Backhanded

Jodah summoned a wind beneath his robes and rose out of the goldsmith’s shop, looking for answers.

(...)

At the far side of the inner city, Jaya stood atop the great dome-shaped tower of the Kjeldoran Skyknights, overseeing the destruction. She was dressed in sweeping robes of bright red, trimmed with night-black fur. She had magically enlarged her form until she was twenty feet tall, and she stood splay-footed atop the dome’s roof, laughing at the swath her machines had carved.

(...)

Jaya laughed, and it was a deep, heartfelt laugh. “You don’t have any choice at all, do you? Your sense of obligation to your school is too high. You couldn’t bear to see your libraries put to the torch, eh? Go then, go save your precious knowledge. I’ll see you in Tresserhom, Archmage, after you dig your way out of Lat-Nam.”

Jodah cursed and surged forward, charging the gigantic figure of Jaya. The possessed task mage raised her eyebrows in surprise and let out a yelping bellow of shock and surprise.

(...)

Jaya recovered quickly enough to backhand Jodah halfway across the inner city.

“How sweet,” she sneered, “and I thought you’d choose your books and trinkets over little old me. I am honored.”

Jodah brought the wind up beneath him and righted himself, then plucked the mana from his memory and raised his hands skyward, spreading a thick wave of fog over the area, wrapping the shattered spires and skeletal buildings with a soft cotton blanket.

***

The Shattered Alliance, Chapters 16-18