Ivy:
Even with my blade in her skin and the long gash I had made down the front, she wasn’t falling; she was still striking at them. My heart raced in my ears, ringing like an enclosed explosion had ignited right by my head until… until it slowed. Suddenly, I was reminded of who I had to die to become and what power I had at my disposal. I couldn’t touch the earth; this much was true, but with enough blood, I could still summon the magic to come to me… I was sure of it.
I let my hand, still slick with blood, slide up the jeweled handle of the sword until the blade bit into my skin. When the blood ran to my elbow, I switched the hand that would grip the sword as my fall ended, stuck on a rib with the blade still dug into the bone. I held on tight, feeling her coil around herself, preparin
