Chapter 12

Matella raised her arm into the air and a snowy mist formed above her. The mist spread outwards toward Thorn, freezing the air behind it and forming a giant shard of ice that hovered above Matella.

"Catch," Matella snickered. Like a frozen javelin hurling through the air, the ice shard launched itself at Thorn.

Without hesitation, Thorn lobbed two blue fireballs at the incoming projectile. The orbs of magic whizzed and crackled through the air before hitting ice shard with a loud crack, shattering it into several smaller chunks.

"Ah shit," Thorn muttered. While she had destroyed large ice shard, there were still smaller fragments coming at her with great speed. With not enough time to run, the Wiccan raised her arms to defend herself and closed her eyes, expecting the worse.

Barrier! Barrier! Barrier! She opened her eyes when didn't feel the ice fragments hitting her and she saw a green shield of energy formed around her. The ice fragments harmlessly bounced off her barrier.

Thorn sighed with relief and her shield dissipated. But when she went find Matella, Thorn's heart skipped a beat.

"Oh fuck, where'd she go?" Panicking, Thorn looked around but Matella was nowhere to be seen.

"Hehehehe." Matella's sinister laugh echoed in the vastness of the ceremonial chamber, coming from everywhere yet nowhere.

Thorn glanced around the room, trying to pinpoint the source of laughing, but couldn't spot the witch. She raised her hands and they were quickly engulfed in blue energy. She slowly started walking backwards, turning around momentarily when she heard another laugh.

"Ugh, show yourself!" Thorn shouted into the emptiness.

There was another laugh followed by a dozen or so small flashes of light. Thorn stopped. The lights had appeared in a dome-like fashion surrounding her. Thorn then heard what sounding like glass cracking all around her. Looking around, she noticed that where each light had flashed, a tiny, reflective disk had formed. Thorn gasped as the crackling became louder as the disks started expanding.

What's happening? Thorn nervously looked at the disks as they continued to expand until they were the size of a full body mirror. Indeed, mirrors were the best way to describe these objects as Thorn could see her reflection and the other mirrors in each disk.

Thorn quickly turned to her imprisoned friends and tried to run to them, but to her horror, the mirror objects followed her, keeping their position relative to Thorn's location.

"Having fun Sally?"

Thorn turned around and saw Matella standing in the mirror directly behind her. Thorn grimaced and hurled another blue orb of energy at the witch. Matella snickered and simply stepped aside, disappearing into the edge of the mirror. Thorn's jaw dropped when her attack went through the mirror.

"What!?" she gasped. In the mirror, she saw the fireball coming from behind. Stunned, she heard the fireball zooming through the air but it was too late. "Ah!" She screamed as her own magic crashed into her backside sending her crashing to the ground.

Thorn grunted as she struggled to pick herself back up. Ugh, guess these things are also portals or something. She glared at one of the mirrors. Note to self, don't send magic through them.

"That was adorable," Matella mocked. Thorn quickly turned around and saw Matella standing in a different mirror. "Why don't do you try that again?"

"Screw you! I'm not falling for that again!" Thorn shouted.

Matella shrugged. She raised her hand and fired a green bolt of energy. Thorn braced herself, but she was struck from the side rather than from where Matella was standing.

Thorn fell back down, winded from the strike. Her entire body continued to ache as she struggled to catch her breath. Noticing Matella in another mirror preparing to fire a lightning-like bolt of magic, Thorn gritted her teeth and powered through the pain, getting back up and quickly moved out of the attack's way. But Thorn screamed as she had stepped into the path of a second bolt and it struck her side. She fell back to the ground and once again, saw Matella in a different mirror, this one to Thorn's right.

Thorn scowled. She knew it wasn't a good idea, but got up and she threw blue fireball at the witch's image. But Matella flickered away and the fireball went right through the mirror like before. But unlike last time, Thorn knew what would happen next.

Listen for it Thorn. She heard distinct zoom of the fireball coming from straight above her and quickly jumped out the way. The fireball came crashing down, completely missing Thorn.

Thorn sighed with relief, but her relief was not long-lasting. She gasped when she saw Matella reappear but this time she was in two mirrors.

