.” The goddess said, taking my hand and healing me. She leaned in close to me and whispered “Be unexpected. Do the opposite of what seems natural to you.” I thought for a moment, then spun around, facing Darphen. I focused all my energy on a storm. Clouds formed inside the room, lightning striking at the ground randomly.
The king easily avoided the lightning. I raced towards him, punching at him. He dodged and grabbed a fistful of my hair, yanking my head back.
“I’ll make you suffer, just like all the rest of them.” He growled in my ear.
“Then we can both suffer!” I yelled as lightning came down, striking us both. The king yelled in agony, not letting go of me. I summoned continuous lightning to rain down on us both.
The pain was excruciating. Every bolt pumped thousands of volts through my body. I felt healing magic pulse through me, keeping me alive. Eventually, my magic ran out and we both fell to the ground.
I took out a knife that Esyn had given me. The God Killer she had called it. I crawled to the God King, my energy threatening to leave me at any moment. I plunged the knife into his chest. The god screamed out and burst into an explosion of red dust.
I watched as the enslaved god's chains faded away. They each transformed their ragged outfits for clothing suited for gods. I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder.
“You did well,” Rhuthar said. I spun around to face him. He was out of his ragged clothes, and now wore a long white robe, carrying a lantern in his hands. The other gods now approached me, the goddess with the long golden hair grabbing my hand.
“I am Aulla. Goddess of Life.” A woman with long red hair stepped forward.
“I am Thera. Goddess of the Earth.” She said. I looked at the man next. His hair was shoulder-length and black.
“I am Edorr. God of the Sea. We are grateful for all you have done for us.” He said, bowing to me. They moved apart from Aulla and me, and I once again noticed the dead goddess on the ground.
“This was Tielia. She was the one who trained you. She escaped many years ago and went into hiding until you could be brought here. When the earth swallowed her she was transported here, where Darphen killed her for betraying him.” Aulla said. Tielias’s body began to glow purple, and an orb came from her chest, floating toward me. I held out my hands and it rested on my palms.
“She has chosen you to receive her power,” Aulla said. I looked down at the glowing orb. I closed my eyes and felt it absorb into my palms. I felt warmth wash over me, and when I opened my eyes, the world seemed clearer.
“Atia is my chosen name. I am the goddess of protection.” I said, my angelic voice carrying my words across the room. I walked up to the throne and waved my hands before it. It disappeared as five new thrones appeared. We each took our seats. A new era was here.