Venturing below, the females encountered a set of tunnels leading off in various directions, after spending considerable time in the underground it began to dawn for them that it had been made to disorient any intruder. While they had met resistance in the form of various monsters who was guarding the underground tunnels. While they had not been fighting in a setting they would have preferred, no monster sentry had provided any significant threat. Especially since they had made their advance only after activating their hexcraft powers.

While they had gotten several smaller wounds and scratches from these encounters, the bleeding had quickly stopped. The healing ability of a witch was much faster than on any ordinary person, and would become invisible without a trace after only a single day. After a few more encounters with the underground beasts, it started to dawn to Lillithira that while they had claws and fangs that could be a serious threat to any opponent, they never would attack any vital point, in fact these monsters didn\u0027t attempt to kill or cause serious harm at all.

After a few more encounters with the guardian beasts it started to dawn to Lillithira that the guardian beasts did not try to kill or maim them, but rather appeared to capture or delay them from venturing further. After so many battles, they started to feel fatigue. But just as they started to consider to go back, they found an entrance that did lead further down into a deeper level. \u0027If we can\u0027t find any of those people on the next level, we\u0027ll just have to give up and go back up again.\" Lillithira said and walked down the stairs. As they descended, they noted a change of their surroundings. The dimly lit passageways gradually transformed into wide rooms. The walls no longer made from rock and earth, but now polished and decorated. The ceiling also got higher, where hanging light fixtures provided a warm light. Those light had the vials filled with spell oil, which spread a pleasant smell and made hubble-bubble sounds as it burned. Luxurious furniture and thick carpets could be seen in every room, where each one appeared to have been set apart for various purposes.

Presumably, this were living quarters for the stranger, while the previous floor had served as a defensive courtyard to repel any intruder. The furniture and various utensils and tools that could be seen gave the impression that someone had lived here for many years. A fact that had Lillithira wonder, if this place with such an apparent age and aesthetics, actually could have been built only short time ago. \u0027Now while I don\u0027t know the identity of this other party,\u0027 Lillithira thought to herself and shook her head as if she tried to clear her mind. \u0027Is anything such even possible for a mere mortal?\u0027 Her thought was interrupted by Tona who blurted out. \"Amazing, I\u0027ve never seen anything like this. But I\u0027m sure these things come from the capital. I\u0027d really like to go there some day.\" Her voice filled by awe and curiosity. \"Tona, do not for a moment forget what we are. If they discover that you\u0027re a witch in the Divine city, you will never be allowed to leave again.\" Lillithira chastised Tona for her naïvety, while she continued to search the area. \"What? Would I get arrested even if I committed no crime?\" \"What can I say, things are not what they used to be. While I haven\u0027t heard of any witches that have gotten arrested or imprisoned lately. But even if you\u0027re innocent, once the queen has laid eyes on you, they will get you. No witch is innocent in the eyes of the Queen.\"

The two continued to search the area while they tried not to make any more noise. They encountered another stairwell, but this one had thick bars, preventing them from going further down. Lillithira started to wonder about the extent of this underground complex. As they continued their search, they encountered a room filled with objects neither of them had ever seen before.

Inside they found piles of various materials, cupboards filled with locked boxes, vessels filled with colorful liquids, minerals and plants.in the following room they found a library, filled not only with paper books but also texts o thin crystal and metal plates. And a statue of a woman that had small writing on all parts of the surface. On a table they found one item that looked like a thin sheet of ice, where glowing letters flashed and moved under the surface. In front of it, there is a very precise finger instrument. On the top of the shelves there was boxes that appeared to be made from foggy ice, while the girls could not see clearly, they thought they looked like small dolls but with the bodies contorted in weird positions, as if they had been warped by some tool or apparatus.

Further in they found a room that smelled of metal, here they encountered a furnace, cauldron and an anvil. There were also various molds and huge devices with a purpose they were unable to fathom. In addition they encountered a tank with a multitude of pipes which held a liquid that smelled oddly sweet.

Tona\u0027s eyes went wide when she found several gorgeous outfits in one mirrored costume room. Some of the dresses jeweled and floral, others was bizarre garments made of materials they never seen before, and certainly would not protect anyones modesty. Oddly shaped armor, some of which was twisted in ways that did not appear very useful. There were also some creepy dress that didn\u0027t look very clothing-like. Tona stared at the variety of available clothing, her mouth open in a stupor. And she would only reluctantly leave the clothing closet when Lillithira urged her on.

