Fiza snarled madly and made snatching motions towards where Elizabeth was lying in the snow.
She was so cold.
The two other cloaked figures approached her.
She felt around with her unruined arm, feeling the snow underneath her fingertips. She clenched her fingers over the icy ground, as if it were an anchor that might keep her here just a moment longer.
One figure bent to her side and began muttering strange phrases in a soothing feminine voice as the world blurred around her.
She recognized that voice, too, but in her state, she couldn’t place where she’d heard it.
Elizabeth lifted her head to see Charlotte in the clearing.
A cloud of black smoke billowed out of Fiza’s form. As the demon’s dark magic flew overhead, tiny black drops fell to the ground and sizzled like acid.
Charlotte shouted something, crouching, and magic crackled around her like a shield. Black magic shrouded the purple sphere, obscuring Charlotte from view.
No.
But a whoosh of air swept across the space, and the black magic was sucked into nothing.
Charlotte rose from her crouch and stood tall and uninjured.
Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief.
Fiza broke free of her magic and took a menacing step towards Charlotte.
“Run,” she tried to shout, but it came out as a wheeze.
Fiza attacked, sending a spear of black magic towards Charlotte.
Charlotte raised her hands.
Black and purple collided, exploding overhead. Charlotte forced her magic towards the demon, and the dark magic retreated an inch.
Charlotte pushed, her fingers twitching and tensing from the effort, until Fiza’s magic was no more, and purple shot into the demon.
Dark wisps of shadow bled out of Fiza, dispersing into the air.
Fiza suddenly broke free and scrambled on the ground, trying to get away.
Charlotte stepped towards the demon, palm outstretched. A burst of power exploded from her palm, colliding with Fiza.
Fiza’s body slumped.
Charlotte rushed to her side. “Lizzy—are you alright?”
Elizabeth blinked blearily. Her lips moved slightly, but she couldn’t seem to form words.
Charlotte turned to one of the cloaked women, whom Elizabeth recognized as Nasera. Worriedly, she said, “She’ll be alright, won’t she?”
Elizabeth tried to summon the energy to respond when the world went black.
Chapter 60
Charlotte’s Story
When Elizabeth awoke, she was lying on a small cot surrounded by jars and plants. The familiar smell of lavender and eucalyptus hung in the air. Around her cot, there were shelves laden with crystals, plants, and crates of dried herbs. She recognized where she was—the small home above Risna’s shop.
