“On it.”He jogs to one, and I make my way to another.
As I undo the knots, I give a brief glance at the victim.A middle-aged man is tied up, unconscious, but thankfully breathing.“I got a live one,” I say.
“This one too!”Taz hollers from my left.He’s undoing a set of knots while Necia is at the farthest torch.Before I can ask her what her victim looks like, I sense a pulse of dark magic approaching us.
“It looks like we made it on?aggh!”Max’s words are cut off by an unintelligible sound from his throat.He falls over, and behind him stands a man wearing a purple robe, with arcana dripping from his hands.
“Max!”Taz hollers, and we both run to him.
“If it isn’t the world-famous wizard cops,” the cultist says in a deep, sinister tone.Undoing his hood, I notice he’s bald with bright red eyes, a distinct face to say the least.There’s no time to dwell on that when he launches a volley of purple fire at us.My instincts kick in, and I swiftly stand before my boyfriend and summon an energy shield.
“Stand down!”I shout as he shoots another blast of fire at us.Taz tries to move around me, but I grab his arm to keep him behind the barrier.
“We do not answer to you.”The warlock summons energy between his hands, getting ready for another blast.“You are nothing but insignificant curs in the grand scheme of the universe!”
My shield powers down, and when another ball of fire is lobbed at us, Taz pushes me to the right, narrowly dodging its trajectory.
“We are the Unheard, and the finality is upon us!”The red-eyed man’s menacing voice grows louder as he approaches us.I can spot the jeweled bracelet, a piece of the gauntlet, on his left hand, as both of his palms drip with arcana.
“Our promised time is coming.And you will not stand in the way!”
“It’s not worth it!Working for the Other Side isn’t worth it!”Taz says as he helps me up.
“What do you know about worth?”
I summon roots from the ground to bind the cultist, but he magically swats them away with ease.
“You pathetic, privileged plebeians were born into a life of magic.The rest of us deserved it and got NOTHING!”He sends a wave of fire toward us, and I freeze in fear.Taz swiftly gets in the way and summons dirt from the ground to form a miniature wall between us, effectively blocking the fire.
Before I can react, a purple blade of energy cuts the wall of soil, and it crumbles before us.The maniac is holding a massive blade and steps closer to us.
“You will not stand in the way of the finality.We will be heard!”He raises the sword, and I summon magic into my palms.“We will be?aggh!”
The cultist falls forward, and his sword dissipates.Behind him, a light blue lasso of energy drags him back.“Yeah, pro tip, buddy?Don’t start a villain monologue until you’ve dispatched all of the heroes.”
“Necia!”Taz and I exclaim in relief.
“Thanks for distracting him, boys.”She conjures more energy to wrap the perpetrator up in several glowing rings.“If one of you would be so kind?”
“Already ahead of you,” Taz says.He steps close to the man and plucks the bracelet right off of him.“That should be the last of this thing.”
“Yes, please!”Max says, slowly standing up.
“Max!”I say, running to his side.
“Baby, are you okay?”Necia asks.She wrangles the cultist closer, in a rough maneuver.Peering at him, she says, “If you hurt my man again, I’m chopping off your fingers.”
“I’m good,” Max says, brushing off his shirt.“A little embarrassed.”
“We’ll get you to the infirmary when we get back to HQ,” I remark.
“And we’ll get this guy to interrogations,” Necia adds.
“What about these people?”Max asks, pointing to the torches.
“Let’s check and see who’s alive and ask Cleo to call local authorities for them,” I say.
“I’ll check the last one,” Taz remarks.With that, he runs off, and I approach Necia.