"Two places at once!?" Thorn shouted in frustration.

"Yup," the two Matellas said as they fired green bolts of energy at Thorn.

Thorn dove to the ground as the bolts came from two mirrors behind her. She could feel the heat from the bolts as they flew over her. They continued on their trajectory and went through the mirrors the Matellas were previously in. She quickly crawled to her feet and tried to identify where the bolts would reemerge from.

"Agh!" Thorn groaned as one of the bolts quickly shot out of a mirror to her left and grazed her shoulder. She stumbled backwards and the second bolt struck her legs, knocking her to the ground. Groaning from the pain, Thorn rolled onto her backside and was able to all the mirrors clearly.

The Wiccan's eyes widened in sheer terror as Matella appeared in every mirror with her hands engulfed in green energy.

Thorn quickly clasped her hands together. Her barrier formed around her as a bolt of energy was fired from each mirror. The bolts struck the barrier in a thunderous rumble and a brilliant flash of light. Yet Thorn shouted in pain as it still felt like she was being kicked repeatedly from all directions. Looking up, she could the bolts trying to break through. Her eyes teared up as she saw cracks forming in the shield.

No. I'm not going down this way. Grunting from the pain, Thorn rolled herself over to the edge of the barrier and out of the impact zone of the bolts. She knew it was a massive risk, but Thorn raised a trembling arm and with a wave of her hand, she shattered her own barrier.

On que, the assemblage of bolts struck the ground where Thorn had created the barrier. There was a flash of green light and a loud crack. Thorn screamed when she felt the shock wave from the blast overcome her. She felt like she was hit by car; she was tossed across the floor before slamming into one of the mirrors.

Thorn lay on the ground staring at the ceiling above. Her heart was pounding in her chest, her breathing quickened; her ears were ringing and the fresco above looked blurry. Everything hurt. She tried lifting her head but she collapsed with an exhausted gasp.

I can't…

She wanted let go and drift into unconsciousness. Sweet nothingness. Oblivion. The fresco above slowly cleared. She could see the Fallen being pulled into its eternal prison.

This must be what he felt…Battered and beaten. Defeated with no hope in sight.

I failed.

The ringing lessened and Thorn could make out the cries from her friends. She tilted her head so she could see them. Dusk and Luna were both pounding against their magical containment; their faces red and tears were streaming down their faces.

"Thorn please get up! You can't give up!"

Their cries continued. They need me and I failed them. Thorn remained on the floor, her gasps for breath slowly turned into soft sobs. She wanted to get up and keep going but she physically couldn't. I failed them.

Thorn could hear a set of footsteps slowly approach and soon Matella was standing over her.

"You give up Sally?" the witch coldly asked. "You can still complete the spell and then maybe I'll spare your friends."

Thorn could only glare at the witch. She tried to respond, but her coughing fit returned with a vengeance. She rolled onto her side and coughed up blood.

"Is that a yes?" Matella mocked.

Thorn just grunted and scowled as she tried to get ahold of her coughing.

"Don't listen to her Thorn!" Dusk called from distance.

"Try breaking the mirrors with a physical object!" Luna shouted.

"Okay, you two need to shut up already," Matella said. She pointed at Dusk and Luna; bolts of electric like energy struck them.

Thorn's heart nearly stopped and everything faded away: her physical pain, her coughing, the mirrors and even Matella. It was all gone. All Thorn could focus on were the screams. They were absolutely blood-curdling, full of unimaginable pain and agony. And they were coming from Dusk and Luna. Thorn could only watch as the two most important people in her life were tortured by Matella before her very eyes.

And Thorn snapped.

She didn't think and she couldn't feel. Her gaze shifted to Matella. She wasn't aware of the magic coursing through her, strengthening her and dulling her pain. Her hands were consumed in green energy. On instinct, she fired a bolt of energy and it snaked through the air before striking Matella in the chest. The masked witch was catapulted into one of the mirrors, completely shattering it.

Thorn quickly got back up. She saw that Matella had managed to land on her feet easily forty feet away. The masked witch was holding a smaller mirror in one hand and was ready to fire a green lightning bolt into the mirror with the other. In the remaining large mirrors, Thorn saw flashes of green. Without thought, the Wiccan fired a bolt at each incoming strike with an almost inhuman speed and precision.

