With all of the recent captures of her Guild members, Artema ordered each and every one of them to undergo vigorous escape training. It seemed like most of them had been getting worse at escaping from being tied up and Artema wished to rectify that.

Having failed to escape and requiring rescue the last two times she was captured, Artema had Taria go in first and set a strict time limit of twenty minutes to escape a tight hogtie. Though Taria’s frustration and anger rose, causing her to growl and snarl into the tight cleave gag Artema had placed in her mouth, the warrior princess of Trivalia succeeded just in time, with less than ten seconds to spare. So it seemed that Taria had not lost her ability as an escape artist. Artema suspected as much, knowing that their opponents had started making things much more difficult on her girls.

So Artema tried something radical, tightly binding Taria in a hogtie yet again, gagging her with a leather muzzle and rubber ball, and suspending her from a cell across from the Guild’s training cell. Finally, she blindfolded Taria and locked the door and gave Taria eight hours to escape from this predicament. Taria agreed that more intense training was needed so she didn’t resist the tighter restraint but, still, it was a real struggle to escape. But she knew she would have to learn and accepted her fate for the time being. Besides, with eight hours, she would have ample time to learn how to escape this tricky tie.

Next Artema tested Mirelle, though Fort Quatran’s princess was never great at escaping. She wouldn’t put the extra level on Mirelle just yet, knowing it would be difficult for her to escape the first tie. But she still tied the bubbly, upbeat princess with strong, thick rope and pulled the knots extra tight to ensure that it would take some real effort for Mirelle to escape.

Unfortunately, Mirelle couldn’t get out in the allotted twenty minutes and Artema sent her off to the Dark Room for some bondage meditation time. It usually did help to keep the ladies relaxed and able to focus whenever she would go and retrieve them from meditation.

Luna was next, and she failed her chair tie as well. Luna wasn’t especially skilled at escaping either but she did manage to get more ropes untied than her fiance. But, with the failure, she was tied up tighter and sent off to the Dark Room.

Next was Elyn and... Artema didn’t even bother checking in to see her progress. Sixellia’s princess moaned and mewled, her pleasure evident, and once again did not escape her bindings. Yet another member of the Guild was now sent to the Dark Room for meditation, though Artema suspected that was exactly what Elyn wanted. At least I’m making her happy she thought.

Artema even ordered the Guardian of the Guild, Celia, to take part and was rather surprised at the result. In spite of her ever growing love of bondage, Celia escaped a tight pole tie with relative ease. Artema was quite proud of the little warrior, sending her upstairs to continue her patrol and even take a well deserved relaxation break. After being tied up, Celia immediately went to her room to play around in some self bondage though it wouldn’t be long before she got herself free.

Finally, it was the turn of Meryn, who had so far been the only one besides Artema to escape capture.

“I’m really going to need to test you,” Artema said. “You might want to prepare yourself. And make sure you’ve got your lock picks.”

Meryn grunted. “You’re going to chain me?”

“They know how good you are and how much stronger you’ve gotten in your time with us. Both Jhana and Aurora, hell, even those pirates you’ve got in the Seven Islands. They all know what you’re capable of so they will stop at nothing to keep you contained if they get their hands on you.”

Meryn nodded. “Granted. But I’ve never escaped chains before.”

“Now would be a good time to get started,” Artema said.

“Fine,” Meryn agreed. “But just don’t expect any miracles.”

“Chains are tough. I won’t expect you to get out on your first try. Just learn a bit, get a feel for them, and we’ll keep going until you can get out of them quicker than I can.”

“Don’t know about that but I guess the training is worth it. Let’s get this over with,” Meryn said.

She stepped into the training cell, exchanging glances with Lanala who stood off to one side, before getting herself in a seated position and placing her hands behind her back.

Artema began by locking heavy shackles onto Meryn’s ankles, connected by a thick but very short chain only a few inches apart. She followed this up by wrapping a length of chain both above and below Meryn’s knees, locking both chains in place.

Next, another pair of heavy shackles went on over Meryn’s wrists, locking them in place behind her back. Another length of chain was wrapped around her waist, pinning her wrists to her back, before Artema locked that chain on, too. A pair of shackles with a longer chain was then used on Meryn’s upper arms, at her biceps, and locked her elbows closer together.

