The basilisk cracked her with his tail, sending her face-first into the ground with such force, for a moment, Angelique thought she might have brokenbones.
Everything hurt and blazed inpain.
That stun was even shorter than the first one. The thought was fuzzy and came to her slowly as she tried to think through the haze of pain.This fight is going much more poorly than Iestimated.
She felt the cool sensation of her magic twine through her fingers, but she pushed the sensationaway.
I won’t use my coremagic!
She felt the basilisk looming above her, its hot breath making hershiver.
Angelique clenched her teeth and slammed her hands onto the ground, releasing the wind magic she held. The magic exploded across the ground, raising a gritty cloud ofdust.
The basilisk hissed its irritation as Angelique pushed herself off the ground and scurried away, wincing as her right knee radiated a hot, searing pain up and down herleg.
With the pain spurring her on, Angelique mentally sifted through some of the more brutal forms of magic Puss had insisted shelearn.
She waited until the dust cleared before she threw magic that would temporarily blind themonster.
A milky white membrane spread over the basilisk’s eyes. It shook its head back and forth, writhing in vain as it tried tosee.
Angelique shifted so she didn’t put so much weight on her injured leg, then uprooted a fir tree that sat on the crest of a hill. She smashed it into monster’s back, attempting to crushit.
The basilisk flung its head back as it roared in pain. It struck the tree, its strong jaws and jagged teeth ripping through the needled branches and sturdytrunk.
While it was preoccupied, Angelique used her magic to scoop several large rocks that bordered on the edge of being small boulders, and hefted them higher and higher into theair.
When the basilisk threw the tree off its back, Angelique dropped therocks.
They smashed into the monster’s head with a skull-crunchingthud.
The basilisk shook its head, throwing the rocksoff.
Angelique ducked to avoid one, but her knee gave out, and she flopped to the ground—injured kneefirst.
She tried to hold in her growl of pain, but the blinded basilisk had already heard her. It swiveled it’s head in her direction, rearing back in a strike pose as Angelique stumbled to herfeet.
It lunged at her, and Angelique took a few staggering steps backwards, but it was only a feint. The monster pummeled her with its tail, smashing her into the ground again and again until she was sure her body had to have made acrater.
Everythinghurt.
Pain sliced through her with such efficiency, she could feel the soft edge of unconsciousness beckoning hercloser.
I’m going todie.
The realization struck her like a sword to thegut.
I can’t escape. I’m going to diehere.
Her eyes fluttered open, and she saw the milky white of her blinding spell retreat from the basilisk’s golden eyes, having run itscourse.
Everything hurt. She couldn’t move, even as the basilisk shifted into another strike pose, its golden eyes piercing her. A yellow-tinted drop of liquid fell from one of its fangs, eliciting a burning hiss when it fell to the ground and killed all the grass aroundit.
Angelique’s eyes stung with unshed tears, and her pain intensified when she moved her fingers, trying to stir her magic into somethinguseful.
Just as the monster leaned in to strike, Pegasus screamed achallenge.
The constellation jumped over Angelique, skidding to a stop as he stood between her and the snake. He tossed his head and reared, shaking the earth and making thunderclaps when his front hooves hit the earthagain.