One bolt managed to strike her, yet Thorn only grunted from the impact.

As the initial barrage ended, each mirror began glowing gold.

Defend.

Thorn clasped her hands and a barrier quickly engulfed her. Beams of golden energy fired from the mirrors. The beams ricocheted off Thorn's barrier and hit everything nearby leaving scorch marks on the floor and ceiling.

Destroy mirrors.

Thorn spun around and between the golden beams, she could see the rows of wooden pews. She reached out toward them. The two nearest pews violently shook before snapping off at the base. Thorn pulled her hand to her chest and the pews, twisting and spinning like a buzz saw, flew through the air. The mirrors stood no chance; four were immediately shattered by the rapidly rotating pews. Thorn guided the pews into each mirror, shattering each one until they were all gone. The Wiccan conjured a small barrier above her to protect herself from the shower of glass. Her focus quickly returned to Matella.

Distract her.

Thorn nodded in the direction of Matella and the two pews hurled themselves at the masked witch. Matella threw a set of blue fireballs at the incoming pews.

Split them.

Thorn refocused on the pews and they snapped in half. With smaller projectiles, the fireballs missed leaving Matella, for the first time in their confrontation, vulnerable.

Strike her.

The four halves of the pews dove at Matella. The witch cast a stream of fire at the pew halves, but the pieces darted around the fire.

Her shoulder wound. Strike it.

Thorn's gaze shifted to Matella's shoulder or specifically, the bloody spot where Dusk had stabbed her. Two of the pew halves further broke into smaller chunks and swarmed Matella; the witch frantically blasted away the chunks. Thorn glared at the witch's wound, and one of the remaining halves nosedived into Matella. The witch struck the pew with a bolt of energy, but an arm's length piece remained in intact.

"AGH!" Matella stumbled backwards, clutching the two foot piece of wood impaled in her left shoulder. "I certainly didn't expect this from you."

Thorn simply glared at the witch and last chunk of wood slammed into Matella knocking her to knees.

"Not much for talking now, are we?" the cultist said.

Thorn glanced at the piece of wood and Matella screamed as it violently twisted into the bone. There was a loud crunch and the wooden spike went completely through her shoulder.

"Hehehe…I truly didn't think you capable of such rage Sally," Matella painfully snickered. "But now I want to see how far you'll go." Matella staggered to her feet. She grabbed piece of wood and with an agonizing cry, slowly pulled it out of her shoulder. She snapped the end off and started carving some intricate symbol onto her shoulder.

Close the distance. Strike her down.

Thorn's hands were quickly engulfed in blue energy. She crouched and then, enhanced by her magic, she jumped. Her feet left the ground and she soared through the air. Despite this amazing feat, Thorn focused solely on Matella. As she descended upon Matella like a hawk on a mouse, Thorn fired a particularly large fireball at the witch.

There was a brief flash of green light followed by something shattering and a thunderous boom. Thorn landed comfortably on her feet. Matella was on her back less than a foot away, her mask shattered and her face bruised; her shoulder was excessively bleeding and she couldn't move her left arm.

"Well," Matella said between coughs. "This isn't how I expected this to go, but I'm impressed."

Thorn just stared down Matella and she raised her hand. Fire erupted from her fingertips.

Kill her.

"What?" Thorn gasped.

Thorn shuddered and repeatedly blinked. She nervously looked around; her hand was on fire and she was standing a brutalized Matella in spot she didn't recognize.

"Did I…" Thorn stuttered.

Matella smirked. "You don't remember last couple minutes, do you?"

Thorn slowly backed away from Matella, though she kept her arm raised to her.

I was going to kill her.

Thorn trembled at this realization. Did Matella deserve it, perhaps, but it didn't matter. It was wrong and it went against the few remaining beliefs Thorn held onto. Yet, she couldn't get over the fact she wanted to kill Matella.

"That's one of the problems with blind rage, you don't remember what you do during it; that primeval instinct takes over and you lose control," Matella said, the pain in her voice was distinct. "Regardless, you should finish me off and get your first kill."

