Forged Destiny [Book 6: Ch. 14]

Her first sword struck mine, clanging against it, and despite that there was no metal in her blade, ours locked and made a sound upon contact. Her other came up and under, sliding through my guard as it lunged towards my ribs. I shifted my body just a little, allowing it to graze the side of me. It didn't splash and fizzle out as expected. Instead, the short sword cut through my molten armour, almost as if it were not made of fire but metal. It drew a cut along my flank. I ignored it and pushed her back, swinging for her head and forcing Cinder to step away.

So, despite being made of fire, her swords acted like regular ones. That was interesting. There wasn't much logic behind it, but that was magic for you. It wouldn't have made much sense for her to use them otherwise, since fire swords wouldn't cut or stab and she might as well have just been a glorified Mage trapped with one element.

As such, I allowed my armour to cool and become more solid. On the next exchange, Cinder managed to circle her weapon over and into my wrist, seeking to disarm me. Unlike the first time, the weapon this time bounced off my hardened armour.

Which was when Cinder grinned and dropped both – cupping her hands and bathing me in fire once more.

"Shit!"

Gods, it hurt. There was only a second or two to feel it before my instincts kicked in and my armour became molten once more, immune – or as immune as I was going to get – to the flames. I still had to shield my face so it wouldn't be burned, but the pain dissipated. I rolled away, fighting for distance as I considered my options. Cinder had lured me into dropping the heat on my armour and then switched back to fire spells to cook me.

[...]

What did that mean? I growled and brought Crocea Mors up in time to block her sudden attack. I found myself even more pissed off by the look on her face – the sheer sorrow that pervaded her being. She didn't want this, I could tell, and yet she kept coming, attack after attack until the point that some got past my guard no matter what I did. One struck my arm and scored a line through my armour. Another nicked my upper thigh, dangerously close to an artery. A third came in for my stomach, but this time I reacted, rapidly cooling my armour there – localised in one spot. The metal became solid and turned her blow aside, deflecting it so that I earned a scratch and not a gaping wound.

[...]

Cinder let one go and tried to throw fire in my face, but this time I ignored it, closing my eyes and fighting through the pain to continue my onslaught.

Cinder didn't expect it, that much was clear. Crocea Mors cut through and caught her shoulder, drawing blood and a startled yelp. She flinched back, losing control over her fire.

—Forged Destiny [Book 6: Ch. 14]