Myrtis sighed and cast a dead-eyed stare out of a small window. She could see it a bit from here: young beastfolk women sweating as they tilled soil and hauled stones. Gone were the days when they sat idly in their cells, like precious jewelry. They had become monsters and thus could no longer be sacrificed to the Pride Lord Nemeses, so they were being put to work.

Their old cells, stripped of soft cushions and incense, now housed Myrtis, along with the handful of other Onis who had considered her advice.

The ritual masters were not pleased that she actually spread word of the Orc Lord’s ultimatum within the tribe. To them, Nemeses’ most faithful, the option of surrender didn’t exist, but there were those who were swayed by Myrtis’s stories of the frightening she-devil.

None of them were exactly happy to be locked up like this, but they tolerated it. Myrtis was sure the Orc Lord was soon to raid their village. If they were imprisoned at the time, surrendering would be easy, and they would likely keep their lives. It was their submissive and cowardly attitude, more than anything, that upset the ritual masters and kept them locked up here.

The Oni took the hem of her white, red, and black robes and used it to fan herself. They had plenty of shade in here, but the small windows kept the air from circulating. It was hot, and there were bugs flying around. The stone walls and floor, at least, were cool.

“I’m tired of being a prisoner,” one of Myrtis’s fellow inmates groaned. “What’s the point in locking us in here? We’re not going to do anything.”

“At least we’re alive,” Myrtis replied in a sober voice. Her red eyes continued to observe the back-breaking labor of the beastwomen. “At least we aren’t slaves.”

“How long did you say it would be until the Orc Lord comes to conquer us?” another Oni asked.

Myrtis thought. It had been several days already since she returned from the Orc Lord’s fortress city. She did not seem like a patient woman, and she clearly wanted a fight.

“We won’t have to wait much longer. It could be any day now. Let’s just hang on until then.”

Right now, the ritual maidens and masters were probably having yet another meeting about what to do about sacrifices. Lord Nemeses required one sacrifice at least every other month, or else he would take away his gifts. They needed a new plan of action, now that the Orc Lord had taken over the expansionist War Orc tribes and banned them from slave raiding. They were on a strict deadline to find a new source of sacrifices.

Come to think of it, the Orc Lord might also be operating with that same deadline in mind. The question was whether she would come before or after Nemeses’ curse was gone.

Myrtis remembered the look the Orc Lord gave her when she was in their prison beneath the Crystal Palace.

“Show me that I’ve exhausted every avenue for peace, so that I don’t have to hold back.”

The Oni shivered. “She will come before we lose Nemeses’ blessing. Don’t worry. She will definitely be here soon.”

***

The rescue force for Ashtante’s faithful set up camp in a decently-sized clearing not too far from the demon-worshippers’ village, using the borrowed techniques of the fomor to set up large tents.

Unlike the expansionist and neutral Orc factions, which were composed of many separate tribes, the demon-worshippers were all collected in one large village. It wasn’t as big as Babylon, but the standard of living was quite high. They had crude wood and stone buildings, and a few stretches of farmland where the trees had been cleared.

Most of the population were Onis. Generally speaking, as a race, Onis had nearly the same capacity for civilization as High Orcs and nearly as much strength as War Orcs. How well they would truly fight was unknown, but it was clear that they wouldn’t surrender once they started; that was Nemeses’ curse.

The two generals were sending out scouts to determine whatever they could about the enemy and their rescue targets. Nym Airi, who watched the activity from a tent nearby, found it odd that most of the scouts were humans.

“Are those humans worshippers of our mother goddess?” she asked a passing War Orc.

The warrior scratched his broad, tan chest, replying in slightly broken beastfolk language. “Those are mind slaves. Our Lord tamed them.”

The former empress chose to keep her thoughts on the matter to herself. “Thank you.”

After a while spent gathering information, the spies returned, and Nym Airi was invited to a strategy meeting with the two generals. They drew a rough map of the city on a large clay tablet, as viewed from above.

“Over here are the beastfolk,” Durghan pointed at one circled area. “They’re outside, tilling fields. They’re guarded by ordinary Oni warriors.” He moved his finger to a different place nearby. “Over here are the prisons. The scouts didn’t see any more beastfolk inside, but we’ll check again later if we have the chance.” Once more, he moved his hand, but this time he waved it over a larger region of the map. “There are five Onis here that might be elite units. They look important, anyway. Three men, one woman. They’re walking around and tending the shrines, but they all gathered together in this building earlier in the morning.”

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Varoon held his chin and nodded slowly. “Our first priority is freeing the beastfolk. I think we should wait until night and quietly free them from wherever they’re held. We’ll send a small group of scouts and mages, and I’ll tag along to buy time in case they’re discovered.”

“The other warriors are too loud, after all,” Durghan smiled. “I’ll be ready to lead a charge just in case.”

“Perfect.” Varoon looked at Nym Airi. “You’ll come along to help free your kin. We need them to cooperate, and your face should help with that. Those Noct, though, I want them to sneak around the back of the village. If the elite units start swarming us, I want them to use the flashiest magic they can to destroy those shrines, then run and hide.”

