Rilliana and Trisha

7: Witches, Devils, Angels, and Demons

Rilliana's eyes flew open when, less than half an hour later, Terra's voice echoed through the house as she searched for Celine like a fury. The door to Rilliana's room swung open and slammed against the wall.

"WAS CELINE HERE?!" Terra yelled at the elf, and Rilliana shook her head in fear.

"SHE LEFT A NOTE STINKING OF WINE SAYING SHE WAS GOING FOR A WALK IN THE WOODS! STINKING DRUNK! I swear to you, Rilliana, as soon as I get my hands on Celine, this will be a double cell!" she hissed, grabbed a chair, and sat down next to Rilliana, snorting.

"Hey, she'll be back. She's probably just visiting her pets," Rilliana tried to calm her down, putting on an encouraging smile.

"Her pets? You mean her slimes? Honey, they're not in the forest. Don't start getting memory loss too," she muttered, rubbing her temples. Rilliana opened her mouth to reply that she didn't mean the slimes when they heard the door open downstairs.

"Don't do anything stupid!" Terra ordered and stormed out of the room, while Rilliana frowned and wondered if Terra was the one with amnesia, since she was still helplessly tied to the bed.

Terra stood in Celine's way and raised her voice: "Celine, this has to stop! You're coming to Rilliana's room now, where I can keep a better eye on you until you're in your right mind!"

She stormed toward Celine and grabbed her arm.

"Don't worry, I realized a few things during this walk," Celine mumbled. With incredible speed, her hand shot up and grabbed Terra's throat. Terra recoiled in shock from the drunk woman, but it was already too late.

Her clothes lit up and disappeared as one of Celine's magical chokers closed around her neck. In its place appeared a skin-tight dress that reached down to her ankles and made it difficult for her to walk. Terra stared at her in disbelief.

"Why?"

Celine put on a cheerful smile and stuck her tongue out at the corner of her mouth.

"So you can play with Pinky for a while while I talk to Rilliana about her plan," she mumbled, swaying menacingly.

"All right! That's it, Celine! I'm definitely not jumping into the pit with your slimes again, especially not in this dress. I'll let you sober up in the dungeon first before I put you in Rilliana's room!"

Terra tiptoed toward Celine again, but stopped dead in her tracks when she spotted a pink spider the size of a melon behind Celine. Terra's eyes widened in horror and she recoiled. Her skirt caused her to stumble, and she fell hard on her butt.

"May I introduce you?" asked Celine, stepping aside to make room for the spider. "Pinky!"

Hesitantly, the spider crawled toward Terra, who desperately tried to put as much distance between herself and Pinky as possible. Terra's escape came to a quick end, however, when she felt a wall behind her. Tears welled up in Terra's eyes and she gritted her teeth in anger.

"Don't worry, she just wants to play," said Celine, stumbling up the stairs to Rilliana's bedroom. "Pinky, would you be so kind as to hold her for me for a moment?"

Panicked, Terra raised her hand to cast a spell on the spider, but nothing happened.

"CELINE, THIS IS NOT FUNNY! CALL YOUR MONSTER BACK IMMEDIATELY AND TAKE THIS DAMN COLLAR OFF ME!"

An amused chuckle came from the stairs, and Terra heard a door open and close again.

"CELINE!" Terra yelled, her scream echoing throughout the house. She desperately tried to kick the approaching spider away with her legs, but the spider deftly dodged and rammed its fangs through her dress into her calf. Suddenly, Terra felt a warmth spreading throughout her body from the bite. She lost all feeling in her limbs, and her panic-stricken face gave way to a relaxed smile as she forgot the world around her. Instead of the screams she had heard before, a contented moan escaped Terra's lips as all the stress of the last few weeks left her body.

Terra closed her eyes as the poison took full effect, and moments later she fell asleep. Pinky tapped Terra's leg to make sure she was really asleep. She hesitated briefly and then began to spin Terra's feet. To make the following tasks easier, she wrapped her threads around Terra's ankles and pulled them up to the ceiling. Only when Terra's hair tips brushed the floor did Pinky begin to wrap her legs and upper body in silk. Her arms were crossed behind her back by the spider, stuck together, and within a short time, only Terra's closed eyes were visible. The rest of her body and her black hair were hidden under a thick layer of white silk. Just to be sure, Pinky attached more threads to Terra's feet and lifted her head to the same height. Satisfied, the spider nodded to Terra and made herself comfortable on her stomach. On her soft hammock, Pinky waited for Celine to exchange her prey for her mistress's delicious treats.

 

A few seconds after Celine closed the door, an eerie silence spread through the house. Rilliana stared in disbelief at Celine, who stood swaying over her bound body and smiled down at her.

"So my little bondage princess has a plan to save my sister," she murmured, dropping down next to Rilliana on the bed. She used the elf's arm as a pillow and looked deep into her sapphire blue eyes.

"What do you need for that?" she whispered.

"First of all, it would be nice if you untied me," said the elf, noticing the smell of wine on Celine's breath. Celine seemed to think hard and then shook her head.

"Nooo, otherwise you wouldn't be my little bondage princess," she said in a childish singsong voice, running her finger along Rilliana's stomach. Rilliana rolled her eyes.

"I have to get to Leon's Keep as soon as possible. Then, of course, I need my weapons and, above all, my suit."

"You shall have them. However, Jeffrey isn't here at the moment. He's out with Father on some business," she said, waving her hand in the air, "I hope you can ride?"

"I learn quickly."

"You'll have to. Jeffrey isn't here, Terra is looking after Pinky, and I'm too drunk."

Rilliana smiled at her uneasily.

"Well then, what are you waiting for, princess?" whispered Celine, as if the walls had ears. Rilliana looked at her restraints, which pinned her body to the mattress, and motioned for Celine to do the same. The elf could hear the gears turning in Celine's head until something clicked.

"Oh, I see," she muttered sheepishly and snapped her fingers. Immediately, Rilliana's restraints sprang open and the elf groaned with relief as she regained control of her limbs after so long. Before Rilliana could say anything else, Celine grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into the workshop. The spider squeaked happily as the women stepped into the hallway, and Rilliana waved to her.

"Terra will hate you when she wakes up," the elf commented, and Celine waved it off.

"I'll calm her down," she murmured and opened the door to her workshop. The familiar sweet smell of Celine's suits wafted into Rilliana's nose and she closed her eyes to bathe in the scent.

"Here's your catsuit, but… I couldn't remove the curse that's on it."

"I'll take my chances," said Rilliana, taking off her nightgown and beginning to change in front of Celine. The witch looked intently at the elf.

"What are you up to?"

"Find Trisha…" Rilliana muttered curtly, which seemed to suffice for Celine for the time being.

"If you're going to change, take these with you," Celine said, handing Rilliana two of the chokers she had been working on.

"I thought they didn't work?" Rilliana asked in surprise, turning the collars in her hands.

"Yes, yes. They work now, as Terra discovered, at least I hope so. When you put them on yourself or someone else, you just have to imagine what you want to wear. But they still block magic. But that shouldn't affect Trisha…" Celine explained, and Rilliana could see that it took her full concentration.

“Me neither…” Rilliana grumbled and put one of the chokers on. Immediately, the elf lit up, and moments later she was wearing a hooded cloak over her catsuit that hid her body under a layer of dull slime.

"If discretion was your goal, then maybe that's still too much latex," said Celine, raising an eyebrow.

"Do you think so?" asked Rilliana, adjusting her cloak and slinging her bow over her shoulder.

"Where are you going first?" Celine asked as Rilliana fastened her quiver and hid two daggers under her cloak.

"To Leon's Keep to visit a friend. I hope she's still there," Rilliana replied, smiling weakly at Celine. Celine smiled back and almost fell over, but caught herself at the last moment. At that moment, Rilliana saw her mistress's warm, happy smile again. They embraced for a second, and Celine stroked Rilliana's head.

"Please bring my sister back to me and come home safely," she whispered.

 

Rilliana stroked her horse's head. It had brought her safely to Leon's Keep, faster than the carriage would have, but the elf still felt the ride in her whole body. It whinnied wearily as it lay down to sleep in the stable of an inn.

"And does the young lady really not want a bed for the night?" the innkeeper asked Rilliana as she sat up.

"No, thank you. Just take care of the horse until I come back or one of my friends picks it up," said the elf. He clicked his tongue in disappointment as Rilliana left the stable with her cloak fluttering and disappeared into the night.

 

Rilliana passed through the south gate of Leon's Keep and felt the guards' eyes following her. She hoped that neither of them was on Faluden's payroll and slipped into a side alley. A manhole cover leading underground blocked her path, but with a few twists of her lock pick, Rilliana opened the lock and slid down. She immediately regretted not taking another passage when a foul smell reached her nose.

One of those passages, of all places. But she kept going. Thanks to her eyes, she could see perfectly in the dark, and she breathed a sigh of relief when, shortly after turning a corner, she saw a canal filled with refuse from Leon's Keep, leisurely transporting everything to the river. If she hadn't been able to see in the dark, she would have definitely taken a bath.

"Good thing I didn't fall in there, Celine's suit or not," she muttered. A crackling sound could be heard throughout the canal, and Rilliana ducked as she heard footsteps and voices. She crept further down the passageway and listened.

"Why do we always have to patrol down here? Can't the newbies do it?"

