A violent gust of howling wind stopped the sage in his tracks, his hands and ankles were freezing, the blessings of fire, that he was given, were wearing off.

In front of him, towered an infinite wall of ice with a large vertical rift in the center.

The man lifted his staff and bells on its top rang, summoning a green orb of light.

Consumed by fear, he stopped. He was about to enter the darkness. Nothing friendly would await him there. Was he prepared? He hesitantly checked his satchels, vials, and scrolls at his waist.

No, he was not ready. He would never be. The journey always had a risk factor.

Currently, he had no other choice, he would either traverse the depths known as 'The Fall of the Innocents' or freeze to death.

Step by step, he ventured deeper into the narrow abyss, his spell illuminated the monstrosities stuck in the ice eons ago. Preserved corpses of dark creatures, like out of nightmares, with razor-sharp claws, fangs, and teeth. Thousands of eyes moving behind the glacier, watching, stalking, observing his every move. Long serpentine creatures crawling and twisting somewhere afar. Slimy tentacles protruding from the ice, writhing and reaching for the warm skin of the lost mortal.

Many people were lost and left behind in this place, a couple of shadow silhouettes of their forsaken souls followed the man. He could swear, that for mere seconds, he could see images of knights, a feminine face, and hear giggles of a child.

The tunnels shrunk and forked, every corner was drowned in an ink-like blackness. He never knew how far would he had to go, but there wasn't any chance to turn back. All that there was left, was to use his resources. Holding an effigy in his trembling hands, the man uttered a silent prayer and the straw doll burned, then became animate.

The effigy moved, picking correct corridors and crevices. The environment rapidly shifted, ominous crimson glyphs overran the small surface of the glacial pass, recording scripts of heinous acts and heresies.

Nothing good lived there. Nothing good awaited him.

As he walked, parallel pillars of black bricks were partially emerging from the ice, forming a gate to a larger structure. The tunnel grew, revealing frozen columns, statues consumed by ice, and walls covered in icicles, all crafted of crude black rock.

He arrived at the den surrounded by a stone circle, in its center was a pond filled with black sludge. There seemed to be no passage onward, but the effigy couldn't be mistaken. He was simply missing a clue.

The man knocked against the walls, inspected a long vent at the ceiling, combed through the snow with his feet, but found nothing of importance.

The secret had to dwell in the pond, but the matter inside had to be cursed. He could not just enter there unprepared. Instead, he uncorked a vial with a holy substance and poured the white, shimmering liquid into the pond, and followed the ritual by spilling a few ounces of solidified silver starlight.

The white liquid mixed with silver powder, then with black ooze, forming a dark, glittering purple slush. An egg-shaped cocoon emerged from the waters, the external residue of cursed slime began to fall off in chunks, until a feminine silhouette of a child was revealed.

Unnatural occurrence made the man wary, he held his staff defensively. Of all the things he had seen, it was the sole one he did not understand.

The girl's eyes, mouth, and nostrils were dripping with black sludge, which began to pour out of the orifices in unbelievable amounts, until the girl's almost dead eyes could be clearly seen.

From underneath silver hair, a pair of double silver irises rested on the sage, who now spotted chains attached to the girl's wrists and ankles.

"Make it end." - She uttered in a faint voice.

The sage stood silently and pondered his options.

Girl's eyes dropped. - "Please."

"It's not my role." - The sage spoke.

Two small streaks of tears rolled down the girl's cheeks.

"Now, foul spirit. With no further trickery, tell me, where the exit is."

The girl lifted her chain and pointed weakly at the vent above the mage.

"How do I get there?"

"Fly."

"How?"

The girl lifted her eyes and looked at the man strangely, although with fatigue. She then turned her torso, revealing two long scars remaining after her torn-out wings.

"I have no wings, demon. Don't play your tricks on me."

"I am not a demon." - She whispered out.

"Your words won't deceive me."

She was resigned. Her words couldn't reach him. What else was there to say? Nothing. Seeing her in this state, the sage lifted his head and carefully examined the vent. It was as wide as a platform below the otherwordly girl.

"I see." - The sage pondered aloud. - "...so, tell me, demon, what crimes were you bound for?"

"Don't." - She muttered. - "Don't call me a demon. I have a name, Aileen."

"I know well what havoc calling upon evil's name brings, cease your attempts, they are futile."

"Just... don't call me a demon."

"That's not an unreasonable request. Now, answer my question."

"He, who wandered too far in the forest of sin, fell from grace. The bird closed its eyes in silence. Rest, rest in peace prince. My voice won't reach you. We bound to fly, believed we never fall. My voice won't reach them. I, bound to fly, was bound to the ground."

"Don't speak in riddles."

"What is a day, but another night to the blind. I wish my words could reach you."

"I won't listen to your nonsense. You can keep blabbering to yourself in your prison."

"Please... just end it."

"I know what you mean, fallen one. A death here would free you. If only I had the power to truly end it, I would."

"It's my only wish."

"Wishes are cruel spells, one's earthly desires do not go in pair with the will of heavens."

"It's by their will that I'm bound to this place, yet would you truly believe celestial deities would wish such a fate upon any living creature?"

