These races are to be apprehended on sight, even if there is no warrant. They are too dangerous to be allowed amongst the general populace, due to their highly powerful nature and propensity for mayhem.

  -Draconians are property of the Empire. Any of them that go missing must be retrieved.

  -Arachne typically live alone and away from people, but due to their nature as demonspawn, they must be apprehended if spotted. Too dangerous.

  -Lycanthropes are highly unpredictable. Especially ones that aren’t werewolves, rare as they may be. Their animalistic urges may drive them to commit terrible crimes.

  -Hengeyokai are similar to lycanthropes, however, their ability to shift at will makes them even more dangerous. If you suspect one is about the premises, report to the nearest Iron Watch garrison and it will be investigated.

  Take care to leave them alive if possible. They could be useful assets.

  -Dossier of the Gaian Empire

  Arandia was bored. Not that that was unusual for her.

  It had been a couple months since she’d been locked in this cell, and she fucking hated every minute of it. She was no stranger to living in terrible conditions, but this was on a whole other level. At least outside she could kill whatever animal happened to be around for food. Here, she had to resort to eating rats because the food they gave was too little for someone of her size.

  Hope I didn’t finally eat all of them. Then I’ll really be up shit creek… should have spaced them out a little bit. FUCK.

  She tapped her eight legs in agitation, in a clockwise motion. They couldn’t even have the decency to give her a cellmate. The only time anyone bothered to talk to her was when they were delivering her food, or when the asshole warden came to rub his nose in her misfortune. She often fantasized about getting out of that cell and beating him to a bloody pulp- such thoughts of spite were her biggest motivator right now.

  Well, besides getting out and getting a real fucking meal for once…

  Speaking of, Arandia realized that nobody had come to deliver her lunch yet. Maybe they were busy. Or maybe they were trying to starve her to keep her docile. If they wanted me dead, they would have just killed me already… I must be too valuable. Jokes on them, if they think they can recruit ME, I’d rather strangle myself with my own webs.

  She’d tried breaking out. Several times. Sadly, despite her considerable strength, the cell was built too solidly to get out. Three walls of heavy stone, and one made of metal bars too small to even fit an arm through.

  One time she’d almost gotten somewhere, using a thread of webbing slipped through the gaps to catch a guard who got too close, but that hadn’t gone very well either. I’m sure the food will get here… might as well take a nap until it does-

  She stopped ruminating. Something was off. A sound. Faint, but getting closer. Her hunter’s instinct hadn’t dimmed, even after months in a shitty stone cell.

  Footsteps. Loud ones, too.

  “The hell is that…” she muttered. Bad enough that i’m locked in here, now they can’t even let me sleep?!

  The sound of armored footsteps harangued the trio as they rushed through the passages, pushing them forward.

  “Usagi, where’s the exit?! We need to get out of here!!” Rex growled, trying to hide his frustration. Damn this armor! It wasn’t made for long-distance running!!

  And yet, despite him carrying heavy armor and a huge axe, Celeste was somehow even more winded than he was. “Asteron… give me strength…” She panted, looking even paler than before.

  Usagi was the farthest ahead, but stopped in the middle of the hallway suddenly, nearly making Rex bump into him in the process. “Hm… There are guards up ahead, and behind us… I have an idea. Quickly, hide in there!” He pointed to a large, banged up door on the nearby wall… with a sign that said ‘Maximum Security Prisoner! Enter At Your Own Risk!!’

  Rex turned to Usagi, snapping “THIS is your idea of a plan?! Throwing ourselves into a dragon’s den to escape a wolf?!”

  Usagi shrugged. “I’m not hearing any better ideas, your majesty, unless you plan on facing all of those guards at once? By all means, me and the elf could certainly escape, and your sacrifice would be appreciated.”

  “Well, there’s… I…” As Rex struggled to prove himself right, a sly grin appeared on Usagi’s face. “FINE.” He spat, at a loss. “But if whatever’s in there is hungry, YOU’RE on the-”

  The door slamming behind Usagi cut off Rex mid-rant. Blasted rabbit. Insubordination, I say! If I wasn’t desperate… I’d- I’d do something unpleasant that I’d think of later!! He quickly followed, yanking Celeste in behind him.

  What the FUCK?!

  Three people had just barged into the room where her cell was, and slammed the door. There was no chance of her getting back to sleep now, not after all that racket.

  She took stock of the motley crew before her. A dragonborn with a heavy-looking axe, an elf with a valuable-looking staff, and a harengon with no weapon at all. Couldn’t get more different if you tried.

  The hell? Why would they hide in HERE? There’s no space to get out… No secret exits, nothing. Gods know I’ve tried.

  An idea came to her. Wait. The big guy looks strong enough. Maybe he can break down these fucking bars and get me out of here…

  Yeah. Yeah, it’s unlikely, but it’s not like I have any better options at the moment…

  The room inside the door was mostly barren, except for a large metal gate covered in locks on the back wall, which closed off a large, dark cell.

