Chunks of ice started to crack and fall from the wyvern’s wings, so Angelique strengthened the spell, making the wings sag with the inflexibleweight.
The wyvern whipped its tail at her, but Angelique grabbed the ground with her magic and ripped it up, creating awall.
The wyvern hissed when it bashed its tail into the shield and dug its talons into the grassyturf.
I need a visual on the wound the Black Swan Smugglers gaveit.
Angelique broke off a part of her earth wall and flung it at the wyvern, beaning it in the chin so its head snappedup.
For a moment, Angelique saw the injury. Though it appeared to have scabbed over, it oozed pus around theedges.
In a rush, she packed her magic into a powerful fireball—one so potent and dense it burned with the light blues and whites of a star—and threw it at thewound.
The fireball exploded with a deafening boom that shook the ground. A massive wave of heat rolled across the plain, and Angelique stumbled, her ears ringing and her eyes blurry from the white of theflames.
When she could finally see, she saw the wound was opened again—though it was an angry burnt black, and watery blood dripped fromit.
In the chaos of the moment, the wyvern freed one of its wings from its ice encasing. It used the strong muscle and bone that lined the top of the wing and smashed her into theground.
Angelique’s lungs burned and she gasped, but she couldn’t get enoughair.
Chortling, the wyvern scrambled toward her, its acidic spit dripping from its gaping maw and hissing as it spattered on theground.
Angelique patted the ground with her hand, flooding it with hermagic.
Another earth shield sprouted in front of her. But the wyvern bit right throughit.
Her body rattled and aching, Angelique twisted fine threads of her powers into alteration magic and directed it to the dirt the wyvern chewed on. It changed from rich soil to sticky spiderweb, pulling its mouthshut.
The wyvern coughed, then balanced on one foot and clawed at its webbed mouth with the talons of its otherfoot.
Angelique finally got enough air to roll to the side, barely avoiding the gummy mass of web the wyvern spatout.
She scrambled to prepare another attack, and somewhere nearby, Pegasustrumpeted.
The wyvern hissed at the constellation and raised its wings. It flexed, shattering the remaining ice on its left wing, which rained down on Angelique—nearly thumping her in thehead.
Angelique curled in a ball until only flaky bits of ice were falling, then she sprang to her feet and yanked on hermagic.
I have to keep itgrounded!
She scrambled to throw another ice spell at it, but the wyvern flapped its wings, tossing her back to the ground with the force of the air. It raised grass and sediment that stung her eyes and made it impossible tosee.
An angry hiss, and the wyvern wasairborne.
Angelique felt the tight weave of her magic and directed it at the wyvern, but he was already too high and too far out ofreach.
Angelique grasped her head and kicked the ground. “Blastit!”
Pegasus pranced up to her, maneuvering so he stood sideways in front of her, giving her easy access to the saddle on hisback.
Angelique exhaled, mussing her bangs, then nodded at him. She scrambled into the saddle. “We’ve got to catchit!”
Pegasus tossed his head then took off at a gallop, charging across the plains, his flaming mane and tail streaming in thewind.
* * *
Unfortunately,although Pegasus kept pace with the wyvern at a slow, rolling canter, the creature soared too high for Angelique to reach him with anymagic.
