Page 88 of Enchantment of Silver and Sea
Unsurprisingly, visibility was too poor for me to catch sight of Zander. But I almost cried with relief as Kieran and I cleared a jagged chunk of concrete and were suddenly face-to-face with Nya.
“It’s about time!” Nya yelled.
If not for theEnforcerthat was charging right at her, readying his Immobilizer, I would have charged her myself and thrown my arms around her.
Her braids were pulled back in their usual ponytail. But rather than her usual tank top and shorts, she was wearing that gleaming gray-brown marsh wolf pelt, the material highlighting each of her curves and muscles, giving her the appearance of a statue. A shining paradigm of the human form. Gripped tightly in her right hand was a sword with a magnificent golden hilt, the blade already stained with blood.
I hadn’t thought it was possible for her to look any more fearsome, yet here she was.
Absolutely terrifying.
Nya ran straight at theEnforcer, so close that I thought they would collide, then dove at the last second. She whipped the sword around at such an angle that rather than connecting with the protective plates across his shins, it caught the man in thecalves, dropping him instantaneously. As soon as his Immobilizer hit the ground beside him, she was sheathing her sword in the gold scabbard at her side and grabbing the gun.
Kieran and I both looked on, open-mouthed, as she used the Immobilizer to fire three successive shots into the chaos. One soared out of view, but two connected with their targets, who immediately doubled over. They screamed and gripped their chests as light and smoke and that flame-like something blazed away beneath their frantic hands.
Nya aimed and attempted to fire again, but the Immobilizer just sputtered. Nothing came out but a thin tail of smoke and a few sparks.
“Seems like five’s the max with these.” She tossed the gun aside.
“How are we doing?” Kieran shouted back.
“The cave devils’ explosives, whatever they were, worked better than we had hoped. As you can see by the fact that we’re here and not still on the beach.” Nya dragged an arm across her forehead, wiping sweat from her brow. “But right now, this thing could go either way.”
With that, she headed toward anotherEnforcer, sword drawn. Kieran was right behind her, and I was close behind him.
TheEnforcerfired his Immobilizer, but Nya dodged without slowing. By the time she was on him, he was dropping the gun and holding his hands in the air in surrender. Just as before, Nya grabbed the gun herself and was able to fire one more shot before it was spent. I wondered who the first three shots had been used on, and if the targets were alive or dead. Beside me, Kieran took down a burlyEnforcerwho was gripping hisgun with meaty hands. He tackled the man to the ground and delivered a knockout punch to the face.
People on both sides started taking notice of what was happening in our small circle of the field. The Strangers acknowledged us with quick nods when they could, relief visible in their tired eyes at the sight of a few reinforcements. Meanwhile, a cluster ofEnforcersshoved their way through, making a beeline for Nya and Kieran. I counted six of them.
As they broke through the crowd, gathered in a tight, impenetrable formation, I saw that there was no way that Nya and Kieran were going to be able to fend them all off without taking damage.
“Stand back!” I yelled at the two of them.
They paused mid-step, and I only had a split second to witness the confusion on their faces as I shoved in front of them, arms outstretched.
As I geared up to use Larimar’s magic again, I could feel my hands, my head, everything screaming in protest. But I shut it all out as I zeroed in on the six Enforcers in front of me. I thought about doing my go-to move—surrounding them in a massive block of ice. But this time, I decided to try something new. Something that I hoped would be slightly less taxing on my system.
I lifted the six Enforcers in a swirling, raging mass of water. I lifted them five feet into the air. Ten feet. Twenty.
Then I let the water fall. And them with it.
The six of them connected with the ground so hard that it knocked one of them unconscious straight away. The remainingfive cried out, water sputtering from their mouths and spraying from their nostrils, as their arms and legs took the brunt of the impact. Every one of them dropped their Immobilizer on impact.
Without missing a beat, Nya and Kieran swooped in and grabbed up the guns. They tossed several away, out of reach. Then Nya fired two, which were each fully loaded with five…blasts? Bullets? I still wasn’t certain what made up those blazing balls of light and power.
Kieran stared at one of the Immobilizers for a moment, seeming to weigh something in his mind. Then, without another moment’s hesitation, he mimicked Nya’s movements—one hand steadying the barrel, one gripping the trigger—and trained it on the chest of a nearbyEnforcer. The technicolor sphere that he let loose found its mark, and theEnforcertoppled to the ground, giving the dagger-wielding woman in front of him the upper hand.
I watched the whole event numbly. There was no room for my judgment here.
It was war. It was kill or be killed.
“So,” Nya shouted behind me, clapping a hand on my arm. “I’m going to take a wild guess and say you know you can wield magic now.”
“They called her a ‘Conductor,’” Kieran called back, discharging a few more well-aimed shots and tossing the empty gun to the side.
Nya’s answering laugh was so normal, so not a part of the horrors that were happening around us, that it soothed me tohear it. “Always with the creative names!” she roared. Then added, “I still like ours though—‘Badass Magical Human.’”
I laughed in spite of myself.