  “I don’t think they’ve noticed us…” Celeste was peering through the viewing hole in the door, her normally annoyingly chipper voice a rare whisper. “Phew! That was close… Any more running and I would have melted in this robe!!” Rex gritted his teeth, struggling to fire back that he was wearing armor, and thus had far more of a right to complain about sweating.

  “Thankfully they don’t seem to be coming in here…” Usagi muttered. “Perhaps they’re afraid of what lies inside, heh.”

  “No other exits. Argh!!” Rex growled. “Now we’re trapped-”

  “Hey! You three!” A low voice rang out over the din of guard footsteps, interrupting him, which seemed to be a theme lately. Rex turned around, but couldn’t see whoever it was.

  “In the big cell. C’mere.”

  The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  Rex could barely see in the back of the cell, much less who was inside, given that it had no lights inside. Straining, he could catch a few glimpses- a flash of white hair, a glint of red.

  “Well, get to the point then. Who are you?”

  What was obvious was the shape- whoever was in there was far bigger than a normal person.

  “I’ll cut you a deal. Let me out of here, and I’ll get you out of this place.” The prisoner grunted.

  “Oh, I’m sure she’s nice! If she’s locked up by the Empire, that must mean she’s on the side of good!!” Celeste chimed in.

  “That logic… doesn’t… whatever.” Rex shook his head. This… seems too good to be true. Why would anyone willingly get into a brawl like this, when the chance to get recaptured is so high?

  Rex turned to Usagi, who was busy checking the room for anything useful- or valuable. “...Usagi, would you happen to know who this is? You’ve been in here for a while…”

  He shrugged. “Apologies, Highness, I haven’t been anywhere near this area. This one’s a total mystery to me- though, if she was tossed in the maximum security cell, she must be a spicy customer indeed, heh heh.”

  “That’s one way of putting it.” The prisoner grunted. “But you’re trapped, and unless you can teleport or something, I’m your only chance.”

  Rex narrowed his eyes. There’s no way that this person just wants freedom. There must be a reward on the line, or something… “What do you want? Money? Power? There must be something.”

  “Ha! Nah, not really. Though I wouldn’t turn any of that down if you were so inclined. I just can’t break out of these fucking bars. You wouldn’t happen to have the keys, would ya?”

  Rex groaned. “No… unfortunately… but the rabbit might be able to pick the locks…”

  Usagi peered at the almost comical number of locks on the door. “Hm. That’s a lot of them. I probably COULD take care of this, but it would take too long, and we’d definitely be caught before then…”

  “Guys, I think they’re coming- OW!!” Celeste’s shrill voice cut off the commiserating, making Rex jump.

  “I can’t look away from you for FIVE MINUTES-” As he turned around, Rex’s words caught in his throat, and whatever threat he was going to spew was left unsaid- for the view of the wide open door and the troop of guards outside replaced his anger with nerves.

  Celeste, meanwhile, was totally unaware of this, having been smacked in the face by the opening door. “Ow- ow, ow! Asteron, why didn’t you warn me??”

  A pudgy elf with a large mustache- both rare traits for elvish folk- stepped forward, a long, extravagant cape trailing behind him. “So you’re the miscreants who thought you’d escape! A bold scheme, I’ll grant you that!”

  “Now, you’ve got two choices. Either give up and go back to your cell quietly, or be cut down by the great Captain Padrag and his guards. What’ll it be?” He grinned.

  Rex looked frantically around for anything that he could use. Celeste was currently trying to stop a nosebleed from the door, and Usagi was busy waiting for anyone else to make the first move. Argh! This day wasn’t supposed to escalate this quickly. As loathe as I am to admit it, I can’t fight my way through all of those soldiers… So then…

  “Offer’s still good, you know.” said the prisoner. “And it doesn’t seem like you have any better ideas…”

  Rex groaned. We’re out of options, and I don’t have the luxury of picking my bedfellows right now!!

  “Fine! Get back, it’s going to get hot in there!!” Rex inhaled, before belching a mighty burst of flame at the metal bars- not hot enough to melt them straight away… but certainly hot enough to weaken them! The prisoner didn’t even flinch in the face of his burning breath.

  “Oh, I get it. All right… GANGWAY!!” The prisoner yelled.

  Before Rex could process it, a huge shape rushed forward and slammed against the bars, sending the pieces scattering everywhere with a thunderous clang!!

  As the dust cleared, a large shape loomed in the blackness of the dingy cell.

  “Fucking FINALLY, I get to get out of that awful cell!!”

  The prisoner strode out, having to duck under the low door- and suddenly, Rex understood why she wasn’t in a normal cell.

