Over the next fifty seconds, Nick spun, leapt, and dodged like mad, striking out with his blade to supplement the holes in his defense. Thanks to his state of heightened focus, which felt cool and crisp against the electric adrenaline of battle, he was able to avoid taking a direct hit in the process.
Despite his best efforts, he didn’t emerge unscathed. One particularly close shave grazed his ribs after catching the leather of his jacket, leaving a livid bruise and a series of sore ribs behind.
By now, he was sure that there were only three of the archer fish assailing them from the river. If there had been any more, he would have long-since been overwhelmed. Just as he felt his arctic clarity evaporate, leaving Nick vulnerable against further attacks, Sophia’s chanting reached a crescendo and abruptly cut off. She took a deep breath and adjusted the pack guarding her back, then started the process over again to summon her second frog.
Beside her prone form, the first spear-tongue started to form, given shape by the woman’s unusual magic. Unlike Nick’s mana darts, which kind of popped into existence after a waver of silver light, Sophia’s spell worked more like an organic, high-speed 3-D printer.
First, the frog’s skeleton emerged into being, black bones expanding layer-by-layer from the inside out. The protective plates were the last to form, at which point vivid color was drawn across the frog’s skeleton.
Nick could only catch a quick glimpse of the process at the moment, his first time witnessing her spell from start to finish. As he continued to distract the fish, organs and muscle, arteries and nerves, spread their way across the framework provided by the jet-black bones. A visceral arrangement that grew into being, all within a handful of heartbeats.
The frog’s vermillion flesh was the last to form, and when the final patch of skin was complete, the summon opened its eyes and let out a croak. It took one look at Nick and then leapt into the water, taking the fight to the archer fish on their own terms.
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He felt the pressure lessen immediately, with far fewer shots coming at him from the surface of the river. It gave him a chance to cast a spell of his own. Mana dart, he willed, focusing for the two seconds it took to conjure a dart, then leaping out of the way of another bullet.
Now that he could spare some attention, he kept one eye on what was happening below the water. He began tracking the movements of the trio of fish, so that he could anticipate their attacks and get out of the way in time.
The next time that a ball of condensed water came streaking for his head, Nick returned the greeting in kind. He visualized the trajectory that he wanted his spell to take and sent his mana dart streaking back along the same angle, projecting the magic missile faster than he ever had before. The spell’s speed has been enhanced too, he noted while wondering what was about to happen.
One thing that Nick hadn’t thought to test out yet was whether or not his darts could travel through water without slowing down or dispersing due to the interference. A second after the chrome-colored wedge disappeared below the surface of the river, he found out the answer.
Fortunately, the dart continued on its course unabated, striking the fish broadside. The beast clearly hadn’t been able to detect the dart coming. It was either distracted by the frog, or not all beasts can sense mana particularly well. Taken completely by surprise, the fish went stock still and then started to thrash… half a heartbeat before it exploded into a gore-studded cloud.
“The frog got one, but it was taken out by the other two.” Nick looked down to see Sophia staring up at him, having completed her second spell while he was distracted. Her new frog began growing its way into being, just as the first set of vines came apart with a series of sharp snaps.
The whole raft shuddered and one of the logs started to detach from the others. “We don’t have time to fight off the other fish,” Sophia rose to her feet. “Start rowing. Hopefully my summon can hold them off while we paddle to the far shore.”
Nick didn’t need to be told twice. He put his weapon back into his pack, trading sword for oar as he slid his backpack on once more. The moment that he dipped his paddle into the water, the unsecured log came free entirely, nearly knocking him into the river before he could transfer his weight onto the center of the raft.