Thorn shook her head. "No," she said gasping. "I'm a Wiccan. Unlike you, I don't kill people, even if they deserve it." The fire died and Thorn lowered her hand.

Matella gave a pain-filled laugh. "That doesn't matter Sally. You're a witch and you'll kill someone inevitably; that's just the nature of magic and I know no mage who has escaped this. Do yourself a favor and kill someone you hate as it'll make it less emotional when you do it again."

"Shut up!" Thorn shouted. She saw a large piece of pew and with her telekinesis, dropped it onto Matella to keep her pinned down.

"Hehehe!" Matella laughed. "You're no different Sally and deep down, you know you'll do so to save Jane and Kim."

"SHUT UP!" Thorn shouted again. "I'm not a killer!"

"Not yet," Matella cackled.

As Matella went into a laughing fit, Thorn shook her and stumbled backwards. As she did, a jolt of pain struck her right leg. Thorn screamed as her leg buckled and she fell to the floor. She tried moving her leg, but the pain only intensified.

"What the fuck, I can't move my leg!" Thorn cried from pain.

"Oh. Looks look you tore something," Matella said from under the pew. "That's what happens when you're not trained or fit enough to make those inhuman leaps." There was brief pause. "But that's another problem with blind rage, you're not immune to damage, you just can't feel it."

Thorn managed to sit herself up, but the pain was intense. I can't move like this. Thorn looked back at the pews and telekinetically broke off a long vertical piece of wood. It flew to her and Thorn used it as a crutch. With the makeshift crutch and her good leg, Thorn shouted as she pulled herself back onto her feet. While not the perfect setup, it would have to do.

Thorn turned to her friends. They were laying down in the orb of energy and Thorn panicked when she noticed that they weren't moving. She hobbled as quickly as she could towards them.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Thorn came to a standstill. She turned around only to be struck by the piece of wood Matella had been trapped under. Thorn's crutch broke and she was knocked to the ground. Grunting from the pain, Thorn looked up only to see Matella standing not far from her; there was a bright red symbol glowing on her shoulder and Thorn watched in surprise as the wound closed itself up. Matella lurched forward before shrugging her formally injured shoulder.

"Gotta love healing spells," Matella said with a smile.

Thorn went fire a bolt of energy at Matella but the sudden pressure on her bad leg caused her shout in pain.

"Unless you want to complete the ritual, don't bother fighting back or I'll break your leg off," Matella said and her telekinetic grasp on Thorn strengthened. Thorn screamed.

Matella raised her hand and four red chains materialized from the floor. They wrapped around Thorn's arms and legs and pulled her over to the pedestal.

"Okay, let's finish this spell," Matella reached into her pocket and removed a notecard with the spell written on it.

Thorn glared at the notecard and it caught fire, causing Matella to drop it. I can still use magic. Good. Thorn shrieked as her leg was violently twisted.

"Do anything like that again and you'll lose your leg AND your friends," Matella warned. The orb containing Dusk and Luna floated over to them. They were still laying there with their eyes closed, their chests slowly rising and falling with each shallow breath. Thorn sighed, at least they were still alive.

"Let's try this again," Matella grumbled as she removed a second notecard from her pocket. The notecard floated in front of Thorn and she could easily read it.

You have one chance to get this right. Thorn looked around the room, looking for anything she could use to escape. She saw her purse laying on the ground by the main aisle. At some point it must've slipped off her shoulder. While it was nice to find it, there wasn't anything in there that could help her. Her eyes came upon the final fresco on the ceiling. How the fuck did you escape? She grunted as the Fallen had help from its followers. Thorn turned to her friends and sighed. Obviously, they were in no condition to provide aid. But her eyes widened as she noticed the glint of metal on the ground where her friends were originally captured.

Dusk's knife! She must have dropped it when she was captured. Thorn could definitely use the knife but even with her telekinesis, Matella would surely notice it and intercept it. She still needed a surefire way to incapacitate or distract Matella.

"Sally…" Matella angrily said. Thorn shouted as her leg was twisted again.

"Okay fine, I'll do it," Thorn said and the pain lessened. Thorn stared at the notecard. It's just to buy time until I can think of a plan. "Do I need to say the whole thing again or just the end?"

