A plan formed in my mind. I took a step toward her, my shield disintegrating as I removed my sword from its sheath. My magic wrapped around the steel, intertwining with the weapon, joining as one.
“Is that all you’ve got?” Adreona mocked. “Is your magic used up already?” She tilted her head to the side. “Guess you shouldn’t have used so much of it so fast.”
“I don’t need magic.” I tilted Minerva back and forth, letting the sun reflect off the blade, revealing the gold swirls of magic that simmered along the steel. I’d only ever needed my blade, my magic was an added bonus.
My father had trained me well to ensure it.
Magic could come and go.
Skill was forever.
I gave her a cool smile. “Give me what you’ve got.”
Her magic whipped out so quickly I didn’t have time to fully block it.
A scream pried from my throat as her magic crackled over my skin. It felt like millions of tiny razors prickling along my skin. I grit my teeth and raised my sword as another wave of magic came spearing toward me.
But I wasn’t fast enough.
I fell to my knees, Minerva falling into the dirt beside me as I convulsed from the force of Adreona’s magic. I closed my hands into fists, summoning my own magic to ward off hers. It rose to the surface, pushing out the unwanted magic that threatened to consume me.
I fell backward as a blade of ice made its way toward my face, falling with my back to the ground with a thud as I narrowly avoided the strike.
I resisted the instinct to get up as she approached.
I stayed motionless on the ground as her footsteps came closer. My magic pressed against my skin to the point of pain.
“You underestimated me once again, Lennox Adair, and this time it will be your death.”
Kara’s scream pierced the air as Adreona’s magic came barreling toward my chest.
“LENNOX!”
I reached for Minerva and the other blade at my back, crossing them in front of me to meet Adreona’s burst of magic.
Adreona’s magic crashed against my blades, I clenched my jaw against the force of the blow pushing against the blades, my arms trembling as I held strong.
“No, you, underestimated me, once again.”
I rose to stand, keeping the blades fixed in front of me as Adreona continued to thrust her magic toward me.
My arms trembled and sweat slicked down the back of my neck from the heat of the magic.
I tipped the blades toward Adreona a fraction of an inch.
“It will be your death.”
I thrust the swords toward her with a scream, forcing her magic back to her.
Her scream echoed in my ears as the force of her magic rumbled through her body, sizzling her veins, her blood boiling from the inside out—I could see it in her veins.
Adreona’s body crumpled to the ground, her body convulsing.
She flung out a hand, but nothing came out.
Her magic was wasted, not a drop remained.
I fell to my knees, pinning her arms under my legs as I pressed my sword to her throat—for the first time since I’d met her, I saw true fear in her eyes.
