"UUGGGHH!!!" Katja grunted as she strained against the chain holding her captive by the ankle, to the wall. Sweat beaded her brow and ran down her naked skin from the exertion. After another minute's useless effort, she gave up, again, and slumped back down to the ground. She examined the fruit of her efforts.

The stone around the ring to which her chains were attached was crumbling, from age and neglect.  She might be able to pull the bolt out…in a year or two, or at least, if she hadn't been so weak from lack of sleep, and hunger.

In resigned desperation, Katja picked up a chipped piece of stone that had fallen from a wrecked section of the wall, decades ago, and began chipping at the stone around the iron ring again. After a couple minutes, she'd managed to flake a few fragments of stone from around the iron and rub her hands raw. More for lack of a better plan than anything else, Katja kept at it though.  

The three captives had been kept in their prison for three days and nights. Once a day, a pair of cultists had come in and given them some bread and water, enough to stave off starvation, but nowhere near enough to still the hungry pains. Other than that, they'd been left chained up, alone.

At night, with the humidity of the swamp choking them, the three could hear the inhuman chants of the cultists from the pyramid. The noise kept the three awake late into the night, or turned their feverish dreams into strange nightmares of strange and terrible gods like nothing Katja had ever seen before.   

Nadia lay on the ground, half asleep. Katja glanced over at her as the young woman moaned softly. The sorcerous rune branded into her skin had slowly healed, the skin slowly fading from an angry livid red to white scarring. Of the three captives, she'd had the worst of it. She'd been drifting in and out of sleep since their imprisonment here. She was drenched in sweat and feverish. Her brow was burning hot to the touch.

It must be hard on her, Katja thought to herself, having grown up her whole life in a sorcerous house, apprentice first and then slave to the Mistress, now finding herself cut off from her magic, subject to all the woes and troubles of petty, mundane mortals.

A week ago, Katja would have happily dragged the haughty witch down into the muck of the real world and rubbed her face into what life was like for those who couldn't simply dispel all their problems with a wave of the hand. Now, she felt sorry for the little bitch, not least because she was their best hope to get out of this alive and was powerless without her magic.   

All of a sudden, Nadia sat up. Her movements were jerky, like a puppet on strings. She glanced over at Katja. "Allow me." She said in an odd voice, waving a hand. Instantly, the shackles around the three women's ankles turned to rust and broke.

Katja turned and stared at Nadia. The sorceress stood up. "Come." She said, turning to the door. The voice she was speaking in was different from her usual one. Suddenly, Katja realized where she'd heard it before. "Wait!" she exclaimed. "You're-"

"It's been a while, hasn't it, slave." The Mistress said. She turned to face Katja. She saw that the witch's eyes were rolled up, showing only whites. She was still unconscious. Someone, the mistress, was controlling her remotely.

"I must say, I was quite surprised when the three of you left so suddenly. I should have given little Nadia more credit." The Mistress said, cheerfully. "It took me some time to figure out what had happened, and longer still to scry your position. Had I done so sooner, right now, you three would be in my dungeons right now, learning how to serve properly like you should have. Unfortunately, it seems Nadia has learned even more than I thought. While she's still far weaker then I; over such a long distance, she has been able to block my spells, at least until these cultists were nice enough to block her magic for me."

Nadia, or rather the mistress smiled ruefully. "Unfortunately, it seems that, when I finally get the chance, I find myself unable to claim my reward. Don't misunderstand me, you three will be my slaves eventually, but at the moment, I need your help."

She frowned. "It seems for once, you and I are in agreement, before we can do anything else, this pathetic little cult must be stopped, before they can awaken anything we'd rather stayed buried forever. Were I here in person, I'd have no trouble destroying every last one of these pathetic worms. Alas, my hold on dear Nadia is still rather tenuous. Even the slightest distraction could break my grip, which would leave you two with a magic-less witch surrounded by an angry cult, I might add. I'll need you two to protect Nadia while I get her to the temple. Once I'm there, I should have no problems."

"And then I suppose you'll just teleport us back to the Manor for a nice round of brainwashing for thanks." Thrycia said, frowning. "What guarantees do we have you won't turn on us when we're of no use to you?"

"None." Nadia said with an impish smile. "But then again, what choice do you have? I can claim you as my slaves right now, and simply hope the cultists don't unearth anything before I can find other ways of stopping them, or you can help me, and accept your new lot in life as my servants knowing you've helped save the world from a grave threat. What will it be?"    


What do you want to do?

Help the Mistress: Best to play along for now and look for an opportunity.
How do you want to try and get to the pyramid:            
Go in Swinging: These bastards have caused us enough trouble, it' time for some payback!
Sneak in: Even with the Mistress helping, there's too many. Let's find a couple guards and grab their uniforms…

Refuse: Attack! Maybe with a little luck, a conk to the head will mess up her mind control before she turns us all to slugs...