Pretty Bait (POV Switch)

Isabelles chest was heaving, sweat dripped down her chin, *Stupid summoners, why can’t they do their rituals right outside our gates?*. The armoured knights were considerate enough to slow down for her, but they didn’t intend on letting her rest. *I just hope Tessa is alright*, the thought followed her through the dense forest as they approached the mountain. Lucy, Arelie and Rhea were mighty knights, they would all be fine, no what type of entity had been summoned.

Suddenly Rhea raised a hand to stop them and drew her blade with the other, which she then pointed upwards. Isabelle was shocked by what she saw. Tessa, the fastest member of their group, had been caught and suspended between the trees far above them. She was struggling and seemed to desperately try to yell something at them, but the rope knot in her mouth swallowed all meaning her words might have had. “Don’t worry, we’ll get you down!”, Rhea yelled up at her, “Lucy, give me—”, she turned to where Lucy had just stood, but the relatively short knight was no longer there. While they had all been looking upwards, she apparently disappeared without a sound.

Isabelle raised her staff and cast a spell, “Reveal!”, she mumbled to release the magic she channelled. Her spell revealed what was invisible to the human eye around them, and it didn’t disappoint. The whole area was filled with white string, none of them were more than a few inches away from any of the ropes. “Nobody move! Arelie, we’re surrounded by string.”, Rhea was always particularly protective of the blind knight, despite her intimidating size. “I know, Rhea. Isabelles spell revealed it to my senses too.”, Arelie responded, “What now?”. “Don’t touch the string.”, Isabelle ordered, “I have never seen anything like it, its magic is incredibly strong.”.

“That would be the right approach, but what do you do when the ropes move towards you?”, a male voice spoke from directly above them in the trees. “Well, in that case— “, Isabelle started, then she stopped, and her eyes shot up, “There he is!”, she pointed at the pale man. Rhea reacted first, crouching down and jumping in a straight line towards him. A mistake that Tessa had already made before her. She was caught by string which quickly wrapped around and restrained her before ripping her out of sight.

“Isabelle, I need your magic.”, Arelie got ready to attack. Her head wasn’t moving, but Isabelle knew the knight was using her other senses to find a path through the rope. Isabelle mumbled a few words, finishing with “Haste.”, causing a light blue aura to emanate from Arelie. The knight almost flew forward, elegantly dancing around the net of string and closing in on the sorcerer. Her form was perfect, the angle flawless, her speed near imperceptible. The tip of her spear was an inch away from the man’s heart… when she stopped moving. “Arelie!”, Isabelle yelled and raised her staff, but before she could get a spell off, she was ripped from the ground and suspended upside down, loosing her staff in the process.