Stubborn (Part Two)

Now that she was cutting away at the bonds that had formed between the vampire and the blade, she realized that Ignatious possessed far more energy than any simple sorcerer she'd ever encountered. Even Mistress Zedya, her first mentor in matters of mysticism and sorcery, hadn't possessed even a quarter of the deep well of magic energy that seethed within Ignatious. 

But that well of energy was rapidly running dry as the sword poured even more heat into his body, fighting back harder and harder as Heila pried each additional finger loose. By the time she'd freed all the fingers of his right hand, the flames had broken through the vampire's defenses, consuming his left arm all the way to the shoulder in brilliant crimson flames that cast dark, dancing shadows across the snow.