“Arcane Snare!” I screamed moments before Rigrith’s needle could pierce Remy’s heart.

No part of me expected the spell to work. I was certain the effects would be laughed off, followed by a punishment coming my way. I may have been a Goddess’s apostle, but I was still only level three, faced with opponents magnitudes stronger than me. I barely understood how the spell I was casting even worked, having skimmed its description once.

Yet by some miracle, perhaps by the element of surprise, the spell tangled itself around Rigrith’s body. Shock caught Rigrith’s features. For a moment, the Archpriest was utterly tangled in my spell of arcane magic, as if purple lassoes were tied tightly around his shoulders and arms.

With the spell, Shiela’s mana rushed through my chords, enlightening my body. The surge of mana fought back against Jordan’s oppressive spell. The Goddess’s powers won immediately and without question. My limbs regained control.

By now, Rigrith’s years of experience had replaced confusion. He ripped through my spell with pure strength one arcane circle at a time. Jordan brought his attention back to me, noticing I had somehow escaped his hold. I knew I had to act fast.

“Arcane Discharge!” I shouted. Pressure shot from my hand, as if I’d activated a powerful water hose. A spray of purple arcane magic released with enough pressure to push me backward.

The Goddess must have blessed my aim, as the beam connected with my target’s face. Rigrith plummeted to the ground. His sword and the needle flung off his arms.

Simultaneously, Darko’s struggle paid off. He escaped Jordan’s hold and sprinted for the nearest sword—Rigrith’s black behemoth lying next to the fallen Archpriest’s head.

Grimacing, Jordan snapped back to Darko. His staff glowed in preparation for an attack about to shoot.

This distracted him from the hold on the last of his prisoners. Shena’s swift casting shot an icicle at Jordan’s head.

Jordan dodged the attack with miracle instincts but was forced to cancel his attack. Darko had just enough time to plant the black sword into Rigrith’s forehead.

This all happened in a second at such speed I had no idea how my eyes kept up. The most important thing, however, was clear. Remy was safe. Startled and frozen in tears, but alive. Thank Shiela.

Jordan grimaced, realizing he was utterly surrounded. He blocked another three of Shena’s icicles with magical barrier-windows. I considered tossing another surprise spell of my own but deemed my luck stretched already. Jordan was paying attention. My spells would be useless.

“Clever tricks!” Jordan shouted. “You will pay for what you have done!”

With this, Jordan caught flight, gracefully flinging high onto the shattered windows above. His staff glowed a disgusting purple, pointed at me.

My body yanked into the air, as if an invisible lasso had wrapped around me. The change of footing happened too fast to notice. By the time I understood where I’d moved, I was caught in Jordan’s spells, along with Darko’s sword, stolen off the ground.

Then, Jordan and I took off flying towards the sunset. I let out a scream of terror from the pure speed.

“JORDAAAN!” Darko’s scream resounded high in the air. But as loud as it was, the yell didn’t save me from my kidnapper. Within half a minute of flight, the church appeared as nothing but a speck in the city landscape below me.

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The following scene registered in my head as the type of hazy memory I knew existed but struggled to access despite knowing exactly what had ensued. My brain treated the situation with such extremes that memory outright refused to participate, sorting the recollection of messy thoughts like landmines of the head.

I didn’t know which I feared more: the kidnapper cultist wishing me harm or the fact that I was currently hundreds, if not thousands of feet in the air. Both fears combined to tangle my brain into utter madness.

We were clearly flying towards the sky, but my senses were certain we were falling. Buildings, alleys, people—all around a beautiful, vertigo-inducing, view of Arkber’s slums lay below me. My eyes saw nothing but spikes drawing me in. Each street was a potential spot to splatter against, gravity tempting me with a pretty kiss.

And above it all, I laughed. Like a goddamned maniac, despite my body wailing inside, afraid for dear life, I cackled like the craziest of villains. “Motherfucker! They’re alive! I saved them! I goddamned saved them!”

I didn’t know whether Jordan could hear my ravings, but it wouldn’t have mattered either way. “Fuck you and fuck this world!” I shouted, then called, “Arcane Snare!”

The spell didn’t work. Jordan protected himself somehow, stopping me from killing us both. In hindsight, this was the only action of Jordan that I could consider myself thankful for.

I didn’t stop there, however. Anger and madness were the only saviors distracting me from the harsh reality. I was currently, utterly and unmistakably, kidnapped by cultists.

“Arcane Discharge!” I called, shooting magic at Jordan’s body. He dodged without effort, simply changing his flight trajectory. He barely even looked at me.

The trip continued, and so did my useless spells. It was a miracle that I didn’t pass out in the process. We flew over the stone walls, between spires. Within a minute, we flew over the affluent neighborhoods, and back to the slums on the opposite end of the city.

By the thirtieth or so arcane discharge, my mana chords exhausted, and spells no longer formed. Whatever reserves were in use for conjuring mana, the container had run out.

We reached the perimeters of the city, where Jordan landed inside a shabby canopied watch tower. He undid the spell on my body, letting me fall limp on the wood.

Ground. Dear God, ground. The feeling of wood below me was enough to return a speck of sanity, logical thoughts creeping in with the madness in command of my brain.

Jordan ordered the previous watchmen for a long break. The normal-looking fellows hastily followed. When the place cleared, Jordan faced me. My breath was ragged, my heart attempting to make up for the blood flow it thought it had lost.

“Interesting,” Jordan said, frowning down at me. “A trained mage, and a crazy one at that. You have killed the first Archpriest. A commendable feat. Rigrith deserved what he got. Nonetheless, you will be punished for your actions.”

“What do you want from me?” I asked with surprising confidence. My brain still ran on the slowly cracking lie that it had some control over the situation.

“Your mana chords,” Jordan Feryah said. “My purpose was to train you before the Corruption could have its way. This process could have taken months. But seeing as you are already trained with proficient control over your mana…” He smiled weakly. “You are to be taken directly to Azetoth. You, my dear mage, have saved me a great deal of time. If you do not resist, I will make the trip easy. Attempt to kill me, however, and a world of pain will find your way.”

“I… will comply,” I said. Remy was alive. That was all that mattered. By this feat alone, I could deem my existence a success. “But first, I have something to show you. Something very important.”

Jordan raised his eyebrows. He watched as I slid my hand into the hidden pocket of my robe. I did it slowly to not scare Jordan into attacking.

Then, as quickly as I could manage, I tossed Darko’s stupid vial directly onto Jordan’s feet, where I was sure the glass would crack.

A cloud of grayish chemicals filled the watch tower in an instant. My eyes felt it first, as if my pupils were burning. Whatever I had just released into the air, my brain took it for pure poison. The slightest sniff of the powder was nearly enough to paralyze a grown man. I knew I wouldn't retain my senses for long.

I had energy for one last effort. “Fireball!” I screamed, pointing my palm where Jordan Feryah’s body had used to lay. The hellish process took part again, the blazing sensation of a fireball forming in my arms. The build-up took just long enough to remind me of the stupidly overtuned power I was releasing into the world.

The watchtower went up in flames in an instant. Next I knew, the foothold disappeared, and I found myself at a freefall to be buried alongside collapsing wood.