Illia

Part-time person, Full-time Unicorn
Weaver
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How loathsome.

Why did the stalls have lookouts? The village faire had to have had at most twenty people occupying its few make-shift store fronts, so why had they anticipated thievery as if their little town actually attracted any kind of meaningful criminal front? Well and truly, for the price of a single leek, the Unicorn had found herself in the bowels of some dilapidated watch-tower jail.

It had been a beautiful day. Banners of many hues fluttering in a gentle breeze, sunlight dappled through a maze of trees, and Illia had figured that the minor town of Taranti in the heart of the Free-states would be more open and welcoming to outsiders-- yet this was not the case. The jovial nature of the celebrations and the general atmosphere had been so happily open and wholesome that it felt impossible to find any sort of trouble, like any sort of misbehaviour would be met with a light slap upon the wrist and a shove in the ‘here-have-some-free-food’ direction. In fact, as she wandered blankly through the mess of stalls and people crying out to come buy their wares over others, the woman had sneakily figured that they’d be entirely too occupied to notice a single leek stolen from a table. A single leek! They had snatched her up so fast by the wrist that she hadn’t even the chance to get a solitary bite of the sun-kissed vegetable before she was lead by the wrists and pushed (gently) into an iron cell in the stoney basement. Illia should have known their eyes would have been upon her. For a place where all races mingled, they sure seemed as keen as her own kin were to root out the ‘extra-ordinary’.

Sitting upon her lone hay-bale (that was there to be slept on) with half lidded eyes watching the torch-fire flicker dimly, she tried to drown out the wailing of some mad-man in a cage in a corner frothing at the mouth about how he ‘didn’t do it’ and instead wondered if she should just escape. These bars would be easy to shatter, the guards at the bottom of the stairs even easier to spear, but… that was ‘wrong’. Noble, good creatures did not evade the law by way of blood, and besides, it was only for a day and night. They were even kind enough to provide some water in some sort of animal bowl for her to drink… perhaps this wouldn’t be too bad.

A single hand came down to pluck up a clump of hay to chew on unenthusiastically-- and all at once, it was spat out in a spectacular shower of beige. Emotionless eyes watched the straw flutter gently to the ground.

It wasn’t even fresh straw… maybe this was very, very bad.

 
As often was the case, Thraah was heard before she was seen.

"What's the charge eh? What's the charge? Eating a meal? A succulent pork meal?"

It was three succulent pork meals, over three days, at the same eatery and with the same server.
Thraah's capture was a case of when, not if so even as she was tossed in on her rump by the watch guards who had dragged her down the stairs and into the same cell as Illia, whom Thraah initially did not notice in her hurried attempt to dash past the watch guards and out and up the stairs but was met with only the unyielding iron bars of the cell door as it changed.

"THIS PLACE CAN'T HOLD ME, DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?"

Of course they did not know who she was. She was nobody and that was the point but that didn't stop her from shaking the bars in a futile show of frustration until she was tired of gritting her teeth and began to inspect her surroundings.

The man at the end of the way was still protesting his innocence and she wondered if the bars were all connected, if she could shock him a little. Just a little and she would have if not for the sound of breathing in the cell that she had not noticed was unoccupied.
Slowly she turned to the white haired girl with a horn on her head and there her gaze stuck for a moment. Shroud fiends had a chaotic aura. It crackled about her like a storm, very much apart from the other mortals they had each met that day.

"Nice headpiece!"

Thraah could not sense auras.
Casually she stolled over and took a seat on the floor, back against the wall across from the other girl with an exaggerated grunt. That toss she got left her bum a bit tender, she was going to bruise, she could feel it. Some straw lay on the ground so she picked up a strand and put it in her mouth to chew. It tasted like sweat and bitterness but she endured it to look tough quite unaware that it had been in her companions mouth a few moments ago.

"You in for anything cool?"

@Illia
 

What manner of… creature was this?

As Thraah was hauled into her cell with all the decorum of a farmer catching a squealing pig, Illia wondered if she should perhaps move the sour-tasting hale-bale she had been occupying to make room for the new-comer… but that took effort. Effort was taxing when you were hungry (and alas, she was always hungry). Instead, the pale woman settled for allowing her blank eyes to fall upon the strange little human with long ears pinned against her snowy locks, off-put not only by the minute magicks that hung in the air, but by the ‘humans’ volume of tone. Loud. Brutish in a way that belied her height. Something concealed. Illia was careful when she spoke,

It is rotting… it is not good for eating.”

