This new body of mine was much better than my old one from Earth, but it still had its limits. I had been running for a while now, hoping to lose the spiders who had been following me and was starting to get tired. If it was my old body, I would have collapsed long ago. On the one hand I was glad they were following me and not the others but on the other hand I thought I would be able to lose them by now so was starting to get nervous.

My breath was coming out in ragged gasps. The bastard spiders were following me from the street level and from the building tops. I could hear their chittering and the sound of their many legs on the cobblestones but dared not look back or I might fall. The only good thing was my mana had replenished a little bit while I had been running so I could cast a few more spells now. Something about being in the lost city made it replenish almost twice as fast as usual.

Luckily, I hadn’t run into any more trouble during my mad dash. I had startled some giant rats and cockroaches that were scurrying around the alleys, but they headed for cover as I ran past. I had thought about ducking into one of the buildings but didn’t want to get trapped inside. Although I couldn’t keep running forever either.

While running for my life I noticed manhole like covers in the road every so often. I figured they must be part of the city’s sewer system which was impressive for a medieval type of city. The current alley I was running down was pretty narrow which gave me an idea. I formed my flame wall spell and shot it right behind me. I wasn’t very precise because I was still running and got the flame wall a little too close for comfort.

It had the desired effect however and stopped the spiders on the ground. I skidded to a halt and spun around to shoot the spiders on the buildings to give myself enough time to escape into the sewers. I didn’t like the idea of going into the sewers since who knew what monsters lurked down there. The sad truth was I was out of ideas and options at this point.

I was successfully able to knock the giant spider on my right-hand side down from the rooftops with a wind spell. It landed somewhere behind the flame wall. Quickly I switched targets to the one on the left side and fired off another wind blast. Just as I released the spell, I was hit by something sticky that blocked my vision and threw me backwards.

I stumbled and fell down, landing on my butt. I couldn’t move my right arm or see what was going on. I thought I had hit the spider but couldn’t be sure. In any case the flame wall wouldn’t last long. Panicked, I tried getting up but fell down again. Using my good arm, I frantically searched around on the ground for the sewer cover. It should be close but for some reason I couldn’t find it. Swearing, I continued to feel around.

When the flame wall ended, I was good as dead. To say things were not going as planned was an understatement. My hearing was muffled but I thought I heard something behind me. I swore and pointed my good arm in the direction of the sound and was about to release a spell when something struck me on the head and I lost consciousness.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

I awoke with a gasp. Bright light shown through the nearby window. I was somehow in an unfamiliar room. It reminded me of the fancy inn we were staying at but if anything was fancier. I still had all my clothes and armor on, but the webbing had been removed. My magic bag and weapons were also missing for some reason. I really hoped I didn’t lose them during the fight with the spiders. I was very confused but happy to be alive and in one piece.

I even felt good despite having been knocked unconscious with all my cuts and bruises healed. I instantly assumed that the others had managed to save me. I would have to thank Ann for healing me later or maybe they gave me a healing potion. It was daylight but I didn’t know what time it was. My stomach rumbled telling me I was most likely out for a while.

I got out of bed and glanced out the window on my way to the door. The sight made me do a double take. I was several stories up with a great view of the city spread out below me. Going to the window I looked out and swore as I realized I was inside the castle. My head was spinning. How did I end up here? The chances that my party would have taken me to the castle since we hadn’t reached it yet were slim to none.

Were there still survivors alive in the city? I wasn’t locked in the dungeon and had been healed so they seemed to be friendly. I quickly went to the door, but it was locked. I banged on it and shouted but there was no answer. It seemed like I was a prisoner after all.

I surveyed the room but there wasn’t much to see. A large bed, a writing desk, and a wardrobe. With nothing better to do I started searching the room for anything that might be of use. The wardrobe just had some miscellaneous clothes in it while the writing desk had some blank papers. I even looked under the bed but there was nothing else. I had really been hoping my bag and weapons had been stashed somewhere in the room but no luck.

I went back to the window to see if I could climb out. I could open the window, but it was a long way down with no handholds. I thought about tying the sheets and blankets together but there was no way it would reach all the way to the ground. I wasn’t quite that desperate yet. Plus, with my luck I would fall and break my neck.

The door looked sturdy, but I was guessing I could blast it open with my magic if I tried hard enough. I didn’t want to piss off whoever saved me though, so I held off for now. I was really hoping whoever it was would bring me something to eat and drink. The next thing on my list would be a chamber pot or I would have to resort to peeing out the window.

I did want to get out of here as soon as possible though. The girls must be worried sick about me right now. I didn’t want them doing anything dangerous just to find me. I had no idea how much time had passed but I guessed it was probably the next day at least. I was hungry but wasn’t hungry enough for it to have been several days.

I sat on the bed and tried to wait patiently for my captor. I figured I would give them an hour or so before I tried breaking the door down. It wasn’t easy and I ended up pacing back and forth across the room with nervous energy. I had no idea who or what waited for me on the other side of the door. It had to be better than spiders though.