6-17: Out Of The Cage

The cell wasn't particularly large, but it was enough to hold Veronica and these other four girls. They were a bit older than her, probably around Seraph's age. At a quick glance, one had black hair, another with brown hair, a blonde, and one with very dark red hair.

"So you're finally awake. Did they touch you at all?" The red-headed woman asked.

"No. I don't think so anyways." Veronica said, inspecting her restraints.

Crude, yet effective. While her legs were free, her hands were cuffed and chained to a solid metal stake in the wall.

"You haven't tried to get out?" Veronica asked. They weren't just average women. They were adventurers, like her.

"Even if we could get out of this cell, that damn mage would just kill us. I've never seen a bandit as powerful as him. It's strange." The blonde said in spite.

"How so?"

"It's not odd to see a bandit who knows a thing or two about magic, that bastard seemed like he had actual training. As if he's more like a mercenary than a bandit." The red-head answered with a bit if anger in her voice.

"We've killed dragons, faced hordes of the undead, and cleared numerous bandit camps, and this fucker gets us?" The brunette spat with rage.

"Finally! I thought you were going to sleep forever." Lilith's voice echoed through the roo., even though only Veronica could hear her.

'What do I do now?'

"Escape. Let's see... the latch on the door looks weak. That bandit over there has a key to your cuffs. The stake is an issue. A mage huh? Hm... Think you can pull it off?"

'Pull what off?'

"Escaping and killing some bandits om the way out."

"What!?" Veronica accidentally yelled out, causing the girls to grow extremely concerned.

"Shut up back there!" A bandit yelled, barely taking the time to actually investigate.

"Are you all right?" The ravenette asked with a gentle, soothing voice.

"Yeah... yeah... Just nerves..." Veronica answered.

'No. I don't think I can do it.'

"The bandits are too strong for the rest of the girls, assuming that mage is still around. Shit... alright. Do you trust me?"

'Yeah... Why?'

"I'm sorry." Lilith said as she disappeared, and for Veronica, everything went dark for a moment.

And when light came back, she saw her own body. She was detached. Yet, her body still moved around. Could it be... Lilith must've somehow gained control over Veronica's body.

Lilith, now in a physical form, took a quick look, inspecting things with real eyes. And, in a second, she came up with a plan.

She wrapped the chain around her hands and started to tug on it as hard as she could. One, two, three... five hard tugs, and stake finally came loose from the stone. Perfectly sharp for what she wanted to do.

She stood up and made her way to the cell door. She jammed the stake where the latch was and roughly stabbed at it. Soon enough, a crack was heard and the cell door was open.

"What's with all that noise!?" The bandit came over to finally investigate.

However, it was too late for him, as when he came close enough, Lilith bust our of the cell and tackled the bandit. The two wrestled for a short while, but Lilith finally got his head under the chains her hands were still cuffed to.

With newfound flexibility and leverage, she kept the bandit pinned as she took the stake and tried to stab the bandit. He put up a fight, keeping the stake away from his throat. But he wasn't strong enough, nor did he have the energy to keep that up, and the stake slowly pierced through his throat. Just for fifteen seconds he gargled on his own blood.

Then, silence. Lilith took the keys on him and quickly unlocked her cuffs before going over to the other girls and unlocking their restraints.

"Where did you learn that?" The red-head asked.

Lilith didn't respond. It wasn't important anyways.

"Take what ever weapon you can vet your hands on. If they even have a sliver of brains, our gear should be locked up somewhere further away." Lilith said, taking up the bandit's short sword as her weapon.

And all Veronica could do was watch in terror.