Night Espresso's traps showed their power almost immediately.
Along the waterfall's edge, magic circles buried in the soaked soil began to wake. Lines of light surfaced beneath the torrent, spread through the mud, and erupted before the Ant Queen could force her way any higher.
The first trap burned red. Fire blasted through the curtain of water and turned the falling stream into hissing steam that swallowed her body. She pushed through it with smoke rising from her skin, only for a blue sigil to flare beneath her next step and freeze a whole section of the cliffside solid.
Before the ice could hold her, she tore through the frozen earth and ripped herself free.
A violet mark flashed overhead before she could regain her balance. Lightning slammed into her back, bright enough to make the entire cascade glow for an instant. Her body twitched from the impact, yet her four arms only dug deeper into the cliff.