"How do you imagine that working? Turner, you and I are the only ones who know our way around down here. The newbies would just get lost and become food for the rats, and Turner has more important things to do than this."

"Oh, come on, the newbies just can't be bothered to learn the layout."

“What do I know? You can talk to the boss and tell him that. The others will probably think this news is so great that they’ll sink you down here. Besides, after what happened at the warehouse, he’s far too paranoid to assign the newbies to patrol duty!”

"Oh, come on. That shifter is burned, and Berryriver fled before we even set her house on fire. The Deadeyed Witch would have to be insane to show her face in Leon's Keep again."

Rilliana tilted her head when she heard the name Deadeyed Witch and frowned.

“You saw what she did in Sewer Keep. Do you seriously think she needs allies when she did all that on her own?”

"Oh, come on. She shot them all in the back, anyone could do that!"

"Could 'anyone,' kill Turner's son, by putting an arrow between his eyes at night, despite his magic?"

The other man fell silent at this remark, while Rilliana crouched in the shadows, shocked, trying to process what she had just heard. She was so distracted that she didn't notice someone sneaking up behind her. Rilliana felt a cloth being pressed over her face and inhaled a sweet smell in alarm. Rilliana immediately held her breath and fought with all her might against her attacker, who was trying hard to hold her down.

"Hey, do you hear that?" asked one of the two.

"Oh, it's probably just a rat, nothing to worry about," the other replied.

"IF YOU TWO DON'T SHOW UP HERE RIGHT NOW AND HELP ME, I'LL STUFF EVERY RAT IN LEON'S KEEP UP YOUR ASSES!" yelled the man who had grabbed Rilliana. Panicked, Rilliana looked around the hallway and desperately tried to draw her weapons, but her attacker's arm had pinned her arms to her sides as if they were caught in a vice. Slowly, she ran out of air and took another breath. Her vision blurred and she lost the strength to fight off her attacker. She breathed in again and her eyes closed. The last thing she saw was two torches turning the corner and rushing towards her.

"I hope you idiots brought the ropes! Tie her up properly, she's very good at freeing herself!"

 

There was a loud smack as Rilliana was rudely awakened from her poison-induced sleep. One of the two subordinates stood over her, grinning as he raised his hand to slap her again.

"Guess you're not such a big deal after all. Deadeyed Witch, don't make me laugh," he said and stepped aside. Rilliana was lying on a red carpet that led from the double doors to an empty throne. Several columns supported the ceiling, and torches were attached to them, illuminating the magnificently furnished room.

"I have to get out of here!" thought Rilliana, checking her bonds. Her face froze when she saw that her latex cape had been her doom, as her captors had creatively incorporated it into her restraints. It had been wrapped around her body and secured with several ropes to her upper arms, hips, knees, and ankles. Beneath it, the elf had been bound even further. She felt her arms being painfully pulled together at her wrists and elbows by ropes. Her legs were tied at her ankles, calves, knees, and thighs. Any attempt to find a knot or a gap in her bonds was thwarted by her latex cloak. Nervously, she scanned the room, but nothing could have helped her free herself quickly. Rilliana swallowed as she realized that Terra had warned her about this very thing.

"What are you doing in my city, elf?" asked a cold, familiar voice, and Rilliana turned in alarm to Faluden. He entered the room through a small door next to the throne, which he immediately sat down on, and looked down at her with disgust. Another man stood next to him, his face and hair covered by a cloth.

"I live in Leon's Keep, by the way, but to answer your question: I just wanted to visit an old friend, that's all," Rilliana replied, putting on the bravest smile she could muster.

"Are you talking about Berryriver? She left town before I could thank her for the burned-down warehouse."

"What a shame… Well, if that's the case, I'd better be on my way. If you'd untie me, I can find my own way out."

The two men exchanged glances and the hooded man shook his head. Faluden shrugged and pulled out a black dagger that looked suspiciously like Trisha's.

"Have fun, Turner," he said, handing the knife to the man. The man walked over to Rilliana. He looked down at her with disgust as the elf frantically tried to crawl away from him. However, her escape came to an abrupt end when he put his knee on her hip. Rilliana gritted her teeth as her body was crushed between him and the floor.

"Why should I let the Deadeyed Witch go in peace after she killed so many of my men? My men in Sewers Keep and Turner's son on the roof of my warehouse."

Rilliana swallowed as he reminded her of each of her killings.

"I did it to defend myself and save those I care about," she muttered meekly, avoiding Turner's gaze.

"Turner, do you hear that? The Deadeyed Witch actually has a conscience! Your son will now be able to rest in peace," laughed derisively at Faluden and slammed his fist on his throne.

The man named Turner raised the knife and pressed it against her throat. Rilliana felt him cut her skin and a drop of blood roll down her neck.

"If you were going to kill me anyway, why bring me here first?" Rilliana cried desperately, her eyes widening in surprise as the blade disappeared from her throat and the pressure on her hip eased. Turner stood over her, still staring down at her contemptuously.

"You're not as stupid as I thought," he muttered, and Rilliana blinked as she recognized the voice.

"You?" she asked, horrified. He rolled his eyes and took off his headscarf. Revealed was Arissa's gray-haired friend, who had attacked Rilliana in her hideout so long ago and later helped her obtain a chalice.

"You're lucky Faluden needs you, otherwise I would have held you down in the sewer until you begged me to take your life!" Turner said bitterly, throwing the dagger next to Rilliana. He turned away and left the throne room, leaving Faluden and her alone.

"Did Trisha ever tell you why I want her in my organization?" Faluden asked, interlacing his fingers and resting his chin on them. Rilliana shook her head. She considered whether she could free herself from her bonds with the dagger, but came to the conclusion that she couldn't grab it through the tightly pulled cloak.

"She was supposed to kill someone for me, but now that she's dead, you'll do it," Faluden said, and Rilliana froze.

"I'm not a contract killer," she said, staring into his cold eyes.

"Don't think of it as contract killing. Think of it as an exchange, your life for his."

Rilliana shuddered at the thought and suppressed the urge to vomit.

"Where was that conscience when you slaughtered my men, Deadeyed Witch?" Faluden asked. "I'll tell you what: if you fulfill this assignment, I'll grant you one wish. Anything you want. As a little bonus."

Bile rose in Rilliana's throat and she swallowed it down with difficulty. She turned away from him in disgust.

“I can bring Turner back in. I think he muttered something about hanging you at the harbor, right next to the best catch of the day.”

"No, no… it's fine, I'll do it. I just want to know one thing," said Rilliana, turning back to him.

"And that would be?" he asked with a smile.

"Where can I find Jinara?"

Faluden's smile vanished instantly and his expression darkened.

"What do you want with her?"

"That wasn't part of the deal, was it?" asked Rilliana, feeling warmth spread through her body. She had finally found a lead on Trisha, and with this information, she could even come up with a real plan. Maybe even free Trisha, with the help of Celine and Terra. Faluden smiled again and pulled out a small scroll of parchment and a quill to scribble something on it. Then he rolled it up again and sealed it.

"TURNER!" he called, and immediately the double doors behind Rilliana opened.

"Faluden?" he asked, looking down coldly at Rilliana again.

"Our Deadeyed Witch will do it. I would ask you to keep this safe and accompany her on her mission."

He held the piece of parchment out to Turner. He gritted his teeth and took it. Then he picked up the dagger from the floor again and freed Rilliana from her bonds.

"Good luck, Deadeyed Witch, and I hope you complete the mission to my complete satisfaction."

Rilliana's blood ran cold when she saw Faluden's arrogant smile and Turner's stony expression, which would watch her every step with disgust.

 

The streets of Leon's Keep were deserted. The water of the river lapped gently against the quay walls of the harbor, and Rilliana nervously twirled an arrow in her hands as she watched an inn. Opposite her, Turner leaned against a wall and watched her silently. After they had left Faluden's hideout, he had punished her with silence. Several times, Rilliana had wanted to say something to express her sympathy or apologize, but each time she closed her mouth. Deep down, she knew that nothing she could say would ease the man's suffering. She knew that the only reason she was still alive was because of the mission, and she feared what would happen after that.

"That's him," Turner murmured, pointing to a tall man in a suit with black hair who was leaving the inn at that moment and walking down the street accompanied by five other people.

"I don't have a clear shot, maybe we should wait a little longer," whispered Rilliana, biting her lower lip. Turner's eyes narrowed to slits and it took all his willpower not to behead the elf right there and then.

"Do what you were told! If you don't have a clear shot, then shoot the others or get closer and use that damn dagger!" Turner hissed at her and gave her several marble-sized balls. "These are smoke bombs, they should give you the element of surprise and provide you with enough cover."

Turner turned away.

“Where are you going?” Rilliana asked, staring after him in disbelief.

"Why do you think Faluden entrusted this mission to a stranger? Do you think he wants me to be seen with the murderer? Finish it and then meet me at the bell tower, and you'll get your scroll. And don't even think about betraying Faluden, or I'll kill you and everyone you know. Starting with the children from your old orphanage!" he muttered coldly and disappeared around a corner. Rilliana was left alone in the alley, staring after him in horror. Once again, she felt bile rising in her throat and swallowed it down with difficulty. Her hands trembled as she put the arrow back in her quiver and drew Trisha's dagger instead.

