Smoking and spinning off-course, she shoved the spear into the ground before her body met the hard earth. She spun around the weapon before it vanished. When Vi landed on the ground, she broke into a run. Raspian had turned to meet her.
Vi stole back control of her body from Yargen. She bounced backward at the last moment, flipping through the air. She’d never done such acrobatics in her life, but being divine had its perks. Yargen seemed to know Vi’s intentions at the same time, if not before, they crossed Vi’s mind.
When she landed she reared back.Misst soto gotha. A bow appeared in her hands and Vi released three arrows at once. As they flew toward Raspian, she threw out a hand, allowing her spark to run rampant. It was a hybrid of her Firebearer magic andjuth starys.
Fire erupted around Raspian’s feet and he let out a roar as one of her arrows sank into a soft spot between the bony plates that protected his body.
So he can be wounded, Vi thought.
Not easily,Yargen replied.
Raspian recovered faster than Vi expected. He raised his arm in a straight line and the earth mirrored his motion. Clay grew like a Groundbreaker’s wall. The hand Vi had thrown out in the attack was enveloped in slime. Vi tugged and tugged, but the red earth hardened before she could free herself.
The dark god approached. She could feel static building in the air. Vi readied an attack when her free arm moved without her permission.
Mysst soto laark. The glyphs for the words appeared around her hand as it closed on a sword. In one motion, without any hesitation, her body moved and sliced off its own arm.
Vi screamed, though mostly in her own mind. No blood poured from the wound. It hardly hurt more than any other blow she’d taken, but the shock of cutting off her own arm made her dizzy.
Yargen was in control. She sprinted away from Raspian, pouring power into the severed stub of her arm. Crystals emerged, taking the shape of a new elbow, forearm, and hand. By the time her fingers closed in a fist, the appendage looked as normal as the last.
A wave of red magic erupted behind her. Vi looked over her shoulder, watching it crash over every rock and ledge. There was no way she could outrun it.
Spinning in place, she crossed her arms before her, kneeling.Mysst xieh rohko hoolo. The words combined in a way Vi had never expected, but with Yargen’s full power surging in her veins, a cocoon of light surrounded her just before the rush of Raspian’s power overtook her.
Sharp snaps, like whips against the outside of her barrier, filled her ears. Vi kept her eyes closed, breathing and focusing on nothing more than putting power into her shield. She felt it beginning to crack, worn thin under the assault. Lightning reached in, searching for her like flailing tentacles before fizzling out.
As soon as it faded she bounced upward, pushing the barrier out from her in a blinding flash of light. Raspian roared in frustration, holding his eyes. Vi moved for him.Mysst sut. This time, an axe was in her hands.
Wielding it two-handed, she leapt and swung it against the side of his face. Raspian recovered, turned, and opened his mouth. He caught her weapon between his teeth, clamping down and shattering it.
Vi tumbled with her remaining momentum, thrown over to his side. Raspian lunged for her. The weight of worlds threatened to smother her as the god was atop her. He grabbed her shoulder with his claws, pressing her into the ground.
We need to move! Fall in the sky!Vi thought loudly, willing her body to sink into the earth and appear elsewhere.
Too soon.
“Loft dorh!” Vi shouted as Raspian swung a claw for her face. He froze, tipping forward, off-balance. Vi scrambled out from underneath him, his claws ripping her shoulder.
On her feet again, Vi spun as Raspian regained control of himself.Chronot!Vi thought. It had been Taavin’s word. But Taavin had gained the word from the goddess who was now within her, and the magic blessedly worked.
Vi’s glyph remained steady on Raspian, fading slowly.Thank you, Taavin. She spared a brief thought for the man she loved and the moment she did, her heart beat faster. She felt her breath. She tasted the metallic tang of panic in her mouth. She felt human andalive.
Summoning an axe to her hands again, Vi swung it overhead at the nape of Raspian’s neck. It stuck, sinking deep into his skin. Magic, not blood, oozed around it, releasing into the air as a dark and rusty haze.
Raspian’s features softened. He became clay-like and was absorbed into the earth before Vi’s eyes. She spun, searching frantically for him.
Thrusting her arm into the air, a bolt of power shot upward, reflecting off the swiftly cracking moon. In this distorted reality of the gods, it seemed like everything was connected in odd ways. The sky was closer. The ground was malleable. The stars were gone unless they decided to put them there.
Her magic illuminated the barren earth. Light rained down as droplets that seared the ground like acid. A roar echoed across the sky as Raspian emerged from below with an eruption of lightning and lava.
Kot sorre. Vi pushed the lava back with a glyph in each hand, holding it at bay. She locked eyes with the god who was trudging over to her as the molten earth cooled. The sky was still filled with fading light and she could see every gnarled element of his nightmarish form.
Durroe watt ivin. Nine illusions fanned out from her, surrounding Raspian. Vi ran to the right. The other illusions danced around her, darting in and out, trading places. She was the living version of a street urchin’s card game—find the queen. Raspian was twisting, trying to keep track of her.
Vi lifted a hand, firing a bolt of pure light at him. Every other illusion repeated the same motion. Raspian swung at one, his claws sinking through it. The mirrored version of her dissipated on the wind as her magic struck him in the back. She danced again, struck again.
“Enough games!” Raspian snarled. He tilted his head back and roared at the sky. Vi didn’t have time to react before lightning rained down all around her, one bolt striking her square in the chest. She felt it arc between her ribs. Her body seized as she fell to the ground, wheezing.