"Just the end," Matella grunted.

Thorn cleared her throat. "Umm, can you move the card a little closer, I can't read it from here." Come on Thorn, think!

Matella sighed in frustration and the card moved closer to Thorn.

Thorn sighed. Saying anything else would only alert Matella to the fact that Thorn was planning something; the Wiccan had no choice but to start reciting the spell.

"With…faltering…breath and…fading…mind." She tried speaking the spell as slowly as possible but the dizziness and blurry vision returned. Think! How can I get out? Could I use the knife on Matella? No, she'd definitely stop it. On the chains? She gave the chains a subtle tug to test their strength. She quickly realized that they weren't actually chains but rather were made up of magical energy. Okay, the knife might actually work on them, but I still need to deal with Matella.

"My final… act…I have… resigned." Okay, Matella looks like she's in good condition, so she could probably defend herself from any attack. She paused and tugged again at her confinements. Wait! That's it! I need to trap her. Thorn frowned. But how?

"Hurry up," Matella said interrupting Thorn's thoughts.

"Let… the…Cosmic…reawake." She started coughing. No, no, no. Hurry Thorn, think! Her coughing slowed down. Okay, um, pin her with the pews? No, she'd expect that from me? Uh, I don't know how make the chains or the orbs Dusk and Luna are in, so those are out. Ugh! How can I fucking capture her!?

"Sally!" Matella angrily shouted.

Shit! The Wiccan nervously glanced at the notecard. How to capture her? How to capture her? Capture her. Cap…Thorn smirked. That was it. She had a plan.

"I pray…the Fallen," Thorn glanced at Matella. "My soul to—Capiō!"

Just as it happened to her when she was subdued by the security warlock, a pair of green rings of energy formed around a surprised Matella and incapacitated her. Thorn quickly glanced at Dusk's knife and the blade flew through air with enough force to cut through Thorn's restraints. Thorn dropped to the ground and grunted as she landed on her injured foot, but she powered through the pain and grabbed the pedestal to keep herself steady.

"Very good Sally," Matella said as she managed to rotate herself around. "Looks like you have the potential to be a great witch after all."

"Shut up! I'm not falling for any more of your tricks," the Wiccan shouted. She raised her arm to the subdued cultist, her hand engulfed in blue radiance. With a bit of telekinesis, Thorn knocked Matella to her knees.

"So what's next?" Matella taunted, unfazed that she was held at the magical equivalent of gunpoint.

"Let my friends go," Thorn demanded.

Matella rolled her eyes and Dusk and Luna were released. The two awoke when they hit the ground and were groaning.

"Looks like you get a second chance to be the executioner…" Matella calmly stated. "I suggest you take it this time."

It was incredibly tempting, especially knowing that Matella would likely try something again. But despite the rage she felt, she lowered her arm and the blue light faded.

"No. I already told you once, I don't kill people," Thorn said as she backed away from the still incapacitated witch.

Matella sighed, though Thorn wasn't sure if it was a sigh of relief or disappointment. The witch looked like she was in deep thought. Maybe she'd finally learn her lesson and change her ways; Thorn could only hope.

Thorn turned to her friends. "Are you guys alright?"

"Yeah, I think we'll be okay," Dusk said as she and Luna got back up. "I don't what you did to beat her, but I wish you'd kill that bitch. I'd put her down if I was you."

"Well too bad you're not a witch," Matella mocked.

"I almost had you," the blonde replied through clenched teeth. She saw her knife floating next to Thorn and she grabbed it. "I'll finish you off right now!"

"Jane don't," Thorn said before things escalated.

Dusk frowned and she sheathed the knife.

"Okay, can we focus on getting out of here," Luna nervously said.

Thorn nodded. "Right. Um, my leg is busted, so I need some help walking."

Dusk and Luna quickly helped Thorn up.

"We should grab the key, we could use it as a bargaining chip if we encounter more cultists," Luna suggested.

Dusk nodded and tried to dislodge the key but despite her best efforts, the sphere remained firmly in place.

"This isn't working," Dusk stated.

"No kidding," Thorn replied.

"Just use telekinesis," Luna suggested.