"For Trisha," she muttered, pressing her hands against her body to suppress the trembling. Rilliana listened to the footsteps coming closer and closer, her thoughts wavering between her mission and her friend. She saw the figures pass by her alley and gripped Trisha's blade even tighter. Rilliana threw the smoke bombs at the six men and leaped out of the shadows toward her target. The bodyguards immediately drew their swords when they saw the elf, but they hadn't counted on the bombs, which exploded at that very moment, enveloping the alley and the street in thick smoke.

"Don't let the assassin get to the boss!" one of them shouted as he looked around, almost blind, trying to spot Rilliana through the smoke. The elf ran past him and pushed him and another man aside. Both men stumbled blindly to the ground, and Rilliana used the gap to jump into their midst. There she saw him. The black-haired man looked around disoriented in the smoke, but froze when he saw Rilliana and turned pale. The elf ran towards him. Rilliana used the momentum of her run-up to throw him to the ground, then jumped on top of him. She raised Trisha's dagger, ready to plunge the metal into his heart, but paused. Around his neck hung a brooch that had opened during the fall, revealing two yellowed photographs. The left one showed an older woman with scarlet hair and an enchanting smile, while the right one showed two young girls. One of them also had red hair, while the other had dark hair with cat ears sprouting from it. Horrified, Rilliana stared at the man beneath her and lowered her blade. Confused, he looked up at her when suddenly one of his guards appeared in front of Rilliana. The guard's sword narrowly missed her as she rolled to the side to avoid the blow. Hastily, she scrambled to her feet, pierced the wall of fog, and ran back into the alley under cover of darkness. On the street, she could hear the guards shouting.

"Who the hell was that?"

"No idea, but stay alert until we're in the carriage!"

"Lord Kerren, are you all right?"

"Yes… yes, I'm fine. Just get me to the carriage."

Rilliana heard the six men hurriedly leaving and leaned against a wall, breathing heavily.

"Faluden, you damn bastard!" she cursed, punching the wall of the house. She felt sick at the thought of what she had almost done and forced herself to think of Trisha.

"He'll pay for this… but first," she muttered, stumbling out of the alley to take a look at the bell tower.

 

Turner surveyed the still-sleeping city as Rilliana climbed the stairs behind him, not even glancing at her as she stood beside him. It was the first time Rilliana had seen Leon's Keep from so high up.

"Wow…" she whispered as she beheld the picturesque beauty of the city built on the river, the mountains to the north, and the rich fields stretching out to them. The moonlight reflected off the river, illuminating the marble bridges in all their glory. Figures were engraved on their sides, depicting the legend of Leon's Keep's creation. The travelers who had come through the mist, built walls, and tamed magic.

"Did you do it?" Turner asked, pulling Rilliana out of her trance.

"No," replied the elf, lowering her gaze.

"You had a deal."

"I know, but… I couldn't bring myself to do it," she said. Turner shook his head and looked up at the night sky.

"I have to thank you," he murmured, lowering his gaze and looking directly into her eyes . Rilliana saw no trace of anger in him, only a void that seemed to engulf his entire soul. The same void Rilliana had felt when Trisha left her.

"What do you want to thank me for?" she asked hesitantly, flinching when she felt his hand on her shoulder. Turner smiled at her.

"For granting me my revenge."

Rilliana's eyes widened in shock as she lost the ground beneath her feet. Turner had grabbed her with one hand and was pressing her body against the railing of the bell tower. Rilliana desperately grabbed his arm, searching for a secure hold as she felt gravity begin to pull at her. Turner's other hand reached into his pocket and pulled out the parchment from Faluden, its seal broken.

"Since your beloved Trisha is already dead, I will do you the favor of sending you to her, and as for your friend Jinara," he said, waving the paper in front of her nose, "you needn't worry: I will have a splendid time with her and then send her after you. Enjoy your flight!"

Turner let go of her and she slid over the railing. Rilliana fell toward the ground and prayed to all the gods that at least this part of her plan would work. She whizzed past the windows of the tower and saw the ground getting closer and closer. She vaguely noticed a few people on the street pointing in her direction in horror. She closed her eyes and crossed her arms in front of her face. Rilliana heard a scream and then suddenly silence. She opened her eyes. Beneath her was no longer the hard gray stone floor of Leon's Keep, but a white, soft-looking surface on which she was gently set down. She immediately turned onto her back and looked up at the ceiling of the empty square room. Above her floated an unstable portal representing the night sky of Leon's Keep. It sprayed sparks down on her and collapsed with a loud bang. Rilliana smiled contentedly and took a deep breath. She had made it; now she just had to find Trisha. She flinched when she heard a noise from the corner of the room, and drew her black dagger as she turned around.

"Trish…" Rilliana whispered, immediately putting the weapon away when she recognized her friend cowering in the corner. Trisha's hair was tousled and had lost all its shine. Her cat ears hung limply and her eyes were tightly squeezed shut as if she were in severe pain. Her body was encased in a red catsuit, and her arms and legs were folded at the joints so that she could only walk on her knees and elbows. She was crouched on a tear-stained pillow that served as a bed for her bound body. Her tail was as disheveled as her hair and lay limp on the floor beside her. Rilliana immediately rushed to her side and gently lifted her head.

"Trisha! It's me. Can you hear me, sweetheart?"

Trisha weakly opened her reddened eyes. She seemed to look right through Rilliana. However, her fear-stricken face seemed to relax when the shifter recognized her friend, and she slowly closed her eyes. The next moment, her expression changed back to one of pain and she clenched her teeth as an electric shock shot through her body. Trisha forced her eyes open as the pain subsided and whispered, "Never… doubted… you'd come. Thought you were already… here, but now… you really are."

"Yes, Trisha, don't worry, I'll get you out of here!" Rilliana whispered hastily, stroking Trisha's forehead and hair. Only now did the elf notice that her friend felt ice cold and was trembling. Rilliana's eyes lingered on the metal collar around her friend's neck, and she suspected that this was the source of all the trouble. Carefully, Rilliana lifted Trisha's hair aside to look for a lock she could pick, but found no opening. She flinched as Trisha was once again tormented by electric shocks.

"Wait… electricity?" said Rilliana, fumbling in her bag for the collar she had packed as an extra and putting it on Trisha. She thought of a simple latex bodysuit that would only cover Trisha's body and neck, leaving her arms and legs free. The collar lit up and formed Rilliana's vision under Trisha's full-body suit. The shifter groaned slightly as an additional layer of latex covered her body. When the glow stopped, Rilliana saw a thin layer of latex between Trisha's skin and the metal collar.

"Now you should rest, Trish. When you wake up, the world will look much more beautiful," Rilliana whispered, stroking the shifter's head. Trisha blinked weakly at her friend, but it wasn't long before her eyes closed. A sigh escaped Trisha's lips as she finally fell peacefully asleep. Rilliana sat down next to her friend and gently laid Trisha's head on her leg. She looked around the cell. The dim light on the ceiling illuminated the entire cell in a dark white, and Rilliana couldn't see a door in the padded, equally white walls through which she could escape. Rilliana's gaze fell on her thin arms and her sleeping friend.

"Not that I could have carried you for long," she whispered, deciding to close her own eyes until an opportunity to escape presented itself.

 

High above the prison in the glass dome, Jinara rested her chin on the back of her hand and looked at her new fountain, frowning. She crossed her legs and the chair beneath her groaned softly as the demon's weight shifted.

"You really are useless," she muttered. The statue of a golden woman knelt before Jinara and offered her a blue stone ball. Water flowed out of the top of the ball and splashed down into a basin where the woman knelt. Annoyed, Jinara stood up from her chair and waved her hand. The water immediately stopped flowing, and Jinara leaned under the orb to look into the tear-swollen eyes of her useless employee, the only part of her that was not yet covered in gold.

"Can you tell me how you manage to fail even as a statue?" Jinara asked the woman, and once again tears ran down her golden cheeks. Jinara clicked her tongue in displeasure, raised her hand to her mouth, and bit her thumb lightly to think.

"That statue I saw in Leon's Keep was so much better. Is the gold perhaps too ostentatious? Maybe I just need a volunteer to share your existence," Jinara muttered, glancing over her shoulder at her chair. But then she shook her head. Her eyes fell on her desk and she clicked her tongue again as she remembered that she had to perform her daily duties so that her prisoners wouldn't get bored.

"I'll take care of you later," said the demoness, patting the cheek of her living statue. Slowly, gold crept over the woman's wide, panicked eyes, obscuring her vision. Jinara walked over to her desk and rubbed her fingers together.

"I think Trisha has suffered enough for now. What do you think?" she asked the room, and a groan came from her chair. Her new fountain said nothing.

"Useless," she commented on her fountain and stopped Trisha's punishment. "Two nights without sleep? She probably won't be able to participate today. Tomorrow, I think I'll give her a small chance to win. It's boring if she has no hope. But what shall I do today?" she muttered, tapping her desk listlessly. Noise could be heard below her as the walls and obstacles for today were being constructed. Disappointed, Jinara got up from her seat to make herself comfortable in her chair again.

 

Sirens could be heard throughout the facility, tearing Rilliana from her meditation. Trisha began to twitch nervously, and the elf gently placed her hands over her friend's fluffy ears to protect her from the noise. A door opened, revealing the way outside. Rilliana heard the voices of dozens of women as the sirens fell silent. The elf laid her friend's head on the floor and crept to the door to take a look outside. She saw several women in green and yellow latex suits stepping out of their cells into the hallway and disappearing around a corner. Rilliana looked down at her clothes.