In contrast her voice was soft, innocent, it rang like a bell; but it did not answer any of the others questions. Not yet. It felt like a heavy smoke suddenly filling the room, rolling in like an ominous storm, for though the others in the cells were but weary souls that had made bad decisions in life, this one was… different. There was something innately
wrong with Thraah that Illia could feel like a tugging in her chest, not evil, but something dark. Something sinister. The well of wickedness humanity held in their hearts felt different, it was a ever-lasting coldness that bit down to the bone, but this was… unfamiliarity. The other creature felt removed from somewhere, like she did not belong. Perplexed, the Unicorn went against the judgement of all Unicorns and did not immediately seek to smite that which was not wholly good; and instead, cut straight to the question that had been plaguing her face (and the silence that was stretching between them).

I do not think I’ve ever come across anything like you before.” Illia murmured, her long, plumed tail coming round to her front in a swish that disturbed the tall stalks of itchy straw poking upwards. “... What are you?

Alas, horses were not gifted in the way of idle or menial conversation, this much was clear by the intensity that was suddenly being cast down upon the poor demon’s sitting form.

 
Her head cocked to the side quizzically.
"I don't eat straw it's just fun to chew."

Her jaw worked harder to crumple the piece in her mouth into bitter shy wet splints of matter which she spat out before resuming her chewing.

She had missed the tail and the ears but in her own quiet defense the horn was far harder to ignore.

Then she heard it.
The word.
*Thing*

It bristled her hairs to hear it.
"That's pretty rich coming from you. Calling me a thing."
It was clear that this other girl was about as human as Thraah was and she didn't seem like any breed of animal folk she'd met either, certainly was not Orkin or Elf or Dwarf or anything like that.

"But no, I don't think many have. Most don't seem to notice though."

She spat again and rested her elbows on her drawn up knees smiling like an alleycat.

"You first. What's with all the..."
Her hand, calloused and nail bitten, waved in Illia's general direction.
"... extra bits? You some kind of Satyr? Have you got goat legs too?"

Her eyebrows raised in teasing interest as she continues to chew. At least her confinement was with someone interesting.

@Illia
 
I… did not mean to offend you. I meant… your kind... species...

Were species not a ‘thing’? A little scolded by the others words, Illia decided she’d keep her mouth shut on the matter lest she get into danger with a creature she knew nothing about. They were ‘trapped’ there, after all, and if the other was to commit some sort of violent crime upon her… they would end up breaking the bars. And breaking the bars was illegal, meaning they’d be in even more trouble…!! The Unicorn turned her head and allowed her eyes to settle upon the stonework instead of Thraah, expertly avoiding eye contact and hoping it would avoid conflict as the other babbled on.

I’m just a Devahni.” Came the hushed lie, mouth set in a thin line. There was a choice not to feel annoyed by the mentions of ‘goats’. Comparing a Unicorn to a creature like a goat was like comparing a rock to a fine mosaic… “A special kind that… senses things.

And an even quieter mumble, as if embarrassed by the words…

... And I am locked here for a day and a night, for the attempted theft a leek. I committed a crime.

 
"My kind?"

As far as she knew that was a generous term for what she was. It was tempting to follow indignation with outrage, to grow and show her EXACTLY what she was. To let it out and crush and burn and zap and chew through the bars to get out.
Her smile became soft to herself as she imagined how impressed the other girl would be but she looked too meek to do anything other than cower in the corner, would probably refuse to even look at her if she did. Not a lot of fun in being shunned like that.

"Well,"
She stretched her arms out by knotting her fingers at the knuckles and drove a satisfying crack from her elbows.
"I don't really have a species, not the way you mean anyway."

Upturned her eyes to the corner of the ceiling above them and the moss that had begun to grow, somewhere there was a water leak and it made its way all the way down here.

"No people, no family, no country. Just me and the others."
It angered her a bit to say it but she did not know why and that angered her further.

She sniffed, swiping her nose with her thumb and blinked something back into her face.
"Devhani, huh."
Thraah was hoping for something more unique but she wasn't one to blame anyone for their origins. At least the other girl looked interesting.
"And it DOESN'T SURPRISE ME that you got thrown in here for eating. SEEMS LIKE THAT'S A CRIME THESE DAYS!" She called out loud enough for any guard to hear them.
"Theft is a word used to stop people taking what others think of as "theirs"! Nothing belongs anyone, we're all just here."

That was of course, not the whole of it.