“Is that one really necessary?”

“They’ve been used on me before,” Artema said. “And you’re progressing to be just as good as I was.”

“As you are, Artema. You’re still good at this. Better than all of us.”

“I was better,” Artema said. “Maybe age is catching up with me.”

“Please. You’re only three years older than me and I’m not even thirty yet. Settle down with the age thing.”

Artema chuckled. “Maybe it’s just my mind that feels old.”

“Well, stop it,” Meryn said, as Artema began wrapping a thick chain around her arms. It tightly pinned her arms to her sides as Artema locked it in place. She picked up a web of thick leather straps with a steel ball threaded through one of them. She held up the harness ball gag as Meryn continued. “If you let your mind do that to you then you’ll only be hurting yourselmmmph,” Meryn finished as the gag was strapped on into her mouth. The straps wrapped around her forehead, stretched over either side of her nose, under her chin, and around her head to keep the steel ball wedged in place. The ball gag hurt her teeth a little bit but it wasn’t too uncomfortable. She would definitely be incoherent and muffled with it on, however.

“I’ll try to keep that in mind and stop feeling like an old warhorse,” Artema said.

“Mmmph,” Meryn said, eyeing their leader.

She watched Artema stand up and step outside the training cell. Artema closed and locked the door and admired her handiwork. “Hope you have some hidden lock picks handy. Because I picked your pockets while you weren’t looking and look what I found,” Artema said, holding up about half a dozen small steel objects almost like large needles.

“Hmmph!?” Meryn said, staring at Artema’s hand. “Mmmph!”

“Is that a no?”

“Mmmph!”

Artema shook her head. “Might want to plan for that next time. Well, you’ve got half an hour to get out of those chains. Hopefully you can find something in the cell to help you pick the locks. Good luck.”

“Mmmph! Nmm fmmmmr! Mmmrrgggh! MMMPPHH!” Meryn growled and shouted in frustration, muffled by her gag, and thrashed wildly against the heavy chains but there was nothing she could do. Without her lock picks, she wouldn’t be getting out of these chains.

Calming her mind, Meryn realized that she would have to be better prepared in the future. Artema’s lessons always were handy to have in the back of your mind and this one was no exception. She would have to better hide her lock picks in case she ever did get captured and chained like this. Any guards would be certain to search her pockets, especially if they knew she was the Holy Sunlight, and she would lose any chance at escape.

In the meantime, Artema and Lanala watched the princess of the Seven Islands struggle against the tight steel that held her captive.

“You’re not going to make me do that, are you?” Lanala asked.

“Not yet,” Artema said. “But I may have to, once you’re good enough at escaping.”

Lanala said nothing more, observing Meryn’s much more careful struggles as she tried to somehow manipulate the chains without removing the locks. This was proving an impossible task but Meryn’s initial frustration had given way to careful thinking and now she looked quite calm as she struggled away against her steel bonds.

As it often did, Lanala’s mind wandered then and she thought back to the intense power she had felt in the basement of Aurora’s shack. The frightening memory of the strength, the power, and what it did to her mind was still fresh. In some ways, much to her dismay, Lanala craved that power again. To let it all out and just become everything she could be, letting her mind slip away and replacing it with unimaginable power, was a temptation that dangled just in front of her.

She never knew where this power came from. Her father had been a rather skilled alchemist in his day and her mother... Lanala realized she never knew what her mother did. Her mother wasn't around when she grew up and everyone seemed to want to keep her life a secret from her daughter. But Lanala always had her own theories. She imagined her mother as a stoic warrior like Artema, or a crimefighter like Meryn. She did notice that people back at the old academy seemed to know who Lanala’s mother was but they always grew quiet at the mention of her name, as though they were afraid to speak of her.

Power, dear sister... the voice rang out in her head.

“What did you say?” Lanala asked, distracted from her thoughts and turning to her wife.

“I didn’t say anything. Are you feeling all right?”

It’s the power... the voice said again. Feel it.

