Her wrists shackled and strung up by a chain attached to the ceiling, resulting in her being suspended just off the ground; the tips of her boots barely touching the ground. She twitched as the rattling of armor echoed down the halls just outside her cell. With her hearing she could just barely make out the steps a guard took as he made his rounds throughout the prison. As he walked by her cell, the guard's piercing gaze shifted over to her, to which she remained unfazed, even with his intimidating red eyes.

“The great Lavinia doesn't seem so great now, does she?” he scoffed, holding a tone of arrogance over the dragoness. She remained unmoved by his words, just remaining quiet instead, her body not even twitching. Her silence didn't give the guard much to work with, and on orders, he was forbidden from entering her cell, everyone was because of a safety risk. Lavinia wasn't an ordinary dragoness, she was the only one who could match their leader equally in power and intellect. However, this hadn't shown in the least since she had been captured, as she hadn't moved very much since she had been strung up. “Nothing to say, eh?” he questioned, still looking at her through the bars.

Lavinia remained motionless, her head lowered a bit, not meeting the guard's gaze. Her silence though made the guard panic a little bit, thus making him move closer to the bars to poke at her with his spear. After a moment or two, she stirred a bit, letting go of a yawn which said to him that she had been asleep.

“You know, I find it rather difficult sleeping, even more so when you have a moron poking you in the chest with a spear.” she finally said, her head slowly lifting up, before her golden eyes snapped open. Her golden eyes made the guard jump almost instantly, pulling back his spear.

“What're you going to do about it though?” he asked. “You're completely defenseless.” That was though, at least to his knowledge, what he didn't know though was, she wasn't defenseless in the least. Even though she had only been in this cage for roughly a day, at least to her own knowledge she had already found several crucial mistakes that had been made when they captured her. Lavinia only smirked in response to his words, before breaking out into a soft chuckle.

“Well, if I'm so defenseless, why don't you come in here and kill me yourself then?” she asked, “Save your queen the trouble in doing it herself...who knows, if you do, you may get promoted.” His expression changed almost instantly when the word 'promoted' came from her mouth. He scrambled, setting his spear aside for a moment to pull out his keys to unlock the door, her smirk only widened as she heard the tumblers of the lock undo themselves and he swung the door open to enter her cell. He then picked up his spear, placing his keys back at his belt. As he drew closer to the dragoness, her muscles tensed up, first kicking away the spear as it reached her, before launching another kick which struck his face. This kick had enough force behind it to send him to the ground and thankfully he was close enough to where she could strike him one last time, this time with her tail. This strike worked to her favor as well, rendering him not only unconscious, but left him in a position where she could see the keys, however they were just out of reach of her tail. This is what made her wonder, how would she get the keys, and then what would she do once she had them given her present position. How would she get them into the lock on her shackles? She slowly closed her eyes in thought, given she hadn't eaten in the two days she had been imprisoned, thus making her very weak physically and mentally exhausted. After a moment's thought, an idea came to mind. Perhaps she could use lightning to pick it up? Did she have the strength was the question though, so she once again closed her eyes, focusing on her chi, letting the energy flow so she could take inventory on how much she had left.

'Only enough for three techniques, regardless of how costly.' she thought. 'That's if I'm lucky though...' From here she extended one of her fingers, letting out a soft sigh as she did before a bolt of lightning extended from her finger. It wasn't like normal lightning though, it moved slowly and carefully. It moved around her body, reaching down around the guard's body. The bolt acted like a hand, scooping up the keys right around the metal ring, slowly moving it back up to her shackles. This is where it became a real test of her control as she split the bolt to begin testing all the keys. The first one wasn't a fit which frustrated her to no end considering the strain she was already under. The next key was a fit, however she found she couldn't turn it properly, thus making her pull it out. As she did, the lightning began to flicker, slowly fizzling out.

'NOT NOW!' she screamed in her head. 'Just...a little bit longer...!'

The key slowly slid into the lock, and with the last bit of energy the lightning had, she was able to turn it, which caused the shackles to break open and make her fall to the floor. Considering she was being suspended she was barely able to catch herself. Using the wall as a support, she was able to climb her way back to her feet, rubbing her wrists as she leaned there for a moment, trying to regain her composure. Her snow white scales had turned grey from the poor conditions, her red feathered wings had dulled a bit, and grown weak, her mane was also a mess, frizzy and unkempt. Even worse, she had been stripped of her armor, replaced with just some old, tattered brown tunic. Once she had gathered herself, she quickly grabbed the keys, before running out into the halls, closing and locking the cage behind her.

“Now...time to find my men.” she muttered, before beginning on the path down the hall, listening carefully for any footsteps aside from her own. Lavinia found herself extremely lucky at this point, as she was able to sneak up on a guard, without a second thought struck the back of his neck to render him unconscious. Once out, she began searching through his belongings, this time collecting a dagger, which made her smile. 'Perfect...' she thought as she continued on her path. As she continued to sneak through the fortress, she found herself getting incredibly lucky with everything, she was even able to stalk a guard that brought her to the cell block containing all of her men. The sight she came on was depressing for her, seeing her men in the same state that she was in, although from her observations it looked as though they had eaten at least an hour ago, which meant they had more strength compared to her.