As her head came to rest on her folded arms, she became smaller somehow, felt the tug of her heart pull inwards on itself. Like gravity drawing it to the centre. The loud was taken from her voice as she spoke through her full body pout because it wasn't the being arrested that got to her or the fact that she was still a bit hungry, she was always hungry no matter how much she ate. It was the look on the peoples faces as she'd been taken away. Plenty wouldn't look at her but those that did just looked like they wished she wasn't there at all.

"I'm a demon or a "shroud fiend" if you want to sound like a snooty mage with too much poppy dust up his arse. So no, you've never met anyone like me because there is nobody else like me. We're all so different it doesn't matter."
The declaration did not seem to bring her any happiness and again she wiped her nose with her sleeve. The only one she had ever met was so insane, so crazed she couldn't even speak to it.

"You can call the guard but they won't help you, most people don't even believe in us."
A heavy sigh rooted her to the spot as she gestured to herself.
"Hence the disguise. So don't go saying you met one unless you want to find yourself locked up for life, just keep it to yourself okay?"
It was half a threat and half a plea. Thraah had seen what happened to those who spoke of her nature too earnestly and it never ended well because eventually if you mouthed off about demons enough then someone who thought they knew better was bound to come looking and they were never good people in her experience.
Worse were the places that tried to capture her with their collars of binding magic and circles of symbols that she couldn't leave. It was the worst feeling in the world, not having any choice in what happened to you.

@Illia
 

Illia blinked her rounded, heavily lashed eyes in a manner that would be normal on most people, but on her, this was the first real emotion she had actually shown upon her face; surprise.

They were the same.

At first, the unicorn didn’t know what to do with this information as Thraah seemed almost tortured by the fact that she was even speaking about her origins aloud. There was no desire to cause any further pain to one already burned from the flames of their existence, because she was the same. Hurting. Angry. Lonely. This was something that the Unicorn had not seen expressed in any of the other races she had stumbled across in the womans limited adventures, and as a result the immediate feeling that washed over her was relief that she might finally have someone to share such wretched feelings with. The threat flew over the white-haired womans head as she went from being meek upon the hay to suddenly scurrying over to the little Fiend’s side--

“No, do not worry, I will not tell a soul.” She whispered, leaning a little too close to the other in order to convey this message, “You, I am like you.”

The floor was cold, the stone hard, but this was where Thraah was and as such… this is where she chose to be as she attempted to swat some dirt away from them both with her hand acting like a make-shift broom. It didn’t do much. The long moment of silence was the Unicorn clearly wrestling with the idea that telling a stranger, no matter how much they shared, was probably not the best play in the book-- but what would the other do? None would believe that the little white haired woman was actually a mythical, magical horse-being with light powers. As she worked up the welling courage in her chest, the girl mewled out in a pathetic manner,

I… truthfully did not know demons existed. I thought they were merely nightmares that they conjured up as an excuse to hunt others.

They. Humans. Elves. Orcs. Everyone in-between. The word ‘demon’ was a hushed, barely murmured word with a thousand secrets surrounding it, but if anything was the enemy of the living, the mortal races had picked that one; it was what they called the worst of their own societies. Baby-snatchers. Soul-stealing rapists. Cruel, torturous murderers. As Illia stared unblinking at Thraah her snowy head tilted softly to the side, because the other didn’t look like someone who was capable of that. The demon was… small. The disguise was good-- not that the Unicorn had decided that the Shroud-fiend was those things yet…! It was something to ponder, and it did not scare her. Things that were rooted in reality were easier to kill if things got awry than some mysterious unknown.

I was lying… actually, I am not a Devahni at all.” Barely spoken above breathing level... this was the first person the woman was revealing her secret to? Another wretched soul in bars? A demon? There was a desperate urge for connection rolling about behind her rib-cage, but if she conveyed emotions normally, Lia would have honestly facepalmed out of the sheer embarrassment of it all. They were the same. There was nothing to fear was there, because there was nothing to gain from a fight or an argument...? Just in case, as if she was the danger, Illia scooted a little away from Thraah. Just a few inches. With a deep breath, “I am… a Unicorn. In disguise. I am supposed to look like a human, but…

The furl of her curly tail twisting gently against the floor was a stark reminder that unlike the others, her disguise was pretty much awful.

I do not have ‘people’, and my family are far, far away. I have been travelling to try and learn the ways of the two-legged beasts… and yet…

Cyan eyes lent themselves to the rusted bars, and afar to the guard, who had wandered over to the once-yelling mans cage to make sure he hadn’t passed out from over-exertion. With his voice gone, the jail space was quiet indeed. Illia’s whispering grew somehow softer as a result.