Now and then they noticed a dark figure standing in the corners of a room. These had white masks and was dressed in black capes. But as they would not move, and only would stare out in the distance, they assumed those were dolls. At one point they jumped when they thought the neck of one doll had moved, but this did not happen again. But after this incident they moved more cautiously.

When the two witches started to think they had searched everywhere, they found a long passageway leading away from the rest of the complex. At the end they encountered a door made of thick metal, at first they thought this room would be the site for dangerous experiments, but when they looked trough a small inspection hole they could see several men imprisoned inside. While they appeared to be strong men, they were shackled by the legs and chained to an iron ring on the floor.

Next to the door they noted winches, pulleys and wheels with chains hanging down with rings at the end. By pulling and turning those winches, the chains attached to the shackles would become shorter and the men\u0027s movements would be even more restricted. There were also unused shackles in the room, and the size of those appeared too large for any man. With such a heavy door and oversized fetters, the original purpose of this prison might not have been to detain humans, perhaps it had been made to keep the kind of monsters that the females had encountered on the upper floor. Peering trough the small hole in the door they found that the men also wore shackles on their wrists. The six men, the same number that had gone missing from the gang cheered excitedly when they saw the two witches appear in front of them.

\"Are you…. you here to rescue us!\" The man who had spoken had a silver horn on his temple. Lillithira felt a sense of discomfort when she watched the man. His expression was unfathomable, not quite what to expect from a person who would show relief of being released from captivity. But she also knew that a person from a different culture might show expressions that would be hard to interpret, so she shrugged the notion off and asked. \"How did you end up here, who captured you people?\" The man with the silver horn replied. \"We never got a good look at him, but he was a scrawny fellow. One day he came to our camp and asked us if we wished to earn a nice coin, and then he brought us with him. We ended up in the forest where we were attacked by monsters, and then were captured and brought here. And that\u0027s just the way it happened!\" Whatever truth there was to this story, the two witches felt relief of the prospect of being able to rescue the men before they became subjects of horrible experiments. \"If you two didn\u0027t meet him while you went down here, then he shouldn\u0027t be home right now, right? But we don\u0027t know when he\u0027ll be back. Please, can we make a quick get away here?\" the man with the silver horn implored while looking down at his shackles. The man was right, it could be considered very lucky to get them out without fighting the dungeon master. This was the enemy\u0027s home base, and it would definitely be very disadvantageous having to fight him and the monster guards at the same time. The best way was get the men unshackled and perhaps made them join forces and ascent back to the surface as soon as possible.

The witches looked around and found two sets of keys hanging on the wall near the door. Picking up one set of keys Lillithira found that each of the set was as long as her little finger without teeth on the outside. They all looked somewhat like a pin for insertion, but each slightly different. Lillithira assumed the set was for the manacles, and looked for some kind of marks to tell which fetter each was supposed to be use for, but could not see anything.

She took the second set, and found the key to the prison door, and unlocked it. A creaking sound of ungreased metal echoed trough the long hallway. Walking inside she brushed the dangling chains to the side with her hand to look closely at the shackles she did find that each had a small keyhole. To remove the fetters, she would have to try each and every key one by one to see which one would open the lock. \"This will take too much time Tona! Lets work together, you try with some keys on another cuff.\" They placed their weapons on the floor and Lillithira handed some of the keys over to Tona, and then crouched down by the feet of a man and began to try the keys. Both of them exhausted after having to fight their way trough the first level, and they had been using quite some of the witch power as it had been activated for quite a while by now. So to give it a rest and a chance to recharge for whatever what they might encounter while returning to the surface, they decided to release the power for the time being. And finding the right key to unlock everyone\u0027s shackles would definitely take time.

