Fast as a God-Lit Candle

We all move at once, knives, lightning, and magic projectiles exploding outward, seeking targets. I’m laser-focused on Erd’s furious face when everything slows mid-lunge. It’s as if we’re all caught in invisible quicksand, our reactions comically slow.

Akheron is laughing.

The nun growls, flaring white like a god-lit candle.

Light burns across my eyelids, then time restores. I roll instead of stumble, coming up on Erd’s right side as my knife hits his shoulder. The battle is fast with a satisfying result; all three goblins are on their bellies, faces pressed to the floor.

Akheron and the nun are gone.