"Black is probably too conspicuous," Rilliana muttered and took off the choker. Immediately, her cape disappeared and the elf began to take off her cursed catsuit.

"Take good care of it," she whispered to the sleeping shifter and hid her suit and weapons behind Trisha's pillow. Then she put the choker back on and imagined one of the suits she had just seen. Rilliana's body glowed, and when it disappeared, she was wearing a green catsuit that covered her entire body below her neck. The choker itself had turned into a metal collar like the one Trisha wore, and there was a sequence of numbers on her chest, which Rilliana paid no further attention to as she pricked up her ears. Someone was running purposefully toward Trisha's cell.

"Get up, shifter! I hope you're not as sleepy today as you were yesterday, if you know what's good for your neck!"

A woman appeared in front of Rilliana who was a good head taller than the elf. Her red catsuit seemed to be stretched to the limit by her muscles. The woman looked down at Rilliana in confusion.

“What are you doing here?” she barked at Rilliana. Rilliana hesitated. She didn’t want to blow her cover with the first person she met.

"I could ask you the same thing!" said Rilliana, looking defiantly into her counterpart's eyes. The woman's eyebrow twitched. The next moment, she swung her fist and struck out at the elf, who dodged in surprise.

"I'm not going to let a Green fool me!" shouted the woman, swinging at the elf again. Rilliana dodged this blow too and frowned. For some unknown reason, the woman's movements seemed slower and more laborious than they should have been. Rilliana took a step to the side as her attacker ran toward her and tripped her. The woman stumbled and flew unchecked toward the ground. Rilliana seized her chance and planted her knee on the woman's back while grabbing her hands and twisting them behind her back so she could no longer defend herself.

"Let me go, elf! NOW!" she screamed, wriggling like a bug, unable to throw Rilliana off her back. Trisha weakly opened her eyes when she heard the screaming. But when she saw the woman, she turned pale and recoiled in horror into the corner.

"CAN YOU NOT HEAR ME, ELF! LET ME…" The woman began to moan in pain as Rilliana twisted her arms further, almost dislocating them. Rilliana leaned down to whisper in the stranger's ear, "If you come near Trisha again, if I even see you looking at her, or if I even feel that you're thinking about her… I'll kill you."

Immediately, the struggling beneath the elf ceased. Jonete was frozen. She had received many death threats before, but this one was different. A cold shiver ran down her neck, and she knew that the elf was not exaggerating or lying. It seemed to her as if death itself was in the elf's breath, now clinging to her ears. Rilliana let her go and Jonete scrambled to her feet to make her escape. Cold sweat beaded on her forehead as she ran feverishly toward the Great Hall, trying to put as much distance between herself and the elf as possible.

"Nice friends you've found here, Trish," Rilliana murmured, kneeling next to the shifter who was trembling like a leaf.

"Hey, sweetie, sweetie, everything will be fine. Look, she's gone and I'm here with you. I'm always here with you," the elf said soothingly to her friend, stroking Trisha between her ears.

Trisha muttered something incomprehensible and immediately slumped back down. The trembling subsided and her head fell onto Rilliana's lap.

“I’ll take care of you, Trish…” whispered Rilliana, keeping an eye on the open cell door.

 

It wasn't long before Rilliana heard footsteps again. She reached behind Trisha and took one of the daggers in her hand. She heard the whispers of several women and gripped her weapon even tighter.

"Wait here. I'll go see how she is," said one of them, and shortly thereafter, a head appeared behind the door. A black-haired woman looked down at Rilliana and Trisha in bewilderment, while Rilliana didn't even blink, not wanting to take her eyes off the newcomer.

“Hey, um, elf? Did you buy her from Jonete? Is she okay?”

“I didn’t ‘buy’ her!” Rilliana said, spitting out the last word in disgust, “She’s my friend, so don’t talk about her like she’s an object!”

The woman turned away to look over her shoulder and exchanged a few words with her companion. The woman reappeared in the doorway, knelt down in the entrance, and smiled as if to reassure Rilliana.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude. Are you the blonde friend Trisha was talking about? Rilliana, right?"

Rilliana frowned when she heard this question and nodded hesitantly.

“My name is Pina. I met Trisha in the maze the day before yesterday and we helped each other. Unfortunately, my sister and I arrived late yesterday and a fellow prisoner took advantage of Trisha’s predicament,” Pina explained, pointing to the sleeping shifter.

“Prove to me that you are friends,” Rilliana demanded, unimpressed.

"Well…" Pina began, thinking for a moment, "she told me that you helped my boss Terra escape. And Trisha has… what's your name again?" Pina asked, turning her head to look down the hallway.

“Epolia!” Rilliana heard the hurt voice of another woman.

“Right, Epolia. Trisha saved Epolia from Jonete and told her about a blonde friend waiting for her at home.”

"Who else is out there?" Rilliana asked, standing up carefully so as not to wake Trisha from her sleep. She hid the knife behind her arm. Pina waved into the hallway and a woman who looked just like Pina appeared, along with a blonde-haired woman who was also trapped in a petsuit. Rilliana looked at the women thoughtfully.

“Unfortunately, I can’t let you see Trisha yet. Not while she’s asleep… When she wakes up, she’ll surely be able to confirm your story.”

“Of course. Like I said, we wanted to save her from Jonete and bring her something to eat.”

Pina's sister Rebecca handed Rilliana a plate with bread and cheese, an apple, and a cucumber.

“Thank you,” Rilliana murmured, taking the plate and placing it next to her sleeping friend.

“Tell me… what is this place?” Rilliana asked as she hid her dagger behind the sleeping shifter.

 

Rilliana listened to the three women’s stories, and with each sentence she grew paler. She knew that her favorite pastime could have a dark side, but the fact that Jinara abused it in such a perverse way took her breath away.

"You mentioned this Jonete earlier. Is that the muscular woman in red? Why was Trisha afraid of her?"

This time, Epolia spoke up. She didn't look Rilliana directly in the eye and seemed depressed.

"I guess it's my fault… On Trisha's first day here, she got into a fight with Jonete because of me and ended up in debt. Unfortunately, she couldn't come up with the necessary credits and was turned into a pet girl. Jonete bought her the next day and…"

Epolia fell silent and looked pityingly at the sleeping shifter.

"What did she do?" asked Rilliana, clenching her hands into fists. Epolia shook her head and her face turned pale.

"SPEAK!"

Rebecca placed a comforting hand on Epolia's back and led her outside, while Pina looked seriously at Rilliana.

"Please forgive Epolia… She was abused by Jonete before Trisha. Trisha mentioned several times in the labyrinth that she was tired, and her punishment was that she was not allowed to sleep. Jonete dragged her behind her the next day… dragged her… Whenever Trisha threatened to fall asleep… she was beaten, her tail pulled. Her face pressed into her food… That's why we threw it together," said Pina, pointing to the breakfast next to Trisha. Rilliana trembled with rage and blood dripped onto the floor as her fingernails dug into her palms.

"Could you leave us alone for a moment?" she finally said. Pina nodded and stood up.

"If you're looking for us, we're going back to the square… the games won't win themselves," said Pina, leaving the elf alone with the shifter.

 

Rilliana watched over her friend until late in the evening. As she replayed this morning's conversation in her mind, she heard shouting from the large square. She doubted that this could be a good sign and looked at her hands, which still bore the bloody wounds. A soft moan made her look up. She immediately rushed to Trisha, who looked up at her weakly. A smile graced her lips and Rilliana stroked Trisha's hair with concern.

"Hey, how are you?" Rilliana asked as Trisha tried to get up, swaying. However, her petsuit resisted her efforts and she gave up.

“Better now that you’re here,” murmured the shifter, leaning into Rilliana’s hand. She closed her eyes and began to purr.

"Some of your friends were here this morning, they brought you something to eat," said Rilliana, pushing the plate closer to Trisha. The shifter opened her eyelids and let her gaze fall on the plate. She stared at it for a second and suddenly opened her eyes wide. She flinched and pressed herself into the corner.

“TAKE IT AWAY!” she screamed, and without hesitation, Rilliana smashed the plate to the other side of the cell. The food flew through the air and rolled across the floor, while the cheese stuck to the wall.

"Is there poison in the food?" Rilliana asked in horror, beginning to curse Pina inwardly. For a moment, Trisha stared at the food scattered on the floor until she slumped down on her pillow and blushed. In an embarrassed voice, she muttered, "Oh… It was just a cucumber…"

 

Rilliana sat on the soft cell floor and stared pensively at the ceiling. Next to her, the shifter had made herself comfortable and laid her head on Rilliana's legs. Rilliana gently stroked Trisha's head. Trisha had woken up early the next morning, and now they were both waiting for the cells to open.

"What are you thinking about?" asked the shifter, looking up at her.

"Our first nighttime walk, when you lay on my leg just as tied up, and a few words Terra gave me to take with me."

“Those were better times, weren’t they? … What did Terra say?”

"She said I shouldn't risk my life for a maybe."

Rilliana looked down at her and smiled at Trisha.

“Should we change the plan again? I admit it’s not my best and has many gaps, but …” Trisha fell silent when the elf put her hand over her mouth.

“I’m not risking my life for a maybe. I’m risking it for us, so we can get back to Celine safely. Jinara doesn’t know I’m here, but what about you? I’ll be fine, but you’re trapped in that suit. I want this to end as soon as possible!”

