#mc poc

Ebony moved cautiously through the old catacombs, keeping her jagged dagger clutched at her side, listening for the sound of the clacking bonemen that haunted these halls. She pulled her long thick black braid of hair over her shoulder so it wouldn’t get in the way of drawing her bow if she needed to. Her hair was covered in a few cobwebs from this place, but Ebony didn’t fear spiders or anything so weak. No, she knew the real dangers were the monsters in these very caverns. 

She passed by column after column of stalagmites, careful to avoid the sharp tips. She could see light further in, which was a relief, as she’d been lost in these halls for a good while now. Light hopefully meant she could climb her way out of these crypts. 

She came to the opening of the cavern of the room, and at once spotted a twisted birdcage made of rusted iron. She could barely believe her aquamarine eyes as she saw the figure of a corpse sitting upright on a stone bench inside the cage. She wondered what the poor woman must have done to suffer a fate like this. She scanned the room, and seeing no one else was present, she walked cautiously into the room.

A startled yelp echoed from her throat when the corpse turned to look at her without warning, and she put her dagger away and drew and notched her arrow in her bow in two quick sweeping motions. Only to her further surprise, she realized the figure in the cage was not a corpse at all - it was a white woman, deathly pale with bright brown eyes and a shock of curly frizzy auburn hair. 

“Who goes there?”

The woman’s voice was raspy, either from a hoarse throat or because she hadn’t spoken to anyone in a long time. Ebony approached warily, keeping a certain amount of distance between them. She decided after a moment’s hesitation to answer, wary of warnings about hags and witches.

With a strong voice, she called, “You may can me Ebon. Who are you, and why are you imprisoned here?”

The woman got up and approached her cage bars, wrapping her hands around the rusted poles of her cage. It was still hard to see her clearly around the mess of auburn hair, but Ebony could pick out a scattering of freckles across her cheeks and nose. 

“My name is Margo. My last name... is not important. I have been imprisoned here for what feels like many, many years. Please, traveler, won’t you free me?”

Still keeping her bow raised, she repeated, “What were you imprisoned for?”

Margo’s brown eyes grew darker with emotions Ebony couldn’t name before she glanced down and hid her face with her hair. 

“My only crimes were justice. I drowned six awful outlaws who pranced about as a foolish’s king’s knights.  He had his court wizard trap me here in a cage that would not allow me age as long as I remained inside. My only companions are the dead and damned. Please, rescue me.”

The news hit her with a shock. The pale and frail women before her didn’t seem like she would be capable of such a thing, but at once Ebony knew she was underestimating this woman because she looked like a frail woman. Before donning her own disguise, people had looked down on her too - and it had costed them as well. 

“What did those men do to deserve to die? How did you drown them?”

The woman surprised her by looking at her then, expression hard. Her gaze was as steely as a blacksmith’s. 

“They paraded themselves through out small town and touched and groped the women of the town as they seemed fit for over a fortnight. Many did more than just touch. Then six of them put their greedy hands on my sisters. I poisoned their mead and drowned them each in the last barrel.”

There was no regret in her voice, no wavering, only hatred. Ebony knew it would be dangerous to try and free someone like her, but there was also a deep compassion in her chest for this woman. Imprisoned here for who knows how long for delivering justice in a society that oppressed them for even trying. 

Ebony made up her mind. She was going to try and save this woman. She could deal with whatever came next when it finally did come. 

“Do you know how I cat get you free?”

The woman seemed taken back by her response, even baffled slightly. It looked like she had been rearing for a fight, and now didn’t know what to do with her raised hackles. 

“You’ll free me?”

“Well, I’m not going to leave you here. Not if I can free you, anyway.”

“Even knowing I have killed other men?”

Other?

Ebony asked, “What do I have to fear from you? I’m not a man.”

Margo moved closer to the bars, for the first time pushing her hair out of her face and really taking a moment to look at her.

“You’re... a woman?”

Busy circling the cage and looking for a weakness - if there was even a weakness to a magical cage - she absently mumbled, “Uh-huh.”