She got three feet away before he stepped into her hyper-speed, grinning. “Almost had me there.”
He jerked his fist toward the ground, and the silver light exploded between them. The halfling threw up another shield in time to cut off the streaking lightning in its path, but the force of Corian’s magic hitting the shimmering wall in enhanced speed let off more energy than either of them had expected. A metallic clang echoed off the rock and stone walls of Alcatraz prison, and the drow halfling and the Nightstalker were thrown away from each other by the shockwave.
Cheyenne grunted as she skidded across the dirt, blinking at the sky again. The sound of Corian’s ringing laughter was fuel enough to get her to push to her feet again.
“Now things are getting interesting!” Silver lightning crackled in both of his hands as he spread them wide. “Looks like L’zar’s little trick worked, huh?”
“Dunno. Haven’t tried it yet.” Let’s go with earth-splitting.
The halfling reached out with both hands, her body humming with the extra boost of the Nimlothar seed, and wavering light flared around her fingertips. But that was it.
“Seriously?”
Corian shook his head and paced in front of her again. “Maybe I spoke too soon.”
The ground in front of him erupted in a spray of loose earth and stone. He reeled away with a surprised shout, clawing the dirt out of his face.
Smirking, Cheyenne reached out again and tried to repeat the burst of fractured earth. A pulsing zing of extra power shot through her arm, and the air around her outstretched fingers shimmered again. I could keep him running around in circles all night with this.
The ground trembled, and a snake of upturned earth darted away from where the halfling stood. It zigzagged across the ground toward Corian, not as quickly as his lightning attack, but close. Another spray of rock hit him even as he tried to dodge it.
“No, I think I got this!” she shouted.
The earth shook again, and it sent them both staggering sideways. Then a massive crack rent the air, and the halfling gaped at the huge crevice splitting its way through the earthen walls around the abandoned prison. Bushes fell, taking large chunks of dirt with them. The crevice raced toward the base of the prison until it split the wall of white stone. Chunks of it crumbled, and the jagged crack kept climbing as the abandoned building groaned and shivered.
Corian finally escaped the spewing dirt and turned with wide eyes to look up at the unintended destruction.
“Shit!” Without thinking about how or why Cheyenne reached toward her little drow-magic mistake. Unseen resistance met her fingers, but she closed them into a fist anyway and jerked back.
The island stopped trembling, and the split that had climbed halfway up the stone wall stopped. More crumbling bits of rock fell into the dirt, bouncing end over end on their way down the sharp drop outside the building.
The halfling dropped her hand. Gotta pay attention with that one.
The air popped beside her with a rush of wind just before Corian attacked. She wasn’t fast enough to conjure a shield before his hissing streak of silver lightning glanced off her shoulder and sent her spinning sideways.
Gritting her teeth, Cheyenne clamped a hand on her throbbing shoulder and tried to walk it off. “Cheap shot, don’t you think?”
“The lessons here aren’t mutually exclusive, Cheyenne.” The Nightstalker dropped into a crouch, his silver eyes widening with the thrill of battle, even when sparring with a halfling. “This lesson is about not letting yourself get distracted before you’re sure your opponent is down for the count.”
“What?” Rolling her shoulders back, she straightened and pointed at the huge split in the side of the prison. “You don’t think magically vandalizing a historical monument is a good reason to tone it down a notch?”
Corian’s gaze flickered toward the building, and he shrugged. “I can patch that up later.”
“You’re serious.”
“Lotta tricks up my sleeve, kid. Better focus, or you’ll walk out of here just as banged up as last time.” He summoned two more orbs of blindingly bright light in his hands and grinned again. “Your call.”
Without waiting for her answer, he shot the bolts of silver lightning toward her in quick succession. Cheyenne slipped into enhanced speed and stepped out of the way before launching her black tendrils toward him. They reached the Nightstalker as he joined her in the little bubble of hyper-speed and coiled around his wrist.
He tried to fling another spell at her, but she jerked his hand aside, and the crackling silver light went over her head. Corian’s surprise made her chuckle. “At least you’re dedicated.”
With a snarl that somehow sounded like a laugh, Corian jerked his wrists down, yanking her forward, then grabbed the slack of her black tendrils in one hand. “You’re getting cocky. Again.”
The next lightning bolt he conjured wasn’t aimed at her but at the lashing tendrils in her hands. The coiled whips tightened and sparked with silver light as his attack traveled all the way back to her hand.
“Wait—”
She tried to retract the lashing tendrils faster than the lightning flashed across them, but that made it even worse. Silver light erupted around her hands, and the halfling shouted in pain and surprise. She staggered out of her enhanced speed, shaking out her hands and hissing. “What the hell?”
“It was a good effort.” Corian moved away from her in that stupid crouch. “Much better than last time. I still get the feeling you’re holding back.”
“Yeah, ‘cause I’m not interested in destroying Alcatraz Island, thanks. Awful choice for a sparring ring, by the way.”
“Don’t use that as an excuse, Cheyenne. And quit holding back.”
“You saw what happened.” She shook her burning, tingling hands again, her chains jingling. “I can’t do that again.”
“Then use it as an incentive
