I’ve never tried burning her, I say. I’m not sure.
What the heck have you been doing with the door closed so much, if not training?
If I wasn’t so terrified right now, I might laugh. How do we find her?
Liz!! Hyperion screams.
Duh. My bond. I reach for her, and I realize it’s dark. Wherever she is now, it’s dark, and she’s quiet. She must be closer to the ground. I shoot forward, sensing she’s not near. Flame away, I say. They’re taking her down. I pull on the bond again, and I hear a strange sound.
Waves.
Where could there be waves? I recall the ocean’s straight west, and there are probably waves in the Strait of Georgia. Euphrasia’s there, I believe, keeping me apprised of Thunar’s movements, should she see anything amiss. I reach out.
Liz is coming your way. I hear waves. I’m headed that direction, too.
I’ll follow, Hyperion says. I can cover for you.
No, I say. Stay here. Keep flaming the air around you so they can’t sneak up on you. A hidden ice vanir’s the biggest threat, and I’m sure they have some. They must be holding them until we’ve worn down. Be safe.
You’re the smallest flame blessed, Hyperion says. You be safe. And go get your girl.
A pang of terror shoots through me, and I take off.
Don’t worry too much, though, Hyperion says. She looks weak, but that stupid feathered human’s surprisingly hard to kill. She flies right back out of volcanos, usually with a nasty new surprise of her own. You may find her only to discover she’s already defeated the vanir’s leader, whoever that is.
Liz says it used to be an old ice vanir named Bjorn.
Euphrasia finally answers. Heavy casualties here. Hundreds of us are dead. The storm vanir have been attacking in large groups, kept hidden by the cursed moon vanir, and many of the water blessed are begging Thunar to take us back to Australia.
The fact that they’re hauling Liz that direction should have told me things might be grim. By the time I see the water, I can’t help scanning over the piles of blue bodies on the shore. I’m coming.
But how will I know where I should attack with the moon vanir shielding their compatriots? A small, shrill sound is the only warning before a long, sharp spear-shaped column of ice plows through my wing and slams into my shoulder. Strong gusts of wind hit me almost simultaneously, so it’s obviously a well-planned and coordinated effort.
Luckily, I’m not far from the ground, and when I crash, I hit a small grove of trees. Normally, I’d steer clear of the water, but as things currently stand, it’s one of the few places I have allies. I throw up a red-magic shield, which is good, as ice-arrows pelt it right after I manage to get it up, and then I hobble toward the shoreline.
I reach out through the bond, and that’s when I finally hear her.
Azar, they’re using me to lure you. Don’t come toward the water. There are three ice vanir. Whenever she talks to me, I sense something. Coughing, maybe? A pressure I can’t understand.
There’s a roar overhead, and I see Thunar, roasting the air and then rending the vanir he tags with his teeth and claws. A few tips before he ditched us would have been really nice.
I’m already here, I say. Where are you? Are you alright?
They won’t harm me until you get here, Liz says. That’s why you must stay away. They’ve been focusing their attacks on the water dragons. They know they’re the weakest.
A large group of earth-blessed are arrowing toward me right as I reach the shoreline. Without an offensive strike, like the electric shock of the strike blessed or the flame or ice attacks, they’re stuck fighting in much the same way as the storm vanir, only without the wind or rain to give them an edge.
Even so, they have fierce hearts and they care greatly about protecting me, knowing I’m also their earth-blessed prince. I start to warn them away, but their presence has lured the ice vanir out of hiding. One of them is attacking the earth blessed instead of me, and that allows me to follow the trajectory of the ice arrows back to their origination point. It betrays where he or she must be hiding. I drop my red bubble and release the largest volley of flames I can manage to that area, and the ice vanir screams.
Of course, the other two now have a clear shot at me, and they don’t hesitate. They immediately release more volleys of arrow-shaped ice shards. Before they can hit me, four water blessed leap out, protecting me with their own bodies. My rage at the necessity of their sacrifice fuels an even brighter flame, and the smallish ice vanir who went after my earth blessed begins to burn like a small sun.
It drops into the water, where dozens of water-blessed attack, churning the area just off shore until it’s bright red. The other two ice vanir aren’t pleased, but before they can hit me again, I slam my shield back up.
Liz cries out then, not too far away. I know you heard that scream. This time instead of coughing, there’s the same strange feeling of pressure and then a bizarre gurgle. Ignore me. I’m fine.
The bond betrays her lie. They’re torturing her. The agony was so strong, I’m surprised she could mask it. It’s her pitiful masking ability in the past that didn’t make me suspicious before. She would figure out how to mask when she’s actively being frozen and maimed.
I roar, and like the vanir want me to, I move away from the shore and push myself up until I’m standing. She’s at least a mile down the beach from here, and I’m going straight there.
