Page 136 of Serpent and Shadow

I heard Norrick chuckle, right before I turned and threw a harder spell at him.

It was one I’d only ever used once before.

“Raktaagni lakshyam,” I snarled in Sanskrit.

Looking back on it, escalating into full-blown dark magic maybe wasn’t the best strategy, since none of them had gone that far yet. Even so, I couldn’t suppress the feeling of satisfaction when violet and green fire slammed into Norrick’s chest.

It brought a scream out of him unlike anything I’d ever heard from another Magical’s lips, especially not one roughly my age.

Before I could look away from what I’d done, I got hit, hard, from my other side.

I didn’t even hear the incantation, so at first I had no idea what it was.

A streak of blue and white lightning engulfed me, bringing so much pain my mind completely blanked out. I hadn’t managed to get my shield around, much less construct a new one after being attacked by the knives, so I got the full force of the spell.

It knocked me to my back so hard, all I could do for the first few seconds is lie there, gasping. My body seized, long enough for Mordopast to cast a second one.

That one felt stronger than the first.

He hit me with a third while I struggled to move my lips.

All three felt like lightning spells, stacked on top of one another until I couldn’t see anything but current flowing past my eyes and over my skin.

My limbs seized up violently, spasming as I gasped in pain and lack of oxygen. All I could do at that point is fight to keep breathing, to get enough air. Electrical current ran through me so intensely I could feel my system starting to shut down, my heart start to struggle.

At that point, the pain was nearly a detail.

It definitely wasn’t the thing that consumed my thoughts.

Panic exploded over me from the fact that I couldn’t move.

Every muscle and nerve in my body had lit up, charged with volts of electricity beyond anything I could force my way past. I couldn’t absorb it, or release it. It sparked and swam over my body, preventing me from moving my muscles the way I wanted. I couldn’t even scream. My whole body spasmed from the charge, my back arched, my fingers articulated. The pain was there, yes, but panic is what made me want to scream.

I could only lie there, vibrating, twitching, staring up, as Mordopast walked closer to stand directly over me.

“Fucking cunt.” His hair and jacket were still smoking where at least one of my fire dragons must have caught part of him on fire. Bending closer, he spat at my face. Behind him, I saw Scar and Pants run over to try and help Norrick with the bloodfyre curse.

Mordopast watched them go, a snarl still curling his lip.

“You’re going to fucking pay for that, witch. And then some…” He kicked me a few times, hard, and I felt something in me snap. He leaned down, staring into my face. “We’re going to take turns fucking you up, mongrel,” he said in a low, cold voice. “Then we’re going to throw you in the river, see if you float. A little present for you, and for that piece of shit blood-traitor you call your husband. How about that?”

I fought to speak, to move my hands, but I couldn’t.

It never once occurred to me he was lying, or trying to scare me.

He meant every word.

Before I could take another breath, he hit me with another curse. Then another after that. I was pretty sure they were the same ones he’d used before, but I was in so much pain by then, I couldn’t see, or think.

He bent down, and grabbed hold of my wrist.

He wrenched it violently, seeming to pull it out of the socket, and for the first time, I was able to make a sound past the effects of the curse.

I screamed.

He ignored my agonized shrieks, dragging me over the grass towards the others. He stopped only when he got me within a few feet of where Scar seemed to have finally gotten Norrick’s bloodfyre curse under control.

Mordopast glared down at me when I continued to gasp out pained cries. He gestured fluidly with a hand, murmuring an incantation under his breath, and my hands, hair, and every part of me I could see disappeared.