The slight sound woke up Ara the Summer Princess from her strained sleep. It took her a moment to realize it was nearly silent footsteps coming that disturbed the absolute silence of her prison. They weren't the confident strides of her captive but the soft shuffling of someone trying to be quiet. She'd seen the goblins her captive used as his grunts. Goblins were an evil race to start with but these were infused with demonic energies making them not only more powerful but more cruel as well. Doing her best to shrink back into the corner of her cell she held her breath. As bad as the demon was, he at least had cause to keep her alive. If he sent the goblins to torture her or worse if one had decided to come of their own accord she knew she was in for a horrible time.
What came into view was neither the demon general nor one of his lackeys but instead, it appeared to be an armed human. The green phosphorescent light made his armor seem even brighter green against the darkness. She could feel his strained gaze as he searched her cell and knew the moment he spotted her. His posture stiffened and he lowered himself into a crouch pointing his spear towards her cell. For what seemed like ages both just stared at the shadowy figure across from themselves, waiting. She used this short time to try and sense the same demonic corruption that the goblins were tainted with. She was surprised to find him free of corruption, the realization that he wasn't with the demon general made her heart race.
"H-Hello?" The voice was definitely male but far less deep and gruff than what she pictured. Compared to the fairy the human was a giant, she figured he had to be at least six feet tall and so broad of shoulder that she thought it would take two of her standing shoulder to shoulder to match him. Humans had always terrified her, compared to fairies their larger size not only let them tower over the smaller race but did give them a tremendous advantage in physical power.
Despite that, the humans' words sounded like music to her ears and filled her with the hope that she wouldn't die a horrible death after all. She uncoiled herself and crawled forward towards the giant and whispered "Are you here to save me? Did my mother send you?" She could hear the tears in her voice and hated the thought that a human might think her weak but couldn't maintain her royal pride.
Sael's eyes went wide as the tiny curled figure crawled closer towards him. In the dim light, he realized the shadowed figure was a child. A far too skinny girl crawled forward while her emerald eyes practically shone in the pale green light. Her dirty and disheveled hair looked to be red while her skin was so pale it made a speckling of freckles across her nose and cheek stand out even in the poor light.
When she asked if he was here to save her he actually felt bad for the pitiful child. But still decided it was best to be honest "No, I didn't know you were even here. I.. I came to get the treasure stolen by the goblins. You wouldn't know where they keep the treasure?" Mentally he kicked himself the moment he said it. Of course, she wouldn't know where the treasure was and his first priority obviously should be rescuing her.
"A thief?" she spat out the word before laughing quietly. Soon her laughs were interrupted by a hiccup that turned into sobs. "Of course a human wouldn't be sent to rescue me. Your kind knows only greed." The girl curled up in the fetal position looking even more pathetic than before.
"Wait a minute. Sorry that was rude of me. I didn't mean to say that. I'll definitely get you out of here." He moved to the gate to inspect it. "Why don't you start by telling me your name."
She considered ignoring him but she was too desperate "I am Ara, I'm a princess of the Summer Court."
As he gave the gate a testing wiggle he asked "So you're like an elf?"
With a gasp, Ara sat up showing more life than he thought her emancipated appearance would have led him to believe she had. "How dare you call me an elf. I am a Fairy. Elves have no courts. They are hedonistic barbarians closer to you barbaric humans than any proper fae."
He was certain he should be insulted by her comment but her liveliness made him think her condition couldn't be as bad as he thought. Wedging the tip of his spear into the gate he stepped back to grip the end and started praying. "Pardon me, Princess. I didn't know there was such a difference. I am just a barbaric human after all." With a grunt, he applied the full limit of his now super human strength and felt the tension in his spear suddenly give. It gave the moment the wooden shaft snapped leaving the gate perfectly fine.
He cursed and swore as silently as he could holding the two halves of his spear. "Mother fucker. Not again. I haven't even had this one that long. Fuck fuck shit fuck shit damn… fuck." Glancing at the princess he stopped his temper tantrum short. "Er, pardon my French."