“Ah, I see. If I saw someone destroying a shrine of Ashtante, I would run over immediately to check it out.”

The blonde war orc nodded. “That’s the idea. Now, once we have the beastfolk, we need to get them to a safe place. If I get held up, that’ll be your job, Airi. The mages will help you set up the teleportation pad as long as the way is clear. It’s a very delicate device, so don’t try to do it yourself. Once all the beastfolk are through, disable it right away, then use your own judgement for whatever comes next.”

The white fox nodded. “I understand.”

Durghan smiled. “It sounds like a good plan to me. Let’s get everybody fed and rested so they’re ready for tonight.”

***

It wasn’t all that long ago that Niasha and Kirena were tilling fields under the sun back on their little farm. Back then, the weather would be hot, shade limited, and sweat abundant. But there would always be a cool and quiet home waiting for them, with fresh water sitting on the front porch. After a long, hard day of work, Niasha and Kirena would find peace and replenishment in each other’s company.

Those days, though recent, seemed so far away now.

Niasha dug her hoe into the soil, struggling to pull a rock free of the dirt. This was not the season to be digging new fields, but it was happening regardless. Perhaps it was because their captors had suddenly realized they had able-bodied slaves on hand.

Niasha was dirty. Her long white rabbit ears itched from the dirt caking her skin. Her clothes had been replaced by simple white robes when she arrived here, and they hadn’t been changed, nor had she been bathed, since the mother goddess abandoned them. Whatever value they had to the Onis was apparently lost at that moment.

Niasha glanced at Kirena a few paces away, equally sweaty and dirty, her face red and focused as she angrily, single-mindedly hacked at the soil. Niasha wanted to hold her hand, but she couldn’t risk making the guards mad.

If they got mad enough to hit you, they wouldn’t stop until you died, no matter how much you begged and apologized.

This was a scary and hopeless situation. The only good thing about the hard labor they were subjected to was that it took their minds off of the situation a bit.

Finally, when the sun was setting, the guards ordered them to return to their cells. All of the comforts had been removed, leaving only cold stone boxes to spend the nights in. It was cramped, too, since a handful of Onis had been arrested for some unknown reason. Niasha was too afraid to try talking to them.

Niasha snuggled up tightly against Kirena, her wife’s fluffy black grey tail lying across both of their laps.

“Good work,” Kirena whispered, stroking Niasha’s grimy rabbit ears.

“You too,” Niasha hiccuped, burying her face in the wolf’s chest. They held each other until falling asleep from simple exhaustion.

Hours later, a dull thud sounded from outside of their cell, waking the tense, light-sleeping slaves. They didn’t think much of it until seeing a pair of snow white fox ears peeking in view of their small window. Did somebody get out?! No, but there was nobody left here with fur that clean.

“Hey!” Kirena whispered harshly.

The ears flicked, and the beast woman slowly came out of her crouch, peering into their cell through the window. She was beautiful and kind-looking.

The white fox smiled and held a finger over her lips. “I’m here to help, but I need you to be very very quiet.”

The fox woman or someone else with her appeared to be using earth magic to wear away the doorframe. When it was gone, a pair of humans dressed in black carefully caught and moved the door. Kirena started quickly and quietly waking up the others, while Niasha tiptoed quickly outside to thank their saviors.

She had so many questions to ask: like “how did you find us?” and “who are you?”, but all of those soon vanished from her mind.

It wasn’t just a beastwoman and a couple of humans waiting to greet her, but also some High Orcs, and a War Orc. Niasha went pale, visions of her destroyed village passing through her mind. She turned around and tried to run back into the cell, to warn the others that it was a trap, but a pair of slim arms hugged her from behind.

“Don’t worry,” the fox woman whispered. “You’re safe. My name is Nym Airi, and our mother goddess sent me to find an Orc worshipper of hers and get help freeing you.”

As proof, the fox woman cast a holy magic spell on Niasha that cleaned the filth from her body and restored her energy. Her will to flee also ebbed., and one by one the beastfolk emerged from their cells. Niasha watched as High Orc mages worked together with human rangers to quietly open each cell, and the War Orc seemed to be keeping watch.

“Take us too!”

Niasha and the fox woman simultaneously looked at the farthest cell, where an Oni woman was gripping the bars and trying to poke her head through as far as she could. She whispered in a harsh and desperate voice.

“You’re with Lord Vyra, aren’t you? We want to swear our loyalty to her! Please take us with you!”

The fox woman turned to the war orc. “What do you think? If we don’t take them, they’ll probably alert the whole village.”

“Bring them, just keep it quick and quiet.”

The mages and rangers went to work opening the last cell, and the freed prisoners all gave their rapt attention to the white fox. She looked at the war orc surveying the area, who gave her a curt nod.

“Move quickly and quietly like your life depends on it,” she whispered, and then the crowd set off.