“I’m... fine,” Lanala said, trying to ignore the voice. She thought it had to be Jhana but the voice in her head was... hers. It was Lanala’s own. Were these her thoughts?

Yes... the voice answered back. Let it all out, Lanala. The power. It’s there. Grasp it. Take it. Feel it.

Lanala could feel her mind slipping, her hands started to shake, and the temptation grew stronger. She couldn’t fight it anymore.

“Power...” she whispered to herself.

“Did you say something, dear?” Artema asked.

Lanala didn’t answer her wife, instead now beginning to feel strong. The power surged within her and it made her feel more alive than she had ever felt.

“What’s wrong?” Artema asked, beginning to take notice of her wife’s changing state.

Lanala closed her eyes, took in a sharp breath, and when she opened them Artema recoiled slightly at the soft orange irises that were now replaced with a deep, pitch black.

“Nothing,” Lanala replied, a wicked grin beginning to curl her lips. “In fact, nothing in the world could be more right.”

“Lanala, what’s happened?” Artema asked.

“See for yourself...”

With a flick of her wrists, several bars from one the Guild’s holding cells snapped loose and quickly surrounded Artema, wrapping around her arms and pinning them in place, as well as binding her wrists behind her back.

“What are you doing!?”

“What I was born to do...” Lanala said, summoning more of the bars to heavily bind Artema’s legs at the ankles and above and below the knees. The steel bars then forced Artema to the ground, on her stomach, and wrapped tightly between her ankles and wrists to pull her into a sort of steel hogtie.

“Lanala, stop!”

“Lanala is gone...” Lanala said in a faraway voice. “Only power remains.”

“Don’t do this! You can fight it! I know you’re in there, my love! Don’t let this-mmmph!”

Another steel bar wrapped around Artema’s head and pulled her mouth open, filling her mouth with steel in a sort of bit gag, tightening on behind her head to keep her quiet. She could hardly move in the tough steel that now bound her.

Meryn, meanwhile, had watched this all unfold and realized that she and every other member of the guild were currently tightly bound and gagged and unable to escape. “Mmmph!” Meryn said, thrashing against her chains but it was useless. She just couldn’t escape the tight bonds Artema had placed on her.

“Hardly even a fraction of what I’m capable of...” Lanala said, kneeling down to meet Artema’s eyes.

“Mmmph!” Artema said, barely managing to wriggle in the steel bars binding her body.

“Let’s see what Jhana thinks of this power,” Lanala said. “Hell, I might even just take hers. It is a pittance but... I need more. I want more!”

“Mmmmph! Nmmm! Lmmnmmlllmmm!”

With a final flick of her wrist, a final steel bar wrapped around Artema’s eyes to keep her blind to the world. Lanala scoffed.

“What a weakling Jhana is to be unable to defeat any of you. Just look at how easy it is!”

“Mmph!”

Lanala stood up straight and made her way toward the stairs. “Perhaps when I meet her I will test her usefulness. But until then... you girls wait here. I will be back for you.”

“Nmmm! Mmmmrrghhh! MMMMPPPHHHH!!”

...

Celia stretched her muscles and sighed with satisfaction after a particularly relaxing session of self bondage. She was dressed back in her usual uniform now, wearing her thin leather and spots of chain mail, ready to head back out on patrol.

But she stopped herself when she heard a muffled scream from the dungeon below. It was a place used mostly for training, and some members of the Guild were a little vigorous with their escape training but that was no ordinary shout of frustration. And it sounded like Artema’s voice...

Picking up her short sword from the table beside her, she pulled it from its sheath and rushed to the top of the dungeon stairs. She nearly bumped into Lanala on the way down, having to stop herself dead in the middle of a run.

“Woah! Lanala... what’s going on?”

Celia immediately noticed the darkness in Lanala’s eyes and realized something was... off about her.

“Step aside,” Lanala said. “Or you’ll end up like your friends downstairs.”

“What do you mean?” Celia said, her eyes hardening. She tightened the grip on her sword.

“They’re all alive but they seem to be... distressed, I believe is the appropriate term. All neatly packed up and waiting for... well... me.”

“And what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to rule...” Lanala said. “Everything. It will all be mine! The power! More!” She seemed to calm herself. “It is my birthright.”

