“Xuan Xi, move!” Sigrdrífa’s Thunder Light struck the dragon lizard square in the face, hitting its neck.
Scales burst, and the lizard recoiled in pain, its head jerking to the side.
The breath attack grazed past Xuan Xi, slamming into the rock wall behind her.
The wall exploded, sending debris flying. A fist-sized rock slammed into Xuan Xi’s back, making her stumble a step before she steadied herself.
“Attack together!” The three of them struck from three directions at once, trying to push the dragon lizard back, but its armored hide was too thick.
Flame only left a black scorch mark on the surface, Ice Spikes shattered into fragments the moment they hit the scales, and the Earth Wall was smashed apart by a single swipe of the lizard’s claws.
“Fall back!” Xuan Xi shouted.
Sigrdrífa didn’t retreat.
She stood at Xuan Xi’s right side, lightning dancing at her fingertips. The other three held their ground as well.
“Together!” Reggie yelled.
All five struck at once. Sigrdrífa’s Thunder Light blasted from the front, Reggie’s Earth Wall pushed in from the flank, Elsa’s Flame and Veralis’s Ice Spikes struck high and low, while Xuan Xi spread a Water Curtain before the dragon lizard to conceal their attacks.
The lizard’s thick scales covered its eyelids. Thunder, flame, and ice all slammed into its face, yet none of them could land a single wound.
The dragon lizard’s tail swept across. Reggie’s Earth Wall shattered on impact, and a chunk of debris struck Elsa’s shoulder.
She let out a muffled grunt, and her Flame dimmed.
The tail kept swinging toward Elsa. Seeing this, Reggie threw himself in front of her, taking the blow on his back.
His spine slammed into the remains of the Earth Wall, and blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
“Reggie!” Elsa’s voice cracked.
“I’m fine.” Reggie wiped his mouth. Blood mixed with dirt left a dark red streak across his face.
Xuan Xi stared at the dragon lizard. Even Sigrdrífa’s lightning could only graze it, and Reggie’s Earth Wall couldn’t even survive a single exchange.
She looked down at her hands. With a thought, dark cyan scales emerged from her fingertips in an instant. Water surged out from between the scales, condensing above her fist into a Water Blade.
Not enough. This blade could pierce the hide of a Marsh Dragon Python, but against a Rock-armored Dragon Lizard, it was nothing.
“Xuan Xi.” Sigrdrífa’s voice came from beside her. “Don’t push it.”
“I know.” Xuan Xi gritted her teeth.
The dragon lizard opened its mouth.
A blazing white light gathered deep in its throat once more.
This time, it didn’t blast it out—it held it there, like a small sun incubating in its jaws. Its dark red eyes fixed on Xuan Xi, her reflection mirrored in its pupils.
“You’re just like that woman.” The dragon lizard’s voice was low, so low it sounded like vibrations rising from the depths of the earth. “Just as irritating.” It paused. “But she had the strength to hunt me, to toy with me. Do you have that kind of strength?”
Xuan Xi didn’t answer. She charged.
Dark cyan scales covered her entire forearm, and water surged from between the scales, forming a meter-long Water Blade above her fist.
“Don’t!” Sigrdrífa’s voice came from behind her.
The dragon lizard lowered its head.
A blazing white breath erupted from deep within its throat like a bolt of white lightning, streaking straight toward Xuan Xi.
There was no room to dodge—the canyon was too narrow, rock walls on both sides.
Xuan Xi didn’t evade.
She dispersed the Water Blade, raised both hands, and hastily spread a Water Wall before her. The Water Wall collided with the breath.
Steam erupted, and the recoil sent Xuan Xi flying backward with tremendous force.
When her back slammed into the rock wall, she thought she heard the sound of her own bones. Her right shoulder blade slid half an inch in a direction it shouldn’t go.
The pain came later—first came the numbness, then agony surged up from her back like a tide, flooding over her spine, over her ribs, all the way up to her throat.
She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Only the taste of rust rose from beneath her tongue.
Debris was still falling. A fist-sized rock struck her left shoulder.
Another grazed her cheekbone, tearing a gash across her face. Blood dripped from her chin down her neck—warm and sticky, nothing like the sweat she was used to.
“Xuan Xi!”
She heard Sigrdrífa’s voice, but it sounded like it was coming through water.
Tinnitus.
That breath had shattered more than just the rock wall—it had shattered her equilibrium. She tried to stand, bracing her right arm against the ground.
No good. The dislocated shoulder left her entire arm useless. Her fingers barely touched the ground before sliding away, and she collapsed to her knees.
The dragon lizard didn’t pursue. It was savoring the pleasure of watching its enemy struggle for survival.
It stood in place, gazing down at Xuan Xi sprawled on the ground, a satisfied rumble rising from deep in its throat.
Then a bolt of Thunder Light slammed into it.
The dragon lizard’s head jerked to the side. Its scales were too thick—the lightning only left a charred black mark on its eyelid.
Sigrdrífa stood twenty paces away, right arm extended level, faint arcs of electricity still crackling at her fingertips with a fine, spitting sound.
Her silver-white hair was tossed wild by the scorching wind kicked up by the dragon lizard’s breath, strands clinging to her temples.
Her expression was calm, but her violet crystal eyes burned with an unnatural brightness—carrying worry for her wounded friend and fury at the dragon lizard that had hurt her.
“Annoying.” she said.
The dragon lizard’s single eye turned to her, its pupil contracting.
Sigrdrífa didn’t flinch from that gaze.
Her back was ramrod straight, her breathing steady—the repeated Thunder Magic had drained a fair amount of her spiritual energy, but nothing in her stance betrayed any fatigue.
It was a habit drilled into her since childhood as the family heir: no matter how exhausted you are, never let anyone see your weakness.
“And who are you?” the dragon lizard asked.
Sigrdrífa deemed the question unworthy of an answer. She was watching Xuan Xi.
Xuan Xi knelt among the rubble, her right arm hanging limp at her side.
The dragon lizard’s attack hadn’t hit her directly, but it had shattered the entire rock wall behind her.
The debris and shockwave had left her dazed. Her right hand was trembling, the entire arm losing sensation.
She lifted her head. Dark cyan hair was dusted with gray-white stone powder, and blood trailed down her jawline to her neck.
Her breathing was rapid, every inhale accompanied by a sharp sting from her wounds.
Her eyes were still bright. Still carrying that unyielding resolve.
“Xuan Xi, can you still stand?” Sigrdrífa’s voice came from beside her.
She had already walked over, crouching down, using her body to block the dragon lizard’s line of sight.
Not a deliberate act of protection—instinct.
“Yes.” Xuan Xi gritted out.
Sigrdrífa didn’t wait for her.
Her left hand grabbed Xuan Xi’s dangling right arm—the dislocated bone pressed hard against her palm, and Xuan Xi’s face went white for a moment, but she made no sound. Sigrdrífa used precise force.
The sound of the bone snapping back into place was like a twig breaking.
Cold sweat instantly beaded on Xuan Xi’s temples, her lips bitten pale, but she swallowed the scream.
“Breathe.” Sigrdrífa said. Xuan Xi obeyed.
One deep breath in, and her entire right arm burned from shoulder to fingertips—hot and numb. She flexed her fingers.
They moved.
Then there was still a fight to be had. Sigrdrífa pulled her up from the ground.
The motion wasn’t exactly gentle, but every step was perfectly executed. Xuan Xi leaned against her for barely a second before she could stand on her own.
“Now,” Xuan Xi declared, “it’s our turn!”