Ring of Fire

Negana called out the name of the spell. ‘Ring of Fire!’

The gestures to complete the casting were a series of waves of the arms followed by her making a circle in the air around her waist.

‘Everybody freeze!’ shouted Ted in a loud voice. Everybody nearby stopped what they were doing, while the rest of the battle raged around them. He threw a small pellet on the floor at Negana’s feet, and immediately orange smoke billowed around her. ‘Keep waving your arms in a circle, it will look good,’ he instructed her.

‘Queen Negana has cast the Ring of Fire spell,’ he called out. Emily looked around her at the frozen combatants. Seven or eight of the Holy Order had broken through the defensive shield where her guards had fallen and had been rushing toward her with swords raised. Gerwald and Onyx were further away, both surrounded by enemies. Amber was on the floor near Onyx, having been defeated. She waved her arms and the orange smoke curled around her. ‘Everybody within twelve feet of Negana is instantly consumed in the flames, so if I tap you on the shoulder you are dead,’ Ted continued.

He quickly walked around Emily in a circle, and as he tapped the shoulder of a fighter they would sigh, or grumble, and lie down on the floor. Before long there was a ring of bodies around her, including most of her own guards. ‘Okay, continue in three,’ shouted Ted, ‘two, one!’ and suddenly everybody continued fighting.

Some enemies were carefully stepping over the fallen fighters trying to reach Negana. She still had her blue sword, but was not feeling confident about fighting off this many attackers. Then she saw Gerwald cutting through the enemy lines with Onyx at his side, returning to her.

‘Your Highness, stay between us,’ he rasped, and he and Onyx stood back to back with Emily squeezed between them. Her face was pressed against Gerwald’s back. God, he was massive, she thought. Her head did not even reach his shoulder blades and his back was broad enough that she actually could not see anything in front of her. Onyx kept stepping backwards, pushing Emily into Gerwald, her stomach pressing against his hard buttocks as he valiantly fought off their attackers.

‘Move,’ he called back to the two girls, ‘this way.’ He started to move forward, through empty spaces in the fray. Occasionally he or Onyx would grunt as they cut down an opponent, but soon the three of them were away from the fighting and in the relative safety of an area where several groups of Saviours were sitting on the grass drinking cans of cola or bottles of water, some having a spot of lunch while the battle raged on.