“Lavinia!” one of them shouted. Upon the shout she gestured for them to quiet down. “How'd you...?”

“Luck, plenty of luck...and one guard who wanted a promotion.” she remarked, before moving around to begin picking at the lock. In a matter of seconds she had opened the cell doors.

“What're the orders, milady?” one of the wolves asked.

“I want you to take these keys and get everyone out of here.” she said.

“What about you?” he asked. “Aren't you going to leave with us?” Lavinia shook her head slowly.

“No, I have a score to settle with Venia, and I have to find my effects, otherwise we'll be in trouble.” Lavinia explained. “Get to the western shore, I'll meet you there as fast as I possibly can...be on the ship.”

“But, you can't go alone milady!” the wolf argued.

“Don't you give me any buts.” she ordered. “I'd rather not put you in anymore danger...if I'm not at the ship within an hour after you arrive...then you are to leave without me!”

Everyone nodded in response as Lavinia stomped her foot on the ground, showing that she was serious about this, before she turned to leave.

“And...you are NOT to come back for me either...I'll hopefully find a way off myself if I don't get there in time...” she pointed out. “Or at least, die trying...if all else fails...I'll hopefully be able to take down Venia this time.” Silence overcame everyone as they watched their leader run down the halls, the wolf she had scolded earlier saluted her as she left, hoping the best for his leader. Now, with nothing to lose, Lavinia dashed down the hall, not caring who she ran into—as long as it wasn't Venia—Each time she spotted a guard she dashed up to them as quickly as she could, landing several consecutive strikes at key points in his body, which made his muscles go limp. This style was one she learned from simply observing a close family friend in action, observing his chi-blocking style, finding it very effective, especially when one's own chi was limited, and they were outmatched. However, due to her lack of knowledge on the chi paths and the body, she had to rely more on pure luck, aiming for the nerve points she knew about, her naturally small body and great agility giving her an advantage over most of the larger guards.

One of the ones she had decided to take on, as he had seen her, she dashed at. She ran up and along the wall, landing gracefully behind him, before taking ahold of his left arm first, as it was the one that held the fireball, before taking his right arm, before forcing him to the ground. Her foot pressed against his back with significant force, which caused his helmet to roll off. After this, she pulled out a dagger, bringing the edge to the corrupted elf's neck.

“Now...you're going to tell me where I can find my personal effects, otherwise I'm going to make your last moments as horrific as possible.” she threatened almost instantly. This guard whimpered in her paws, which showed his fear, however, assuming the fact that she had her powers locked away he called her bluff.

“Why should I?” he asked. “There's nothing you can do to me anyhow!”

“Who's the one with the dagger, good sir?” she corrected right away.

“That doesn't scare me!” he shouted, his voice beginning to shake a little as he felt the blade press against his throat, drawing just a tiny bit of blood. This is where Lavinia leaned down, bringing her mouth to his ear very carefully.

“You know...I've always wondered what a skinned elf would do to my home décor...” He gulped as she began to speak, her voice growing colder and darker. “Wouldn't you like to find out?” It was here, from the corner of his eye where he caught a brief instance of her sinister grin, for a warrior of good, she was one terrifying dragoness, her aura radiating with dark intentions for him, at least from what he thought.

“A-alright!” he broke out, “I-its down the hall, take a left, its the third door on the right down that hall!” his voice had changed immediately from one of confidence, to one of extreme fear, this made the dragoness chuckle softly before she got up, using a piece of the cloth she wore to bind his hands.

“You know, I wasn't really going to do something that disgusting.” she remarked. “For one, I'm not cruel, and two, I must thank you for telling me this...what I would've really done is probably nothing compared to what Venia is going to do to you for betraying her.” After this, she dashed off again, following the guard's directions. What she came upon though caught her by surprise, causing her to sidestep back out of the room. Around her armor, which was a light armor, were several guards. Thankfully for her though they were distracted, looking over the unique markings that the armor was embroidered with. These markings included really old symbols which added elemental resistance to the armor, allowing her to endure most lesser bending attacks. On the gauntlets were two markings, one on each, that enhanced her own powers, one was a glyph that focused light magic, the other was one that focused fire magic, decreasing the chi it costed to use some of her techniques, and allowing her to store an attack of that element in them. On the leggings were resistance glyphs that also added more resistance to her armor.

She peered around the frame of the door, looking carefully as to where exactly they were standing. From this point she began to formulate who she'd have to aim and who or what she'd have to aim at to hit all of them in one shot. Unfortunately, it wasn't looking good, at best, she could only get two of the four with a bolt of lightning, which made her think again about what she would use. Instead of using her greatest offense, she instead went with a different strategy. Light gathered in her hand, forming an orb, which she threw, carefully aiming it at the center of their circle around her armor. This proved to work out flawlessly as she made the orb flash in the center of the four before dashing into the room. The shuffling and bumping made all four guards very confused, so she was able to get ahold of her gear before once again sliding out of the room.

