In The Shadow of Our Choices

Chapter 90 - Blood Magic

First, this chapter is, like, entirely pointless and probably would be cut in a real book. Luckily this isn't a real book and so I'm subjecting y'all to it anyways! :D

Second,
MINOR CONTENT WARNING:
Kinda self-harm (Not worse than anything in the 5th Harry Potter book (In fact, it's not even as bad) but I figured I'd include this anyways)

Elizabeth

Elizabeth followed Maren out to the center of the field. Like Andrew and Drusilla's duel, they skipped the set up, simply taking their places about twenty paces apart. Elizabeth's mind was racing, trying to come up with a strategy - would it be better to hit hard and fast, to try and catch Maren off guard? But if she studied martial magic, she might be ready for that, so perhaps waiting and baiting her into attacking first? Elizabeth worried her lip as she debated. She'd only really dueled once since Garreth's potion - at Crossed Wands. Sure, she had sparred with Ominis and Leander a few times in the last month, but... dueling someone from Durmstrang?

"Three..." Drusilla called from the sideline, beginning the countdown.

Elizabeth fell into her familiar dueling stance, but Maren took up a position Elizabeth had never seen before. Her eyes stared into Elizabeth's disconcertingly. Uncertainty crashed over her.

"Two..."

Maybe instead of attacking or waiting, a preemptive defensive spell? The Silap Mata spell perhaps? To confuse?

"One..."

Shit. Elizabeth didn't have a plan.

"Go!"

All Elizabeth could think about was Maren's eyes, which felt like they were piercing into her soul. There was a beat where neither of them moved, then Maren flicked her wand casually, almost lazily, shooting a jet of red light at Elizabeth. Elizabeth blocked it with a twitch of her own wand. A simple disarming charm? The familiarity of the spell washed warm relief into Elizabeth - of course, magic was the same, regardless of where they were. Maren threw a few more spells her way, seeming to test the water. Elizabeth could play this game.

Maren's inquisitive spells had a rhythm to them - evenly spaced, not so fast that Elizabeth couldn't block them one after another, but not so slow that she could get a spell in to respond. Just as Elizabeth was making up her mind to dodge and fire back, Maren's pattern changed, she skipped a beat, and Elizabeth had instinctually blocked. As her unused Protego charm disappeared, and a stinging hex from Maren caught her in the arm. Elizabeth grinned. Clever. A bit lower and it would have hit her wand hand.

Now that the rhythm was broken, Elizabeth dodged the next hex, rolling to her feet and casting Bombarda near Maren's feet. Maren blocked, but the charm hit the ground as intended and sent snow and dirt shooting into the air in a deafening explosion. Maren took a few, precise steps back from the explosion with an irritated sound, and as she wiped the debris from her eyes, Elizabeth shot a disarming charm - Maren blocked, quickly refocusing. But now they'd switched roles, and it was Elizabeth who rained spells down as Maren blocked, trying to make her shield break so she could disarm her. Maren held up with remarkable ease, until she smiled - she dropped her shield and dodge out of the line of fire in one smooth move.

When she rolled to her feet, the duel seemed to truly begin. Maren flicked her wand at Elizabeth, and, with a bang and a flash of orange light, thin cords shot towards her. Elizabeth's eyes went wide as she recognized Incarcerous - she dodged to the side, hitting the cords with an Impediment jinx at the same time. As she dodged, Maren shot Glacius towards the ground Elizabeth was moving towards - the same trick Andrew had tried to use earlier. Elizabeth was forced to step onto the ice, shifting her center of gravity so she wouldn't fall. With a quick Incendio, Elizabeth produced a ring of fire around herself, the ice hissing away into steam, as Elizabeth then flicked the fire towards Maren, knowing it wouldn't reach, but forcing her back a step. Maren sliced through the flames with Diffindo, and Elizabeth used the brief distraction to cast a disillusionment charm on herself. The moment the flames dissipated, Maren looked for her, eyes darting around the field. She grinned.