I sigh.
I’ll be able to tell them, I’m sure, but it’s always better for them to see my generals. For humans, seeing really is believing. That’s why the new things I saw on their television were so disturbing. How can they sort truth from lie when their visual lies are now so convincing?
As the bullets strike, my body stretches, absorbs the energy, and reforms almost immediately around them. And my power rises. I feel it, like a phoenix unfurling its wings inside. I shouldn’t have agreed to the strange hiatus. I should’ve called them sooner. Embracing an attack’s a heady feeling. Something larger, something more powerful whistles its way toward me. I spin just in time to spread my arms wide, and throw my head back so that the humans’ gift can hit me dead-on. It’s a projectile bomb of some kind, and it practically vibrates with power.
It doesn’t explode when it strikes me, of course.
It would be better if it did in some ways—I do wonder sometimes how I know all about the tech and how it works as soon as it enters my body, but my magic has always been strange. I probably pull the information from the human minds that are launching the assault, but I’ve always simply embraced the knowledge as it comes, right along with the new carriers of violence.
And these new developments are the best yet.
The humans above think that first missile malfunctioned, and they queue up more powerful missiles and fire them all off. I use a touch of wind to rise up above the water, and I throw a little of it at the jets. They rock back and forth, but they admirably right themselves and fire off the missiles.
I use some strong wind to deflect one of the new-to-me projectiles, because I want to see what happens when it’s not absorbed. I watch with a smile as it explodes on impact with the lake’s shore, sending tree shards, brush, sand, and water flying in all directions. The other missiles I steal for later. I haven’t decided whether to use them or simply repurpose their energy.
Either way, it’s a boon.
“Thank you,” I shout, amplifying my voice so they can hear me. “Once you’re finished, I’d be happy to meet with your leader.”
Another round of missiles launches.
I tuck them all away, one by one. It’s a little boring now, and I’m questioning why they would simply use the same attack over and over when it’s clearly not working.
The next time, they aim for the areas around me.
At least they’re iterating a little.
I redirect the missiles so I can absorb them, but I can sense some of the pilots are planning to return to their leader. I need one to deliver the message, but the rest? I close my right hand, tightening my fingers into a fist, and the other four pilots’ hearts stop.
Watching their jets crash is actually pretty spectacular. If I shift the trajectory a bit so they smash into a boat and an outbuilding, taking a few more lives with them, well, I didn’t directly violate Whitney’s deal. They did attack me, after all. The influx of death magic floods my entire body, and I shiver a bit. Going an entire day without any purposeful deaths was draining.
“You—you just ate those missiles.”
I laugh.
Whitney’s crawling out from under the log, covered with debris, her eyes wide and blinking. “You—how did you do that?”
I shrug. “It’s just a facet of who I am. Instruments of death only boost my strength.” I can’t help my smile, which I’m sure is a little smug. “But I didn’t have a choice. I had to defend us.”
I sense them, then.
My smile broadens. “Maybe duck back down.” I glance at my shoulder. “Or come over here. More are incoming.”
She swears under her breath.
I see it, then, the flash of dark energy I saw before. It’s very confusing. How can the same person harness both dark and pure light energies? A person should either be light in their power or dark with it. I’ve never seen one creature manifest both before. “Whitney.”
Her head snaps toward mine, our eyes locking. “What is it? Why should I duck?”
“You still doubt me?”
She shakes her head, but then she bites her lip. “Can you tell what’s coming?”
“Do you mean how many humans and with what weapons?”
She nods.
“A hundred? Maybe two hundred?” I drop my smile. She can’t know how delighted I am to have this many soldiers advancing. Their leader will surely come once they’ve failed, and who knows what extra goodies they’ll be sending my way?
