Erika sat on the small wooden bench that was afforded her and her companion in their cell. The dank dungeon smelled of mold and the only source of light was a flickering torch at the far end of the room where the guard sat. This is how they treat their heroes? I've been in here for god knows how long. she sighed and turned to her companion, Peter.

"Think they'll ever let us out of here? Why haven't they killed us yet? I just don't understand why they even bothered summoning us to this world if they were just going to toss us away and forget about us," she sighed. 

Peter was chained to the wall of the cell and had enormous weights strapped around his ankles that didn't allow him to move hardly at all. He turned toward her. "I don't know... but if I ever get out of here, I'm going to save the city and end this corruption." He cracked his knuckles.

This 'heroic' idiot is delusional if he thinks they're ever going to let him out of those chains. Apparently the power he asked for was that of super strength. Even though he didn't look it, he was insanely strong. When he told the priestess of his power, they drugged him with some wine and then he awoke down here in chains, or so he said. He had been here longer than she had. 

Erika hadn't made the same mistake when she appeared in the church, however. She had been living homeless on the streets of San Francisco for two years and had developed a healthy mistrust of people. Her power, shape-shifting, would allow her to take on the form of anyone she wanted. She didn't want to let that fact be known, however, and simply told the priestess her power had been invisibility. That was when they grabbed her and placed her in this cell. 

The fools didn't even force her to display her ability, they just left her here to rot. If she was lucky, then she'd have her chance at escape someday. Until then, at least she had a blanket and the castle was relatively warm. They even brought the two of them decent food twice a day. The place was practically the Ritz as far as she was concerned.

The sound of the door creaking at the end of the hallway could be heard. Time for the guards to change again already? It's too soon, isn't it? she thought as several people entered the small space and began walking her way. This isn't going to be good. I'm only going to have one chance at this, especially since there's a good chance they're finally going to execute us.

Erika moved back over to the bench and reached down, grabbing the long sliver she had broken off of it over a period of days. Her fingers had bled from the effort, but she was happy she had done it. She slid the chunk of pointy wood into her sleeve and waited.

The on-duty guard along with three others came to the door of their cell and their leader inserted a key into the lock. "Okay, heroes, it's time to go."

She couldn't count on Peter for help, he was too locked down. It's up to me. I'm our only chance at escape here. I hope this goes as planned. If not... then at least I tried. 

When the guard came in and tried to grab her, she slid the wood out of her sleeve and with a quick motion stabbed it into the surprised man's throat. He reached up and grasped at the makeshift weapon, but it didn't matter. He was as good as dead.

"Don't just stand there you fools, get her!" 

Two more guards entered the cell and were holding their swords. Erika hadn't ever trained with any weapons, of course, but she had played pretend with her brothers as a child and could definitely swing one around. She pulled out the downed guard's sword and lunged for the one closest to her. He tried to block, but she was small and nimble and her faint had worked just as she had planned. She spun to the side and slashed the man in the back of his kneecap. He fell to the ground screaming and dropped his weapon.

They need to train their soldiers better. She wasted no time at all and stabbed at the third guard. He parried her blow and then they began to smash their blades against one another in a fury of blows. Her arms weren't as strong as his and she was getting tired. I need to end this, fast. There's still another guard out there as well! 

The guard she was fighting landed a scratch on her cheek which stung like hell. She screamed in rage and managed to get in close and drive her blade through the man's stomach. He slumped forward and knocked her over with his sheer weight. Fuck me! 

"Nice try, hero." The fourth guard stepped inside confidently.

Erika couldn't get out from underneath the corpse, but she was able to grab his keys. She yanked the key ring free from the man's belt and slid them over toward Peter; the stupid guard didn't even notice what she had done. Peter was fumbling with the keys for a moment while the guard loomed over her with his blade at her throat.

"We were going to execute you in a civilized manner with a guillotine, but I'm sure the Emperor will understand." He pulled his arm back in preparation for stabbing her when suddenly a large foot caught him right in the middle and sent him flying with tremendous force against the bars of the cell. The guard fell limply to the ground of the cell and Peter bent down and lifted the corpse off of her.

