She held her sword up in the air, ready for another strike. It was obvious by now that she was controlling this storm. I had no idea such power was possible, but now was not the time to stand and stare.
Amelia was standing ready on my right. I glanced back at the hillside behind us. It seemed to be clear. All the Beasts had now made it to the top of the hill and were converging on the leather-clad woman.
She brought down another strike of lightning against the Beasts. One of the tendrils struck the lizard-snake, but the lightning appeared to be absorbed into its skin, leaving it unharmed.
“Amelia, you take the fire bears, I’ll attack the ice boars,” I said.
Amelia nodded and started producing an ice spear. It made most sense for her to attack the creatures vulnerable to fire, while I took on those most vulnerable to ice.
I pushed Mana through the flame tattoo on my wrist, then through the three spears beneath it, generating three fireballs on my palm. I waited only a moment, taking aim at a couple of boars to my left, near the outer edge of the plaza. The three fireballs shot out together, spreading only a short distance apart. They whooshed through the air toward their targets, which were still facing the woman in the middle.
One fireball sailed to the right of them, bursting harmlessly against the stones, but the other two hit one boar each. Both Beasts let out screams of pain, blasting ice from their nostrils against the paving. Then, they both turned to face me.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Amelia’s ice spear skewer the side of one of the bears, spreading ice over its fur. The monster roared, pouring fire from its nostrils, setting one of the shrubs on fire. This would take the pressure off the woman we were helping. I just hoped we could take the Beasts as they turned to face us.
I quickly summoned three more fireballs as the two boars began to charge toward me. This time I was even quicker. The two boars were only a few yards away from me and right next to one another when I shot three fireballs at them. One fireball hit each Beast straight in the face, while the other exploded on the ground in front of them, searing their legs with flame. Both Beasts roared in pain again. I jumped to the side to avoid the blast of cold air that rushed from their snouts.
As the boars reeled from my attack, I drew my shortsword and summoned fire on the blade. The sword blade instantly became red hot. I leaped forward and plunged the blade into one Beast after the other. Steam rushed from their wounds, and they both slumped lifeless against the ground.
Thunder boomed as the woman in the middle of the plaza cast another Lightning spell, frying several more of the Beasts.
I looked up to see Amelia holding her sword aloft above a bear, which was struggling against the ground. Her blade was coated in ice. I smiled. She was getting the hang of this.
She plunged the sword into the bear’s back. With a loud roar, the bear’s legs gave out underneath it, and it collapsed to the ground.
The only Beast left was the snake-lizard. This monster was waddling forward, ever closer to the leather-clad woman at the center of the plaza. Its tongue flickered in and out, lightning crackling around its mouth. Her Lightning spells seemed to have little effect on it, and she was looking exhausted.
Amelia stepped back from the bear she’d just killed and looked at the snake-lizard. The Beast had evidently survived the leather-clad woman’s attacks. It would be a tough monster to kill, but we both needed to see what we were dealing with.
With a yell, the woman summoned another bolt of lightning from the sky, thunder booming and crashing as the raw power rushed into her sword. She grunted loudly as she swung the blade downward.
This time she poured the lightning in one huge bolt. Thunder boomed from her swordpoint, knocking us both a step back with the powerful sonic wave. The bolt of lightning exploded against the snake-lizard. A hot burning smell filled the clearing, and I was blinded for a moment by the flash of light.
When my vision cleared again, I saw the snake-lizard still advancing toward the woman. It hissed and shot out its tongue, and a bolt of lightning burst from its lips. The lightning struck the ground where she was standing, as she leapt to the side, narrowly avoiding the blast.
“Quick, Amelia, let’s try and hit it before it sees us. It might be vulnerable to our attacks.” I summoned one large fireball. Amelia raised her arm and prepared to throw the ice spear that was forming in her hand.
We both cast our spells simultaneously and struck the Beast from different sides at exactly the same time. The Beast hissed loudly, lightning flickering erratically from its jaws. The lightning struck the stones around us, igniting several of the bushes. I hoped this was a sign that it was hurt, because the Beast was turning to face us both now.
We both cast our spells again, as quickly as we could summon the Mana into our tattoos. One side of the Beast’s hide was scorched as my fireball burst against it; the other side was frozen from Amelia’s spears.
The Beast hissed again, spitting lightning out against the ground between the two of us. We both leapt to the side. I felt heat on my back, as the lightning passed closer to me than