... I find myself… frustrated by their laws.
 
Thraah was taken back by the other girls actions. Her motions and tone had become so animated she became shaken out of her malaise somewhat.

You...nicorn? She almost said but was eager to hear more. This other girl, other creature it seemed, was happy enough to sit next to her after her telling her she was a demon.
There were not many who did and she too had no love for the laws of others. A sentiment that Thraah could instantly agree with.

"That's because laws are ways for cowards and weaklings to feel strong."
Her eyes wandered over the green clothing the other wore trying to see the unicorn beneath. She wondered if the cloak changed as well. Her clothes did but maybe it was different for Unicorns.

"They only exist to stop people like us from doing what we want."

More screams of defiant innocence came from across the hall.

"... and keeping people like him from screaming at children, but mostly it's just a bother."
Her smile was easy and coy. Like she was unravelling the other girl with her glance.

"So you are right to feel frustrated. I do too."

Her hand opened to sparks that flew from her fingertips. Again she flicked her wrist and repeated the motion while a wildness grew behind her eyes.

"I'm called Thraah by the by in case you wondered if demons have names, we do. Do Unicorns?"
As she spoke she swayed seated, leaning closer to the Unicorn and then drawing back playfully.

@Illia
 

“I am afraid the universe is bound by laws… it is a natural truth of the world. It is simply that some species, they make rules that seem… to have been birthed from cruelty and nothing else.”

Illia was not arguing, but gently reasoning; Unicorn’s and their laws were like a mane on a lion, they went hand in hand, a natural given-- but there was a difference. Both of the women were sitting in that cell over food, something all living things had a right to as beings that occupied the same plane of existence… yet the mortal-folk hoarded it for themselves. A crime, in her eyes. They were criminals in theirs. As the demon searched her clothing Illia found herself having a sort of internal struggle, a crisis.


Did they… deserve to be there? Really?

As she watched the other’s fingertips come alight with the sparks of rebellion, the unicorn at first turned away in uncertainty, because it was obvious what the other would use those flames for. Normal folk would have thought that perhaps Thraah would quite enjoy torching them alive on a whim, but Illia knew they were for the bars. The thin, rust-kissed things that held them there.

They only exist to stop people like us from doing what we want.

“You would… seek to break out of this prison?” Their eyes met in some sort of mutual understanding-- maybe, now, she wanted to, too. Because if her laws stated that food was a right and their laws didn’t, why was she following their rules? For peace? For an ‘easy life’? Why was a proud beast like a Unicorn bowing before the common-folk, whilst this demon spoke aloud what the oft never-explored part of her heart had been pondering for a while…? A touch of firmness appeared upon her face,

“... My name is Illia, Miss Thraah.” She never once moved at the others leaning, and never before had she wondered if demon’s had names, but if they did, Lia thought that ‘Thraah’ sounded like it would belong to one. “I suddenly realize that obeying the cruel laws of others… does not take away from the fact that I am noble and good.”

And if Unicorns ever talked to people, one could imagine that is how they’d speak.

“Could… we really escape here without harming any another?”

… She asked the demon.

 
"Miss?"

Thraah blurted the word in a sound that was almost a laugh but ended up being a noise similar to breaking wind.

"You don't need to bother with that. It's just Thraah and yeah I am going to break out of this prison."
Her eyes turned to the bars, to the sliver of a window that let in what light spread out through the tiny room. Then back at Illia with a light that seemed like lightning behind a cloud. Part of her, a quiet part that she did not like listening to because it made her feel bad, was stung by Illia's declaration of creatures born from cruelty. She did not know her origins exactly she just, was one day and that was it.

"Just as soon as I've decided if I'm taking you with me."
She got up, philosophy not her strong suit, she'd complain until the moons fell from the sky but cracking the mysteries of why mortals do what they do, she'd leave that for others.

The remark about harming others made her pause and cock her head, thinking as she stared at the floor, one of the stones was cracked and she did not know why.
"I suppose we... could escape without harming anyone, but why would we? It's not like they'll try to stop us without harming us, believe me, there's only one thing mortals like doing more than giving themselves an excuse to hurt someone and that's making smaller, less annoying, mortals and even then they hurt them too."

Up her hands went in a display of frustrated abandon.
"And they call me a Demon?! HAH!"

