Chapter 45: This isn’t over, Witch
The roots were as thick as a man’s arm and moved like living things, trying to wrap around Morgana’s legs and arms. Some of them had sharp thorns that gleamed like black teeth in the firelight.
Morgana leaped into the air, using the wind to carry her up and away from the grasping roots. But Katerina was already preparing her next attack. She breathed out again, this time sending not just cold air but actual spears of ice flying toward Morgana.
The ice spears were as long as arrows and twice as sharp, and they moved faster than any arrow Jaenor had ever seen.
Morgana spun in the air, her fire forming a shield around her that melted the first few spears into harmless water. But there were so many of them, and Katerina kept breathing out more and more.
One of the ice spears got through Morgana’s defenses and scraped across her arm, leaving a line of red blood that steamed in the cold air.
She gasped with pain but didn’t let it slow her down.
Landing hard on the ground, Morgana placed both hands on the ground and sent fire racing along the surface toward Katerina. The flames moved like liquid, flowing around rocks and trees, trying to surround the other witch.
But Katerina was clever.
She called upon the trees themselves to help her, and their thick trunks moved to block the flowing fire. The flames licked harmlessly against the bark while Katerina used the protection to prepare something terrible.
She began to chant in the old language, words that made the air itself feel heavy and cold. As she spoke, ice began to form in the air above Morgana—not just small spears this time, but huge chunks of ice as big as boulders.