"Thanks. You just had to wait until the last second though, eh?" she smiled.

"You know me. Heroes always have to save the day at the last possible second."

She got to her feet and examined all of the guards that were present. One of them was about her height and she activated her power. Her body transformed and she even had the appearance of wearing the man's armor. This skill is sick! If we can get out of here, then they'll never catch me again.

"You're going to need to put at least one of those leg chains on again if we wanna get out of here." She was happy to hear that her voice had changed to match the guard she was now impersonating. That important detail would likely be integral to their escape if someone stopped them. She grabbed the man's sword and belted it on; noting that it didn't interfere with the magical illusion.

Peter complied with her request and the two of them headed for the exit. This was Erika's first time using her power and she only hoped that it wouldn't suddenly stop working. She opened the dungeon door and peeked outside. 

There wasn't anything to see other than some stone steps leading upward in a spiral. She turned back and motioned for her companion to follow. Before long they reached another door and she peeked outside again. There weren't any guards in sight that she could see and it appeared that the door opened up into a large hallway. It's time to test my luck. 

Erika went back inside the stairway and filled Peter in on her plan. Then she transformed once more; this time into the priestess, Selene. She looked down at herself and saw that she was a perfect recreation what she had seen of the woman when she first arrived in this world. A long braid hung down the front of her over her shoulder and she wore ornate white robes. "Let's do this, Peter." She turned and opened the door once more and walked proudly into the next area with her companion close behind. 

Now that she had a better look at the place, she recognized this area as the entryway to the castle. There were stairs leading up two levels to one side of them and large wooden doors that would get them to freedom in the opposite direction. This is a piece of cake! She turned toward the exit and walked straight toward the doors when they suddenly slammed open. 

A muscular man in plate armor stepped through the doorway with a massive war hammer over one shoulder that he held with one hand. He stared at her with piercing dark green eyes and she did her best to pretend to be important by staring right back at him. "What are you doing out here with the prisoner, Selene?"

She didn't know who this man was, but everyone else seemed to bend to their knees around the woman she was now imitating. She had to think quick. "I'm taking the prisoner to his execution. There was a little trouble in the dungeon, so we already executed the girl."

The man eyed her suspiciously. He brushed his free hand through his short auburn hair and then circled around her. "You know, I've never trusted you one bit, witch. What you're doing is against protocol and more importantly I don't believe a word you just said. You'll need to come with me. We'll see what the Emperor has to say about this."

Erika's heart sank and she didn't know what else she could do. Fortunately, Peter wasn't as locked down as he might have appeared to be. He swung the heavy weight that was chained to his ankle by spinning in a circle. The makeshift weapon came within inches of smashing into the head of the man who blocked their path to freedom. 

Rather than being intimidated by Peter's strength, the man just chuckled in amusement. Peter tried to maneuver the weight at their opponent once more but this time the man swung his hammer as if it were a baseball bat and hit the projectile dead center. It exploded into dust and Peter fell backwards onto the floor. 

"Erika, run!" Peter got up and jumped onto the man, wrapping his arms around him tightly. She hesitated for a moment. We've got this guy. I don't need to run. I can finish this! She drew her sword and was going to attack when the man smashed a steel boot onto Peter's bare foot and followed up by smashing the top of his head into her companion's jaw. 

Peter hit the ground again with a sickening thud. The man didn't hesitate in the slightest as he casually brought the spiked end of the enormous hammer down onto Peter's chest, ending his life. Erika ran to the doors and outside as fast as she could. The man gave chase and she dodged random people as she headed toward the outer gate. Luckily, it stood open with only one guard next to it. 

"Stop her!" the man yelled from behind. 

She didn't slow and ran right past the confused guard who saw the man chasing the high priestess. Erika was now into the town proper and ran desperately into the crowd of people. She shape shifted several times into people she saw once she had a small lead on the man. Within another minute she had escaped and wore the form of a skinny balding man as she walked down toward the gate leading out of the city. I'm so sorry Peter. I really did want for both of us to get out of this mess alive. I'll never forget your sacrifice, you heroic idiot.