From this instance, time was very short, so she dashed down the hall, heading for the nearest open door, even one that was open just a tiny crack. There she slid in unnoticed, thankfully it was unoccupied for the time being, so she could take refuge and get her gear on properly. It took her a minute to get the light armor on, especially since she was in a bit of a hurry as footsteps could be heard down the halls. Most of which were rushed footsteps too.

“I KNEW I SHOULD'VE LOCKED HER IN THE TOWER!” a female voice roared. “HOW COULD YOU LET HER ESCAPE?!”

“But...my queen...” a male said, his voice now very withdrawn. “Well, the fault is also yours too...as you didn't seal her powers.”

“She can't have much strength left though!” the female voice roared again. “She hasn't eaten anything in two days! How can she overpower all these guards?”

“Queen Venia...you do know who you're talking about, right?” a male voice asked. “We're talking about the dragoness who outsmarted and defeated all six of your generals, at the same time.”

Lavinia couldn't help but listen in as she latched on the armor, snickering the entire time she did. The last piece she put on was her gauntlets, before adjusting the sword on her belt. Once fully prepared she peered around the corner to look at the several people in the halls standing around a lean, yet very terrifying dark blue dragoness. When the white dragoness saw her, a bit of hope faded on her escape instantly. This made her tighten her grip on her sword while she thought about her next move very carefully. Venia seemed rather frantic to find the white dragoness who was just a few doors away, she would have to make a move soon too, or risk facing more than she could handle. Lavinia let go of a held breath as she thought, letting go of the hilt of her sword. The guards began to gather around the dark blue dragoness with a small opening between where they all stood.

'Its now or never...' she thought, gathering the last bit of energy she had left in the palm of her hand, the lightning crackled in her palm, forming a small ball, one that would explode upon impact, hopefully rendering most of them unable to move even for the shortest of times, but just enough for her to get out. Sweat dripped from Lavinia's brow as she took careful aim, watching the guards and Venia converse, waiting for just the right moment to launch it. This moment came really fast too as one of the guards stepped aside just enough for her to get a clear shot. With this opening, she stepped out from the room, throwing the lightning ball directly at the dragoness.

Just as Lavinia threw the ball, Venia saw her, a reaction came too late however, as the ball struck her hard, exploding in the process, sending lightning crackling all around them in a small radius. What worked to Lavinia's advantage was the fact that all of them, save for Venia, were wearing metal armor, this acted as a lightning rod for all of them, increasing the damage dealt greatly before rendering them unconscious. Venia however took the full blunt of the attack, leaving her in excoriating pain. She let out a terrible roar in pain as the electricity visibly crackled over her body, making her curl up into a ball, in hopes that it would make the pain subside. Lavinia used this moment to make her getaway, running as fast as she could down the hall, past the five people she had just taken down.

The halls were swarmed with guards soon after this, however, none were able to find her as she had climbed out a window she found as she reached the first floor. Once outside she began to dash for the western shore, her luck however turned sour, while she did know the direction she needed to head as the sun was just setting, her advantage was at its best during the day, not during the night, where she stuck out like a sore thumb. On top of this, Venia's troops were stronger in the night, which would make fighting impossible in her present state because she was at her true limit, now just running off fumes. She hoped though that the ruckus she had caused in the palace had bought her a bit of time for her to make it to the ship.

Her suspicion had proven true as she heard shouting coming from the palace at this distance, mostly Venia's voice ordering her warriors to comb the entire area. Unfortunately for them though she had already gotten enough of a distance put between her and the palace to where it would be pointless for the chase to continue. Her good fortune ended though the moment she reached the shore, seeing the ship had already set sail, and was a fair distance away. She cursed her luck in this situation, but knew she wouldn't survive a trip to sea alone, she would have to fly, hopefully she had the strength to do as such.

It wasn't very long after she had reached the shore, that voices could already be heard, orders being called out and the sound of metal boots against the gravel. There wasn't time for her to do much else, so, with what little distance she had, she dashed toward the shore, extending her large wings, giving them several hard flaps. This brought her airborne, but barely. It was a struggle to keep herself in the air, just barely skimming the surface of the water.

“SHOOT HER DOWN!” Venia's voice shouted, before launching her own attack, which was a spear of ice, it was soon followed by various fireballs and arrows. Lavinia panicked a little bit as the ice spear whizzed by her head, just barely scratching her scales. In her panic, Lavinia found the strength to flap her wings as hard as she could before catching a thermal, which she rode up out of the line of fire. It didn't take her very much longer though before she began to descend, now within range of the ship. As she descended, she felt herself beginning to fade, her vision blurring again before she finally crashed, thankfully though the wolf she had ordered had caught her in his arms, carrying her off to her quarters to rest and recover, where she'd have a meal awaiting her once she woke up.