King's Throne(61)

Ready to do what, she wondered? Gina didn’t know what good her martial arts training would be against a magical attack, but maybe her gymnastics might come in handy. If the mage started sending something she could see toward her, she might be quick enough to spring out of the way.
Lowering Mitch’s jacket and backpack to the snow in front of her, she quickly shrugged out of her coat. She wanted to be ready and able to move without the somewhat binding coat encumbering her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her friends do the same. They knew what to do without being told. Every one of them had trained for all contingencies, though none of this group had ever come up against a mage before.
But they weren’t the first choice of target. Gina actually saw the fireball streaking for Mitch’s back as Gisli stepped away. The bastard had positioned Mitch just so, but something made Mitch turn a moment before the fireball was set to envelop him. Gina held her breath as the fireball streaked closer. Mitch put out one hand as if to ward it off and then something amazing happened.
The magical fire seemed to hesitate and then stop as if blocked. It went around Mitch as it dissipated against what looked like a shield of some sort that rerouted the magical energy into the earth, away from him.
Gina was shocked and thankful that Mitch had somehow developed magical shields. That wasn’t anything he’d ever talked about before. She didn’t think he’d ever had them before.
“Was that Mitch or the mountain?” she whispered.
Gunnar smiled at her. “There is no difference at this point. They are one and the same right now.”
“So I’m not imagining things. You see it too?” She had to get confirmation of her incredible suppositions.
“Oh, yes, milady. My cousin is everything the Goddess promised us and more.” Gunnar’s expression changed from joy to concern in a flash. “Prepare yourself. The mage gathers energy once more. He may aim for us now that his way to your mate is blocked. He will seek to distract so Gisli can get an opening.”
“He won’t get it from me,” Gina vowed, nodding to Paul and the others. They were all braced, ready to move at a moment’s notice.
And then the fireballs were raining down on them and they were springing away in all directions. Gina checked on her people and everybody was safe—for now. But the mage was using a slightly different tactic. Where he’d shot one giant fireball at Mitch, he was sending multiple little ones at their group. And they kept coming. As soon as one volley ended, another began and everyone was kept moving in order to avoid them.
Inevitably, someone got hit. A cry of pain came from the edge of her little scattered group. Adele Miller was being supported by her brother Harold for the moment. He was helping her avoid the small fireballs for now, but they were much less mobile with her injury and the two of them together made a bigger target. Something had to change soon.
She looked across the battlefield and saw Mitch looking at her. She nodded to him, telling him without words that he should concentrate on his opponent and not fall for this distraction. They would deal with this. Somehow.
And then Mitch looked up at the mountain and it rumbled as if in response. Hot rocks spewed from the crater with such energy they made it all the way down the slope to where the small group of shifters stood. But the molten chunks didn’t fall anywhere near Gina. No, they rained down on the watchers on the other side of the challenge field. They all dove for cover as the mage’s concentration was broken.
And then the ice fog that had been making its way down the slope arrived. It was thicker than any mist Gina had seen before and it moved as if it was…alive. It enveloped the field of battle, shrouding the two tigers in mist as they battled. The magic of the ice fog sparked off Mitch’s fur as it rolled over the combatants locked in flashes of teeth and claws and blood.
The fog continued spreading, moving toward the onlookers. It enveloped Gina and her entourage in a gentle wave of fog that gave them some cover. But when it hit the other side of the field, a scream went up from the mage, drawing Gina’s gaze as he was physically imprisoned by tendrils of dense fog. It dragged him downward as she watched, swallowing him whole.
And then he simply disappeared. The fog had taken him and Gina didn’t even want to speculate on where or how. What mattered most was that he was gone. Out of the action. Unable to lob any more fireballs at her and her people.
To them, the fog was a benevolent shield of sorts. To the human mage who’d dared interfere with a sacred challenge, it had been a deadly form of justice.
There were ancient rules about challenges. No outside interference was allowed. Targeting others to distract the two champions was not allowed. Gisli’s pet mage hadn’t played by the rules, and somehow the ice fog had come to set that right.