Fiona bolted to the right, running as fast as her legs could carry her. The ground continued to quake and shudder with every step of the giant. Unsettling giggles boomed from above as the towering woman came closer and closer. Every step of hers was worth dozens of Fiona’s at the moment. Even running as fast as she could the gulf between them was so great it opened a pit of despair in Fiona’s gut. She was running, trying to reach a crack in the road nearby. It looked just big enough for her to fit herself inside and hide. 

BOOM!

Fiona was flung back by the force of impact of something utterly overwhelming in front of her. The blonde fell back away, landing hard and letting out a grunt of pain. Looking up the wall of a well worn boot had appeared in front of her, its shadow cast over her. It was now placed over the crack that Fiona had hoped to find refuge in. Her heart was hammering in her chest as she drank in the sight from this close up. It made the strange woman seem even bigger than she had first thought. Like a living mountain. 

“Whoopsie! Have to watch your step there, or perhaps watch my step as it were.” The pale woman giggled from on high. 

A shadow was coming over her, a vast hand coming toward Fiona. The blonde stood and tried to run away. She tried to flee as fast as she could. Then she felt something jerk hard on her leg and suddenly the world turned upside down. A scream of pure terror escaped the adventurer’s throat as she was hoisted up into the air, the cold of the night rushing past her as her leg was pinched between a pair of pale fingers. She was being lifted up from the ground rather suddenly, the ease of the motion the same as plucking an insect from the ground. 

She found herself dangling upside down, flailing her arms as she stared at the long, LONG drop beneath her. She was able to look down over the rather well formed body of the dark haired Jailor. Her eerie dark eyes beheld the blonde squirming between her pale fingers, the digits ice cold to the touch. Cruel amusement was glittering in the depths of the orbs as she watched the woman in her grasp fight vainly to get free. 

“Lively aren’t you? That's good, very good, good screams in those lungs as well! It will serve you quite well with what I’ve got in mind for you!” She giggled. 

“L-let me go! Stop! What’s going on?” Fiona screamed. 

“Let you go? Oh you poor thing, now why would I do that? A spider doesn’t simply release a fly that has fallen into its web now does it? I am the Jailor of Istrel, it is my duty to deal with those outsiders that walk oh so blindly into this paradise of unending delights.” The pale woman laughed. 

Fiona found herself lowered down into the cage dangling from the woman’s chain. The top of the cage was opened as though from magic and Fiona found herself falling away, screaming as she did. She landed hard upon the cold metal surface and tried to stand to run to the bars and try to squeeze out. However the cage was moved and rattled slightly, knocking Fiona into the bars. She smacked her head against one of them and fell back in a daze. 

“I think you’ll enjoy your new home very much… you’ll find yourself in like company.” The woman giggled from on high as she stepped away, her steps carrying her to somewhere unknown. 

To Be Continued…