Dueling

Zephina took a few seep breaths as she took a step back, the fire in her hands subsiding for a moment as she strategized. She was exhausted, both mentally and physically, and her clothes were a mess, torn in some places, burned in others. Her movements had become muddied and slow, deeply crippling her from her normally light-footed and nimble steps that allowed her to move in and out of situations quickly and easily. Though she couldn't see them, she could still feel the ethereal chains bound to her ankles.

Fortunately, Ragas was not looking much better. The cloth covering his armor was near entirely burned away, and the armor itself was now covered in rust and chipping away. The hammer he swung with his off hand was weighing heavily on him, hanging limply by his side, and she could see the strain on his muscles in that arm that came just from holding on to it. But his other arm...

The blows came quick and heavy, and it was all Zephina could do to withhold her mental barriers. She tried to call on her magic, but doing so weakened her mental defenses, and one of Ragas' blow struck directly at her mana, knocking it away from her like a sword and shield out of her hands, and she fell back onto the ground.

He laughed as she hit the ground and threw himself at her, slamming his hammer into the ground next to her head. "I've got you now," he whispered, grabbing her by the throat with his iridescent arm. Magic coursed threw her body the moment it touched her, frying her nervous system, racking her body with spasming pain that made her wish she was dead. But she knew she wouldn't die from this. Not yet. Not until he had his fill.

He lifted her from the ground for a moment before slamming it back down, cracking the back of her skull. "You're gonna pay for insulting me, you insolent wench," he whispered. She could only cry back in response. Everything was pain, but as he tormented her, she put everything she had left into her magic.

When she pushed back, the effect was immediate. Her hands glowed bright blue and, putting them directly onto his chest, he was launched back through the air until he collided with the ceiling before dropping to the ground.

She slowly pushed herself back onto her feet. She could barely breath. "What was that?" she mumbled. "Punk?"