"Move!" Serena snapped, pulling him back just as a tendril of black water snapped through where he stood. Aegis slammed his fist down again, sealing the gap with a jagged wall.
The Queen roared an order, her voice cutting through the thunder. "Press the attack! Don't give it time to recover!"
Her dragon surged upward, lotus light blazing bright enough to split the mist. But the serpent's tail whipped out faster than sight. The Queen barely raised a barrier in time before she was thrown back, crashing into a shattered building. Indigo light exploded outward from the impact.
"Mother!" the Crown Prince shouted, rushing forward, but one of the attendants seized his arm. "She'll live. Focus!"
The serpent raised its head, scales cracking and leaking shadow like veins of ink. The corrupted waters bubbled violently, faces forming and dissolving beneath the surface.