  Her lower half was that of an enormous hairy spider, each leg ending in a sharp claw, making loud clacks as she made her way into the hall. Where the spider’s face would be, there were vaguely-leg shaped mandibles. Above that was a large woman’s torso, muscular and covered in scars. A wild mane of unkempt white hair framed her face- which had four pure red eyes.

  Rex could scarcely believe his eyes. The mystery woman towered over everyone in the room easily. And Rex was not used to being towered over. Stretching her arms and many legs, she shook off the dust from herself. “Finally, I get to stretch a little bit, that place was WAY too small for-”

  “The-THE MAXIMUM SECURITY PRISONER HAS ESCAPED! ARANDIA’S OUT OF HER CELL!!” The warden spoke up, his voice wavering for a moment. She turned around, glaring at him like he was a yappy little dog that tried to bite a tiger.

  “I’ll help you people in one minute…” She cracked her knuckles. “But first, I gotta teach this ASSHOLE a lesson.” She turned around, her crimson eyes filled with rage.

  Arandia quickly looked around, taking stock of her new situation. Okay, let me think…

  There’s a fair amount of guards outside here, but they’re all terrified of me- the warden’s the only one who’s making them so bold.

  Take care of HIM, and all the others should run away with their tails between their legs. Cut off the head, and the body goes limp…

  Arandia grinned. Finally, I get some FUCKING PAYBACK!

  “Eep!! Get back in your cell, and we won’t have to-” Before the warden could finish, Arandia had rushed across the hall with startling speed and grabbed him by his cape, hoisting him up like a ragdoll!

  Rex was dumbfounded. How can someone that large move so fast?!

  “Won’t have to WHAT?” She laughed. “The only reason you FUCKS were so smug is because I couldn’t break that goddamn gate down.” She raised her fist, a grin of satisfaction spreading across her face, her pointed teeth bared. “Now you’re gonna get as good as you gave, asshole!!”

  The warden panicked, covering his face. “Wait! I’ll give you anything!! Please, let me go!! I didn’t mean any of that, I swear-” his begging was cut off by her fist barreling straight into his stomach.

  “Go! Fuck! Your! Self! You! Prissy! Piece! Of SHIT!!” She delivered an additional punch after every word, and after the last one, she tossed the now unconscious warden to the ground, with a final spiteful spit for good measure. Brushing her hair out of her face, she breathed a sigh of satisfaction, before glaring at the rest of the soldiers, her pointed teeth flashing in the light.

  “What’re you looking at? If you want a piece of me, you’d better hurry up, before I rip off a piece of YOU.”

  After a long pause, the soldiers got the hint, and ran away screaming, while the spider woman grinned. “Yeah, you’d BETTER run. Assholes!!”

  Rex was gobsmacked by the spectacle that had just occurred before him, unable to tear his gaze away from her.

  …Finally, an actually competent fighter… She had him knocked out in less than a minute, with no weapons or armor! My luck’s beginning to turn!!

  “...fuuuuck me, that felt so good.” She turned to the others. “Let’s get outta this place before more come back.”

  She could probably break me in half- well, if I didn’t have my weapons, anyway-

  Catching Rex’s gaze, she narrowed her eyes. “What, never seen an arachne before?”

  “No! I mean…your… uh… your strength is impressive… ” Rex stammered.

  “Whatever.” Arandia grunted, before focusing her attention to the now-bloodied warden, leaving Rex cursing his tied tongue. “Ooh, that looks good… I’m just gonna take… this!” She bent down and lifted the warden’s scimitar off his unconscious body. Glancing it over for a moment, she grinned. “Oh, yeah, that’s a nice sword. Curved scimitar, gold handle… better in MY hands than yours. Ha!”

  “Oh my, what a lucky coincidence.” Usagi spoke up. “Arandia Reclusa, the renowned mercenary… wanted in many countries for thievery, property damage, drunken disorderliness-”

  Slamming one of her thick legs just a hair’s breadth away from Usagi to cut him off, Arandia growled “Hey, rabbit. Better shut your ass up if you want to keep your feet.”

  “...point taken, ma’am.” The normally unflappable Usagi actually looked intimidated for once, which Rex took note of. Celeste, having staggered to her feet and plugged up her nose with a scrap of the warden’s cape, looked back and forth between Rex and Arandia, before whispering in his ear.

  “Oh, wow, do you like her?? You’ve only just met, how SCANDALOUS!!” Celeste gasped.

  “THAT’S NOT WHAT’S HAPPENING HERE-” Rex yelled back, before getting cut off by Arandia’s verbal blue streak. She had gotten her large abdomen stuck in the doors to the cell, struggling to get out.

  “Argh, this FUCKING door! I hate these!! They’re! All! TOO! GODDAMN! SMALL!!!” After a desperate straining grunt. She groaned. “Someone back there, give me a push, will ya?!”

  Rex sighed, and gathered his strength for this. Usagi, meanwhile, was trying desperately to contain his laughter.