Diane awoke with her hand still sticking out between the bars. She couldn't feel Nisselila's hand wasn't in hers anymore. As she sat up and stretched she was amazed with how great she felt. The last few times she woke up she could barely move, but now she felt like she could run across the whole continent. Her wrist were shackled preventing her from stretching her arms all the way out like she wanted to. She was surprised to feel more of a give in the metal holding her then resistance. As she looked around to get her bearings she saw sickness and death all around her. Diane was clearly the healthiest person in the back of that mobile cage. She looked at herself and saw that all her scrapes and bruises were gone, along with most of her clothes. What she still had on was rags that barely kept her descent. Since she was near the bars of the cage it didn't bother her before, but as she moved toward the interior of the wagon the smell quickly worsened. If she had any food in her stomach she was sure she would have thrown up. She didn't know how much longer their trip was, but she was sure these people wouldn't make it there alive. She crawled back to the bars to get fresh air again but also to see if Nisselila was still there. "Nisselila, Nisselila are you there?", Diane called out in a harsh whisper. She began to worry when Nisselila didn't respond. Diane called out to her again this time a little louder, hoping she was still there and didn't maybe fall off some time during her sleep. Diane was kneeling at the gate to the cage pressing her face against the bars looking around desperately when she felt a small hand on her head. She looked up to she Nisselila smiling down at her. "You did not have to worry Mistress, if you had just felt for me you would have known I was here.", Nisselila told her feeling touched by Diane's concern. Diane had forgotten all about that. This world was so new to her and everything that happened, happened so fast, she still didn't have time for her mind to catch up. As she thought about it though she could feel Nisselila, but she could also feel apprehension coming off of her.
"What is wrong?", Diane asked
"We near the city of Urenhiem, Mistress and their fabled slave markets. If you don't escape before then you will have no chance of ever being free."
Diane could feel the fear inside of her as well as hear it in her voice. "Where are we now is it a good time to try to escape?"
"There is a forest to the right of us that we could hide in, but I haven't been able to get the key yet."
"Is Slog and Krong paying attention to back here? Will they notice if I make any noise?"
Nisselila looked back over her shoulder to the front of the wagon. Slog was still arguing with Krong on his wise decision to kidnap Diane and bragging about how much money he was going to make. Krong didn't like that Slog was trying to keep all the wealth for himself, so their arguing was quickly turning into pushing and shoving. Soon they would be punching and kicking each other. If they weren't so rambunctious she might be able to get close enough to get the key. But as it was she didn't want to accidentally get knocked out by a blow that wasn't meant for her. Turning her attention back to Diane she said, "They are distracted by their own stupidity and now would be an excellent time to escape, but if I try to get close I fear I may be hurt in the process."
"That's ok you don't have to try to get the key. I think I can break out on my own. Let me try that first." Diane first held her arms apart till her shackles were pulled tight then with barely a tug she snapped the chain. If she didn't know that this was real metal she would have sworn that it was made out of a hard clay. She did the same thing for her feet then walked to the door of the cage. She knew what she was about to do would make a lot of noise, but she had an idea for that. "I want you to sneak up on those two and scream as loud as you can right in their ears. When you scream I'm going to kick open the door and jump out, so soon as you scream fly as fast as you can for the woods, ok?" Nisselila agreed and got in position.
When she could sense that Diane was ready she let out an ear splitting scream that made both Slog and Krong jump and almost fall off the wagon. She quickly flew away laughing hysterically at how funny they looked when it happened. At the same time as she screamed Diane kicked the door with all her might right at the lock. She still didn't know her strength, so instead of the door just flying open it went tumbling down the road behind them. The noise was enough to awaken some of the healthier captives. They looked up to see Diane standing in the open doorway about to jump to her freedom. Some of them began calling out to her for help. Diane looked back over her shoulder, seeing them in this pitiful state made her feel bad for them. But she started to think about what it would take to free all these people. She would most likely have to fight Slog and Krong. Even if she did manage to win that battle then what. She still didn't know where she was. She had no clue what she was supposed to be doing here. She didn't even know where her next meal or fresh water was going to come from. If she didn't know how she was going to protect herself how was she supposed to take care of a group of half starved, sick captives. And she still had to make sure she kept Nisselila safe so that when Calypso came back she would keep her end of the bargain and get her off this planet. As she sat there contemplating these things a man who was healthier than the rest crawled toward her on hands and knees. "Please miss take me with you, I will do anything you ask of me just please don't leave me here!" As she looked down on him in such a deplorable state her heart broke for him, but no matter how bad she felt she still couldn't afford to have him hinder her in any way. She reached down and broke his chains, "This is the best I can do for you. You are on your own...." With that she jumped off the back and sprinted over toward the woods. Or at least she tried to. Her feet were moving faster than her body was used to. She stumbled and fell, at one point looking like nothing but a ball of flailing arms and legs. About twenty feet from the forest she finally got the hang of it and ran for where she could sense Nisselila waiting for her. But to her surprise Nisselila wasn't alone. Calypso stood there looking her up and down when she walked into the tiny clearing they waited in. Calypso's upper lip pulled back in a snarl when she was looking Diane in her eyes.
