Five women had a girl tied up and placed on a stone altar. Four of them wore black robes, while the fifth, a young woman not even 25, was dressed in a flowing crimson robe adorned with dark, mystical symbols. Though her hair was well-kept, its simple style somewhat clashed with the elegant attire.

The prisoner bore cuts on her body, and the blood was slowly draining into five wooden bowls. By the movement, she was still alive. Under the wooden bowls lay a rune that seemed to glow red. It appeared to be some kind of ritual, so my money was on necromancers if the rumors were to be believed.

“Guys, I’m going to distract them a little. Get into position and attack whenever you think the time is right,” I said in a low voice, stepping up my pace and making noise as I walked on the gravel.

Hearing me approaching, they lost focus and turned around. The ritual seemed to have stopped, as the runes faded and the tied-up girl stopped shaking.

Clearly, this wasn’t going to end well, so there was no point in being too serious.

“Sorry for the interruption. You wouldn’t happen to know the way to Port Haven by any chance, would you? I'm kind of lost,” I said.

They glanced for a moment between them, and then, perhaps unsurprisingly, the youngest responded with a very disturbing smile.

“Funny. It’s not often someone makes me smile. "Don't think I haven't noticed your companions," she said with a deranged smile. "But I think I'll save you for last, so you can entertain me with a few more jokes before I drain every drop of life force from you."

“You know, people who say the word ‘funny’ instead of actually laughing are said to be a tad on the crazy side,” I said, not knowing exactrly why I was provoking her.

The others were moving around her, while she moved with a twitch, somehow making her appear even crazier.

“Children's insults? Disappointing. I was hoping for more jokes,” she said, looking very confident, like there was no way she could lose.

“Well, your hairstyle is a joke,” I said, expecting her to react badly, but she only responded with that creepy smile.

“Funny. It does look a little plain, no? But when you’re surrounded by people who praise you constantly, good feedback is impossible to get,” she replied.

“That was…” but Viper chose that moment to attack one of the necromancers. His daggers rushed for the neck, but she summoned an ethereal scythe and was way more nimble than I would have guessed. The daggers were squatted away without any apparent effort.

Alira was immediately on the offensive as well, attacking an alcolyte from the side.

Before I could make a move, a red wave spread from the leader and engulfed the whole little basin. It didn’t seem to affect me, but sounds of pain made me turn, and I saw cuts appearing on everybody’s skin, even Steel’s. They were now on the defensive.

Turning to face her again, I was hit by a white spear made of… bone? It was deflected by my shield, and immediately after, a red ethereal scythe connected with my arm, but again, it had no luck.

Raising my arm to a random necromancer, I fired a bolt, and while she tried to roll away, the lightning was almost instant and clipped her on the leg, bringing her down. The last woman cast a black cloud that enveloped me, making me effectively blind. It must have had some other effect, but unfortunately my shield held.

Stepping a little back, I almost shouted, “Guys, I can’t see anything!”

After a moment of silence, two projectiles hit me again, and without vision, my balance was nonexistent, and I was tumbling to the ground.

Alira spoke first. “Steel, distract one of the necromancers. Viper and I have to retreat and go for ranged attacks. We have nothing to match the cutting aura. Thalia, stay close and try to heal us.”

I heard footsteps run past me, and from the sound, Steel collided with a necromancer. I couldn’t even risk firing a bolt, as I had no idea of the position of the various people. A sudden cry of pain was heard, meaning some daggers had found their target. But at the same time, I could hear Alira’s and Viper’s voices as cuts were getting more serious.

I heard someone making its way to me. I was ready to fire toward the sound, but the blackness dissipated.

“Tara, the leader, is extremely powerful. You need to run,” the girl who was on the slab must have gotten free.

Steel had taken down his target, and the daggers had taken down another one. Viper and Alira were engaged with the last black robe necromancer, throwing projectiles at each other.

Tara turned her sight on Steel. His body was now contorting in a strange way and started moving toward me. He was walking like a zombie and sliced at me with his sword. The girl who dispelled my darkness earlier tried to throw an ethereal scythe at Tara, but it hit a black shield. She responded by immediately casting a red mist. When it connected, my rescuer lost consciousness. Then Tara turned to Thalia, and she went down in the next moment, with Viper following shortly.

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Alira realized what was soon to happen and jumped to hide behind a large rock.

Steel was still trying to hack at me with not much success, but now, realizing the situation was dire, I hit Steel with a lightning bolt and after he went down went for the black robe, as she was moving to finish Alira.

That moment, another projectile hit me as I connected a Bolt with the necromancer. My shield held, but for the first time, it felt like my own lightning bolt hit my shield.

The boss lady was powerful. She had a lot of spells, and the power behind some of them meant she was in a league of her own. She looked young, but her eyes told a different story.

“Who are you?” she seemed surprised. “How are you resisting all my spells?” She looked at Alira hiding and threw a powerful spell her way. The rock she used for hiding exploded, and Alira was thrown backward.

