Free Dimension Fracture by Corinn Heathers Page A

felt in months exploded in the small of my back and I felt my body lift up and fly through the air. My body crashed into the asphalt and tumbled, acquiring several more scrapes and bruises before I came to a stop.
    “Karin!”
    I was still conscious somehow. I struggled to get to my feet, but my bad leg just wouldn't listen to me. My gun arm came up and I fired again and again, not really aiming very carefully, just laying down suppression fire to keep the mage away.
    Then Misaki was beside me. Her ears flattened back against her head and rage kindled within her, so fiercely that I could feel it burning even above the pain that wracked my battered body.
    A searingly-hot wall of blue-white flame sprang into existence between us and the shadowy mage. I'd never seen Misaki's spell-flame glow with blue heat; she must have poured incredible amounts of mana into it. The heat was so intense that the asphalt beneath and around the wall of fire turned molten, beginning to run and glow orange with its own borrowed heat.
    The wall of flames seemed to give the mysterious mage pause. She took a step back; through the barrier of fire I could see a hint of emotion cross her face. Annoyance flickered in the mage's eyes as a series of dispelling glyphs appeared. Huge holes opened up in Misaki's fire wall, but the pavement below was still molten yellow-orange and radiating deadly amounts of heat.
    I took advantage of our opponent's momentary hesitation and fired several more shots, the slide locking open on an empty magazine. Without thinking, I discarded the empty mag and slammed a fresh one into place. The slide came down, chambering a new round, and I started firing again.
    The mage seemed to flicker repeatedly as her body phased in and out of the material world, avoiding each and every shot with contemptuous ease. Misaki redoubled her efforts as well, sending mote after mote of magical fire, attempting to time her shots between my own and catch our target between phase shifts.
    The mage lifted her hands and the barest hint of a smile crossed her face as Misaki's spell-flame warped and distorted. My eyes widened in shock as the flames gathered and concentrated into a bright-burning point of energy held between the mage's palms.
    “This is going to be really bad!”
    Misaki's train of thought paralleled mine; she extinguished her spell-flame and instead began tracing the runes that would bring up a powerful forward defensive shield. The golden shimmering barrier sprang into being a fraction of a second too late. I curled my body tightly, hoping to avoid the worst of the inevitable explosion.
    The abandoned parking lot was converted into a miniature hell on Earth as the mysterious mage sent Misaki's captured fire right back at us. The fiercely-glowing sphere of flame doubled and redoubled in size before it detonated. Shock waves blasted me harder against the cracked asphalt. On the ground I'd avoided the worst of it as the heat from the blast rose upward, but Misaki was a different story.
    I felt my blood freeze in my veins. Misaki's clothing had been shredded, her body riddled with patches of partially charred flesh and melted fabric. Half of the hair on her head and the fur on her tail was scorched and fell away as she moved, but her eyes were still hard as gemstone. Simply viewing the horrible injuries my fiancee suffered tore at my heart. I sternly reminded myself that she was not human, that she could shrug off considerably more punishment without lasting harm, in a desperate attempt to keep my resolve from draining away.
    Misaki's spell-flame roared in her hands, crystallizing into a blazing sword of astral energy. This mage's command of invocations and abjurations were beyond what a human should be capable of. Like with the battle against Isao Tsukimura, Misaki correctly assumed that the only way we'd be able to turn the fight around would be to force a melee.
    “Leave us alone!” Misaki roared as she struck, ignoring her wounds.