"Why didn't you help the other prisoners?"
Diane was taken aback but the suddenness of her question, "Because I couldn't help them and keep my promise to you."
"You didn't even try"
"I weighed my options and they didn't look good. So I left them to better be able to take care of Nisselila and myself"
Calypso got a cocky lopsided grin on her face, "And what exactly were these options you weighed. I would love to hear you justify your own cowardice."
"I was not being a coward I was being realistic! If I tried to save them I would have to fight both Slog and Krong."
"Which you could have done very easily," Calypso interrupted, "But go on."
"You don't know that I could beat them or not. I'm not a fighter and they were two big, strong, ugly..... whatever they are!"
"They are called ogres and yes you could have beaten them very easily miss whiny I'm not a fighter. What did you do to your chains? What did you do to the cage door? Huh? You didn't need to be a fighter to do that did you?" Calypso began pacing back and forth getting more agitated with everything she said.
"Even if I could beat them, then what I don't even know what I'm going to eat, or drink let alone find some for a group of half starved, sick prisoners. And I don't see you running over there to free anybody. So don't judge me with that condescending stare of yours!" Diane was pacing too now feeling her temper rise in response to Calypso. Who was she to judge her! For the first time in Diane's life she felt the urge to pound someone's face in, and she really wanted that someone to be Calypso.
"Mistress please calm down you do not want to provoke the Goddess Calypso. None have survived her wrath." Nisselila was trying to calm Diane, fearful of even looking at Calypso, hoping she wouldn't kill her Mistress.
"You have nothing to fear Nisselila, this little worm isn't worth my time let alone my wrath. I have been charged with guiding you but that also means I am your judge, jury, and executioner. Think of everything you do here as the ultimate test in karma. What you do will reflect back onto you, many times in ways you can never expect. You can never let your guard down for a second. Oblivion is not a planet for the faint of heart. You are in this predicament because of your selfish, callous decisions. Yes you have to keep Nisselila alive, but you must also show you can change, or you will incur my wrath. You are a bane in my existence, so your failure will be my ultimate joy. So grow, learn, adapt because if you don't you won't survive long enough to be my problem anymore." With that Calypso spun around and left. By the time her cape settled down she was just gone.
Diane stood there trembling in disbelief. What had she done to her to deserve such harsh treatment? She didn't know what to do. She didn't understand anything about what was happening to her. This was all because of Mike. She knew she had screwed up, but she did it for her kids, it was always for her kids. But they were gone too now, and it was all her fault. As these thoughts went around and around in her head. As what Calypso said spun with she felt, she began to feel hopeless. She fell to her knees and started crying great sobbing wails of frustration. How was she supposed to survive this living hell she found herself in? Then Nisselila came over and hugged her. She was crying to because she could Diane's turmoil, and pain. But she had been listening to what Calypso said and she knew it wasn't as hard a thing as Diane thought. Diane could feel the hope building inside of Nisselila's heart. She picked her head up of her should and looked at her with a question on her face. Nisselila laughed because she found the answer so simple she couldn't see how Diane didn't see it.
"We must free all the slaves." Nisselila said with a giggle.
"But how I am not a great warrior, I am no warrior at all...." Diane said dejected.
"That is ok Mistress I know where we can make you one." she said hiding her smile behind her hand
"And where is that?" Diane asked her curiosity peaked
"In the battle arena" Nisselila said flying up into the air letting out a full body laugh.