Sarah’s living room felt cramped with six people crowded around the small coffee table. She and her girlfriend stood beside each other as the other worlders discussed their rescue plans. Everyone look up suddenly as someone knocked on the front door. Sarah went to answer it leaving the rest to talk. 

     She opened the door to find Mira standing on the porch.

     “Where’s Titania?” she asked, worry evident on her face.

     Sarah frowned and motioned the girl to come in. Mira became more worried and stepped in. Following Sarah into the living room, she let out a small gasp when she saw the otherworlders.

     “Mira, this is Cardwin, Ardin, Tasha, and Faurik. Everyone this is Mira, Titania’s girlfriend. Mira, I'm sorry but Titania was kidnapped. These people are here to help rescue her.”

     "I’m coming,” she said after a short pause. 

     “I’m afraid that is too dangerous,” Cardwin said.

     “I don’t care I am coming with you,” she replied aggressively, “I may look small and weak but I have been training in martial arts.”

     “When did you start? I’ve never heard you mention it before.”

     “After what happened with Tia and her parents I swore I’d be there to protect her,” she had a look of determination in her eyes.

     “Let her come Cardwin,” Faurik said. “The look in her eyes says she’ll find a way to come anyways.”

     “It will be dangerous young lady, you may lose your life.”

     “As long as I can save my girlfriend that’s all that matters to me.”

     “So be it,” Cardwin shrugged. He looked expectantly at Ardin.

     “Yea, I found her. It was too easy though. Either these cultists are amateurs or it’s a trap.”

     “If we’re expecting a trap then it won’t be a trap,” Faurik added.

     They spent the next hour making plans. Mira brought up the building in Blooble maps. It was an abandoned church located about an hour and a half away. After a bit of searching she managed to get a rough floorplan of the building. They made their plans and made backup plans if those failed. The conversation turned to tactics and who would be filling what role.

     “I don’t mean to alarm anyone but, we have to move now,” Ardin suddenly said cutting everyone off.

     “What's wrong?” Cardwin asked.

     “There is an immense amount of Mana being forced into the leylines. Whatever they are planning it's going to be tonight.”

     “That's rather unfortunate,” Tasha said. “I was hoping to scout.”

     “Positives, this building is one hundred percent the right area. I can feel the queen's mana being injected here,” Ardin said. “Cardwin can you teleport us?”

     “Yes I believe I can, thanks to these Sa-tah-light images of theirs. Ok everyone gather together.” The six of them moved near Cardwin who chanted a series of spells.

     “Holy crap, I feel amazing. It's like my whole body became lighter,” Mira said, her eyes widening in surprise. 

     “Everyone has their roles, now let’s go get Titania back,” Cardwin said. The others agreed heartily, each of them drawing their weapons. Mira picked up her purse and pulled out a pistol. And a couple of spare magazines.

     “Why do you have that?” Sarah asked.

     “Backup, I got it the same time I started martial arts. I’ve gotten plenty of range time. My instructor said I’d make a fine soldier should I ever enlist,” she replied as she checked the weapon. Keeping the barrel pointed away from anyone she verified it and inserted a loaded magazine before slipping the others and the pistol into a holster that she fastened around her leg. 

     "Alright, we may be teleporting into a trap. And even if we aren't they will know when we arrive. So be prepared to engage the enemy,” Cardwin said as a glowing circle appeared under the group. Things began to feel weird for the group, it felt like they were being pressed into an impossibly small space yet taking up all of existence as he chanted, “Nal ilc vodt droln dag tect!”

     The world began to spin, and light, sound, and perception became muddied as everything shifted. Mira felt as if she was being torn apart atom by atom and hurled into a never-ending vortex. Suddenly everything was right and Mira pitched forward, losing her lunch in a nearby bush.

     “Apologies, that spell is not a pleasant one,” Cardwin said. He opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by a fireball splashing against his wards. 

     “Time to fight!” Faurik said eagerly.

     “So it seems,” cardwin replied before unleashing a devastating chain lightning spell. It wrapped harmlessly around a group of ten men who were dressed in some sort of ceremonial garb. Mira imagined hooded cloaks and tattoos. But these men looked surprisingly normal. Five others weren't so lucky as the lighting pierced through them and they fell. The smell of burnt flesh made Mira lose what was left of her lunch. Mira was blinded by a flash of white light as the roof of the church exploded.

*****

     “Good morning your majesty,” Tepestia said mockingly. “Today is a special day for you. You will birth a god.”

     “The only thing I am birthing today is your death,” she retorted. Looking a lot braver than she felt. 

     “Renard please escort the vessel to the altar,” Tepestia said ignoring Titania.

     Tia watched her father as he grabbed the comatose woman. Screaming in frustration she watched as he bound his wife in chains and dragged her away.

     “Now now, don't hurt yourself. We need you alive and healthy for what comes next. The ritual is almost prepared. Under the light of the comet, you will witness the end of the world.” She snapped her fingers and several large men entered, as well as Moros. Tepestia stared at him in annoyance but said nothing.

