“I can’t work the ground beneath them,” he said.
So he couldn’t swallow them up or get Nayena out of harm’s way.
Showtime, she said to So’la, who’d been circling high above.Snatch Nayena if you can.
Without her, the game was over. Of course, the conspirators would have expected and planned for Law to try to rescue her. They’d have established more protections than just making sure he couldn’t swallow them up or shove a volcano up their asses. Whether or not So’la could break through those protections remained to be seen.
“Distract them,” she murmured to Law, even as she started sending fireballs zooming toward the nearest giants.
They danced and ducked out of the way, shouting, even as some of the fireballs hit and caught fire. In response, a few shifted to dragon form, while others bellowed and ran for water. Apparently, they’d never been through the stop, drop, and roll drills.
Something smashed against her stomach, and Mal went careening sideways off the berm. She crashed against somebody and dropped to the ground, landing in a heap. She managed to break her fall with a slight cushion of air thrust out before her, which allowed her to jump to her feet and dodge out from under the feet of the riled giants.
A wave of water washed around her ankles, growing inches deeper with every passing second. She slogged to the now muddy base of the berm and around to the other side, having fallen on the wrong side from the ritual circles.
By the time she got there, the water was at mid-thigh. Pretty quick she’d need to get to higher ground, find a boat, or start swimming.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t see a damned thing happening inside the ritual circle. The surrounding ring of virdanas blocked her view. All she knew for certain was that a battle of the magical variety seemed to be raging. It involved a lot of flashy explosions. The air shook on one, sending impact tremors across the rising floodwaters.
A current had developed and now dragged at Mal. She gave in and let it carry her toward the battle. Her dress wrapped around her legs, making it difficult to maneuver. She was glad she’d already gotten rid of her shoes.
The water swirled around the ritual circle without flooding it. A bubble of magic held it protected. So’la hadn’t been able to break through and snatch Nayena, who Mal was pleased to see had managed to create a shield around herself. Or rather, she’d added to the two Mal and Law had established around her earlier.
Using her new virdana magic would take some time to learn, and the others knew it. Nayena wouldn’t last long against the bombardment of energy whips and balls the cluster of virdanas tossed at her. In fact, Mal was surprised she’d lasted this long, given the odds against her.
What happened? Are you okay?she sent to So’la.
Prepare, was his only answer.
What the hell did that mean? And how? She’d dug magical hooks into the ground so she didn’t float away from the ritual circles. The water was now mid thigh to the giants within and over her head. She glanced around but didn’t see any sign of Law.
He wasn’t done. Not by a long shot. Trouble was, he was going to be worrying about her and holding back because of it.
God-damned fucking hero complex. At least So’la would expect that she could take care of herself. Mostly. Or rather, he didn’t mind if she suffered a whole lot and drifted really close to the edge of dying, so long as she didn’t go over. Law’s problem was he didn’t like it when she suffered, which was both annoying as hell and sweet.
She sensed So’la’s movement long before anyone else became aware of it. He was in freefall. Or no, he was going faster than just falling. He was diving straight at the bubble. Power radiated from him.
Deciding to help, Mal started throwing all the destabilizing types of spells she could think of at the bubble. For shattering. Dissolving. Melting. Crushing. Evaporating. Crumbling. Fading to nothing. Tattering.
She hit with one, held it in place, and piled on another. Fast as she could, she slapped them on. Luckily, she’d practiced this sort of thing, as breaking bindings and spell circles were bread and butter in her line of work.
She didn’t know if what she did helped or not, but when So’la hit the top of the bubble, massive bone-skull first, it caved in, the power crumbling downward like ash. He didn’t slow but snatched Nayena in his talons and winged upward, all in a blur.
Just then, the water heaved, and the ground rippled like a shaken blanket. The snap of it was so hard, Mal’s neck jerked and her teeth clashed together. The water then whirled around, sucking up into a spout and enclosing the virdanas within. Mal remained outside. She stood in mud, her dress clinging to her otherwise naked body. She shivered as the breeze struck her.
Dragons roared and launched into the air, wings beating powerfully as the virdanas’ many guards leaped into action. They dived at the waterspout and were tossed outward.
“Dumbasses,” Mal muttered as they continued to repeat their doomed attempts.
The squelch of Law’s footsteps warned her of his approach. She turned, annoyed that he was dry, with only his shoes and the hems of his pants muddy. He scanned her up and down.
“You okay?”
“Something knocked me off the berm.” She frowned, realizing that with all the adrenaline and mayhem, she hadn’t noticed or paid attention to the aches in her chest and ribs from the blow.
“But you’re all right? No internal bleeding we need to worry about? Imminent organ failure? Brain swelling?”
“You know, often I don’t get all that hurt on a job.”