“Oh no...” Celia said. “You can’t let Jhana get to you like this! You have to fight it!”

“Jhana? That weakling has no idea what she has unleashed. She spoke to my mind, I grant you, but everything else... that is all me. I am going to see her now to see how useful she might be to me. If she is not, then she will join your precious Guild in the dungeon. Now stand aside, Guardian. I will not ask again.”

Swallowing hard, Celia widened her stance and planted herself, readying her sword. “I will not let you leave this fortress.”

Lanala chuckled slightly. “And what could you do to stop me?”

Celia shrugged. “Don’t know. But are you quick enough to deal with me?”

Another wicked smile crossed Lanala’s lips. “Let’s find out...”

With a snap of her fingers, Lanala was gone in a flash and a puff of smoke. Celia swiped at the air with her sword.

“Seems I am...” Lanala’s voice said, echoing all around her.

“Where did you go?”

“I am here and yet... I am not here. So, in a sense, I haven’t gone anywhere.”

“Stop playing games! Show yourself!”

“Very well...”

Celia was suddenly surrounded on all sides by five identical copies of Lanala, each brandishing an arcane sword in their hands.

“Here I am...”

“Crap... well, let’s do this then.”

Celia braced herself for the rush from the group of Lanalas and settled in for a long fight.

...

Artema really could not think of any way out. Every last trick she had learned, relaxing her muscles, staying calm, even entering deep meditation, did nothing to help her escape the steel that restrained her. It was beginning to seem like she had but one dangerous option... but she couldn’t do that again. With Lanala’s mind gone, the Guild couldn’t afford to have both of them completely out of control. And with Jonas at least a day’s ride away on the other side of Esterlin, there was no one who knew the word to break her out of her warrior’s spirit aside from Lanala herself.

So the strength of her power would have to be saved as an absolute last resort.

“Mmmrrgh!” Artema heard Meryn growl and the rattling chains as she struggled uselessly in the training cell. She shook her head and sighed, wishing this hadn’t happened on training day. Everyone, aside from Lanala and Celia, was tightly bound and gagged in the dungeon.

Across the dungeon in another cell, Artema could hear the frustrated and muffled grunts of Taria, still strung up on the ceiling. She would have heard the commotion but would have been helpless to intervene. And it was looking less and less likely that Taria would escape her bindings either.

With the rest in the Dark Room and oblivious to what was going on, it was up to Artema and Meryn to hone in on their escapology and get Lanala back to normal.

“Mmmph!” Artema was suddenly struck with an idea. Listening closely to Meryn’s grunts, the mighty warrior manged to shuffle herself closer to the training cell.

“Hmmph?” Meryn said, a questioning tone to her voice, as Artema began shuffling closer. She, too, then hit on the same idea as Artema. She realized that Artema still had Meryn’s lock picks! “Hmmph!”

Meryn shuffled herself closer to the bars, chains and shackles rattling, spinning herself around so she could reach her hands through the bars. She turned her head to the side and waited for her leader to get closer, though it would be a challenge just to do that.

The steel bars really hindered Artema’s movements but she used her great strength to roll ever so slightly and shuffle herself gradually closer to the training cell. It took an agonizingly long time but both women were patient as Artema was finally within reach of Meryn’s shackled wrists.

“Mmn. Mghh. Pgghhmpsh,” Artema tried to say with the thick steel bar in her mouth.

Meryn seemed to get the message, managing to understand the word ‘pouch’ and spotting the leather pouch on her leader’s belt.

“Mmm hmmm,” Meryn said, trying to communicate that she understood what Artema had said.

It took some effort to get the pouch open but Meryn felt around inside it and squealed when she touched cold steel and pulled out her seven lock picks. She held them with a tight grip and shuffled away from the bars to give herself the space she needed to begin picking away at the shackles on her wrists. It would only be a matter of time before she could escape and get the others free. How much time, however, would be dependent on her and she was afraid that it might be too long to help out Celia.

She imagined that the Guardian must have tried to stop Lanala from leaving once she realized what had happened but there was no one who could stand up to Lanala at full power... but maybe one could stall her. She hoped Celia could give her enough time...

