Cautiously pressing the iron-bound door behind him, Argunthal stepped into the dim passage beyond. Nothing too unusual as dungeons went, dark stone, plenty of grime, and lit by the occasional torch sconce. Warily standing up a bit from his combat-ready crouch, he stood still, trying to make out a sign of the right direction to proceed. Hearing faint sounds from the right, he made his way down the hall, trying not to make too much noise with his bare feet.
The cool air felt somewhat pleasant, reducing the dripping sweat from his encounter with the demon seductress to the vaguely clammy coating familiar to anyone who's done hard work in the cold. The hall began to bend after a short distance, bringing the harsh echoes of a few voices into clearer focus. Argunthal halted, hoping to identify a friend or foe.
Two ugly, rather high-pitched male voices became more audible, the words becoming identifiable as he crept closer.
"Back down here again, eh? Wonder what she was up to this time."
"Beat a supervisor with a pickaxe, apparently. Shit, she's so tiny, how the hell did that happen? You've seen Marko, he's a guard, and apparently one of the smaller ones."
"Fuck if I know. What are we supposed to do about it, again?"
Another voice, feminine and melodic, joined the first two that Argunthal had decided were probably demons of some sort. He was now crouching a few paces away from a half-open door, listening as best he could.
"Don't you boys know? You're supposed to scare a little sense into her. Do a good job of it, too, it's rare I get to see anyone in action besides a brick-headed guard."
"They have bigger guys, why us?"
"Yeah, we're just imps, for fuck's sake! Let one of the guards do his own job for once."
The grumbling imps were cut off again by the third voice, taking on a more persuasive note now.
"They wouldn't send me down if this wasn't important, sillies. Now, are you going to wake her up, or are you going to make an office girl do it for you?"
The female demon was apparently quite effective, as Argunthal heard a small quarrel break out between the imps over who would do the job. A sharp slap rang out as their prisoner was brought uncomfortably to consciousness. A quick, rushed intake of breath resounded. Some unlucky woman was now awake.
"So, sweets, you know why you're here?"
Apparently the imps were just muscle, kept around while the administrator did her job.
The prisoner's response came in an icy tone that, while betraying great weariness, still had a note of steel to it.
"I'm here because I don't take orders from guards. Or from succubus whores like you."
A succubus. Argunthal couldn't help but wonder what she looked like after hearing Zalana's thoughts on the subject.
"You might come to regret that. Klurn and Harth will be more than happy to demonstrate why," the demon spoke, presumably gesturing to the two imps. "In fact, the only reason you're not being whipped to shreds right now is because we found something interesting in your corner of the cell."
This was followed by a sharp intake of breath.
"You- you found- what? I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about."
The quiver in the prisoner's voice was quickly covered back up with her former confidence, but she obviously had reason to be afraid. Given her attitude up to this point, she probably had real punishment to fear for whatever she'd been hiding.
"Oh, of course you don't. There just happened to be a set of lockpicks lying around the cell. Of course, that's not uncommon, but there was something different about yours. Feel like sharing with the class?"
Argunthal could practically see the cruel smirk on the face of the succubus, further evidenced by the twin chuckles that shortly followed.
"Actually, I think I'll tell you anyway. Those were perfectly shaped. From the ore you mined. Not only were you stealing it, but you somehow smelted it. Sugar, there's no furnace in that cell. You used magic."
"If that were true, I would have killed you with it by now. You have the wrong woman."
"Nice try. See that cute little collar? That's blocking any magic abilities you might have. That means that you're here, you're powerless, you're strapped to a table, and you're going to tell me what you know."
"Safe to say you're too dumb to understand most of it, slut," the prisoner growled back. "So you know I was plotting to escape. I'm not the first, and I'm not the first magic user, either. You're wasting your time."
"We know warrior's serum when we see it. You really should have been dead quite some time ago. No, you're a spy, and you probably think you're going to be some sort of hero and free everyone here. And that's just not acceptable. Honestly, management is tired of dealing with you. I think you can fill in the blank."
"Fine. Kill me."
Argunthal was impressed with her nonchalance, not to mention her apparent talents. In face, he wasn't sure he could simply stand there and let the demons have their way with her. He shuffled silently closer to the door, carefully peering into the room behind.