The bluechill stuck its ragged, chaotic snout into the flame. Alice would have expected the finer filigrees of ice to melt instantly in the heat, but instead it was the fire that diminished, flames swirling around the bluechill’s protruding crystals like they were caught in a strong wind. Where the fire touched the creature, it vanished, drawn inside that glassy skin.

It really does eat the flame. The bluechill took another step forward, deeper into the bonfire. Perfect.

Alice turned to the ward she’d left on the boulder, unfolded the parchment, and Read the words she’d Written there.

It wasn’t quite like going through a portal-book—there was no feeling of dislocation, only a twist somewhere in her mind as the magic took hold. Lines of milky-white energy shot out from each of the three parchments, joining up with one another and stretching upward to form a triangular wall of light. Then, following the instructions she’d Written into the magic, the barrier began to shrink, glowing brighter as it contracted toward the bonfire and the bluechill at its center.

For a few moments, the creature didn’t notice what was happening, basking in the pool of oil as the fire guttered and waned. Then the bluechill looked up and seemed to notice something was wrong. It stepped free of the pool, legs moving surprisingly delicately for such a large beast, and approached one of the walls of light. One leg came up, scratching at the barrier with a sound like a knife pulled across glass.

Alice felt the scrape, not as pain but as a chilly sensation at the back of her mind. The energy to create and maintain the barrier came from her, just as it did when she summoned her creatures. The harder the bluechill pushed against the wards, the harder they had to push back to keep it contained. She gritted her teeth as the creature threw itself into the wall, slamming against raw magic with a burst of light and a crackle of sparks. The milky-white walls grew thicker as the barrier contracted, only a few dozen yards wide now, corralling the icy thing into the remains of the bonfire.

“Is it working?” Flicker asked, shouting over the sound of another scintillating discharge.

“I think so!” Alice said, but she wasn’t certain. She was starting to feel light-headed, power flowing out of her like blood from a wound. This can’t be how it’s supposed to work. She ought to be able to maintain the wards with energy to spare, but her heart was hammering as though she’d just finished a sprint, and Flicker’s voice was distant through a rising hum in her ears.

The barrier was only a little bigger than the bluechill now. The trap was almost finished. Just a little more. Alice clenched her fists.