Letting out a quiet curse, I looked for a good ledge to stand my ground. I really didn’t fancy trying to fight a giant snake while clinging to a rock wall. The nearest place that looked like it would give halfway decent footing was further below me than I could safely drop.

A quick glance at the approaching serpent informed me that it was closing in fast. There was no way I would make it down to the ledge in time.

As I rapidly moved from one foothold to the next, I wove together a spell I had recently grown quite proficient with. I barely finished the invisible force spell before the serpent drew into striking range.

To the snake’s evident surprise, it didn’t manage to sink its fangs into me. Instead, it slammed painfully hard into the invisible barrier I had conjured in its path. Looking stunned, the serpent spiraled down towards the canopy.

My spell didn’t survive the impact. The mana unraveled itself after turning aside a single blow, but I wasn’t about to complain. Considering the obvious alternative, I was fine with my spell breaking after doing its job.

I was able to make it a little further down before the magical beast regained its senses. It was much more cautious in its approach this time, rising up to hover nearby.

I started weaving another spell as I continued to descend. I didn’t know how long the snake planned to hover, but I wasn’t going to let the time go to waste.

Before I could finish my phantom flame spell, the serpent unleashed some magic of its own. A thick, blueish gray mist poured from the monster’s mouth towards me.

I cast my spell as quickly as I could, causing the snake to plummet once more in agony.

I didn’t have time to consider what became of the monster after my spell took hold. The mist was on me in an instant, clinging and burning. I held my breath, for fear that the gas might be poisonous, but it didn't stop the searing pain. I could feel some sort of mana forms running through the cloud, but I lacked the time to decipher their purpose.

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It didn’t take me long to learn what kind of magic the cloud held. As the mana forms latched onto my body, I lost control. My fingers twitched and my limbs spasmed.

Were I facing the beast on the ground, such an attack would have been debilitating. Unfortunately, my precarious position made things far, far worse.

Unable to maintain my grip, I dropped down from the side of the cliff.

I barely had time to panic before crashing down to the ledge below. Pain tore through my side as I impacted badly on the stone shelf.

The jerking and twitching of my muscles continued to grow worse. My flailing limbs were doing my injuries no favors as I shuddered my way closer to the edge of the ledge.

I fought through the pain, trying to get a grip on the invasive mana. It was far harder to dispel than my phantom pain spell had been. Were I not in such grave danger, I likely would have considered possible improvements I could have made to my own spell.

As it was, I was less than an arm’s reach away from a certainly fatal fall and my convulsions were getting worse. One bad twist and I would be over the edge.

I didn’t have time to futilely grapple with the hostile spell. Abandoning the task, I wove together a new spell to buy myself some time.

As one of my legs kicked out wildly, I was propelled towards the edge. Only a hastily cast barrier stopped me from tumbling over.

I tried a new strategy to break the spell. Rather than trying to rip away the mana forms all at once, I carefully peeled at the magic in the tip of one of my fingers. The mana still fought against me, but I was able to catch the edge of it. In an agonizingly laborious expenditure of willpower, I slowly tore the invasive spell from the flesh of my arm.

The task grew easier the more progress I made. With less flailing about and a firmer grip on the mana forms, I was able to free my chest and other arm.

Before I could break my legs free from the spell, a large scaly head once more rose into view. I didn’t know snakes were even capable of looking so annoyed.

Using only my upper body, I pushed myself to the side just as the beast’s head snapped at where I had been lying.

With my legs still out of my control, drawing the spear I had strapped to my back was too awkward to manage on time. Instead, I used another spell to buy myself some time.

As the serpent reared back for another strike, a blinding light appeared directly before its hand-sized eyes. The brief distraction bought me enough time to dispel the last of the serpent’s curse.

By the time the snake had shaken off the afterimages of my light spell, I was on my feet with a spear in my hands.