Escape

"How dare he?!" Aiden paced the cell they were given. The rest of his team mates tried to keep calm.

"I don't quite understand what he meant by bride" Anissa said.

"What else if not his play thing? He'll do everything he can to make the commander miserable instead of just killing her" Aiden said.

As the siblings went back and forth with their chatter, Riya glanced at Lillith.

"Lillith. There's something I have to ask you. I have no doubt everyone of us has that same question running through our minds right now.

Lilith continued to sit in silence at the far end of the cell.

"We have to find a way out of here" she said.

"Commander" Rachael called out.

All eyes were on her. The cell was dimly lit, she was unable to illuminate the cell with her flame magic because of the magic barriers on the cell.

"What does it matter if I was human before? I left that life a long, long time ago. I do not remember any of it. Do you all resent me now?!" Lillith yelled.

"We just wished you'd trust us enough to mention it even once." Riya said.

"I trust each and everyone of you in this room with my very life. Trust is not what it was about. I didn't deem it necessary" Lillith explained.

"How do we get out of here? That's the bigger issue at hand. I really don't care who was what. I swore to be your sword" Aiden said.

The rest of the team nodded in approval.

"Samael would want to make a show out of this. What he wants is to make us public examples of the fate awaiting demons that defy him" Lillith said.

"So, they'll come to take us to the most populated place in the capital. Where's that?" Rachael asked.

"The central square. According to the Intel Xander fed us" Lillith said.

"Are we still relying on him?" Aiden asked.

Anissa blankly stared at everyone, she has spaced off.

"He got us into Samael's fortress in the safest way possible. They issued a kill-on-sight order for us. We would have had some trouble if we fell into the wrong hands" Lillith said.

"back to the plan. When it's time for us to be escorted, we can kill them and steal their armor" Lillith added.

"Now this is a plan I like!" Aiden yelled.

"Brute, of course you'd like the plan" Riya said.

They laughed, all of them except Anissa who's silence was the noticed.

"Anissa, what is the matter?" Lillith asked.

Anissa didn't give a response, unlike her.

"She's probably just spacing off again" Aiden said, giving her a soft whack behind the head.

"There'll be death among us, there'll be death among us. I can feel my skin crawling" Anissa muttered.

The cell went quiet. She had brought up the part of the battle that they were trying to avoid. The reality of the battlefield.

"Do you not trust me, Anissa?" Lillith asked.

"I do. With my life" Anissa slowly expressed.

"I'll keep you all safe. Even if it costs me my own life. It's an oath I do not plan to break" Lillith reassured. The atmosphere of the room became warmer.

"This is quite the touching moment, warriors preparing for their final epic battle and having a heart warming conversation" a voice came from just outside the cell, followed by a round of subtle applause. It was Xander.

"You!" Aiden yelled.

"Keep your voice down, child" Xander said. He used a small magic circle to reconfigure the lock and the barrier vanished like it was never there.

"Up you go. We do not have the luxury of time, now do we?" He asked, wearing his signature mischievous smile on his face.

They stared at him in awe.

"You came" Lillith muttered.

"I told you, we want the same thing" Xander said.

"I've already cleared a path with diversions. We simply need exit this dungeon" he added.

"What happens then? How do we even kill a being like Samael?" Riya asked.

"You can't. not in more eons to come" Xander said.

"But?" Aiden asked, glaring at Xander.

"We can siphon off his powers, and trap him, we just need a powerful enough medium. I don't know what could work" Lillith said, stroking her hair in confusion.

"You already have one" Xander said, pointing into the cell at no one other than Anissa.

"Anissa? What do you mean?!" Lillith asked. Aiden could barely contain his temper, he squeezed his fists.

"That girl is easily the most powerful member of your bunch in terms of demonic aura storage. She is like a bottomless barrel. have you never wondered why she uses transportation magic so effortlessly?" Xander asked.

The room went quiet for a short moment.

"What are you implying?" Lillith asked.

"We have her steal Samael's power, then we seal it in her" he said, wearing a devilish grin.

"No, I won't allow it. It doesn't sound safe" Lillith said.

"We'll find another wa—"

"I'll do it" Anissa said, to everyone's surprise.

"What?" Aiden asked, his eyebrows bent into archs.

"I said I'll do it. This is what we want, we've battled all these years for this. A chance is here now. We have to take it" Anissa said.

"It puts you in harms way. How are we even sure you can contain all of his power? How are we sure general Xander here knows what he's saying?" Lillith questioned.

"I've been doing science way before humans even coined the term. We need not take away all of Samael's power, just enough of it to make him an average demon. She'll be fine" Xander said.

There were silent glances exchanged in the room.

"You better know what you're doing, Anissa. You're fragile. I don't want you blaming me when you see the face of death" Aiden said. He shoved Xander aside and exited the cell.

The rest followed.

"You go ahead, I'm right behind you. I need to make sure you don't get pursued from behind" Xander said.

They had left, he still stood by the cell.

"Aren't you coming along? you already know how this played out in the future, don't you?" He asked, looking directly at Ronnie.

"Won't you tell me?" Xander asked, but Ronnie didn't say a word to him.

Ronnie went right through him, following behind the rest of them.

"That child. I wonder who he is, and how he got his hands on such an object" Xander pondered.