She made quick work of the lock and quietly opened the door. She threw on the invisibility cloak and shielded herself from the view of others. As she made her way to the next cell, she heard a Demonic growl. She peered into the cage. Sitting on the ground, beaten and worn down was a woman. "Who are you?" she called out.
"Who are you, Magical being!? Show yourself to me!" the woman called out as she stood to her feet, nearly toppling over, Casryth saw her horns appear.
"Are you Levi?" she asked, removing the cloak.
"What is it to you?" the woman asked in response.
"I am your brother's friend, I am here to set you free, just as I freed him," Casryth spoke.
"Which brother do you answer to?" she asked moving closer.
"I answer to none of your brothers, but Zehn has had a change of heart, and been given a new life. There is room for you in this new life if you are willing to work for it just as he has," Casryth spoke with conviction.
"I am, I have harmed noone that has not deserved it, but to those who are deserving I have been ruthless. This was my command, my order, from Father," she spoke.
"Your orders from your father matter no longer, this is a chance to be the person you want to be and not resign to the fate chosen for you," Casryth replied.
"I can see why my brother has taken to you," Levi responded. "I will join your side."
"You are not joining my side, you are choosing yourself above all else for the first time in your life and there is nothing wrong with it," Casryth said with a smile as she began to pick the lock on Levi's cage.
"How long have you been here, Woman?" Levi asked.
"My name is Casryth, you can even call me Cas for short. I have only been here for a few short moments. How long have you been here? How many others are there?" Casryth asked.
"Only one other remains. I have been here for months, Cas. I have been trapped and tortured, they have a blade which can make demons bleed. We must retrieve it. It is endowed with a certain poison," Levi spoke.
"We can definitely take care of that before we leave," Casryth responded as she opened the door. "Are you hurt?"
"It is only a minor wound, but it slows me,"Levi said with disgust, her long black hair billowing behind her.
"Then take my cloak of invisibility, it is your only chance to escape," Casryth said handing it to her. She looked astonished. "I will claim to be ill, when they come to me I will disarm the guard and steal his keys, you grab the other captive and make your way out," Casryth demanded as Levi gave her a confused look.
"What about you?" Levi asked.
"I will think of something, but you and the other captive should be able to make it through undetected within the cloak," Casryth replied.
Levi gave her an amused look, "I can see why my brother likes you" she spoke.
"Before you go, in case they decide to shapeshift into one of us, take this magical blade and cut your palm, then wrap this cloth over it. They will not know that we have both marked ourselves in this way," Casryth spoke handing a cloth to Levi. She slit her right palm, and wrapped it in a second cloth. She wiped the blade clean and handed that to Levi as well. She followed suit and slit her right palm, wrapping it.
"Now, cover yourself with the cloak and come out here into the hall, I will lock your cell once more so it looks as though you are still captive. gather the other prisoner under the cloak," Casryth demanded, taking control of the situation. She quickly removed a magical trap from her bag and set it up at the mouth of her cell and concealed them. She looked up as Levi picked the lock to the other captive's cell and locked it behind the woman. She waited until they were hidden by the door, concealed by the cloak and locked herself back into her cell. She reached into her bag for a vial of pig's blood and poured it all over her gown.
"Please! Help! I cannot stop the bleeding!" Casryth called out, knowing that the people who took her captive needed her alive.
Two guards came rushing in. Just as the door closed behind them, Levi and the woman slipped out.
The first guard made quick work of the lock, not noticing the empty cells. "Where are you injured, slave?" the second guard asked as they both stepped into the cell.
Instantly, Vines came out of the ground and grew, trapping the men in place within the cell.
Casryth hopped across the threshold missing the trap and locked the cell behind her. As she did, the trap deactivated, trapping them within it's walls.
"Sorry boys, but no lives will be lost today if I say anything about it," she said with a smirk, stealing the key ring off of the first guard's belt through the cell bars.
She made her way through the door and there stood Levi with her hands behind her back.
"Casryth! I see you made it out!" she called out happily Casryth looked around and they were in a large coliseum-like area.
"I did, now would you mind pointing me in the direction of the exit?" Casryth asked, hoping she would reveal her hand so she could see if this was truly Levi.
The woman lifted her right, bandage free hand and pointed in the direction of the door. "We must hurry," the woman called out.
"Levi, I have something for you first, to defend yourself," Casryth whispered, digging through her bag of holding. Before the other woman could react, she produced a dagger, covered in the venom of the Hydra she had defeated earlier. The woman screeched and turned to ash.
Casryth picked up the dagger once more, and made her way around the perimeter of the arena, carefully analyzing each and every door. Just then Levi appeared before her.
"Cas wait! I got the woman out, look!" she said raising both her arms in the air showing her bandaged hand.
Just then, the ground beneath them began to rumble and a large creature emerged from the shadows. It looked like a larger version of the creature that had dragged her into the portal.
A Maniacal laughter could be heard as the shadow took the form of a 11 foot tall man. It's eyes were blood red. It lunged forward toward Casryth.
Casryth shoved Levi out of the way.
"What is this, a humanoid being protecting a demon?" the creature chuckled.
"What of it?" Casryth yelled back at the creature.
"You will make a good toy," the creature bellowed. Casryth looked toward Levi on the ground and signalled to her to move as the creature stomped forward.
Levi snuck up behind the creature as Casryth taunted, keeping him distracted.
Casryth threw fireballs, electric balls and spell after spell at him.
He lunged forward with his large sword at Casryth. Just as he did, she nodded to Levi.
She attempted to move out of the way, but was not quick enough. "Take care of them," Casryth mouthed to her.
Levi nodded as the sword was driven deep into Casryth's stomach.
"Athame!" Levi yelled and the dagger teleported from Casryth's side to Levi's hand and she drove it deep into the creature's heart. The creature collapsed, dying instantly. The blade she spoke of remaining in Casryth's wound.
"When you said we needed to get the blade, I didn't think we'd get it by him stabbing me," Casryth laughed, turning pale.
"Cas, stay with me, keep fighting!" Levi called out she scooped Casryth into her arms, grabbed the athame from the pile of the creature's ash, and carried her out of the Coliseum.
She set her down carefully in the grass and the sage, the old woman appeared in front of them.
Levi withdrew the athame, prepared to defend Casryth.
"This is the final trial. She sacrificed herself to save you and the woman, but the second part of the trial is fighting to survive her fatal wound without the use of magic. Any attempt to use magic will result in failure," the woman commanded, sending Levi and Casryth back to the barn.
Eris and Zehn remained trapped, left to fight out their own trial.