Trisha buried her head deeper in Rilliana's lap.

"If everything goes smoothly, I'll be free soon. Jinara will watch me suffer every single second. But thanks to your little gifts, things won't go her way this time.

Thanks to Celine's choker, the dagger is well hidden, and with its help, I should be able to survive anything she throws at me," Trisha explained confidently. Before Rilliana could ask another question, sirens wailed throughout the prison and the cells opened. Trisha scrambled to her feet. She looked exhausted, but Rilliana saw the old sparkle in her eyes.

"Let's go!" murmured the shifter, crawling on all fours toward the door while Rilliana waited for the other prisoners to make their way to the games as well.

 

Trisha ran around the familiar corner onto the large square and couldn't help but smile when she saw that a sports field had been set up in front of her and banners were displayed at several entrances, reading:

Welcome to the Great Petgirl Prison Games

"This is almost too perfect," she whispered, glancing up at the dome. "Watch closely as I win your little games while Rilliana takes your prison apart brick by brick."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone waving at her and realized that the twins were already waiting for her.

"Trisha, are you feeling better?" Rebecca asked as Pina set a plate with a small breakfast in front of her.

"Could be better, but I… feel great now!" said Trisha before sinking her teeth into the cheese sandwich and greedily devouring it. The twins exchanged confused glances.

"Just because your friend is here now? She's just as much a prisoner as we are!" Pina remarked, while Trisha smiled slyly and replied, "And if you, as fellow prisoners, believe that, then everyone else will believe it too, and if she pretends to be a guard, no one will question what she's doing in the heart of the prison. Jinara is convinced that no one can escape her gaze, that she has everything under control thanks to those damn collars. She knows nothing about Rilliana, which is to our advantage. Jinara's hubris will be her downfall."

"What do you mean…?" Pina began, until she saw a blonde elf from Trisha's cell block come out, dressed in a light blue catsuit like the guards wore. She saw Rilliana calmly walk up to a door that led into the interior of the facility and insert something into the door lock. Shortly thereafter, it opened and the elf disappeared behind it.

"How…?" Pina asked Trisha, but the shifter just smiled at her.

“Jinara is not the goddess she claims to be. And even though Rilliana’s and my goddess is not here at the moment, she has given us powerful gifts, and now come with me, I want to give Jinara one last big show!”

Rebecca and Pina stared at the shifter crawling on the ground as if she had lost her mind. Trisha turned and looked at the sports field.

"Where's Epolia? Is she going to participate this time?" she asked.

“No, but a few guards just came by and took her anyway. They muttered something about every pet girl having a duty to participate. For the rest of us, it’s voluntary as always… well, as long as we want something to eat.”

As if on cue, a guard approached Trisha and the twins.

“Get ready,” Trisha whispered to them and walked toward the guard, who wordlessly put a leash around Trisha’s neck and accompanied the shifter to the sports field.

“You know her better than I do. Do you think she’s lost her mind?” Rebecca asked her sister.

“Ever since we first met, Trisha has been constantly thinking about how to get out of here. If this is her plan, we should trust her.”

 

Rilliana's heart was pounding in her throat as she marched through the corridors Trisha had described. Occasionally, guards or nurses crossed her path, and she prayed to all the gods that none of them would speak to her.

"Wait… did Trisha say left or right? Why aren't there any signs here?" Rilliana wondered nervously as she studied the two white corridors. She heard voices behind her and quickly ran in the opposite direction. Rilliana opened the door that was blocking her way, only to come face to face with four other guards, their eyes wide open. In the middle of them lay a Hands of Fate game. Rilliana swallowed.

"Sorry, wrong door," she said, feeling for the door handle.

"Stop right there!" said one of the guards, rising from her seat. Rilliana's fingers froze and she looked at the woman in light blue.

"What are you doing here? Are you spying on us?"

"No, no! I just got lost in the…" Rilliana started to repeat, but was interrupted when the guard raised her voice again.

"Sit down!"

"Shit," whispered Rilliana, letting go of the door handle while her other hand fumbled for the dagger.

"Listen, I don't want any trouble, I just want to…"

“I said sit down! You can’t tell on us to Rabea for playing Hands of Fate if you’re playing too!”

Rilliana blinked in confusion as two guards approached her with broad grins and gently dragged her to the table.

"I'm sorry, I really don't want to tell on you, and besides, I don't have any money with me," Rilliana tried to explain, but the others ignored her explanations and pushed her into an empty chair.

"Don't worry, we're not playing for money, we're playing with this," said one of the women, emptying a bag of ropes onto the table. Rilliana couldn't help but smile.

"Judging by that grin, you're in, elf. Perfect! You get to deal first."

 

Trisha was led into a room teeming with petgirls. Some were talking to each other, while others were trying to keep their balance in their unusual positions.

"Epolia?" Trisha asked loudly into the room as the guard closed the barred door behind her.

“Back there in the corner,” said a fellow prisoner, nodding her head roughly in that direction. Trisha nodded her thanks and crawled in the indicated direction. Trisha quickly found the girl crouching on the floor. She was trembling all over and startled when Trisha nudged her gently.

"Did they catch you too?" she asked fearfully, looking paranoid over the shifter's shoulder.

"No, I'm here voluntarily. Are you okay?" Trisha asked worriedly and sat down next to Epolia.

"Nothing is okay," she replied, "I've been avoiding these damn games for ages for good reason, and now I'm being forced to take part! I'm just giving up, punishment or not!"

"Epolia, listen to me carefully," Trisha urged her, "you have to do everything you can to get as far as possible! I'll get us out of here, but if you're locked up in your cell, that could be difficult."

Epolia looked her up and down.

"Have you gone mad?" she asked, "How do you intend to free us from this hellhole in our current state?"

"Rilliana has changed the rules of the game. Jinara won't have the upper hand for much longer. Trust me. Fight your way through with me, and you'll be on your way home tonight!" Trisha encouraged her. Epolia shook her head.

"You must be out of your mind."

Trisha didn’t know if she had convinced Epolia and was about to try again when suddenly guards entered the room and separated them. They were divided up and had to line up behind each other, forming eight lines. Those at the front were put into boxes.

"Be quiet!" ordered one of the guards, and immediately all the pet girls fell silent for fear of receiving an electric shock. "As soon as the flaps of the boxes open, a race will begin! Run to the finish line and try to finish among the top four. The remaining four will be disqualified. Then it's the next group's turn, and so on. Those who qualify will then continue to compete in the next games until only one of you remains. Good luck," explained the guard, glancing over the women.

"Just a race? Maybe Jinara is really running out of ideas?" Trisha wondered as a bang sounded and the boxes opened for the first group. The women immediately scrambled out and the box closed behind them. Trisha could hear cheers and screams echoing through the room and wondered about the popularity of a race among the prisoners.

"Excuse me? Is this a normal race, or are we in for the usual surprises?" the pet girl in front of Trisha asked nervously. She got no answer, but the grin on the guard's face spoke volumes. Another bang sounded and, as before, the boxes opened and the next women left the room for the race track. Trisha now crouched in front of the closed box after the woman in front of her had been locked inside. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end when she heard a shrill scream, and some of her fellow prisoners flinched in fear.

"Is that part of your plan too?" Epolia hissed at her from the side.

"You have to do it!" Trisha ordered her as there was a bang and they were both pushed into their respective boxes.

"Trisha! I swear, if I die here, my ghost will haunt you!"

"Epolia, that's not helpful! You've been running around in that suit for ages, so show me what you can do!" Trisha cheered her on.

"Wait, we have to race against Epolia? Where's the fairness in that?" asked the woman next to Trisha, and the other women grumbled in agreement.

"Shut up in there, save your breath for the race!" one of the guards shouted, knocking on the boxes.

"Thanks, Trisha, now everyone knows they have to go after me!"

"Epolia, this is no joke…" Trisha began, but another bang sounded and Trisha's cage opened. She crawled out and ran as fast as her knees and elbows would allow her across the race track. She used her tail to keep her balance. Next to her, she saw her fellow inmates sitting in the stands, cheering her on and laughing at the pet girls. Behind her, Trisha heard a scream from one of her fellow runners, but she didn't dare risk a glance. She just focused on getting her four artificial paws to the finish line as quickly as possible, which was slowly getting closer. Another scream broke her concentration and she dared to glance over her shoulder. A white latex wall had descended behind them and was chasing the women. If you were too slow or stumbled, you were swallowed up by the wall. Trisha couldn't see what happened to them after that, though. Two more women screamed briefly as the wall caught them, while Trisha, closely followed by Epolia, stumbled across the finish line. The two remaining women dove toward the finish line at the same time, just before the wall could catch them. They breathed heavily and collapsed on the ground.

"Of course, I'm in the group with Epolia and a shifter!" one of them cursed.

"As if it's our fault you almost got caught by the wall," Epolia said sharply.

"Epolia, leave her alone, we have our own goals here, remember?" Trisha murmured to appease her friend. The wall rose from the ground and shot back to its starting point. At the same time, it revealed the four women it had caught. A cold shiver ran down Trisha's neck when she saw that the women had been wrapped in white latex, so that they now lay tied up like balls on the track. They couldn't move forward or backward and were dependent on the guards to pick them up and distribute them to the prisoners in the stands. When she saw one of the guards hand Jonete to a woman, she felt bile rising in her throat.

