Her Sapphire Blade by Sarah Biglow

Author:Sarah Biglow [Biglow, Sarah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Biglow Fantasy Reads

I glanced at the scoreboard through the sweat and blood dripping down my brow. Time had lost all meaning and we were now tied at three points each. Every breath brought me closer to the brink of exhaustion and total collapse. But I could hear Gethin’s voice in the back of my head repeating, ‘Just one more point.’ That was all I needed and this would be over. Across the pitch, Shunae sported a few bruises and cuts herself. I hadn’t meant to draw blood, but my magic had grown a bit erratic the more tired I became. The calm I’d found in the cave was deserting me now.

The referee blew his trumpet again and we stepped back into the center of the pitch. The crowd had begun to grow restless the longer it took to decide a victor. Somehow, I’d managed to get a large portion of the crowd on my side. But even their cheers were more muted now.

Shunae began pacing the grass across from me, planning her next move. I couldn’t take this much longer. I swayed on my feet. I wiped more sweat and blood out of my eyes as my vision began to turn red.

The fog had worked well to conceal me before. Maybe I could do it one last time. I clenched my fists tight at my sides and poured out as much will as I could to conceal my location. The fog rolled in thinner this time, but it still blinded me. By the frustrated grunt ahead of me, it had for the moment obscured me from my opponent.

Bright bursts of light erupted between us as Shunae fought to burn the clouds away. As approaches went, it wasn’t a bad idea. Besides, she had a hell of a lot more stamina than me and a decent chance of gaining enough of a view to send volleys of power in my direction. As I shuffled backwards, a thought occurred to me.

The qualifying trial.

The image of the land mine flashed before me. If everything Gethin had told me was true, then it was possible Shunae had never seen that particular trick before. The key would be to set the trigger, so it wouldn’t actually injure her. I watched more flashes of light erupt through the fog as Shunae made her approach.

Crouching down low, I pressed my hands into the grass to my left. In my mind’s eye, I pictured a device set to trigger ten seconds after weight was applied, whether that weight shifted or not.

Turn her magic back on her.

My magic swelled around me, pulling power from the fog I was struggling to sustain. A tiny device popped into existence beneath my fingers. The fog cleared. I scurried backwards on my hands and feet just as Shunae loomed high above me.

Our eyes met just as the ‘click’ of the mine triggered under her weight. Her fiery gaze turned earthward even as her hands burned bright with more fluorescent magic. I was as prone as I could get, frozen in place out of fear and a morbid sense of curiosity.

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