One hour passed, and then two, and the wyvern showed no signs ofstopping.
Finally, Angelique decided to create a trap ofsorts.
She and Pegasus looped wide around the wyvern—getting in front of it. Angelique then dismounted and sent Pegasus back the way they had come, so the constellation drove the wyvern towardher.
Angelique stood not far from the base of the southernmost mountain in the mountain range that separated Kozlovka andVerglas.
Sweat dripped down her spine as the hot sun beat down on her and she gathered layer upon layer of hermagic.
I need to make this strong enough to stun and ground thewyvern.
Her fingertips tingled with the shocking sensation of the lightning spell that she held. Normally she didn’t dare channel so much magic for a single attack spell, but she had to pin the wyverndown.
I can’t trail itindefinitely!
Her magic crowded around her hands, eager for her to pull more despite the huge amount she had gathered already. She was tempted to listen to its alluring whisper—but less because the power was attractive and more because she was sweaty, dirty, and she wanted that wyverndown.
Pegasus—a smudge of black and light blue—screamed a challenge as he thundered after the wyvern, who was swiftly drawing closer to the mountains—and thusAngelique.
Angelique licked her cracked lips and hunched over her magic, trying to hide its bright light as the wyvern drewcloser.
It lashed its tail through the sky, slightly adjusting its course. It must have thought Pegasus was far enough away, for it lost somealtitude.
Angelique, with baited breath, felt out the distance. She had used lightning because the weather spell allowed for a greater distance…one the wyvernjustfell in rangeof.
Now!
She lashed out with everything she had, pushing more power into thespell.
A massive lightning bolt cut through the sky, striking the wyvern so it lit up withelectricity.
The peal of thunder that accompanied the spell was so loud it made Angelique’s already abused ears ring, so she barely heard the wyvern scream as it started to fall from thesky.
Its muscles and wings twitched andspasmed.
Angelique scrambled so she wouldn’t be directly under the thing as it fell, her ears still aching from thethunder.
The wyvern corrected itself at the last moment, barely curling up its legs in time to avoid scraping the ground as it climbed higher in theair.
Angelique tried to craft another spell, but the wyvern hit her in the torso with its tail, slamming her into a large boulder with a painfulcrunch.
She fell face-first on the ground as her hearing started to return, and she could hear the labored whoosh of the wyvern’swings.
The spot between her shoulder blades throbbed with pain—she had caught the edge of the boulder theresomehow.
She peeled herself off the ground and glared at the wyvern—which was already out ofreach.
“How is thispossible? I STRUCK YOU WITH LIGHTNING!” Angrily, she sat up—then regretted it instantly when the pain in her upper backspread.
She brushed dead grass off her dress with a snarl. “How can it keep flying after being struck by lightning? This is crazy! This isinsane! How am I supposed to beat it if it can take a fireball to the gut and a lightning bolt to the head andkeepflying!”
She stood, and the world swirled around her, making her stagger. For a sickening moment, her stomach gurgled, and Angelique worried she might have hit herlimit.
She stilled, taking inventory of her magic—which was just as pushy, cool, and tempting as usual, irritatinglyenough.
Angelique peered up at the unforgiving sun, and the headache from the day before made its triumphantreturn.
My physical stamina is dropping fast. Even if my magic is good to keep fighting,Ican’t keep this sort of grueling pace without stopping. Is that what it’s trying to do? Outlastme?