"What is French?" She gave him a look that conveyed her confusion at the situation.
"It's… Never mind." He wedged the tip of his now broken spear into the gate near the lock again. Gritting his teeth he started applying not only his full strength but weight against the shortened shaft until finally with the high pitched sound of snapping metal he almost toppled forward. Catching himself on the bars he turned to find the gate still closed. In his hand, he found the spearhead had snapped in half leaving part of it still wedged in the gate.
He stomped the ground and opened his mouth ready to let lose another vile spewing of his anger in the form of colorful words when he caught the princess staring at him. He did his best to calm down and sighed "Well this isn't going the way I wanted."
"You're a thief. Can't you just pick the lock?" The helplessness in her voice was something he could practically feel.
"I'm not a thief." He snapped feeling more than a little frustrated at the situation.
Pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them she spoke "Sorry. If you can't get me out you should just go before they catch you. Try and get word to the fairy courts where I am. Hopefully, they can send a rescue before I'm killed." Her tone carried the weight of absolute hopelessness that dulled her eyes. Her hopeless gaze drug up memories better left forgotten and pulled at his heartstrings.
He moved along the bars until he was as close to her as possible. Kneeling down he shook his head. "No way. I'm not leaving you here. You said you're a princess right? So I have a proposal. Just think of me as your prince charming. You can count on me to get you out of here. It is a promise." He reached through the bars towards her. "Shake on it?"
She looked at him as if he was nuts but then reached out suddenly to take his hand. Her tiny hand was shaking some as she gripped his hand tightly. "Very well… I'll let you be my prince then. It beats staying here to be tortured to death."
Giving her what he hoped was a reassuring smile he moved back to the gate. After inspecting it he could see where the metal had started to warp from his previous attempts. Gripping the bar near the lock with both hands and placing his foot next to it he started pulling with all his might. He felt the slightest of shifts before stopping to catch his breath. Gritting his teeth he resumed pulling, the muscles in his back and shoulders burning. His hands hurt from gripping the bars with all his might but he refused to give up. His held breath started to seep between his gritted teeth as a hiss before with a terrifyingly loud sound the metal lock snapped sending him to slam into the wall. "Ouch… shit." he'd managed to curl his head forward to keep from slamming it into the wall but his shoulder hurt from the impact.
He was just starting to sit up when he was knocked back by a sudden blow. Ara had her face buried into his chest having flung herself at him as if she was afraid the cell would close back on her. "You did it! You actually got me out." She looked up at him and smiled. She looked pitiful still but her eyes had lost their dull glazed look and instead shone with hope making her almost cute. A little hope didn't help her emancipated appearance or the filth she was covered in. He figured it would be rude to complain about how she was getting his new armor dirty and instead patted her awkwardly on the shoulder.
"Told you I'd get you out. How's that for a prince charming?" Grinning he felt he'd waited long enough before gently picking her up and holding her out at arm's length as he stood up. Sitting her down he picked up what was left of his spear. Sending the smaller half back to his inventory he turned to the little fairy. "Alright now to get out of here."
Leading her back out the way he came things were just as quiet as before. He'd been worried the noise from ripping open the gate might have alerted the goblins. Perhaps it had only seemed to be earth shatteringly loud due to how high strung he was. He hadn't planned on this being a rescue mission to start with. Plus now that he was unarmed the thought of fighting a small horde of goblins seemed even more terrifying. Also, he was trying his best to not think about how much he hated escort quests. Or how he hadn't found the treasure yet nor his growing plans to make sure this Summer Court reimbursed him.
Things were going smoothly until they came to the crossroads from before. They had slowed down until they were barely inching forward as they strained their ears. They both tensed up as a shadow came from the other direction. A lone goblin came into view heading in the same direction they were trying to sneak before stopping. It only took them a moment to realize the monster was taking a piss. Motioning for his escort NPC to stay back he crept forward slowly sliding one foot in front of the other. His target was just finishing up when he ambushed them.
