But before she could fling anything at me, purple currents rushed from my body and smashed into hers. She flew through the air and landed with a boom that shook the stone floor about thirty feet away. With superhuman speed, she shot to her feet and lunged toward me.

Low moans and bursting stone sounded to my left. Stone trees were coming to crush the magic right out of us, but neither of us moved.

I raised my arm of glowing, pulsing bolts that zipped along my fingers ...