Meera was out of her seat and jostling with the witch to see through the little window. Not to mention, the jailor, Aksha, was trying to shoulder her way in as well.

Meera groaned, shot out a small mirror through the window, and stepped back, only to realize it was useless. She couldn't see it, so she couldn't see through it.

Kalrina chuckled at Meera's folly. "All that time, you forgot this most basic knowledge. Here, let me help you, dear pupil."

She formed a crystal and hovered it on the top edge of the window, stepping back—more like hobbling back—to the point that she stumbled into her chair, given her various wounds.

Meera would love to argue with her, but she didn't want to miss the action outside. She knew something was up when she saw the Cultist girl make the throat-slicing gesture towards the daughter present in the room. They thought no one had seen them, but she saw with more than her eyes.

How had Aksha's daughter turned against her mother, and why?

As she pondered this, outside, the Cultist and the rogue daughter fought with the five daughters on the stage. The crowd enjoyed the show as if it were a Gladiatorial match, cheering for their champions. Neserin's skills were just something else. She fought with an ice sword, exchanging blows with two daughters who fought with long daggers in each hand.

But the traitorous Aksha felt like a fish out of water, barely clinging on for dear life, as if all this was new to her and she didn't know what skills to use to counter her foes.

A deluge of poison erupted from her feet, only for it to be swept aside by her opponents. She shot poison bullets, which were countered just as easily. After a few more failed attempts, she gave up on using poison-based skills and flew at her sisters with her daggers.

"Hey baby Aksha, can one of you really turn against your own kind?" Meera asked.

"Stop calling me that," she replied through gritted teeth.

"Oh fine, jailor supreme," Kalrina sighed dramatically. "Please do answer her question. I would love to know if you can go against your creator's orders?"

The clone squinted at the two of them, trying to suspect foul play, but there was none—just curiosity behind the question, at least from Meera's side. Knowing the witch, she definitely had something cooking.

"We…can, but…none would dare do it in front of Mother," she replied.

"I see…" Kalrina smiled, indicating something was cooking in her wicked head. But for now, she was stuck with her, and she was her best chance of getting out of here.

Outside, the fighting was reaching its penultimate stage. The daughter was mostly subdued and bore many bloody cuts along her arms and body. Her opponents narrowed her as they drove her towards the Orator, who had stayed out of combat until now.

A poison whip snapped, curled itself around the rogue daughter, and swept her off her feet. She crashed to the ground, and the other two daughters were on her. One of them placed their dagger on her throat and told her not to move.

The Cultist was faring better. She had killed one of her enemies and pushed the other one back. The cabal of witches in the crowd were cheering on the remaining clone as they had been for the most part.

As much as she hated the Cult for betraying her. Clearly, they had come in here to capture her, but somehow, she still hated the sorceresses more and didn't want them to win at any cost. She didn't know what drove that hatred. She glanced at Kalrina and her wounds.

Ah, that's what.

Without her chakrams, there was no way for Meera to help the Cultist girl. Well, she had one free chakram pressed against her chest in the folds of her dress, but she wasn't revealing her hidden weapon, not for an enemy like that. Then her eyes fell on the tattoo on her hand, and she smiled.

She called forth Onyx, and his large form bloomed in the cramped room. Like always, he glowed with a faint blue light. The clone shrieked and pointed a spear at him. Meera chuckled at how useless that was.

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"Meera, where are we? Is this a jail? And are you in chains?" He squinted. "Are those chakrams in a box made of…CLOUDS? What is going on here?"

Kalrina chuckled at the stallion's confusion and that of the daughter, who was beginning to realize Onyx's true nature.

Meera stood and patted his neck. "It's okay, buddy. I'll explain later, but for now, I need you to do something for me." She pulled his head down to whisper something in his ear.

His eyes popped open. "You sure? Shouldn't I just do that for you instead?"

"You could, but I would have no idea where to go. It might be the same for the Cultist, but why make anything easier for my captives." She slapped him on the rump. "Now, go cause some mischief."

Onyx neighed as he reared up on his hind legs and blasted out towards the dais right through the wall. There was a collective gasp as he appeared on the stage. Firaan was out of her seat, staring at Meera's beautiful steed. Onyx ran directly for the clone, fighting with Neserin. The clone backed up and jumped out of the way before she was trampled. Onyx circled the Cultist and relayed what Meera had told him to say.