Not a real laugh, just the word of one, loud and barking, mocking the idea.
"Besides."
She knelt down onto her haunches, balancing on her feet to get to eye level with Illia again.
"I'm going to have to show them my stuff to get us out and that always makes them nervous, they start crying "witch" and "sorcerer" or some shit and then they really try to stop me. So unless you can make us invisible then I don't have any other ideas."

It ocurred to Thraah that she did not know spit about unicorns. Maybe they could turn people invisible.

@Illia
 

Illia spared the other no emotion of surprise, but the subtle, single flickering of her eyes was her being taken aback-- it was not for the sliver of the others powers, it was for the idea that Thraah would leave her behind. Sure, they had no commitment to each other bar being held within the same cell, but despite Lia’s power she did not know if she could escape alone… psychologically speaking. The demon was able to proudly proclaim her intentions, was able to stand there and say with certainty that yes, she would escape, but the Unicorn could not do so as bravely.

“... Take me with you.” A quiet voice, innocent eyes looking upwards at the other tiny figure. “I do not know how, but, perhaps we could knock them out, or bind them, or something else. It would be easy to kill them, but if we do, then how can we be better than them…”

She wanted to look down on them. She wanted them to take back the crooked and mean looks they had leant her when the woman had roamed the market, to feel like they had been wrong for treating her so badly, but if they were dead… then they would not know their error. No part of the beast was actually against killing (it could always be justified, somehow!), but for her own petty crime, a pettier one could be done in turn. Lia’s dirtied fingertips raised to her chin as she began to think whilst the other laughed hysterically,

“... I cannot make us invisible.” Bluntly spoken, “But, I do wonder… if you are a demon, then… I am sorry if this causes offence, but surely without your disguise, you would
scare people?”

A beat of silence. A realization. With a small gasp Illia balled her hands in front of her and leapt to her feet in an excited manner, even if her expression was as straight as ever.

“This is a small town with barely any guards at all… if we put on a show, surely the people will run from you, not at you, yes? A powerful demon with unknown powers… you could say anything, and they would believe you!”

Cyan eyes sparkled a touch in an animated fashion.

“We will frighten them so much they will have no choice but to run…!”

 
Thraah looked down on the other girl.
Illia's plea hit Thraah right at her core, where she assumed her heart might be if she had one.
She wasn't going to leave her, not after that. It would betray something fundamental to her that she did not yet have a name for.

"Relax, I'll take you. No need to get all doe eyed about it."
As she spoke her hand reached up to scratch the back of her neck nervously, or at least self consciously.
"Without my disguise?"

The idea was wild and she had considered it but it made sense to take it to the extreme. After all, for all these bozos knew about her she could spit flaming bats at them if she wanted to. Demons were chaotic by nature, no two alike and so she reasoned that even if someone knew anything about them then they would know that much and while she only had the two forms to swap between them it made sense to make the most of it.

A grin crawled along her face as she took excitement from Illia's own.
"Oh, I think we can do that!"

Taking a step back she rolled her head and looked right into the other girls face.
"So eh, how do you wanna do this? Should I just change now and get us out or do you have anything more specific in mind?"
Something told her Illia did indeed have specifics in mind.

@Illia
 

“Without your disguise, yes. I do not think… you currently look frightening enough.”

Illia said this with a hint of awkwardness, mostly because neither of them did. People did not take her soft features and sparkling eyes seriously enough as it was, let alone… with whatever Thraah looked like. She couldn’t quite place what the other had been going for; homeless scallywag? Angry goblin-folk? Atop of that, the height…! Thoughts were tangible in the other womans eyes as she thought over the proposal, Lia drawing herself to her full (tiny) height as she nodded in a manner that she thought was vigorously, but was actually very slight--

“I am going to be your
victim.” She murmured sternly but quietly, for the man in the corner was gazing at them with great interest… the Unicorn had no plan to release him, too, even if it was the ‘right’ thing to do. “And then, when the guard comes running to separate us… we run very fast and shout a lot. I’ll say terrible things about you to scare the people away, but please do remember I will be lying…”

… Why did she say that as if she thought she was a good actor? In the time they had spent together she had spared Thraah maybe four facial expressions at maximum, and all had been muted and barely there-- and from the dull and low-key to the extreme, the woman suddenly bit against the crux of her thumb and her finger. Not a single lick of pain cross that facade as she began to smear thick, heavy streaks of blood about her body…

“Please be as frightening as you can.” The blood tinged the air copper and dripped circles onto the floor. “I’ll be ready when you… change.”

