AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Once my arm was free, I used it to push her as hard as I could. She stumbled back against the fountain. She didn't hit it very hard, since my blow was so weak and awkward, but it was enough to break her concentration on her water magic, just for a second.
That was all I needed.
The remaining vines loosened around my body, and I threw myself forward and down into the mud, reaching, reaching, reaching for the staff with all the precious Ice magic it contained.
My fingers closed around it just as her magic tightened around me once more.
"Die, bitch!" Salina hissed.
"You first!" I snarled back.
Struggling against the vines, I managed to get to my feet, bring the staff up over my head, and slam it down into the mud - releasing every last bit of the Ice magic stored inside.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then, in the space between breaths, everything around me just - crystallized.
The second before the staff plunged into the ground, I reached for all the Ice magic - my magic - stored in the silverstone. I combined that power with what was flowing through my veins, pouring it all into the staff and using the weapon to focus my energy, my will. And when the metal tip of the staff buried itself in the mud, I forced all of the power out of the weapon, lashing out with it as hard, fast, and brutally as I could. The silvery color of my magic filled my vision, blotting out everything else, as though I was standing in the middle of a cold, burning star.
I wa
sn't sure if it would be enough to overcome all the water on the ground and still arcing up through the air. I wasn't sure if I had more magic stored in the staff than Salina did in her bracelet. I wasn't sure if my magic would be enough to cut off her power source.
But I tried it.
And it worked.
For a few seconds, there was just - cold. This blast of cold that overcame everything else, like a nuclear winter. Ice zipped along the ground, the jets of water froze in midair and glittered like giant ocean waves, and everything became cold, hard, and slick. And the elemental Ice didn't stop at the edge of the fountains - it kept right on going, spreading out across the lush spring grass like a sheet unrolling, killing the blades instantly, and causing the people still running from the scene to slip and fall as the Ice crystals caught up with and then spread past them.
When it was over, when the silvery light of my magic finally faded away, I slowly stood up, the staff still in my hands. Empty now of all its power, just like me. I'd put every last bit of my elemental magic - Ice and Stone - into that blast. Now, I had nothing left. A wave of exhaustion washed over me, and the staff slipped through my fingers and clattered to the ground.
Behind me, someone let out a low whistle. I whirled around to find Finn casually gliding on his wing tips across the sheet of Ice with all the easy grace of an Olympic figure skater.
"Damn," he drawled, sliding to a stop beside me. "I knew that staff had some of your Ice magic in it, but not that much. It looks like the middle of January instead of May. "
That was something of an understatement. Ice stretched out as far as the eye could see, glittering like a field of frosty diamonds in the growing darkness. Two inches of Ice encased all of the fountains, and not so much as a single drop of water flowed out of the busted pipes. The ground had also frozen solid and was as slick and glossy as an ice-skating rink.
I'd been the closest to the mermaid fountain, and it had taken the brunt of my attack. The Ice had blasted it into pieces. The mermaid was missing her tail, while her head and long, wavy hair were now just barely clinging to the rest of her body, although she still had that crazy, crazy grin on her face - one that still made me shiver, even now, when it seemed like I'd survived after all.
Chapter 32
I let out a shaky breath and ran my trembling hand through my hair. At least, I tried to, but my ponytail had frozen just like everything else had, including my clothes. Jo-Jo had always told me my magic would just keep growing and growing, but sometimes it still amazed me to realize the dwarf was right. Sure, there had been a lot of power stored in the staff, but most of this - most of this had been me.
"No!" a voice screamed. "No, no, no!"
Salina stood in the middle of the garden of elemental Ice, her gaze frantically searching the ground for any sign of free-flowing water that she could use against me. But there wasn't any. I'd frozen it all with my Ice magic - every last fucking drop.
Salina saw me staring at her, and rage filled her features once more. I thought she might reach for her magic to try to pull the water out of my body, but her eyes caught on something black that was half-buried in the Ice, and she bent down and yanked it free. Too late I realized it was a gun, one that the giants or her guests must have dropped in their rush to escape.
I put myself in front of Finn and instinctively reached for my Stone magic to harden my skin - only this time, I was all out of juice. I'd used up all my magic, and there just wasn't time to try grab one of my knives and use the Ice magic stored there to form some sort of shield. My spider rune ring was empty too, gone since the battle at the creek yesterday.
I still had on my silverstone vest, but Salina was aiming the gun at my head.
I'd finally beaten Salina, finally used my elemental magic to overpower hers, and now she was going to kill me with a simple gun. Ah, the irony. Going to be the death of me - right now.
Behind me, Finn noticed what was happening. "Gin!" He yelled. "Get out of the way!"
He tried to shove me to one side, but Salina was quicker. She must have realized I was out of magic because she smiled - a smile that was just as crazy as the mermaid's was.