Thorn stared blankly at the key for moment. Why didn't she start with that? After regaining her composure, Thorn focused on the key. At first, the sphere only vibrated in place. But after a few seconds, the sphere began to turn. Like nails on a chalkboard, the sphere scrapped against its constraints before something snapped, causing Thorn to flinch. The beam vanished and the original wall reassembled itself over the glowing, red barrier so that no light remained.

Thorn carefully lifted the key out of the pedestal. As she did that, she felt restored; the lingering pain from her coughing fits vanished. She smiled. Things were getting even better.

"Let's get out of here," Thorn said. Dusk and Luna helped walk her down the center aisle toward the door. They briefly stopped to pick up Thorn's purse and they continued on with their escape.

"Sally, do you remember what I said about silver?" Matella called.

The three stopped dead in their tracks. Silver could nullify magic and Matella was subdued with magic… the sound of something resembling glass shattering shook her out of her thoughts. A few seconds later, she heard the familiar sound of a blue orb moving through the air. Despite the pain of standing on her bad leg, she swiftly pushed her friends out of the projectile's path. Then in a last ditch effort to save herself, she threw the key at the incoming blast of magic.

Thorn shielded her eyes from the small midair explosion. The key was pulverized and the resulting dust cloud quickly dissipated.

"Now Sally," Matella said as she approached the Wiccan as she returned a small, silver razor to a sheath hidden beneath her sleeve. "Where is the key?"

"Capiō!" Thorn shouted. But to her surprise, no incapacitating rings formed around Matella and the witch continued with her approach. Panicking, she threw another blue shot of energy at Matella. Thorn watched in horror as her attack harmlessly phased through the witch.

"What!?" Thorn gasped.

"You still have much to learn," Matella said with a smirk.

Thorn screamed as blast of magical energy hit her from behind sending her plummeting to the ground. She tried to get up, but an unseen force pushed back her back down and pinned her there. She heard the sound of boots landing on the ground from a great height followed by footsteps approaching her from behind. Thorn's eyes widened as a second Matella came into her line of sight.

"H-how?" Thorn questioned.

The second Matella laughed and snapped her fingers. The first "Matella" disappeared in a shower of sparks.

"Illusion spells," the real Matella stated. She sounded tired. "Now hand over the key."

It was Thorn's turn to smirk. "Can't. It was a pretty flimsy defense against your attack."

Thorn's snide remark was met with a swift kick to her head.

"You blasphemous piece of shit!" Matella screamed. "Do you have any idea what you've done!?"

"Yeah, I screwed over your plans," Thorn groaned, her head still throbbing from the kick.

Thorn found herself lifted into the air and thrown into a pew. In the process, her purse slipped off her arm. Matella picked up the handbag and rummaged through it as if she was looking for the key in there. Instead, Matella removed Thorn's journal and tossed the bag aside.

"So this is your journal, huh? The mages in Processing told me about it," the witch said flipping through it. She closed the book and it burst into flames.

A single tear fell down her cheek as she watched all her unfinished songs, herbal recipes, dreams and emotional outlet go up in smoke. Matella flung the burning book aside like a piece of trash.

"You ruined everything I had planned, so I'm going take away everything you hold dear before I kill you," the witch coldly said as she turned to Dusk and Luna who were trying to hide behind a pew.

The witch raised her arm and her hand glowed dark red as energy swirled around it; Matella raised her arm to Dusk and Luna.

Tears streamed down Thorn's face as she scrambled to her feet. Her leg was killing her as she put weight on it but she didn't care. She stumbled her way between her friends and Matella. Thorn clasped her hands and Matella fired the laser-like beam of magic.

Please work.

The greenish glow of her magic shield provided a brief moment of comfort, a calm before the storm of pain. Thorn reeled back in agony as she felt like she was punched in the gut when the beam collided with the shield in a brilliant flash of light. Thorn fell onto her bad knee and screamed. She was panting and trembling from pain and exhaustion. The shield began to fracture.

No… She glanced to her friends. She grunted as she stood back up. She took a single, painful step forward. Then another. Despite the excruciating pain, she kept pushing back against the magical energy beam, slowly gaining ground. If she could get close enough, she'd counter-attack Matella. If not, she'd give her friends time to escape.

