Page 90 of Suffer No Fools
"Aye." Stan swayed, and Tovey grabbed the arm not holding Hugo up and lowered them both to the sand.
"You're power-drunk," Tovey said.
"I can feel the entire island. I've never felt anything like it."
"A lot of good that does us if Hugo can't share the island's power."
"I wasn't trying," Hugo admitted. "I didn't understand. Something kept pushing me to take more, but I didn't want to hurt Stan."
Tovey tentatively nudged Stan with his air, offering to share his power, and he felt it, too, a surge of power beyond Stan's core, begging to be used.
Instead of using it against the undead, Tovey reached out toward Petri's food stand and dragged some fresh bread bowls back for them. They weren't yet filled with Petri's rich gravy. Petri was now defending the shore with Niall, using their air weaves to keep Niall's fire focused on the undead trying to come through the barrier. Still, Tovey's bowl was the best bread he'd eaten, a fitting reward for grueling work.
Petri saw them snacking and laughed. "I'm glad the bread I baked this morning isn't going to waste. Did you save any for us?"
Tovey latched onto Petri's food stand and floated it out of the underbrush and into the shade ofStarlight Specter.
Petri grimaced as Niall's fire went out. "I'm not as good at war weaves." They walked over to Tovey. "Can you help Niall while I make us some gravy to keep up our energy?"
"Aye." After moving the food stand by himself, Tovey knew he could do more than that. He reached for Stan's hand. They struggled to their feet and shoved Hugo back down when he tried to rise. "Niall and Jasmine can keep the fires going," Tovey reassured him. "We're going to do what we always do, if the tree will let us."
Tovey had more power in reserve now that they'd taken a break for some bread, but he was still weak. He was surprised to find Stan's power not only accessible but much the same as it always felt. The tree was feeding Stan raw power, but the power filled his core and took on his abilities. It was Stan, only with more power than Tovey had ever felt.
"Fuck, do you get to keep this when you're done?" Tovey asked. "You could pull that stupid rock from Stony Eel Island without breaking a sweat."
"We don't know that," Stan said. "We haven't seen it."
Tovey had felt the pull, though. He was glad they'd never gotten closer to the island, thanks to the rocky shoal at Reaper's Gate. "You felt it, same as me."
"Still, it didn't seem big enough to cause all the fuss," Stan said.
"You're only saying that because you're power-drunk." Tovey hooked their elbows together and pressed his body against Stan's from knee to shoulder. It felt so good to stand with him.
Niall struggled to keep his fire going. Tovey started by breaking down the structure of Niall's air wall, creating smaller,more combustible elements until they had a raging fire going. Then, he stole the air from Niall.
Niall glanced back over his shoulder, and Tovey shrugged. "No need to waste your power on air."
The tree helped Niall through his connection with the earth, but Jasmine quickly ran out of fire. When her final gout of flame burned out, she took a step back into a rough patch of sand. She fell to the ground on the seat of her short pants.
Tovey watched in slow motion, unable to switch from his fission weaves. Jasmine pushed herself back to her feet, but before she stepped away, a hand clawed out from the ground. It grabbed her ankle and pulled her toward the wall. She screamed. Tovey watched in horror as the head and torso of the creature rose from the sand and bit her foot.
Hugo yelled and charged toward the wall, hurling a fireball at the creature and shoving it backward into the shoal. His burst of air held so much force, that portion of the shoal caught fire. Stan quickly put it out, and Vadim healed the burned coral as he ran toward Jasmine.
"How did it get through?" Stan asked.
"They're digging beneath the wall of air." Tovey was still stunned as he watched Vadim scoop Jasmine into his arms. She had to be all right.
"Earth doesn't stop them." Stan shuddered beside him. "We need to burrow with your air."
"Even if we do, they'll be around it in an instant."
"It took them this long to dig," Stan insisted. "A little trough of air might discourage them."
Vadim carried Jasmine back to Petri's food stand, lying her out on the grass at the edge of the beach. Black tendrils had started creeping up her bare leg from the bite, and her little toe looked completely black beneath it.
Hugo ran back to Stan and Tovey. He was shaking, too, as he stared at the beach, where more of the creatures crawled out of the sand.
"Why didn't you tell us their bite does that?" Tovey asked.
