Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 112089 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 374(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112089 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 374(@300wpm)
Sebastian got to his feet in between deflecting her spells, playing defense now. Once he was up, though, he was ten times more active. Approaching her at an angle, he fired off a spell. Before it hit, he quick-stepped in the opposite direction and hit her with another.
Her shields caught and threw the spells, but they were designed to counter an attacker who was staying in one location. Sebastian was rendering them useless.
She countered, hitting him with harder spells. He braced as they came in, then shrugged them off. He fired two to her one, much more experienced and savvier in a magical duel.
“Get mad, girl,” Niamh said. “Get mad and hit him with yer power.”
Jessie took to the air again, making Sebastian bend back to fire spells off. It hampered his effectiveness, slowing him. And then she went for it, slamming down spells of pure power.
“Yes!” Niamh shook her fist, the call of battle singing within her. She knew from watching Jessie and Sebastian practice that these spells lacked any sort of complexity. Most mages wouldn’t dare use them in a life-or-death situation because of how easily they could be torn apart. Except, as Sebastian had explained to them, most mages didn’t have as much pure power as Jessie did.
When in doubt, beat them with brawn.
His shields were durable, but he didn’t have anything to brace against. Her first spell shoved him back three paces. Her second one, fired off right after the first, made him stagger. The third made him roll across the ground.
She dove, hit the ground, fired off another spell, and shifted to her human form. Here, she used her more agile hands and added complexity to the spell, pounding it into his shield.
His protective spell started to tear away, and he rolled, trying to get more distance. She walked faster, catching up.
A loud bang hit the dome again as Cyra dive-bombed it. Fire ignited within the spell’s cracks. It burned anew, momentarily cutting out their view into the dome. The spell pulsed before dimming, losing power.
Cyra pulled away, and then thunder rolled. Lightning sparked around the thunderbird as Hollace followed Cyra’s previous path. He slammed into the dome with his much larger size. Lightning followed the route Cyra’s fire had burned. It fizzed and crackled, and the spell groaned like an old man getting out of bed before it shattered. The orange glow diminished until the spell was no more.
“Well, that’s not good,” Edgar said with his crochet hooks in hand. “That dome was keeping Augustus Steele from going to his mate’s aid. Jessie isn’t the only one whose animal dunks them into violent darkness. She’s just the only one who shies away from it.”
SIX
My breath came in fast puffs, and fatigue dragged at my limbs. We were almost to the end of this battle. I just had to make Sebastian submit, and my job here would be done.
His head thunked against the ground as his shield shoved back against him. He tried to roll away from my advance, but I put up a block to pin him in. I slashed at his shield, then slammed him with another powerful spell. Slashed then hammered, slashed then hammered. In a moment, I’d push my claws against his neck and scare the life out of him. He didn’t have any fear of magic, but he had a distinct fear of monsters.
Right now, most of me was lost to the monster, anyway.
He crumpled under the onslaught, giving me déjà vu for the first time we’d battled. He could’ve hit me with over a dozen kill spells that would’ve burrowed through my defenses and taken me out, or come up with more creative ways to combat my power. But he wasn’t trying to kill me, then or now, and had tempered his spells so I didn’t get hurt.
Not many mages would willingly allow themselves to look lesser. And yet here he was, allowing me to look mighty, trusting I wouldn’t hurt him, so that the people of this territory felt safer.
My heart swelled, and then a crashing noise from above stole my focus.
I looked up in confusion. Fire rolled over the outside of the dome right before Hollace slammed into it.
A spell hit me center mass. I flew backward, caught off guard.
Stupid! I’d been almost done with this fight!
The dome winked out. Sebastian scrambled to his feet and hit me with another brutal spell, singeing away my shield.
That wasn’t what freaked me out, though.
Rage pulsed through my bonds, drowning out all other emotions.
Austin.
I glanced over as another spell came at me, ripping through the skin on my arm. Sebastian’s expression turned into one of confusion. I should’ve easily blocked that spell.
The great polar bear raced toward us.
He’d been on edge since the shifter fight. His animal had been riding him hard; I’d felt it. I hadn’t thought Cyra could get through the dome—I’d been counting on it—but Hollace must have pushed her magic over the edge.