lisa burst out of her tent, one boot on and the other still in her hand. The camp was in chaos—soldiers running, shouting, grabbing weapons.
[So much for a good night's sleep.]
She hopped on one foot, struggling to get her other boot on while scanning the area. Isabella erged from a nearby tent, her clothes disheveled and her pink hair a wild ss. Behind her, the freckled soldier scrambled to button her shirt.
"Seriously?" lisa raised an eyebrow.
Isabella grinned.
"What? I work fast."
Before lisa could respond, a massive figure charged through the line of tents ahead of them. A darian warrior—seven feet tall with skin like granite and eyes burning with rage. He swung a massive axe, cleaving a nearby soldier in half. Blood sprayed across the ground as the two halves of the man fell separately.
"Holy shit," Isabella whispered, her grin vanishing in an instant.
Another soldier rushed the darian with a sword. The warrior caught the blade with his bare hand, yanked it away, and drove it through the soldier's eye. The man didn't even have ti to scream.
These weren't like the Shadow Mages lisa had fought before. The mages were calculated, quick, and precise. These darians were pure savage force—unstoppable and brutal.
"Spread out!" lisa shouted at her friends as three more darians broke through the periter. "Isabella, find Armia! Raven, cover my left side!"
She hadn't even seen Raven approach, just assud she'd be close, but the girl was suddenly there, daggers in hand, nodding silently.
A darian charged straight at lisa, battleaxe raised high. lisa traced a spellsign so fast her finger left a trail of light in the air as the spell materialized.
"Glacies, catena, vinculum!"
Ice erupted from the ground, wrapping around the darian's legs and climbing up his body, all the way to his neck. He roared in fury, muscles straining against the frozen chains. For a mont, it seed like he might break free—until lisa completed the second part of her plan.
"Glacies, spica, perforare!"
The ice chains shattered, but as they did, lisa sent razor-sharp spikes at him that impaled the darian from every angle. He gurgled, blood pouring from his mouth, then collapsed.
lisa whirled as another darian leaped toward her. This one was female, smaller but faster, wielding twin swords that glead beneath the moonlight.
"Aer, impulsum, repellere!"
The blast of compressed air hit the darian square in the chest, sending her flying backward into a supply tent. The structure collapsed on impact.
All around the camp, soldiers were fighting for their lives. Many were already down. These darians weren't just raiders—they were elite warriors, each worth ten regular soldiers.
lisa spotted Isabella back-to-back with Armia, holding off three darians. Isabella's wand flashed with magic while Armia, in nothing but a nightshirt, swung a massive sword she'd apparently found sowhere. Raven darted between the shadows, appearing long enough to slash a throat or hamstring a warrior before pretty much vanishing again.
But they were outnumbered. For every darian they took down, another seed to appear.
[Ti to stop playing nice.]
lisa bit her thumb hard enough to draw blood. She let three drops fall to the ground, then traced a complex spellsign that glowed crimson in the night air.
This was one of the spells she'd been practicing lately.
"Sanguis, ignis, tempestas!"
The blood droplets erupted into a swirling vortex of crimson fla that rose higher and higher, taking the shape of a massive fiery tornado. lisa directed it with her finger, sending it tearing through the ranks of darian warriors. Their screams cut through the night as flesh charred and armor lted.
But Blood Magic had its price... Just not the price it typically had for non-nim.
Heat rushed through lisa's body, pooling low in her belly. Her nipples hardened against her shirt, and she had to bite back a moan.
"Oh fuck." She muttered. "Not now, body. Seriously, not the ti."
Still, it worked. The surviving darians began to fall back, clearly not prepared for whatever it was she was doing.
As they retreated, one warrior turned to look directly at lisa. Unlike the others, this one had striking blue eyes that stood out against red hair that blazed as bright as lisa's fire tornado. Their gazes locked for a mont—and lisa could have sworn she saw a smirk cross the darian's face before she disappeared into the darkness.
As suddenly as it had begun, the attack was over. The remaining darians lted back into the forest, leaving behind their dead and wounded.
lisa let her Blood Magic dissipate, fighting the uncomfortable arousal it always left her with. Her entire body tingled, and she pressed her thighs together, hoping no one would notice.
Captain Fenris appeared through the smoke, her sword dripping with blood and her face grim.
"Report!" she barked at a nearby lieutenant.
"Eight soldiers dead, fifteen wounded. Six darians confird killed."
"They were testing our defenses," Fenris growled. "This was just a probing attack."
Her eyes found lisa, widening slightly at the destruction surrounding her—three dead darians and a circle of scorched earth where her fire tornado had raged.
"What the hell was that spell?" she demanded, approaching lisa.
"Fire Magic," lisa replied, trying to keep her voice steady despite her body's persistent demands. "Nothing that special."
"I've never seen anything like it," Fenris admitted, sothing like respect creeping into her voice. "Good work."
All around them, soldiers were staring at lisa with a mixture of fear, awe, and gratitude. Word of her magic was already spreading through whispers. The nim mage who could summon fire from blood. The girl who'd saved the camp.
Isabella sidled up to lisa, looking both disheveled and exhilarated.
"Well, that was exciting," she whispered. "You okay? You look a little... flushed."
"Yeah, just... You know, worked up a sweat."
Isabella nodded and then grinned.
"Want to sweat a little more?"
"Shut up," lisa replied, rolling her eyes light-heartedly.
Fenris cleared her throat loudly.
"We'll reinforce the periter and double the guard tonight. I want everyone combat-ready at all tis." She looked at lisa. "Especially you, Blackfla. Whatever that magic was, we might need it again."
As Fenris walked away, lisa caught soldiers looking at her differently. Yesterday, she'd been the nim mage—a curiosity, maybe even a liability. Now, maybe she was sothing else entirely to them.
This was going to be an interesting two weeks.
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