...

Sweat beaded on her forehead and dripped down into her eyes, making her blink and flinch. But Celia wasn’t finished yet.

“You really are fast...” Lanala’s voice echoed. “But you’re getting tired. I can feel it. Hell, I can see it.”

“You’re just... scared...” Celia said between breaths, trying to muster every ounce of courage she had. “What’s... the... matter? Can’t beat one... little... girl... like me?”

“Stop that. You’re a grown woman. And a weak one at that. Can’t you tell that I’ve been merely toying with you?”

“So... you the new Jhana now... or what?”

“New and improved, I’d say,” Lanala said. “Why do you ask?”

Celia swallowed hard and closed her eyes, listening for the invisible footsteps. After fighting off the magical copies, Celia had been swarmed by invisible beings from all sides, taking her share of cuts and scrapes along the way. But she had been quick enough to avoid them. She was getting tired, however, and Lanala was just warming up.

Finally managing to catch her breath, Celia answered Lanala’s echoing voice. “New Jhana, same results,” Celia said, whirling around and striking out at the invisible creature that attacked her from behind. She felt her sword cut into something and, on instinct alone, swept out the thing’s legs and stabbed it through the chest. A dull hiss was all that greeted her as a pile of dust appeared at her feet. “You’re a loser, just like her.”

Lanala laughed. “Do you really think that’s the best I can do? Don’t fool yourself.”

“Then stop playing games and let’s do this for real. One on one.”

A voice whispered in her ear then, from behind her, and a strong arm wrapped around her waist. Lanala appeared just behind her and picked Celia up off the ground.

“Very well.”

Celia tried to fight back but Lanala always was stronger than her. Especially now that all that power was coursing through her veins.

“You know, I always secretly did like to see you tied up. And, since you seem to love it so much, let’s get you into some nice, tight ropes.”

“Ack! Oh great! Now there’s even a touch of Aurora in you. Wonderful.”

Before Lanala could summon any ropes to bind Celia, someone shouted her name from behind her.

“What!?”

Lanala whirled around and a crossbow bolt struck her square in the forehead, bouncing off but the impact knocked her backward. A blinding flash of golden light engulfed her vision and made her trip and fall to the floor, releasing her grip on Celia.

Meryn loaded another of her bolts and shouted somewhere behind her. “Now, Luna!”

A blast of ice came down from the floor above, where Luna had managed to transport herself, and froze around Lanala’s limbs, pinning them in place in a spread eagle position. They knew that wouldn’t be enough to hold her in her current state, however, so Elyn reached out to Lanala’s mind.

Stop struggling Elyn said, practically shouting the command.

Make me came the response, and Elyn was knocked flying backward, crashing through a table.

“She’s too strong for me...” Elyn said, groaning as she got up.

When Lanala broke free of the ice, Mirelle was right there to pounce on her and quickly bind her wrists behind her back with a tough rope, just barely managing to pin Lanala’s strong arms in place. But Lanala shook her off like she was nothing and was already working herself free.

“Wow... she is strong...” Mirelle said, getting back to her feet.

That was when Taria, using every ounce of strength she had, grabbed hold of Lanala and wrestled her to the floor, managing to wind a rope around her arms and pull it tight. Even still, Lanala sat up and threw the lithe warrior across the room.

“What do we do now?” Celia asked, turning to Meryn.

Meryn cursed herself for being unable to free Artema. In truth, none of them could. She was bound with steel bars after all and none of them, strong as they were, could bend them back. But they simply had to contain Lanala if they stood any chance of getting her back and setting their leader free.

Meryn had a sudden idea. “Elyn!” she called out to the other side of the room. The Sixellian Princess caught her eye.

“The pillar!”

Elyn shook her head. “I’ll burn the place to the ground!”

“Control it, then! Just do it!”

One of Elyn’s stronger powers in Esterlin had been the ability to create a towering circle of fire called a ‘pillar’ that could entrap or even engulf anything she desired. It took a lot of energy to create but it was a massively powerful spell that might just be enough to contain Lanala.

“I can’t control it that much!”

