The glow along the sheathed blade sharpened.
Behind her, shadows pulled together.
A serpent rose from the shape, its body long and coiled, its eyes narrow slits of violet haze.
The serpent's head hovered above her, jaws open as if ready to swallow anything in her line of sight.
Morgana reacted an instant too late. Her fingers snapped, dragging air toward her palm. Multiple elements tangled together, forming a shield the size of a house. Or she would've, had Black Fang been a rookie that allowed her enemies time to react.
Black Fang's blade left its sheath.
The slash tore forward with a thin scream of metal.
Morgana was late to finish conjuring the shield.
What was already created stood no chance.
The shield split down the middle.
The halves twisted away, knocked aside like pieces of wet bark.
The slash carved into her torso, opening her mage attire from the ribs up to her collarbone. Fabric tore in strips and drifted in the wind behind her.