"That could have been me," she murmured as Jonete's gaze met hers. The muscular woman's face turned pale as if she had seen a ghost, and she turned toward the nearest exit, to leave the games.

"What's wrong with her?" asked Epolia, who had followed Trisha's gaze and also seen the fleeing fellow inmate. Trisha didn't answer and turned away to run to the other petgirls, who had already lined up for the next discipline.

 

Rilliana smiled at her opponent, who was nervously biting her lower lip. "Why so nervous? You'll definitely have a better hand this time," said the elf, revealing her cards. The guard's jaw dropped when Rilliana revealed her full house.

"NO ONE CAN BE THAT LUCKY!" she shouted, "YOU MUST HAVE CHEATED!"

"How could I have done that? You dealt as long as you could!" said Rilliana with feigned consternation as she tied the last guard's hands together with her feet and pulled tight until she groaned.

"One more round! And this time…"

She was interrupted when Rilliana put a gag in her mouth and tied it tightly.

"Sorry, I really have to go and free my friend now, but you can have some fun in the meantime," said Rilliana, tugging on one of the crotch ropes she had tied around the guards, opening the door, and closing it behind her. The four guards stared after her in bewilderment. Each of them had been tied up in a hogtie by the elf and was lying on their respective beds. All the knots were out of their reach, and none of them could rush to a colleague's aid because the elf had also tied them to their steel beds.

"Fe ah fo fukt!" one of them said through her gag and buried her face in the bedspread.

 

Trisha had gathered with the other pet girls around a large muddy lake and waited for the rest of the preliminary round winners to join them. Epolia stared morosely into the mire next to her.

"You don't think they're going to make us swim through this soup, do you?" she asked Trisha, trying to see through the mud to the bottom of the lake.

"No, she doesn't want her toys to get broken," Trisha said bitterly, looking over at the guards who were putting goggles on each participant.

"On the other hand, who am I to understand Jinara's games?" the shifter added as swimming goggles were pressed roughly onto her nose. A guard stepped between the girls and cleared his throat loudly: "Congratulations to the winners of the first round! With your victory, you have proven that you can quickly adapt to difficult situations and have perfect control over your bodies! For this, you will be rewarded with a small amount of credits, but don't spend it all at once!"

Trisha looked at her arm and watched as her debt slowly approached zero.

"Great, 50 more races and I'm out of this suit," she said sarcastically, and some of the other pet girls nearby laughed.

"But skill isn't everything! That's why we're now testing your luck! These sticks are hidden in this lake," said the guard, holding a red stick in the air for everyone to see. "Search for them in the mud and bring them back to shore! Once you have one, you qualify for the next round, but you can also search for more to earn more credits. The decision is yours! But be warned: if you're still stuck in the mud when the time is up, you'll be disqualified, no matter how many rods you've brought ashore. You have ten minutes! Good luck!"

Trisha closed her eyes in annoyance, and Epolia looked up at her nervously.

"Do you have a plan?"

"Find a rod and bring it ashore. Don't risk getting stuck."

"I figured that out myself."

"GO!" shouted the guard, and immediately all the pet girls scrambled into the mud to be the first to fish out a staff. Trisha didn't answer Epolia and jumped after the other women. Trisha breathed a sigh of relief when she sank only a few inches into the mire and quickly separated herself from the others to have the best chance of finding a staff. She already saw some petgirls sticking their heads into the mud and reappearing after a few seconds of searching with a staff in their mouths. Their heads and hair were filthy beyond recognition, but at least their swimming goggles seemed to repel the mud. Trisha's gaze met that of the mud-covered woman, they nodded briefly to each other, and the stick carrier turned to leave. As she took a step forward, her right elbow sank a little deeper into the mud than normal. Confused, the woman looked down. The next moment, something exploded beneath her, covering her from head to toe in mud and something that looked suspiciously like liquid latex. The latex stuck to her and the ground, preventing her from taking even a single step forward.

"Oh, we already have one unlucky person! I doubt she'll be able to free herself from her predicament before the end of time! That's it then!" shouted the guard, and from the stands you could hear the other prisoners jeering and shouting. Trisha lowered her head in annoyance and exhaled deeply, while the other women anxiously tried to spot more mines through the thick mud.

"So what's the plan now?" Epolia asked the shifter nervously after following Trisha's footprints.

"Move as little as possible," Trisha muttered, pressing her tail into the mud to search for the rods. She flinched slightly as her battered tail plunged down and probed the ground. She backed up cautiously while Epolia continued to follow her tracks, careful not to fall into a trap. When the other prisoners saw Trisha, they followed her example as best they could. Nevertheless, more than once a mine exploded, disqualifying more women.

"I've got one!" Trisha exclaimed happily and moved a little further away to give Epolia room to retrieve it. Relieved, Epolia dipped down , pulled out a rod, and stared at Trisha expectantly.

"What? Go back to the beach, I'll be fine! But be careful that no one takes the rod away from you. I don't know if I can find much more with this method," said Trisha. Epolia nodded thoughtfully and turned awkwardly.

"I hope you make faster progress, Rilli," Trisha muttered, dodging what she thought was a mine she sensed on the bottom of the lake.

 

Meanwhile, Rilliana had ventured even deeper into the facility. She had overcome her initial tension after encountering the guards, who now lay bound in their quarters, and she eagerly searched for the entrance to the glass dome. According to Trisha, this was the place from which everything in the prison was controlled. Rilliana just had to persuade Jinara to leave her crow's nest.

"Easier said than done, Trish," Rilliana muttered as she stood in front of a locked door and pulled out her lock pick. Rilliana inserted it into the lock, and before it even began to glow, there was a soft click and the elf scurried inside. Rilliana found herself in another long corridor. But unlike the brightly lit white narrow walls that lined the entire prison, this corridor was adorned with gray columns. At regular intervals, magical torches were attached to them, bathing the equally gray floor in twilight. Glass panes had been installed between the columns, forcing Rilliana to continue walking straight ahead. The confidence Rilliana had gained from her little incident gave way to mistrust of the unusual surroundings.

"It looks more like Celine's dungeon," Rilliana muttered and went to a pane to peer into the darkness beyond. At first glance, the room appeared to be empty, but she was proven wrong when black slime suddenly splattered against the pane. Startled, Rilliana recoiled and stumbled over an uneven spot on the floor. She landed hard on her backside and glared at the pane.

"Was that really necessary?!" she hissed at the slime through the window and rubbed her sore spot. The slime pressed itself against the glass and seemed unconcerned with Rilliana's question. Rilliana walked over to it and wiped the window to remove the dirt and dust that had accumulated on it. She noticed more of its kind lying in the darkness of her cell. They all had a sickly black color and seemed to have difficulty maintaining their shape. Even the slime on the window seemed to tremble and collapse repeatedly. Rilliana frowned worriedly and placed her hand on the glass.

"I wish I could get you out of there and take you to Celine…" Rilliana murmured, pausing when she heard voices. She quickly ducked down and began to sneak away. The corridor opened up, revealing a small hall where several workers were handling barrels and machines.

"I'm just saying. The maze was already a huge drain on resources, and now these pet games? Jinara has no idea what's going on down here!"

"You wanna tell her that the slimes are dying left and right? She can figure that out for herself! I'm just here to fill the machines with them."

Rilliana heard an annoyed groan.

"And that's why you'll never get out of here. Jinara needs someone to help her. She's a great mage, but she has no idea how to breed her slimes, and it would make our job easier too."

Rilliana saw a tall woman approach the quarreling pair, who shook her head.

"Stop arguing and get back to work, or should I go upstairs and tell Jinara what you think of her?" asked the forewoman, pointing to a spiral staircase that led up through the ceiling. Both women turned pale and rolled the barrels to the machine to fill them. Rilliana looked up the stairs.

"If I want to go up there, I need a distraction," she muttered, letting her gaze wander across the hall.

I could try to free the slimes, but that could backfire, for me and for them. Rilliana thought, and her gaze stopped at the huge machine. Rilliana licked her lips and smiled as she reached for her choker, and her blue uniform transformed into her usual black catsuit.

 

"I'll tell you what. If I could just talk to her in peace, things would change for the better down here," said one of the two women who were pouring a new barrel into the machine. The other rolled her eyes.

"Just keep your feet still and let me out of it! As soon as I have enough money, I'm out of here. I can't put up with this nonsense much longer."

"But we could do so much good here… what… what was that?"

"Whatever it was, we're not paid enough to go and check. Come on! We have to get the next barrel."

"But…"

The other woman simply walked away, ignoring the bewildered look on her colleague's face as she strained to see through the darkness behind the machine. Rilliana didn't make a sound as she waited for the woman to finally follow her colleague.

"HEY, MOVE IT! If you don't get to work right now, you'll be sleeping in a cell tonight!"

The woman squealed in fright, and Rilliana heard her hurriedly walking away. Rilliana smiled to herself as she looked at the sensitive-looking machine in front of her.

"Shame on anyone who messes around here," she whispered and began randomly pressing levers and turning knobs.

 

Jinara stared down at Trisha with boredom.

"How could I have forgotten her stupid tail?" she muttered as the shifter narrowly avoided another mine.

"Never mind. The next round will be…" A bang shook the dome and dust trickled from the ceiling. Smoke rose in the hall, blocking Jinara's view of Trisha. Her left eyelid twitched and she stood up in a rage.