 
Wow, not only was Illia's blatant display of self mutilation impressive to the little demon but she had no idea that unicorn blood smelled so, sweet. It was like roses and wildberries, all the tantalizing essence of summer smeared on her clothes. It nearly gave Thraah the spins.

As she recovered she felt a new respect for the unicorn.
So she decided not to hum and ha over changing too much, it was Illia's idea after all.

"Hmm, you can be a little scared!"

Her playful wink saw her human eye replaced with a dark orange one which iris cut through top to bottom like a knife wound.
Her arms exploded easily tripling in length as her torso stretched upward but left her legs short as her clothing melted into new almost plant-like leaf shapes that were at once clothing and not, a similar collar unfolded from her head like a twisted flower and the fresh and sticky form underneath now revealed was a face and head now wholly changed into something sleek and tarnished with a mocking grin that never faded behind which rows of short, sharp teeth lay and from which a tongue that seemed to split into three separate parts emerged dripping a thick murky saliva.
Her hair was now a writhing nest of tentacles that moved as if underwater as her new form, resplendent in it's awful colours of red and yellow was accompanied by the emergence of thorn like growths from her body and a smell, an acrid pungent funk that assaulted the senses.

As ridiculous as she was hard to look upon Thraah stood for a moment, letting Illia take in her true form as her comically long arms flopped and writhed as if possessed of their own will.

"Taa-daa!"
Her voice too was changed into a kind of muted shriek, as if it was coming from behind the stone walls of their cell.

Okay that was long enough, eager to get out and start the real fun Thraah quickly sent her ridiculous arms after Illia to scoop her up and hold her by the knees and shoulders drawing her close while careful not to harm her, this was a performance after all.

"MWAHAHAAAHAAA! I AM GOING TO EAT YOUR GUTS LIKE LASAGNA! HAHAHAAAGH!"

She went about then pretending to munch on Illia's stomach her big jaws snapping and gurgling as she gave it the kind of performance only a true novice could think was convincing.

From across the hall the man who seemed quite happy to scream and yell watched in dismayed horror before crying out in even more desperate ramblings. For help, for the gods to save him, for anyone.

@Illia
 

A little scared…?

Well, she was certainly startled.

At first, the transformation left Illia aghast, but not with any kind if in-built fear-- humans feared demons. That was natural. To a Unicorn, death had never come at the end of a demons claws or fangs but in the hands of humans… and so, her shock was something else. It splashed upon her face, wide-eyed as she wondered if that had hurt the other, mostly. The splitting of skin, the twisting of bones, the almost rotting smell… it was very unnatural. And yet. Yes, she had been correct before, fiends were something that did not occur naturally in this world and thus were comprised of elements that would not usually found accompanying each other, and that was a little bit fascinating, in all honesty, because at the same time… a plant. Illia was reminded of twisting vines and thorny bushes. The jutting of the desert foliage.

“You are… odd looking, but somehow… familiar--” Lia admitted honestly, her mouth in an ‘O’ shape as the woman essentially became a limp rag-doll in the others arms. There would be time later to compare her demon friend to the flowers, and that would not be during the heist. The worse part... was the smell. Clearing her slightly stinging throat as the others doubled shriek rang out, the woman wiggled a little when the demon began to fake-chomp upon her middle, not minding the girls snapping getting saliva upon her front--

“HELP. HELP. I AM GOING TO DIE. I NEED ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY.”

… Was it dead-pan? Yes. Was the Unicorns expression still sort of somewhat shocked but mostly dead-pan? Yes. But it was loud, and that was all that was needed for a guard to come scrambling down the stairs with a short-sword loosened from his belt-- and it took one look at the scene for his expression to turn from mild annoyance to sheer terror. Blood rushed from his cheeks, rounded eyes with constricted pupils shook back and forth as immediately he span upon his heel, crying out,

“LORDS PROTECT ME, A DEVIL!! A DEVIL!!”

Well, that was easy. The sound of him scrambling up the stairs and almost falling was heard just about over the screaming of the caged man frothing at the mouth and violently rattling his bars for release. A cyan light flashed, the bars instantly buckling and shattering under the heat of a conjured sword of light bleaching the basements walls a shocking blue, the same colour as Illia’s horn’s tip, and as the rust gave of burning black smoke she tried to wriggle free from the other,

“We have to run, before he gets others and finds his bravery.” A murmur, realizing something tragically too late. “... Do you remember the way out?”

Because she sure as Hell didn’t! Above them, far above them, the sounds of gathering footsteps were beginning to sound...

 
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