If they can see us,she thought,we can see them too.She went in search of a spyglass to discover whether that was the case.
Captain Laker removed one from his pocket and handed it to her. “Please return it quickly. I will need it.”
He showed her how to extend it and then adjust her vision, then left her to it. It took her a few minutes to grow accustomed to using it. Meanwhile, Miss Bingley’s first Illusion appeared above them. A dense flat cloud floated above their heads. It was, like all Miss Bingley’s Illusions, perfectly executed.
Satisfied that they had one layer of protection from prying eyes, Elizabeth raised the telescope and focused it on one of the ships. There was no one at the helm.
She barely had time to look when something blocked her view. Frowning, she tried to focus the telescope but whatever it was, it was moving quickly. It looked like smoke, only it was too even.
A straight line appeared on the horizon, and the waves began to retreat from the beach. She wasted precious seconds before her mind grasped what she was seeing. She was looking at a giant wall of water moving rapidly towards them. Elizabeth stared at it in horror. Luckily someone shouted something, and it brought her to her senses. If the wall reached them, everyone on the beach would drown.
She turned at once to the Wards and found to her dismay that the wave that had tried to drown her had rammed its way through the Ward and torn it.
“Take shelter!” she shouted, enhancing her voice. “Go to higher ground.” People stopped and stared at her. She waved towards the sea. “Quickly,” she cried, urgency pitching her voice higher.
She frantically began to weave a Ward against water, reinforcing the Wards that were already there. There was not enough time. Even though it had not yet arrived, she could feel the terrible force of the sea bearing down on them, pushing against the Wards. It terrified her. The barrier had been set up against fireballs, or against mages trying to land, not against such forceful and uniform pressure.
Her warning must have reached them, because Darcy and Redmond came running towards her. They should have listened to her, but she could not spare the breath to argue. She felt the tendrils of Darcy’s magic move to join hers. She gave a sob as the burden of keeping the wave of bay was lightened. Moments later, Redmond joined them.
Sweat poured down her brow and into her eyes. Her arms shook with effort, as if she was holding the force of the water back herself. But despite her efforts, the gap would not close. A few more minutes and they could have made it, but already the vast wall of water was bearing down on them.
It was going to breach the Wards. Already the water was finding openings and pushing against them, making them wider.
Then suddenly the wall turned into ice. Elizabeth staggered backwards as the wall expanded.
“Go back,” said Lady Alice. “Lord Matlock and I will hold off the water. Keep the other Wards going.”
It would do them no good to keep up the other wards if they all drowned. Already Elizabeth could see tiny cracks in the ice.
“We can help.”
Lady Alice was too busy trying to hold the block of ice together. Through the bond, Elizabeth managed to hold thecracks together, but she knew it was only a matter of time before it broke.
“We can try to divert the water that comes through the cracks sideways into a stream,” said Elizabeth, turning to Darcy and Redmond. “Set up some kind of barrier so it has to go away from the beach.”
She could imagine it perfectly. A stream running parallel to the shore, the water gushing into it, then flowing out to the sea.
Darcy nodded briefly, not wasting energy by discussing it.
They threw themselves into weaving a barrier. Elizabeth hardly knew what she was doing. She let the magic form itself, to follow her image.
Elizabeth heard the crack in the ice before she saw it. Water began to trickle through. Lord Matlock put his hands on the ice, as if to pull it together by the sheer force of his will. He emitted a huge flare of magic and the ice fused together. Elizabeth had never seen such strong magic, not even when she Bonded with both Darcy and Redmond.
Lord Matlock screamed and tore his hands away. They were bright red with burns. He staggered backwards and stared at them in confusion.
“Go, Matlock. You can’t do anything more. Your magic is used up.” said Lady Alice. “I’ll try to hold the ice long enough.”
Another gap opened, and a plume of water spurted out. Darcy threw Elizabeth to the ground, protecting her with his body. The water continued to spill out, but Lady Alice somehow managed to keep the wall itself intact. Meanwhile, the pouring water encountered the barrier they had made and gushed sideways into Elizabeth’s stream.
By now the force of the water was starting to diminish as the sea drew back. If they held on just a little longer, they would be out of danger completely.
Then, abruptly, the whole giant structure collapsed and came crashing down. Lady Alice was buried under the ice. Not for long. A waterfall swept some of the ice away, and with it, Lady Alice. Darcy tried to catch her hand, but with a loud sucking sound, the water picked her up from the beach and into the waves.
“My aunt!” cried Redmond, “I have to save her!”
“Stay back! You can’t swim!”
Darcy had no time to think. Lady Alice was still close to shore. He waded towards her, but was swept off his feet by the tug of the water. He was a good swimmer, but the current was brutal, holding onto him and dragging him down every time he managed to surface.
