Sabine's response was the same as all the previous shouts. She brought up a ward and watched the bright orange wave split in a roaring stream around her. This was not like the shout that tried to drain her. It was the same fire as the dragon started with. And that let the staff feed on its magic.

When the fire ended, the blizzard had dissipated, and the smoke cleared to reveal Sabine laden with so much magical power that an orb of swirling frost encased her. Her eyes and hands lit up. With one movement, a surge of ice like crystal rushed up across the ground between Sabine and the dragon, at once striking the dragon's underbelly and growing around it until trapped and numb wherever the ice touched.

Sabine, now with the winds calmed and her demeanour focussed as a predator, raised a ward, prepared another icy spell, and briskly made paces towards the dragon. If still trapped by the ice, Sabine could kill the dragon, she knew. The dragon likely knew as well. This was its last chance.