     Tia was led down the narrow passageways, she had considered resisting but knew they would just drag her there. They took her to a large stone room, which was covered in arcane and evil-looking symbols. Circles with some kind of lettering were written on practically every surface, connected by more lines of letters. As everyone filed in she saw that even the back of the now closed door was covered in the strange symbols.

     A small moan dragged her attention and she saw her mother lying on a stone altar, her clothes had been removed and Tia could see symbols tattooed on her mother's body. She froze in place and was roughly shoved forwards onto a second stone table. Her arms and legs were pulled flat against it as they were chained to rings.

     Her father walked over and with a sick grin on his face began to slice away her clothes. Now that she was closer and in proper light she could tell something was off about him. He looked gaunt, his eyes held a strange madness that hadn’t been there before. Once all her clothes had been cut away they were tossed into a pile. Her father and another small deathly pale man began to paint symbols on her exposed skin.

     Where they painted burned like they were using some sort of acid. After what felt like hours they finished. The places the ink had been painted still throbbed in pain. Tia felt sluggish, her breath was labored. Her heart struggled to beat and she had begun to shiver. She had lost all concept of time. She felt as if her life force was slowly being drained from her.

     “Your lady, it would seem that we have visitors,” Moros said.

     “So it would seem,” she replied. “My men can hold them off long enough for us to finish the ritual.” She walked over to where Tia lay gasping. “After all we began it already. We simply must wait for the right time and kill this one. Her strength is already being drained...”

     Everyone stood stunned as a small green-haired girl appeared in front of them. She turned around and looked at Titania. 

     “You aren’t mother, but Mother needs you alive to be reborn.” She turned back to face the cultists who were beginning to chant their spells. “You won’t win this time,” she said definitely and grabbed a small crystal from an inner pocket. She threw it on the ground, causing it to shatter. The pieces hung in the air for a moment before an immense beam of light blasted the room.

     The cultists were thrown across the room, crashing with heavy thuds into the walls. The spirit was blown upwards as the beam of light blasted through the ceiling and then through the floor of the church and its ceiling. Titania felt an immense heat and pressure but it wasn't painful it seemed to replenish her. The symbols on her body were burned away and she was finally able to return to spirit form. As she tried to fly upwards she was blasted in the back by Moros. A small corona of black energy surrounded his hand.

     The other was pressed tightly to his side. Where his white robes were stained crimson. Tia wasn’t confident fighting a spellcaster who was clearly more skilled than her. Make that two as Tepestia began to stir. She rushed towards a wall intending on passing right through it but instead bounced heavily off it. The sounds of combat could be heard coming down through the hole in the ceiling. 

     Tia hoped it was backup, all she had to do was survive until they arrived. She started to toss blasts of energy at the pair of cultists, they worked in tandem to take her down. They weren’t trying to kill her which was her only plus. She faced them with a smile, trying to look confident. Hopefully, it would be enough to make them hesitant.

*****

     “I thought you said Vaught wasn’t involved but that’s a tattoo of his,” Cardwin yelled over the sound of crashing steel. 

     “They aren’t at least not directly, I imagine they are here for other purposes,” Ardin said as he tossed vials of potions around. 

     “It matters not why they are here, we just need to keep attacking till they are dead, or we are,” Faurik said as he cleaved a cultist in two. 

     Mira stood next to Tasha who occasionally dished out the occasional spell. She was more focused on buffing the others and healing them. Mira had to take down a few of the men who slipped past the others. It was the first time she’d had to use her knowledge outside the dojo. There weren’t many of the cultists standing in their way. But they were nearly as skilled as the party was. Thus the two groups were at a standstill. Cardwin and his party were at a disadvantage here and the cultists knew it. 

     So they hid and shot spells at the group from cover. Mira felt frustrated, the bright light made her uneasy. There was also a growing sense of foreboding that Tasha said was dark magic. She began to sneak away, making her way to the building. She hoped that she had managed to avoid detection as she made her way around the building. There was no one here to stop her as she peeked around the corner. She was on the opposite side of the building as the cultists. 

     Carefully she made her way around the whole building until she could see them hiding behind the rubble. She removed her gun from its holster and released the safety. After lining up her shot she pulled the trigger. Putting four rounds center-mass of her first target, when he fell to the ground she pivoted and put three shots into another cultist, the rest threw up shields, which made her bullets bounce harmlessly off of. 

     The remaining cultists began to toss spells in her direction seemingly forgetting about the others. Cardwin caused one to pancake as he cast some kind of gravity spell on the man. Two were cut in half at the waist by Faurik. One was burnt to ash by Tasha and the last man disappeared in a cloud of black smoke as a vial of what looked like pure darkness hit him. 

     “That was incredibly stupid, very dangerous, and exactly what we needed. I’m beginning to like you,” Tasha said as Mira walked up to the group.

     “I do my best, now let’s go save my girlfriend,” she said as she reloaded her pistol.