Meltlake collapsed, blood streaming freely from her nose.
When the smoke cleared, Mizuchi was almost unrecognizable.
Not because she was wounded.
Rather, because she had abandoned the frailties of the human form that she had chosen to mimic.
Vast wings had wrapped around her, shielding her body from the flames.
The skin on her face had warped and fallen away, leaving only scales.
Four horns protruded from the top of her head, and her spine gave way to a long tail that ended in spines.
She was not in her true form; not a serpent.
But she was closer.
And those few things we might have called injuries were entirely gone.
“It has been many years,” her voice was stronger now, the pulse of mana in her tone, “since I have been forced to wear this form.”
Her hands, both clawed now, grabbed onto the bars and pushed. The bars began to buckle almost immediately. “You have done well. Each of you should be proud to have survived this long.”
I still felt the compulsion to remain still and silent, but it felt weaker. The spell must have lost some of its potency when Mizuchi shifted forms.
Moreover, the mana I was taking out of the items was already pure. Mizuchi’s spell had only affected people, not the mana stored in items.
If I can just get a little more…
Mizuchi smashed a clawed hand through the few conjured bars of mana that were still surrounding her. Most had been obliterated by the combined attack.
Elora took one look at Mizuchi and snapped her fingers, vanishing.
I didn’t blame her in the slightest.
Elora must have broken the anti-teleportation runes, I realized. That’s why she took so long to attack.
I hope she gets us some help.
“Necklace. Message Keras. Help.”
The necklace flashed again, but faded immediately. Elora must not have broken the anti-communication runes.
Maybe she hadn’t even broken the anti-teleport ones, so much as weakened them or made an exception for herself.
What else could I do? I could whisper, but that wasn’t much on its own.
I tried to move my other hand toward my pouch. If I could reach the Jaden Box, maybe…
Mizuchi growled at the spot where Elora had been a moment before. “Irritating. I suppose she will have to be dealt with at a later time.”
Mizuchi turned her head to Meltlake next, but the professor was unmoving on the floor.
Next, she turned back toward Marissa.
Marissa had taken the time to get some distance, at least. She’d run almost back to where the rest of the students were. She was only a few feet from the closest student tables.
That distance didn’t last more than a moment.
Mizuchi moved faster now, appearing in front of Marissa.
“I think you could have been a hero, if you’d lived long enough.” Mizuchi’s tail slammed into Marissa, spines piercing into her arm.
Marissa fell to a knee.
“No!” I heard Patrick yell.
He was standing now.
I turned my head to him. “Patrick. Box.”
I was insistent enough that I managed to get his attention.
Patrick reached into my bag and pulled the box out. “Good idea, Corin. I’ll take things from here. Retrieve: Dawnbringer Replica.”
His sword appeared.
“Patrick, wait—”
He stuck the box in my hand, then he began to run.
Mizuchi smashed Marissa in the jaw, sending her tumbling back and ripping the spines free from her arm.
This time, Mara didn’t get back up.
I looked hopefully toward Teft, the last person that I knew might be able to intervene.
His eyes were closed. He’d been close to the epicenter of the explosion, and he was badly burned. I couldn’t tell if he was just unconscious or dead.
Resh. What can I do?
“You lasted a long time, for a child. I’ll give you the honor of a good send-off.”
Mizuchi took a deep breath.
Marissa didn’t move.
Mizuchi exhaled, a wave of lightning exploding out of her mouth. The same lightning breath that had nearly annihilated us when we’d been hundreds of feet away just ten weeks before.
My eyes widened as Patrick charged into the path of the attack.
And swung a sword that gleamed like a mirror.
Mizuchi’s draconic breath struck the blade — and rebounded back at her.
The blast flashed across the room in an instant, slamming straight into Mizuchi and sending her crashing into the opposite wall. The stone splintered on impact.
When Mizuchi extracted herself from the wreckage, she bled.
“Where…” Mizuchi snarled, “Did you get Dawnbringer?”
“She’s not Dawnbringer,” Patrick replied, raising the gleaming blade. “I call her Bright Reflection.”
Mizuchi howled. The room trembled, stone shaking and cracking apart.
But I didn’t tremble. I was done trembling.
I stood.
“Retrieve: Selys-Lyann. Retrieve: Ring of Jumping. Retrieve: Ceris.”
Sera was rising, too, and I could see more other students around us breaking free. That reflected blast must have hit Mizuchi hard enough to loosen her control on everyone.
I passed Sera the crystalline sword.
I slipped the ring of jumping on and raised the Selys-Lyann.
I paused for one moment, considering. “Retrieve: Keras’ Blood.”
A vial of blood appeared. “Summon Keras Selyrian.”
Nothing happened.
Resh. The box hasn’t had enough time to recover yet.
I shook my head. “Store: Keras’ Blood.”
Then I took a step toward the fight.
“Don’t go,” Cecily managed. She was still sitting. Shaking. “You promised we’d leave together.”
“We will. But for the moment, I have work to do.” I turned my head toward Sera. “Think you can manage your bigger summon?”
“Not a chance. I can barely summon Vanniv.”
Vanniv himself was still struggling to get free of the spell, but showing no sign of success. He didn’t have enough mana to work with, and he couldn’t purify it like I could.
I nodded. “Then I guess we’re doing this the hard way.”
Mizuchi extracted herself from the rubble.
Many other students were free now, not just the handful of us.
Most of them were fleeing the room.
Sera and I resisted that tide, pushing forward to stand next to Patrick.
The three of us stood together in front of Marissa’s fallen form.
We would not let Mizuchi get closer to her.
Not. One. Inch.
Mizuchi walked toward us, almost casually, her tail twitching behind her.
She glanced at each of us, then back toward Patrick. “Is there someone just giving out legendary magical swords to children? Because I’m fairly certain I recognize all three of those.”
Patrick tilted his head downward. “Turn back, monster. You will find no further prey here.”
“Ooh, you’re a brave one. Almost as brave as your friend was. But you saw what happened to her, didn’t you? Broken, beaten, battered?”
“Alive,” Patrick managed. “That’s a better result than you seem to be aiming for.”
Mizuchi gave a smile that was very definitely fangs now. “I like your spirit. I’ll enjoy breaking it.”