"I don't fare into the domain of gods, I can't speak of their will. Perhaps, that was the least unjust solution."

"No love can be found in a justice with no mercy."

"Do not deceive me, fallen one. You probably already received their mercy thousandfold."

"You... call this mercy?" - The wingless soul lifted its shackles.

"Indeed, you're yet not to be tormented in the labyrinth of liars, despite your trickery and doomed heritage."

The girl curled up. - "What could you know, stray soul... the labyrinth of liars would be like a salvation, compared to endless drowning in the tainted void."

The man observed how the girl's nails dig deeper into her skin, she struggled to breathe, pushing, fighting against something.

"I... don't doubt it..." - The wanderer uttered.

The girl lifted her large eyes, in anticipation.

"...you're the master of your craft, the princess of fraud." - He added.

"You... believing your judgment to be perfect, are just like a small worm squirming out of the ground. The warm sun is just within your reach, but you are unaware of sharp beaks preying in the open."

".I'm well aware of my fallibility. Vain attempt at mockery."

"I'm not trying to mock you, I'm trying to warn you."

"Of what?"

"Your own short-sightedness. You're unable to see the truth, even If it's in front of your eyes."

"...and what would the truth be."

"Look at me, what do you see?"

"A shackled, young girl. Bruised, battered, and broken."

"That's the truth."

The sage lifted his staff and laughed. - "Masterfully played, o' queen of deceit."

"You turn my misery into your amusement. What does it speak of you?"

The sage recollected himself and fixed his robe. - "Given your nature, nothing."

The girl lifted her head and looked at the vent. - "There, you will end up like me. Nothing good awaits you, when you are all alone in this place. Your cries for help won't be heard, your pleas for mercy won't be answered. Just like you wouldn't answer to mine. Turn back... while you still can. That's my last piece of advice. Now, leave..." - Her hands began trembling, tears welled up in her eyes and voice started shaking. - "...your blessing is running out, when I return to depths once more, I will bring them a tale of your ignorance, perhaps it will be enough to redeem you in their eyes."

The sage looked at the tar below his feet, it was gradually pushing back his purple brew. Then he realized, he had wasted all his time talking to the prisoner, but got no answers.

"Wait... before you go... answer me! How do I get up there?" - He yelled desperately.

"The girl just laughed, albeit with a pained expression."

"Foolish man, do you still wish to continue, even after my warning?"

"I do!"

"Step into the darkness, let it devour you. For a brief while, feel what I had felt for thousands of years. Feed it with your suffering, then it'll let you through."

"I won't sell my part of my soul!"

The ooze started climbing up the girl, who, in agony, barely let out a heart-curdling scream. - "Then TURN BACK while you still can!" - Her cries were soon drowned down by slime that began to enter her mouth, eyes, nostrils, and ears.

The sage burst into tears as he saw the girl thrashing around in the shackles, her gurgling voice begging for mercy.

"What... in the name of the nine...?" - He fully comprehended the unholy nature of the place, of the liquid. What monstrosity had she to be, to deserve such fate? No, he wouldn't leave this encounter unscathed. What black seeds had she planted in his heart, what doubts would she fill him with?

...or was he wrong, all the way through.

No, he couldn't be. That would only mean he was the witness of the most tragic blasphemy in recorded history.

If he was wrong, his mistake could be forgiven, but If... If he was wrong, would he let an innocent suffer such a fate? For eternity?

Was it the reason he came there?

He was not a hero. That couldn't be. No, his fate was sealed the second he walked in here. He couldn't help. He had to accept what was brought.

...but what If he tried? He would be just another victim, to the powers he didn't comprehend. He would make an enemy, one that he couldn't possibly face.

The choice was obvious, to turn back, leave and freeze to death in the crossroads.

Was he a coward?

He was afraid of such fate. Death was mercy at this point.

Was he a coward and a fool?

In a loud voice, the sage chanted. - "Oh, ethereal and divine. I bring forth your song, radiating with hope. Hear my pleas, and banish the dark..."

In effect, the slime started to boil and the girl's excruciating screams intensified.

"...nourish your garden, with raindrops of light that gently flow onto the dry soil. As the life sprouts, our faith is reinforced, by your white rose."

Hundreds of arms and screaming faces emerged on the surface of ooze, their expressions pained and begging for mercy.

"I cut my hands on its thorns and bleed..." - The sage withdrew a dagger and ran its blade across his hand, his blood dropped into the tar. - "...accept my humble offering, hear our quiet cries. Let these tears not fade in the snow, but soothe us with a peaceful dream."

The tormented expressions slowly fell into a sleep and the black sludge gradually started to evaporate.

"Ah, I hear your sweet lullaby, it takes burdens off my heart. Once more, our souls will unite at the unseen shore, even If our arms can't reach one another."

What was left, was an empty basin and an almost unconscious body of the wingless victim of torment, still in shackles and ragged, dirty cloth. The sage came forth, crushed the chains with one hit of his staff, and lifted her.

"Thank you." - She whispered out with the last ounce of her strength.

"Don't. I did it for selfish reasons." - The sage replied, but the girl heard him no more.

They walked out, back when they came from. Uncertain of their future.