She sighted softly, and then touched the lower part of their belly. The pulsing power in her womb ceased, and her perception of her surroundings began to return to normal, as the wondrous power was absorbed back into the womb. \"I might accidentally have broken a key here .\" Tona said, she was not very good of delicate work in ordinary circumstances, and she realised that having the hex increase her strength even further was not a very good idea. So also she touched the mark on her lower abdomen to recall the witch power before resuming her attempts to open the shackles. Lillithira tried the keys one by one and it took many attempts before she finally managed to unlock one manacle that held the mans leg. She decided not to unlock any shackles on any man yet, and focus on the leg irons. So that if the was underground lord appeared, they would at least be able to use their legs in an attempt to flee.

Lillithira leaned forward again, and continued the tedious work of trying all keys on the next man. At this point she did feel a bit of liquid trickling down her thigh. It must have been excessive fluid from using the Hex so much she told herself. Lilithra\u0027s blushed and squeezed her legs together while hoping that none of the men would notice. Eventually the second man\u0027s fetters came off, and the process was repeated by third and also the fourth man had his legs released. One of the men went up on his feet and walked up to the door and started to look out at the passage to see if anyone were coming, while three others waited in front waiting to have their fettered hands unlocked. As one more man was released from his shackles, Lillithira heard a clicking sound.

Her first thought was that it was Tona who had released yet another prisoner, but she was immediately aware of a cold sensation on the throat. And then realised that one of the heavier shackles that had been on the floor now was locked around her own slender neck. For a moment Lillithira was completely confused by the sudden change of the situation. She considered the possibility that she accidentally had put her own neck in the dangling collar when she moved around. But the manacle on her neck had a chain that passed trough a ring in the floor, it simply could not have happened by accident.

Lillithira looked at Tona who stood with a confused look in her face, and found that also she now had a heavy metal collar around her neck. She span around to look at the men, only to see they now were grinning, and the shackles that had held the hands of the few that remained now unlocked, as each man held a key of their own in their hands. A rattling sound started to be heard, and the chain began be pulled and reel in. Lillithira tried to regain her footing, but the chain had already become too short. She fell to her knees, her hands groping around the iron collar, trying to prevent the pressure against her throat. And looking for a means to open it, but no clasp or mechanism could be found, it seemed the collar, like the shackles, could only be opened with one of the small keys. As the chain was pulled tight trough the ring in the floor, Lillithira got strangled, and in a flash she were on her knees with the head close to the floor. She look up sidewise to find that the man who had been pretending to keep a lookout at the door, had been operating the machinery to wind up the chains. She realise that no one had been lost or missing, that they had been lured into a trap. A play staged by the owner of the dungeon with the men in the prison used as bait.

How despicable! Anger welled up inside her, but it was juxtaposed by one ominous sinking feeling of grief of the duplicity. It had been a cunning ruse, and must have been planned in detail to haul them in step by step, first by the idea that several persons had gone missing, then having them exhaust themselves by using their hexcraft in fighting, and last the final step with a mental challenge in finding the right keys. Where they would be forced to discard their magic ability to be able to carry out the delicate task with the locks. While the owner of the dungeon had not yet met the two witches, he already had learned all about them and their habits from the inhabitants of the settlement, and he certainly was someone who was very cunning and knew the abilities and traits of witches very well.

\"Curse you! I will never forgive this treachery!\" Tona yelled furious of having been taken advantage of, she was so agitated that she did not budge to the tightening chain. But her hind legs got caught by a rope, that the men had picked down from the wall, and she lost her foothold. Their handiwork was very quick, not surprisingly as they all wee hunters skilled at tying up any rampaging beast they had managed to capture. Tona was momentarily dazed as she fell down, while the pull on her chain on her neck tightened even further. Before she could scramble to regain her posture and while her front arms still were free, the weight of the horse body had her immobilized. She could only desperately hold on to the collar with both hands and endure. \"Uhrrrgh!\" A moan of mixed bitterness and frustration escaped from Tona\u0027s mouth. By now the men had picked up the manacles and prepared to restrain them further. \u0027This is not good at all,\u0027 Lillithira thought to herself. While she still had the set of keys in her hand. She knew that she might have an opportunity to remove the collar later. But she did not intend matters to progress further, she had to deal with the men right now. She released the grip her left hand had on the metal collar and let it slip down to her abdomen, reaching for the mark to activate the Hex once again.

