Huddled in one corner of the cramped iron cage, Aphera, elvish princess listened to the sounds of revelry from the enemy camp around her. Some of her fellow elvish maids, she knew, were unwilling participants in the enemy’s celebration. Others were locked in cages, though larger, more akin to paddocks for livestock which is what the maids were to their captors, chattel to be brought home and sold on the market. But the Princess they had singled out for the smallest, most secure cage, at the heart of the encampment, under close guard.

Idly, Aphera rubbed her wrists. The heavy iron manacles she’d worn on the long, arduous march from the battleground here had been removed, but her smooth, soft skin was still marred from them. Even without them, the cage kept her just as helpless as before. The iron collar, they’d left on her, to remind her of her new station in life.

Aphera’s ears perked up at the sound of a commotion from the far side of the camp, slowly rising above the revelry. Screams, a clash of steel..it sounded as though people were fighting and dying. The guards outside her cage heard it to and began to step in that direction, reaching for their weapons uncertainly. A second later, both of them dropped, arrows protruding from their backs.

“Milady!” A figure, shrouded in shadow, run to the cage. “We must be quick, the diversion won’t last long.” Already, the sounds of battle were starting to fade, though it was replaced by the clamor and yelling of the camp as soldiers ran to and fro, arming themselves and trying to organize against what they perceived as a surprise attack.

Aphera struggled to the door. As her eyes pierced the gloom, she saw the figure outside, along with two more standing behind him, wore the hooded cloaks of the rangers. They had been sent to harass the enemy’s supply lines and were thus too far away to take part in the disastrous battle.

“Stand back Milady!” The ranger said. As she backed up, she saw the Ranger produce a wand and point it to one of the hinges on the cage door and say a word of power. There was a flash and when she looked again, she saw the hinge had been completely disintegrated. The process was repeated twice more on the other hinges. When the cage had been unhinged, the ranges seized hold of the door and pulled it back, opening enough of a space she could slip out.

“What of the others?” She asked, mindful of those brave women who had ridden with her and were now the captives, and soon to be slaves, of the enemy.

The ranger shook his head sadly. “We could not get close enough. The diversion was only enough for us to get to you. Come Milady...though this day belongs to the enemy, the struggle will continue until the invaders are driven out and our people freed...but we must have a leader to rally the common folk.”

With a quiet prayer for those left behind, Aphera nodded and followed them out into the night...