“We need to stop her, now! Do it!”

Reluctantly, Elyn summoned forth all of her strength, from the flames of the sun, to the very stones beneath them and chanted one simple verse.

“Control this killer with the fire of the pillar!”

A spiralling circle of flame took off from the floor around Lanala and reached the ceiling, which was now beginning to catch fire itself.

“Luna, contain that fire!” Meryn commanded.

Luna did what she could to keep Elyn’s spell from burning down the entire fortress.

“Mirelle, open a gap!” Meryn said, pointing to the pillar.

“What? Why?”

She held her crossbow steady and the bolt she had loaded was glowing so bright that none of the others could even look at it. It was a bolt that Artema had helped her make soon after her warrior’s spirit had first been revealed. Artema had named it the Warrior’s Bolt and said it was to be used in emergencies only, since she only had the energy to make one and combine it with Meryn’s sunlight power.

“Open it! Now!”

Mirelle used what little magic she had to open a gap in the flames just wide enough for Meryn to see through. She took aim at Lanala’s forehead again and let the bolt fly. It stayed true to its target and Lanala was knocked to the floor with a blinding flash that caused all of them to shield their eyes. In an instant, Lanala was knocked unconscious.

“Drop the pillar, Elyn!” Meryn called.

Elyn did as she was asked and the pillar of fire disappeared, revealing Lanala laying on the floor, her arms and wrists still bound though the ropes were fraying. She had nearly freed herself.

“Tie her tighter and get a gag on her,” Meryn said. “We don’t know who we’ll get when she wakes up.”

The others did as Meryn instructed and she made her way back to the stairs, heading down to meet with Artema, still tightly hogtied in the steel bars.

“Wghhmmll?” Artema asked.

“She’s out,” Meryn said. “But I don’t know if she’s back.”

Artema nodded. “Shmm immph”

“How do you know that?”

“Iggh knouggh mm wgghff.”

Meryn shook her head. “I can’t wait until that thing is out of your mouth. You’re so hard to understand.”

Artema just grunted and laid her head on the ground again.

“Meryn!” Meryn turned around when she heard Celia call her name. Elyn, Mirelle and Luna were all carrying Lanala down the stairs with Taria carefully eyeing her with a sword drawn.

“She’s awake already?” Meryn asked.

“It’s the power. She can recover pretty fast, I’d guess,” Celia said.

“You’re probably right.”

Lanala was still tightly bound and gagged, hogtied just as her wife was, but Meryn did notice the orange colour had returned to her eyes. “Artema was right.”

“Mmmph!” Lanala said, squirming a bit and trying to speak into the cloth gag that covered her mouth and nose.

“Well? Are you really with us again?”

“Ymmph!” Lanala said, nodding.

“Still, I think we should keep you tied for a bit to make sure.”

Lanala simply nodded again, understanding the trouble she had just caused. “Mmm smmrmm,” she said, her voice sounding sad.

“Not your fault,” Meryn said. “It was Jhana. We all know it. Now, do you think you can free your wife?”

Lanala nodded enthusiastically and concentrated on the steel bars. Artema could feel their grip loosening as they straightened back out again. She sighed with relief as she stretched out her tired muscles and managed to get back to her feet.

“Let’s not do that again...” Artema said, finally approaching her wife, kneeling down to meet her eyes.

“Are you all right?” she asked gently.

Lanala nodded, keeping her soft eyes fixed on Artema’s.

“I’ll get her upstairs,” Artema said. “Get her some rest. In the meantime, the rest of you go and rest up as well. We’ll clean this place up when everyone’s feeling better. And good work today. Really. I’m very proud of all of you.”

Nobody else said a word but it was clear their leader’s words made them all feel rather proud of themselves. Without another word, Artema carried her wife back up the stairs to their shared quarters. It was very clear they would all need some rest.

...

Far away from the fortress it seemed that Jhana had learned a lesson. When Lanala finally let the power in, Jhana realized that Elyn had been right. Even she was not powerful enough to control Lanala, no matter how much subtle suggestion she tried. So she would have to be careful from then on.

Perhaps there is another way Jhana thought to herself. Maybe she ought to know the truth...