But as her fingers started to trace the pattern of the mark, the man with the silver horn grabbed her wrist. There was no time to resist, the collar pulled tightly on her neck until she was dazed and gasped for air. The man used the opportunity to force her slender wrists to her back. She struggled with all her might, but without the power of her Hex, Lilithira had no more strength than an ordinary teenage girl. So the strong arms of the hunter effortlessly hold her hands on her back as a second man locks the manacles in place. The men released their grip, and she try not to waste the opportunity. She struggles frantically with her hands behind her back, ragged breaths wheezing from her mouth. \u0027Ah, hiss!\u0027 But no matter how she twist her body and extend the fingers, she\u0027s unable to reach the mark on her lower belly. Beside her, Tona was grabbed by two other men and while she continued to resist desperately, but unlike her lower body was strong, her arms were no more than of a human woman. Eventually, with a cold sound, her hands get locked in manacles as well. Kneeling with the hands on her back, and the face pressed against the floor, Lillithira\u0027s situation became even more distressing as the chain continued to be pulled in. She was soon forced to crawl with minute movements of her knees, face down scraping the floor, to get even closer to the ring in the floor with her hips raised up exposing her private parts. \u0027Ungh!\u0027 The humiliation of her posture makes her moan, by the time she reach the end the collar and metal ring meets, Lillithira is left kneeling completely unable to move her body, the only part with a small degree of freedom is her hands that struggles frantically behind her back, ragged breaths leaking from her mouth. The men collect all the keys, their weapons and armor and bring the items out of reach in a corner of the room.

When Lillithira continue to curse the men with a resentful voice, one of them responds by pulling a device made from two balls connected by leather straps from his pocket. \"Open your mouth,\" the man said as he approach. She realise that the item is a gag, but while one of the balls have a strap going trough on both sided, the second ball is slightly smaller and hangs from the first one hangs slack by a single leather cord. With her hands fettered on her back, she would have no means of removing the gag.

While the usual means for a witch to activate her power is to touch the mark on her belly, but some witches can also activate the power without touching. And that was to recite the words of a long song and that reaches the womb in a stream of blood. it was however a method that required concentration, something Lillithira did not have at this very moment. If their captors would leave them alone, they might get a chance of trying. But if they were gagged, also that means to escape would be lost. But it appeared that the men already had been told about the secret abilities the witch posses from the dungeon master. \"You better obey me now.\" The man said and slapped Lillithira\u0027s raised buttocks hard as it was thrust up high. \u0027Ugh!\u0027 But no matter how hard she was spanked, Lillithira kept her mouth stubbornly shut. And the jaw is the strongest part of the body, and therefore difficult to force open against someone wish. When the men realised that she would not comply, he brought a pair of flat jaw pliers with a sharp edge. The men grabbed Lyricilla\u0027s hair and pulled to have her look up, then they parted her lips rudely with their fingers and pushed the tool between her upper and lower teeth. No matter how hard she tried to resist, the tool now slowly opened her mouth. \u0027Argh!\u0027 As Lillithira\u0027s mouth was forced open, she felt a sharp pain as her jaw nearly dislocated. And the man easily inserted the muzzle gag in place. The balls inserted in her mouth as her jaws was more wide than what she could ever open them on her own. When the tool was pulled out from between her teeth, she did bite down naturally on the larger front ball by the natural pressure of her own jaws. She tried desperately to push the ball out with her tongue, but it did not have the force to push it past her teeth. Unable to remove the gag Lillithira had to yield to the situation that she never would be able to spit the ball out of her mouth. The man brought the leather straps around her head, and then secured it in place behind her head with a click, locking it in place so that it never could be removed. \u0027Uuumm!\u0027 No matter how Lillithira tried to shout out her protest, only meaningless hums could be heard. Her power witch powers blocked and her freedom to speak had now been taken away.

Watching her struggle on the floor, the men finally noted that she was wet between her legs. \"Hey! Now what? Are you getting excited of being treated like this?\" To the men\u0027s eyes, she was nothing more than a collared and bound female who were shamelessly wetting herself from the excitement of being unable to defend herself. She could only listen as the men laughed and humiliated her with taunts and mocking insults. \u0027\u0027Ugh. Ughhhh...! From now on, this crypt was no longer a prison for beasts or men, and it was destined to become a torture chamber for the two witches.

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