I scowled. “You’re insane! When we get home, I am going to make you listen to Chase’s talk on workplace safety!”
I snatched the banner from Chrysanthe and used it to take the staff from the pair. My stomach did flip flops as I deactivated my prism, then set it on top of the staff’s stunted crystal with shaking fingers.
My prism exploded with light. I squeezed my eyes shut, and when I peeled them open again, my artifact had flawlessly melded with the staff, looking like one seamless crystal that popped out of the crescent moon.
What the—no. Think about it later.
I sucked in a breath and made myself focus. “You two need to get out of here—Eclipse!”
“No—no, I’m not riding one of those things,” Chrysanthe objected.
“Then you should have thought about that before you strutted out here like an idiot!” I said.
Eclipse pranced up to me, stopping next to us. Cupping my hands together, I nodded to Skye.
She put her foot in my hands, and I boosted her onto Eclipse’s back, then practically threw Chrysanthe up behind her.
“How am I supposed to use this thing?” I asked.
“The same way you’d use any artifact,” Skye said.
“Even though it’s the Original Creep’s?”
“All an artifact does is transform wild magic into a usable force, and perhaps amplify it,” Skye said. “It will be like your prism, just more powerful. Use whatever you’re most confident in!”
The dirt and broken trunks the monster scattered had reached the lakeshore.
I had about three seconds before it would be on us.
“Eclipse, go!” I shouted.
The mare tossed her head and took off, carrying a grim-faced Skye and a screaming Chrysanthe far away.
I peeled the banner off the staff and—fear curdling my stomach—touched it with my bare hand.
I felt magiceverywhere. But instead of feeling overwhelmed as I had before I’d reunited the prism and the staff, this time it felt controlled and solid.
I could feel the ripples on the lake, the soft light of the stars in the sky, and could sense the heartbeat of every living thing in a mile radius.
And I couldseewild magic—flashes of it, anyway. I could see it drift in the air and churn through the staff, which made it glow a beautiful purple color.
I didn’t even have to use an activation word to activate the staff. As if it recognized my touch, it started pouring magic to me—like a river. Half addled by the beauty and all the new sensations, I created a ward.
This time, when the monster collided with it, I only felt a twinge of pain.
I just hadso muchmagic at my disposal, it didn’t matter that the monster was guzzling the magic straight from the barrier. More flowed in to take its place.
When the monster backed up, I dismissed the ward and created a huge orb of light—one the size of a car.
I flashed it in front of the monster’s skull. To my disappointment, it shook its head and chattered its teeth at me, but it didn’t seem hurt by the light.
In fact, it barged through the light to ram me again.
I scooped up magic from my staff and created another ward, forged of purple runes at my feet. I activated it just before the monster struck. It smacked with enough force to send me skidding backwards, my feet kicking up pebbles and sand from the lake shore as the water lapped at my heels. The barrier, though, held, and the pain was about equal to a weak headache.
I could hold the monster off, but we were locked in a stalemate. And even with all of this magic on my side, I wasn’t sure I could wield it well enough to win.
I gritted my teeth as the monster pushed me another inch or two into the lake.