“Tell me, or I kill your allies.” Her eyes were definitely crazy.

The time for talk had passed, and I sent a bolt her way, but of course, the black shield enveloping her stopped it. A few more bolts seemed to have an effect, as she was backing away. But as she was turning, I caught a glimpse of Alira with my peripheral vision. She had dozens of cuts and was crawling to another rock. There was no more time for games or jokes.

Remembering the feeling when I first cast the spell without a worry in the world and scorched the tree, I let go of the worry of hurting people. While her shield still held, she was thrown back against a rock, and she was clearly dazed. The red shield flickered for a fraction of a second.

She had an astonished look on her face, like she couldn’t really believe what was happening. Her eyes now darted to the exit from the small canyon. It didn’t take a genius to figure out she would distract me to leave. So I went on the offensive.

Closing the distance fast and deflecting two more spells, I managed to grab her arms. It was the weirdest feeling I have ever felt, as our arms were not actually touching, but my shield and her shield started to flicker, and I felt it as if something was sapping my strength. For a moment, I thought I was going to lose.

Fortunately as my eyes met hers, she appeared to be struggling too. It seemed our shields were canceling each other out, and we were both pouring more and more power into them at an increasingly alarming rate.

We were seemingly in a deadlock, but she was now afraid. Her eyes kept searching for anything nearby that could save her, but nothing came.

Her apprehension quickly became apparent as her shield began losing cohesion, wavering more and more until it finally snapped and dissolved. She collapsed to her knees, her eyes still resolute, but her youthful face gradually transformed, aging before my eyes. Even her hair slowly turned gray.

I had a chance to end it right there, but of course, I hesitated. That’s all it took, as she cast a spell at me from almost point-blank. My shield must have been weaker, as it felt like a sledgehammer hit me in the chest, and I was thrown backward and landed on some gravel. My chest hurt, and every breath was like someone was stabbing me. Clearly, I had at least one broken rib. With great effort, I managed to raise myself on my knees, but when trying to raise my arm to cast a bolt, the pain was too much, and I dropped it back.

The only good thing was that she looked worse than me, appearing even older somehow. She was standing, but her balance was off, as she again was trying to leave.

But her luck ran out as Alira appeared from wherever she was hiding and dashed at the necromancer. She tried a spell, but it was way too slow. Alira dodged it easily and planted the sword in her chest.

With the adrenaline running out, a wave of exhaustion took hold of me as my knees gave out.

When I awoke, we were in a different place. They must have carried me. The few tentative breaths I took were not accompanied by pain. Healing magic was amazing.

“Good evening,” Thalia spoke. “Take it easy. You were lucky; your ribs were not broken.”

“Thank you,” I managed to say in a weak voice. “How long was I out?”

“A day. The fight took a lot out of you, it seems,” Viper responded.

Remembering we almost lost, I continued, “Sorry I rushed without a plan.”

“We're all alive and well, and that’s what matters,” Steel comforted me.

Looking around, there was one person missing. “Where is the girl we saved?”

“She lost a lot of blood; she’s resting,” Thalia said, pointing to where she was seated.

“No standing up, priest’s orders,” the new girl smiled.

“My name is Malvina. Thank you for rescuing me,” she said, her voice pleasant.

“Sorry if you have to explain it again but who were the creepy ladies?” I asked.

“The coven leader and her cronies. They use others' life force to sustain themselves,” she said, clearly still fearing them.

“I still can’t believe you killed her. She has been ruling our village since my grandmother was young. I thought she was immortal,” she said in awe.

“It was a team effort. Even you, without your help dispelling that black could, I would have been useless. And technically, Alira killed her, so thank you both,” I said. She was a brave kid.

“So what did you do to piss them off if you were from the same village?” Viper asked, eyeing her with suspicion.

“My parents tried and got killed because they stood up to her. Guess they figured why leave loose ends alive. But she finally got what was coming to her. I just wish I could have seen her eyes as they went out,” she said.

Damn, she was hardcore, but I can’t even begin to imagine the life she lived.

“Do you know the way south to Port Haven?” Alira questioned.

“I think so. It was the backup plan to get out in case of the worst, but they didn’t have time to use it,” she said, tears falling down her cheek.

“We already stayed far too long here. We need to get moving,” Alira said, already packing the bags.

“Just so we’re on the same page,” Viper continued. “Are you also a necromancer?”

“Yes…” Clearly, from her tone, Malvina sensed it might not be the right answer.

All but me seemed to tense visibly at the answer. Steel even went for his sword.

Malvina was clearly panicking and trying to get back, but only a solid stone wall was behind her.

Steel had his sword out, but before he could take a step forward, I got up and stepped in front of him.

I wobbled a little, so maybe I wasn't as imposing as I wanted, but I stood up and spoke. “I get necromancer sounds really bad, but this is ridiculous. Sure, I may not know much about this world, but come on," I said.

Alira, with sadness in her voice, spoke. “Necromancers are to be killed on sight, just like empaths.” Even Viper was going for his daggers.