"YOU HAVE ONE JOB! ONE! BUT YOU STILL FIND WAYS TO RUIN MY GAMES ALL THE TIME!" Jinara shouted and walked through a door to go down to her laboratory. The long spiral staircase in front of her was shrouded in thick smoke, and Jinara cast a spell. Immediately, a barrier formed around her, keeping the smoke out. She hurriedly descended the steps to assess the damage to her machine. She heard coughing and screams from her workers. Down in the hall, all hell had broken loose. Her machine was smoking and darkening her entire laboratory. The slime that had already been poured into it flowed unhindered onto the floor, making it difficult for her workers to move forward. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, her forewoman came up to her.

"What happened here?" Jinara asked with suppressed anger as she raised her hand and swept the slime aside so she could have a clear path to the machine.

"I don't know, mistress. At first it seemed like something was blocking the machine, but then this happened!" said the forewoman, pointing to the surrounding chaos.

"If I see that one of you has tampered with my settings, you'll end up in a cell tonight!" Jinara cursed and strode purposefully toward the machine. She looked over the controls and buttons on her precious invention, and her nostrils began to quiver when she saw the damage.

"WHO DID THIS!" she hissed, turning to the forewoman, who looked at her in fear.

"None of us would dare…"

"USELESS EXCUSES!" she shouted, snapping her fingers. Immediately, the slime moved toward the forewoman and crawled up her legs.

"Mistress, please! None of us adjusted anything on the machine, we just filled the machine as usual according to your instructions," the woman said desperately as more slime crawled up her hips and threatened to engulf her.

"You or one of your subordinates did this, who else could be here! You are responsible for ensuring that everything runs smoothly here, and you have failed! Think about it while you still can!" Jinara hissed as the slime completely took possession of the forewoman. The women standing around trembled with fear as they saw the writhing figure of their superior.

"Please, mistress! It's not her fault! I just saw someone in the shadows behind the machine!" one subordinate said to Jinara, throwing herself in front of her into the slime.

"Why didn't you report it?" Jinara asked angrily.

"I thought I had imagined it…" said the woman meekly, pressing her forehead into the slime. Jinara exhaled sharply through her nostrils.

"Useless," Jinara said coldly, and with another wave of her hand, the slime spread over the other woman, who recoiled in fear as her air was cut off.

"Clean up this mess and tell Rabea to take care of them. And tell the guards who are on break to look for an intruder," Jinara said, turning to her machine.

 

Rilliana had sneaked past Jinara under cover of the smoke and continued up the stairs until she reached a door, which she opened without difficulty. A brightly lit room greeted her. Luxurious furniture adorned the room, and a fountain with a golden woman standing on top of it was set up in the middle of the room. She walked past an armchair to the glass pane and glanced down at the playground. Although smoke blocked her view, she could occasionally see petgirls jumping out of a brown mass.

"MMMH MMMhhmmhmh!"

Startled, Rilliana spun around and drew her dagger in one fluid motion. She searched the room feverishly, but saw no one. The elf frowned as the muffled voice continued to be heard.

"Who's there?" Rilliana asked nervously, taking a step into the room.

"MMMH!"

Her gaze followed the voice and stopped at the armchair. Rilliana's mouth fell open when she saw that a woman was embedded in the piece of furniture, looking up at her with tear-stained eyes. Her body was squeezed into a tight turquoise latex suit and held in place by metal straps. Her mouth was also covered by a strap, preventing Rilliana from understanding a single word the woman said.

"Are you a prisoner too? Don't worry, I'll get you out of here," Rilliana said, working on the lock on the woman's mouth. It clicked, and Rilliana carefully removed the golden metal. Attached to it was a ball that had been pressing down on the woman's tongue.

"Tha… thank you! I thought I'd have to stay in here forever!" the woman said, sobbing, while Rilliana searched for more locks.

"You're welcome, I'll get you out of here. Maybe you can help me a little in return. Do you know how to open the prisoners' collars?" asked Rilliana.

"You… You want to free the prisoners? Are you crazy? All the inmates in this prison are here for a good reason!" the woman cried in horror. Rilliana pulled her lock pick out of the lock that held the woman's legs up and looked down at her.

"I came here to rescue my friend, but the other women don't deserve to be here either. They were falsely accused of crimes or dragged here by underworld bosses! This isn't a prison, it's an amusement park for a sadistic bitch. Or do you think you deserve to spend your life as a chair?" asked Rilliana with a raised eyebrow.

She was met with silence.

"I thought so," Rilliana finally said and began poking around the castle again, "so I ask you to help me as much as possible so we can all get out of here alive."

"Does your friend happen to be named Trisha?" the stranger asked, and Rilliana nodded. "Then we should hurry. Jinara said she had something big planned for her," she said, standing up shakily as Rilliana opened the last lock. She pointed to a desk in the corner of the room as she limped step by step toward the statue in the fountain.

"You can control everything in the prison from this table. This is our ticket out of here, and if you find anything about a fountain, please break the spell on it too."

"Understood!" said Rilliana, sitting down on the chair behind the desk. Immediately, the table in front of her lit up and displayed a replica of the prison. Rilliana grinned and muttered, "Trisha, you were absolutely right, Jinara's hubris is her downfall."

 

"And that concludes the second round!" the guard shouted loudly as the last second of time passed. The mud of the lake where Trisha had just been standing turned black and transformed into liquid latex, which grabbed every pet girl still inside it and pulled them deeper into itself. Trisha turned away from the screaming women and looked up at the dome, which was shrouded in smoke.

"Not long now. Rilli, you can do it!"

"Do you think it was her?" Epolia asked curiously, and Trisha nodded, "Part of your plan?"

"More or less. Rilliana has always had good instincts. I trust her."

They were interrupted when the guard spoke again.

"Congratulations to all the winners of the second round! The next task will be one of strength, so…"

The guard frowned when she heard no more cheering from the stands, but instead cries of amazement and happy laughter. She turned around and turned pale as more and more inmates in the stands lost their latex suits and they tore the collars from their necks. Surprised cries now came from the pet girls as well, and the guard swallowed nervously.

"You did it!" said Trisha as her body was freed from the pet suit and she lay naked on the floor like everyone else. She scrambled to her feet and grabbed the choker, which was now only holding her knife to her arm. Immediately, her entire body glowed and a black catsuit appeared around her. Finally holding her dagger in her hand again, she shifted into her shifter form, which gave her additional strength.

"Get back on the floor immediately, Shifter, before…" the guard began, but she was interrupted by Trisha as she ran towards her and punched her, sending her flying into the liquid latex. Trisha stood with her legs apart and looked at the naked women in front of her, who stared at her with their mouths wide open.

"SISTERS! THIS IS OUR CHANCE TO ESCAPE! THEY ARE FAR OUTNUMBERED AND THE COLLAR IS GONE! ARM YOURSELVES AND HELP THE DEFENSELESS AND FLEE!" Trisha shouted, and immediately cheers erupted. More guards were overpowered by the prisoners, and in seconds, Jinara's playground was in the hands of Trisha and the former pet girls.

"What now?" said Epolia, covering her face with her hands in shame and bouncing nervously on the spot.

"Find the twins, get Rilliana's bow, and then get out of here!"

 

Jinara was beside herself. Her beloved machine was broken and she had to laboriously repair it.

"I'll finish it tomorrow, as long as I can watch Trisha again!" she murmured contentedly, smiling to herself at the thought of her test subject. She opened the door to her office and walked pensively to the glass pane through which she could now see again.

"Well, at least the games are … … … What's going on down there?" she asked irritably and spun around. Her desk would give her more detailed information. She froze when she saw a dagger stuck in it, destroying her delicate creation.

"WHO DID THAT?" she hissed at her chair and raised her hand, in which magic had gathered, but she realized it was empty. There was also no trace of her fountain.

"What?" she asked, shocked, looking down at her playground, where all hell had broken loose. A shifter in a black catsuit caught her eye, advancing and leading a small cluster of naked women.

"TrishaaaAAAAAAAAA!" Jinara screamed, and her magic erupted into the room, blowing out the windows and shattering her furniture. Shards of glass rained down on her playground, and the door to her office flew off its hinges.

 

Trisha had shouldered Rilliana's bow and arrows and was leading a small group of fellow inmates. They had wanted to get the most important things out of the cells and had accidentally stumbled upon Rabea and a few of her subordinates, who were about to throw some new prisoners into a cell. Trisha grinned as she thought of the head guard, who now lay bound and gagged with scraps of bedding in a hogtie on the floor.

"Could this day get any better?" she asked, smiling at Epolia and the twins. Pina and Rebecca grinned back, while Epolia adjusted a pillowcase she had thrown over herself to cover her body.

"Don't say that, we still have to figure out how to get out of here," Epolia said nervously, just as they heard a deafening bang. The glass dome shattered and shards rained down on them. Trisha paled. She heard the screams of the others and panicked shouts.

"EVERYONE DOWN!" Epolia shouted, spreading her hands above her head. A blue glow escaped from her hands and formed a veil above them. When the shards hit it, they crumbled into fine dust and trickled down onto the women.

"You can do magic?" Trisha asked in amazement, staring at Epolia with her mouth open.

"A little. It's enough to get by in everyday life."

"Was that part of your everyday life?"

Epolia rolled her eyes.

“Of course not, but don’t expect too much from me now, that took a lot of energy. So wait with the cheering until we’re out of here.”

Trisha nodded her thanks and waved to the other women to follow her.