Gripping the remains of his spear at each end he brought it down over the goblins head and pulled it back against its throat. Pinning the creature against his chest he stood up taking advantage of his greater height to leave the choking monster dangling. It kicked back slamming its bare fit into his thigh while reaching up managing to pull some of his hair out. Still, Sael refused to let up and even managed to increase the pressure. The goblin's throat was crushed by the force and it appeared he would succeed in his assassination attempt. But it seemed luck was no longer on his side. From behind he heard a shout and glancing back he caught sight of more goblins coming.
Dropping his captive he kicked it once in the face as hard as he could before turning to chunk what was left of his spear at the coming enemies. Ara was already running towards him so he scooped her up, easily able to carry her like a sack of flour under one arm. He expected her to complain at the un-princess like treatment but she said nothing as he bolted down the path. Despite their short legs they were managing to cover ground at a surprising pace. "Damn it, why are these things so powerful. Aren't goblins supposed to be super weak!"
Ara spoke her voice breaking up some as she bounced about "They aren't regular goblins. The Demon General infused them with demonic energies. They are a type of hellion now!"
'Was this hall always this long?' He mentally cursed but asked out loud "Demon general? What demon general? Why didn't you mention this before?!"
"You didn't know about him?"
"NO! Why would I know about some Demon General? I wouldn't have stuck around so long if I had." Behind them, the shouts were getting closer.
"Really? Here I was giving you more credit than I should have. Didn't you say you were going to be my prince? I'm worth fighting a demon general or two for right?"
"No, not really! I'm not into kids!" He could see the raised portcullis up ahead.
"I'm a fairy, not a child! Arrogant human! Just because everyone isn't a walking giant like you doesn't mean we are children. I'm way older than you!"
Skidding as he tried to stop he managed to turn and release the lever as they passed under the portcullis. With a thunderous boom, it dropped back down into place sealing off their pursuers. Several loud thuds sounded a heartbeat later showing them just how close behind their pursuers were. Summoning the last bits of his spear's shaft from his inventory he jammed it into the wheel preventing it from turning.
Chuckling he sat her down then gave an out of breath bow. "One rescued princess as promised." Behind him, there were loud bangs as the goblins beat on the door but he was certain it would hold long enough for them to get away. Grinning he expected a snarky remark back.
Instead, he received a hug and sobbing the little princess just said "Thank you."
Awkwardly patting her on the head he grimaced down at her not particularly fond of so much physical contact. "Don't thank me yet. We have to climb up a chimney to get out still. Come on let me go so we can get out of here before these stupid goblins figure a way to get that door open."
She let out a soft groan still holding on to him. "I'll be honest, If I let go of you I'll probably fall over. Fear was the only thing keeping me going. I haven't had hardly anything to eat since they captured me. If it wasn't for being a summer princess I'd have already collapsed."
He didn't know what being a princess had to do with things but he pulled a loaf of bread out of his inventory. Her eyes went wide with surprise "You're an Arrived? That does explain a lot." Without another word, she snatched the bread from him and tore into it.
"Whoa careful there. You're going to ruin the dignified image I had of Fairy Princesses when you choke on your food. Besides isn't it rude to snatch something from someone?" He didn't really know how to handle the situation other than to tease her.
She swallowed the mouthful of bread looking embarrassed. "It is only expected that a prince provides for his princess is it not?" She did take smaller more controlled bites as he chuckled and scooped her up into a proper princess carry. He expected her to fuss or blush and was already preparing his teasing remarks. Instead, she just rested one arm around his neck while eating as he carried her up the stairs.
Tossing out all his prepared jibes he mentally sighed 'Girls are so confusing. They never do what you expect.'
Once at the top of the stairs he juggled her a moment before opening the door. Ara dropped the bread as her grip around his neck tightened. Sael stiffened his eyes going wide as standing inside the room was a towering monstrosity of a man. His lips split into a grin out of nightmare as he chuckled. "I do always love the look on one's face when their hopes are stolen from them at the last moments." His chuckle evolved into a harsh cruel laugh. "Now give me back my plaything."