She had asked him to ask her to get on her back, and he would carry her to safety as a gift from Meera. In exchange, she wanted the Cult's help in getting out of here. After all, the Cult, the dragons, and the sorceresses were all gunning for her, so why not use them against each other? She was surprised that she had even thought of this plan on such short notice.

Neserin's head snapped towards the room Meera was in. Meera walked to the window and nodded. The woman stared at her, then at Onyx and the daughters, who had regrouped and were inching toward her and Onyx. At last, she looked at her partner.

"Go!" The captured Aksha screamed.

She nodded and jumped up on Onyx's back. She extended a hand towards the rogue Aksha. "I release you. Return to your body…Lainor."

Meera's eyes widened, as things fell into place. She was so furious that she almost recalled Onyx, but she let it go as whatever Neserin hoped for didn't happen. The daughter holding down Lainor, the Orator, or so Meera thought, laughed.

"This Lainor is in the body created from mother's flesh. He is not going anywhere while mother is present."

Meera glanced at Kalrina, and her face was still as a statue. She couldn't read the witch's expression, but given that Aksha was involved, she was most probably livid.

"It's fine. Just go!" Lainor shouted. "Get out of here."

Neserin nodded, gripped Onyx's hair tightly, and spurred him with her feet. They shot out of the room with three daughters of Aksha giving chase. A few of the sorceresses jumped out of the stands and followed the daughters after the Cultist.

The jailer turned her spear towards Meera. "What did you whisper in your horse's ear?"

Meera looked down the length of the spear to her, then walked back to her seat. "Only point that thing at me if you're allowed to use it. Otherwise…” She gestured for Kalrina to finish it.

"Use the pointy end to pleasure yourself as that should suffice the crocodile's maw of a cunt you got down there…" The witch smiled brightly and added. "Dearie."

The daughter trembled with rage and gripped her spear so tightly that it was surprising that it didn't break. She huffed and left the room, poison dripping off her and hissing as it hit the floor.

"We make a good team." Kalrina grinned and raised her hand in a high-five position.

If Meera was a sadistic person, she would have obliged the battered woman, but she just shook her head. "I don't hate you that much to cause you further harm, but I would've broken your hand if it wasn't teetering on falling off by itself."

Kalrina lowered it. "Aw, you do care about me."

Meera rolled her eyes.

The witch got serious. "What did you say to your horse that the Cultist agreed to take your help?"

Meera smirked. "I told her I would help her get out of here if she got the Cult to come to my aid."

Kalrina nodded with a smile. "Oh, that's good. That's very good."

"I figured it'd keep the sorceresses busy and give us an opportunity to escape."

The witch teared up. "Oh, you said us. You've begun to care about me, after all."

Meera gave her a blank look. "Keep that up, and I'll leave you behind when the time comes. Besides, who can say that Neserin girl can even make it out of your dragon keep?"

"Even if she doesn't, it was still the right move. Good one, love. But still, we can't rely on others all the time. Sometimes, we've got to be the masters of our destiny."

The daughter returned. "Get up!" She snapped. "The time of the trial is here. In other words, the time of your death."

Meera looked through the mirror. The dais had been cleaned up, and Lainor had been put in chains and was being corralled towards the exit. She had a feeling this was not the last of him. If her estimate was correct, he would end up in the dungeons, and they would greet him soon. She looked forward to that time so she could properly thank him for his betrayal in Drurith.

Kalrina managed to stand with much difficulty and lots of sighing and wincing. "Death awaits us all, but for now this trial will suffice."

Meera walked behind the witch's hunched form as she made slow progress towards the dais. It was like walking behind an older woman nearing the end of her life, but Kalrina was crafty, something Aksha was not. She would not go quietly into that long, dark night.

"Now, for what you're all here for," the Orator said or a new daughter of Aksha, filling in for the Orator. "A night when the traitor Kalrina's fate is finally decided."

The crowds cheered loudly like they usually did before the beginning of a big game back home.

Meera drew a deep breath. "You better know what you're doing, witch."

"I always know what I'm doing," Kalrina smirked.

The Orator raised her hands in the air. "Let the trial begin!"