"Where can we find Rilliana? Did you arrange a meeting place?" asked Pina.

"Not really, since I couldn't predict how the situation would turn out for her, but we agreed that no one would leave the prison without the others. I'll go look for her when we get to the exit, and you can escape in the meantime," Trisha replied confidently, placing a hand on Pina's bare shoulder.

“That won’t be necessary, look!” said Rebecca, pointing ahead. Rilliana and two other women had just appeared at a door and were holding it open for Trisha’s group. Trisha felt a weight lift from her shoulders and ran ahead to hug her friend.

"How I've missed doing this," she whispered in Rilliana's ear, tears rolling down her cheeks. Rilliana said nothing and held Trisha close. Time seemed to stand still for the two of them as the other inmates smiled as they passed by and took the door offered to them to get off the playground.

"Trisha, I hate to interrupt, but we have to go. We can cheer later, remember?" said Epolia.

"Yes, you're right," Trisha admitted quietly, breaking free from the embrace. With a quick movement of her hand, she wiped away her tears and beamed at Rilliana.

“I think this is yours,” Trisha said, pulling Rilliana’s bow and quiver from her shoulder.

"Let's get out of here, Trish," said Rilliana, gently squeezing her friend's hand. The shifter nodded and was about to follow Epolia and the twins through the door when she froze.

“What is it?” asked Rilliana, following her gaze and freezing as well. Jinara was standing less than ten steps away from them, having jumped out of the glass dome and landed with the help of leather wings. The demoness had contorted her face into an angry grimace and her long demon tail whipped the ground behind her. She had her head slightly lowered, as if she were about to run at Rilliana and Trisha and impale them with her horns.

“It was you! You destroyed my life’s work!” she screamed, gathering magic in her hands. Rilliana immediately stepped in front of her friend, who began to tremble. Trisha dropped her dagger as fear overwhelmed her and instantly lost her shifter form.

"Pina! Take Trisha and run, I'll hold her off," said Rilliana, drawing her bow.

"You can't defeat her alone," whispered Trisha, stumbling backwards. Pina caught her just before she fell to the ground.

"Trisha, I have a plan. Now go before she gets her hands on you!"

"But…"

"PINA, hurry up!" Rilliana shouted, sweat running down her forehead as the demon raised her hand. Trisha was pulled through the door by Pina as Jinara cast a spell on Rilliana. The elf rolled to the side at lightning speed, and the spell destroyed the wall behind her. Dust and stones rained down on the floor. Rilliana drew her bow again and shot an arrow, which the mage effortlessly swept aside.

"You don't think your feeble arrows can harm me, do you?" Jinara asked, snorting and preparing her next spell.

"No, but they illustrate my opinion of you!" Rilliana retorted, firing another arrow with the same result.

"Useless!" Jinara snorted and sent a fireball flying at Rilliana. Rilliana threw herself to the ground and the fire rushed over her.

"Your spells are just as useless if they don't hit!" Rilliana laughed spitefully and jumped back to her feet. Jinara was enraged by the statement and raised her hands.

"You've definitely spent too much time with Trisha, your mouth is just as loose as hers!" Jinara hissed and threw an almost transparent disc in Rilliana's direction. The spell shot toward the elf at tremendous speed. Due to its velocity, the elf was unable to jump out of the way in time, and the spell split her bow in two and cut her left arm lengthwise. Rilliana gasped when she saw the blood running down her arm and dropped her broken bow. The latex closed over the wound and stopped the bleeding, but the pain remained. Jinara grinned maliciously and threw another disc at her.

"That won't work twice!" Rilliana shouted, ducking under her. A few strands of blonde hair fell victim to the magic and landed on the floor next to Rilliana. Rilliana looked down and forced a painful smile.

"That was probably the most magically intense haircut ever, right?" Rilliana asked, sticking her tongue out at Jinara.

"JUST YOU WAIT, YOU LITTLE…" Jinara shouted, clapping her hands together firmly. A shock wave was created that stirred up the dust and sand and threw Rilliana away. She flew backwards against the destroyed wall and a groan escaped her body as she slid to the floor. Stones crumbled down and more dust swirled up, obscuring the elf. Jinara breathed in and out exhaustedly, searching feverishly for her opponent.

"Will you finally shut up?" Jinara asked, trying hard to prepare her next spell. Suddenly, Rilliana's naked form rushed out of the dust. Jinara looked at the elf in shock, and her spell vanished into thin air as she lost her concentration. She stumbled back hastily, but it was too late as Rilliana took the last few steps toward her and pressed the choker against her neck.

"A little gift from Celine, enjoy!" said Rilliana with a smile, stumbling back unsteadily.

"You don't think this necklace will stop me!" Jinara shouted, raising her hand to shoot a spell at the elf lying on the ground. She froze when nothing happened and instead her body lit up. The choker formed a sleeping bag around her body, pressing her arms to her sides and her legs tightly together. She lost her balance and fell heavily to the ground. For a moment, she lay silently on the floor, trying to collect her thoughts, then she began to struggle frantically in her cocoon.

"Let me out of here right now, elf, before I…"

"Before you what? Your magic is sealed and you're lying helpless on the floor," Rilliana cut her off angrily and stood up unsteadily. She took a few steps toward the door and bent down to pick up Trisha's dagger, which was lying among the rubble of the wall. Lost in thought, Rilliana turned the dagger in her hand while Jinara cursed and ordered her to take off the choker.

"You're good at giving orders, but how about keeping your mouth shut?" Rilliana asked, pressing her knee on Jinara's chest and leaning down toward her. Despite her pain, Rilliana grabbed Jinara's jaw, and the demoness immediately fell silent as her fingers dug painfully into her skin and pressed her head to the floor. Blood flowed from Rilliana's wound over Jinara's neck and dripped onto the stone.

"Come on! Finish it already! Trisha destroyed my life's work, so it's only fitting that you finish mine," Jinara hissed.

"I SAID SHUT UP!" Rilliana yelled in her face, and lowered the dagger to Jinara's throat. "Trisha has suffered all these years because of you. She wakes up next to me drenched in sweat and lies that she's fine! You almost destroyed her relationship with her sister, and all you talk about is yourself! Has it never occurred to you that you're doing terrible things to innocent people in this prison? That Celine has been blaming herself for your shit all these years?" Rilliana asked.

"I don't give a damn about Trisha, Celine, or my inmates!" Jinara replied with a laugh. "I suffered too after Celine took everything from me! My research, my inventions. I had to start from scratch again! My prisoners were nothing more than a means to an end!"

Rilliana stared at her in disbelief.

“You’re crazy,” Rilliana concluded, gripping the dagger even tighter, her knuckles turning white.

"Crazy? Which one of us is talking to a woman with a knife to her throat? Are you trying to find a reason not to kill me? You're pathetic!"

Rilliana closed her eyes in disgust and swallowed.

"You're right, I am pathetic for not being able to protect Trisha from you, but at least she can sleep peacefully from now on!"

She opened her eyes and blinked in confusion as a small group of women stood before her among the rubble.

"What are you still doing here, haven't you already…," Rilliana began, but was interrupted when a stone hit her on the forehead and she was knocked down from Jinara. Dazed, Rilliana looked up and felt the wound on her head, which had started to bleed and was blurring her vision. Rilliana saw blurrily as a woman broke away from the group and began to speak: "Too bad, elf, you should have killed me when you had the chance, but now, without my suit, I'm going to crush you!"

"Wait, you don't understand! That's…" Rilliana stammered as she recognized Jonete's voice and scrambled away from the muscular woman.

"I don't care who that is! You threatened me, and you'll pay for it!"

"Jonete, that woman on the floor…" Rilliana tried to say, but she was interrupted when Jonete jumped at her and swung her arm. Rilliana managed to dodge backward just in time and felt the door behind her. She clicked her tongue in frustration and pulled herself up on it. She stared through a red haze at Jonete, who was cracking her knuckles and standing in front of Jinara. The dagger trembled in Rilliana's hand, and she turned away and ran through the door toward the exit. Jonete looked down at the director.

"Are you all right?"

"Now that you've saved me from that madwoman. Thank you," Jinara said with a trembling voice. She grinned inwardly.

Maybe I don't have to start from scratch after all.

 

Rilliana ran through a large gate outside and was greeted first by the blinding sun. The wind played with her hair and caressed her naked body. Rilliana smiled contentedly when she saw Trisha running towards her. The next moment, her eyes closed and she collapsed unconscious.

 

Trisha had laid Rilliana's head on her lap and was cleaning the wound on her head, while Epolia watched the night sky and the twins slept arm in arm. Other women sat with them in the carriage, whispering quietly or sleeping as well.

"You were lucky that old Vincent took you on his cart!" said the old man, urging his horses to keep moving. "Strange things are happening in these woods, you shouldn't be traveling half naked."

"How can we thank you, Vincent?" asked Trisha, turning to the man.

"Oh, little cat, old Vincent wouldn't pick a naked woman's pocket. Rest yourselves, you look like you've been through a lot. Where can Vincent take you?"

Trisha looked questioningly at Epolia, who shrugged without taking her eyes off the stars.

"Which town is closest?" Trisha asked after a moment's hesitation.

"Goramag! Ever heard of it? The fish there is the best on the whole island!" said the old man, laughing softly. Trisha looked down at her unconscious friend.

"Hear that, Rilli? I'll make you fish when we get to Goramag, and maybe you can even meet my father."