The two spells screamed through the air, colliding mid-field with a thunderclap so violent it rattled bones.
BOOOOM!
The detonation tore the ground apart, flames bursting outward in a storm of heat and light that swallowed the space between them, turning dirt to ash and filling the air with choking smoke.
Neither shaman looked away.
Their gazes locked across the boiling haze, almost as if they were competing to see which would falter first.
When the smoke began to thin, Amon shifted suddenly to the side, his pendant flaring as one of the jade talismans lit with an eerie glow. He thrust his staff forward, and from its tip erupted a volley of crackling black lightning. The bolts split the air with a sound like tearing metal, jagged tendrils lashing out toward Narg with lethal speed.
But Narg, without the faintest change in expression, lifted his staff and summoned a shimmering shield of mana.
