Chara lay motionless as the demon rutted on top of her. The first few times had been agony. But once she learnt that struggles only resulted in pain and didn't save her from the inevitable, she took to laying motionless until he was done. The centuries had become a bland routine of making meals, feeding the dragon, hefting wine, cleaning and basically doing everything for everyone.

"I preferred it when you put up a fight." Said the demon coldly as he stood up and pulled his trousers back up to lace the waist. Chara just lay there and stared blankly at the ceiling.

Kicking her crutch to her he snorted.

"Bring wine and feed the damned Oracle." With that, he turned on his hooves and strutted from the room leaving her alone.

Grabbing her crutch she pulled herself from the floor and hobbled over to a basin to wash his seed from her. Smoothing down her chiton, she hobbled over to the shelves that were laden with pottery flagons of wine.

Holding the flagon in one hand she left the room and moved down the corridor towards the rooms the demons, trolls and ogres had claimed as their own. In the beginning, she had found it hard to be the meek and mild handmaiden they believed her to be and not the angry warrior maiden of Artemis she actually was. For the first few years of her captivity, she was sure the Goddess would come and smite the demons and creatures for what they had done to her. But as time went on she realised that was never going to happen. All she could do was pray to the Goddess that the one day the Oracle spoke of was not too many years away. But as the years past that hope too had faded.

She placed the flagon on a table in the demons sitting room and eyed the dragon's egg next to the creature who had been taking her ten minutes earlier before hobbling back out of the room and heading towards the kitchen to prepare a meal for the Oracle.

"Have you fed the dragon today?" In all the centuries of their confinement, the Oracle had never enquired after the dragon.

"Not yet Mistress." The Oracle turned to look at her for the first time in centuries.

"You need to feed her now Chara."

"Yes, of course, Mistress." Hobbling out of the room Chara felt an odd tingle travel down her spine. Something was happening, she didn't know what yet but butterflies were crashing around in her stomach.

***

It was always difficult to carry the huge wooden platter loaded with the huge slabs of rancid meat they provided for the poor dragon. Balancing it on her left hand and leaning heavily on her crutch she shuffled down the long corridor that lead to the crumbled part of the temple where the dragon was chained. With a well-practised grace, she swung her stump back and bending placed the platter on the ground, as she straightened Pyra opened her eyes and twittered quietly to her that help had come. Amaranth's children had come to help. Standing Chara locked eyes with a tall dark man as the dragon lifted her head.

"Are you sure?" The dragon twittered again. She studied the blue-eyed man's face for any hint that he was indeed Amaranth's son. As she watched him his blue eyes widened slightly and flicked to the ragged head scarf that she wore over the scars left by her horns then his gaze flicked down to her right hand that was missing its fingertips. An oddly tall-looking dwarf with clear blue eyes stepped forward, his appearance played at the corners of her mind. Long forgotten memories of a child playing outside a window. 

"My adopted mother was a friend of Pyra when I was a child. We are here to free you all." She watched the dwarf for a moment, could he really be the boy Winston who the Nymph had loved so dearly? She wasn't going to give anything away that they could use against her.

"You're here for the Oracle." She said as she narrowed her eyes at the man who was still staring at her like she was horrifying. She supposed her broken and scarred body was.

"We are, but we will free anyone who is held here." Replied Winston as the dragon twittered excitedly. "We will get Pyras egg back for her too." He added as he rested a hand on the dragon's neck.

"You're one of the hinds." Whispered Gabriel.

"Why do you say that?" Chara tensed and waited for the attack she was sure would come. Had Zeus sent him to finish her like her sisters? Would the Oracle have sent her into a trap?

"Kaia is at home with our daughter." Kaia? Shock filled her and she staggered back a step as the world seemed to spin under her. Whatever she had expected him to say that wasn't it. She never expected to hear Kaia's name again. Could it be true? Did he know her baby sister? Have a child with her? Kaia, a child?

"Kaia? My little sister?" She couldn't keep the emotion from her voice or stop the stray tear that escaped her eye. Could it really be true after all this time? Where they really here to free them? Would she really see her sister again? She wiped at the tear quickly and steeled herself for the inevitable disappointment. It had been soo long, it couldn't be true. But it had been the Oracle that had sent her, she will have known they were here. Her first duty was to the Oracle and to follow her orders.

"We have little time. There are only a few guards here but they will smash Pyras egg as soon as they see us. The key to the Oracle's chains is suspended above the fire nest she made for her egg. If they drop it before we reach it she can never be freed as it burns with dragon's fire and will melt instantly. The chains are infused with magic, only the key will release her." The vampire nodded.

"I will take the lead." She looked at all the others who'd started to creep from their hiding places, two wolves and another man that looked too similar to the first to not be his brother.

"What species are you? I recognise the dwarf and wolves."

"My brothers and I are vampires. We also have a phantom with us." A short-haired woman slowly manifested beside one of the wolves but remained incorporeal as she floated beside her mate.

The hind studied them then looked to Pyra, back to Winston and down to his colossal axe.

"Your axe is dwarven-steel?"

"Yes, my lady."

"It should smash the chains that hold her then." She thought again for a moment studying the flickering woman's form as it floated beside the smaller of the wolves. The training Artemis had given her kicked in and took over her instincts.

"Can the phantom," She said the word phantom slowly like it was unfamiliar, "touch things? Could she grab the key before it falls?" An eerily creepy whisper carried to her like it was on a nonexistent breeze.

"I can. I have seen the key and where it hangs." Frowning a little at the ghostly words Chara considered again for a moment, putting together the pieces of a plan.

"Dwarf. Wait here with Pyra, and when the silence is broken smash her chains and bring her to join us." She turned back to the first vampire.

"Can the wolves smell the egg and make straight for it?" The larger wolf stepped forward and nodded his shaggy head. She eyed the creature for a second then nodded back to him.

"If the phantom gets the key and the wolves the egg into its fire nest that leaves twelve guards for us to dispatch. Six trolls, four ogres and two demons."

"Five trolls." Came the distance voice as the phantom pointed back to the entrance. Glancing to where the ghostly creature pointed Chara couldn't help but feel some satisfaction that one of the filthy creatures was dead, but then they likely all would be soon. But death was better than the existence she had endured for so many centuries. She looked them all over.

"We will likely all die."

The other vampire snorted.

"It's fine. If we don't, our brides will kill us when we get home anyway." Was that meant to be a joke? She didn't find him funny if it was, he should be pleased to have someone at home who would miss him. For the briefest moment, she remembered the centaur catching the blade that took her eye. Shaking off the memory she shot him an unimpressed look as she turned away to hobble towards the archway she had come through. They all looked at one another before following her silently into the darkness.