She took a breath, trying to steady her voice. "Dark magic is like a fast-acting disease. It's transmissible. It's like an aggressive virus that destroys everything it touches. It looks for a host. You have a massive reservoir of mana, to that spell, you'd be a feast. I have the Pyronox. I have a fire that can, theoretically, incinerate the corruption as it exits him. It's a high-difficulty spell, Soren. It takes massive energy to destroy dark magic without killing the host."
"I don't care," Soren said, his jaw set. "I'll defeat it. I won't let you risk yourself again."