But a second laser slammed against the shield, pushing Thorn backwards. In a split second, she'd lost all the ground she gained and the shield was further cracked. She sobbed, the pain and exertion were overwhelming, she couldn't keep the shield up for much longer.

In the corner of her eye, Thorn noticed a blur of yellow and green. Dusk was moving along the pew and stood at the edge of the shield.

"Jane! Get back behind me! Please!" Thorn begged.

"Sally you need help," Dusk replied. She pulled something out of her sleeve and threw it at Matella before jumping back behind the shield.

"What the-!" the witch gasped as the familiar crack of a smoke pellet going off. A plume of green smoke surrounded the witch and Thorn could hear coughing. The energy beams stopped and Thorn cast away her damaged barrier.

"Let's get the hell out of here!" Dusk shouted as she hopped off the pew and helped Thorn toward the door.

Luna quickly helped Thorn and Dusk after briefly stopping to pick up the former's purse. But when they reached the exit, the doors swung open.

"Snare her," a male voice ordered.

Before Thorn could react, a long cable twisted through the air and quickly wrapped around her. There was a click and Thorn collapsed to the floor, more exhausted than before. She could only watch as armed guards swarmed around the three of them; Dusk and Luna quickly surrendered.

"Matella!" the same voice shouted. Thorn caught a glimpse of the man. He was similarly dressed like the other masked mages she'd seen except he was adorned in full crimson and gold regalia including a long cope decorated in strange runes, a large miter embodied with the eye symbol and several sashes. He reminded Thorn of the Pope.

"Zachariah, sir," Matella quickly said as she escaped the smoke. She sounded scared.

"Why is the ritual incomplete?" Zachariah questioned.

"Um…It was almost, uh…done sir," the witch weakly replied.

"But it's not and I don't see the key anywhere."

"It's…destroyed."

"So you've failed then."

Matella was silent.

"When you told us of your plan, I had high hopes for you. I let them get through Processing with ease despite their inability to follow directions and gave you access to everything you needed. Instead of completing the ritual like you were supposed to, you put on spectacle fight that you nearly lost and allowed them to destroy the key," Zachariah continued. "I don't know why I even allowed you to go through with this plan. If you really cared about letting your brothers and sisters witness the Fallen, you would've volunteered yourself in the first place."

Zachariah looked down at Thorn and her friends. "Do you know who these girls really are?"

"Yes sir. Sally McKnight, Kimberly Ross and Jane Warren," Matella quickly responded.

"Do you know what Processing revealed about them?"

"Uh, no sir. I didn't receive their full background checks. "

"They're the members of the popular band The Hex Girls."

"Oh. Um, well, they can't be that popular, I've never heard of the band."

"Silence!" Zachariah raised his hand and Matella fell to her knees. "They're famous enough to be on a national tour right now, which means people will be looking for them and disposing of them will be complicated.

"But sir," Matella choked on the words.

"Not only have you failed our Lord, but you risk exposing us to the public by bringing them here. I had hoped you'd taken account of that, but clearly you didn't."

"Aww Matella, you bit off more than you can chew," a woman next to Zachariah mocked. Aside from the usual mage garb, she also wore some additional sashes.

"Enough Esmeralda," the Pope look-alike said. "As for you Matella, you will rebuild the key and complete the ritual yourself." Matella's face paled.

"No," a voice Thorn recognized muttered from the crowd forming behind Zachariah. Cyrus pushed his way to the front.

"Is there a problem Cyrus?" Zachariah asked.

He went to say something but stopped. Thorn noticed Matella subtly shake her head 'no'.

"Then it's settled. Matella will complete the ritual, supervised by Esmeralda and Marcus." He motioned for Esmeralda and another man dressed identically to her to step forward. "As for the Hex Girls, take them to the cells and we'll deal with them later," Zachariah ordered. He waved his hand and Thorn's vision blurred. She could just make out the outline of the guards approaching her before everything faded into nothingness.

A/N

Pheww, that was a tough chapter to write. Hope everyone enjoys it. Once again, thanks to everyone who has left a review; every little bit of feedback helps and is appreciated.