“I don’t… how do I know?”
“Was there a sensation of there being more to come that suddenly shifted to sparks of pain?”
“Yes. That’s exactly it.”
“Hmm. All right, now, carefully pull the stream from my shield, ease it back a few feet, then hold.”
Now I was no longer escalating, I was able to stabilize it again, like it was happy with me again—or more likely the other way around.
I pulled the stream away from his shield so it was no longer pushing against it.
“Now what?” I asked, holding it steady. “I don’t know how much longer I can keep it steady in a stream like this. I’m getting tired, Dad.”
“I know. You don’t need to hold it any longer. Direct it into a single blast.”
“Where? Into the atmosphere? Or down in the valley where Ryker’s defensive magic protection will neutralize it?”
“It’ll neutralize when we’re done regardless. It doesn’t need to be down in the valley.”
“Okay, then, where?”
“At me.”
“Excuse me?”
“Hit me with it.”
“You…no.”
“Win, I need you to trust me.”
I shifted my weight, studying him.
He seemed fine. More than fine.
He wasn’t sweating.
He hadn’t needed to dig the heels of his boots into the snow for purchase.
His hands weren’t shaking.
There was nothing to indicate any strain he’d endured from that.
But a full-on blast of this magnitude was a little different to a careful escalation he could adapt to gradually as it went on.
“You either absorb it now or hit me. Holding it much longer now you’re getting tired will cause damage.”
I swallowed hard. “Okay. I’ll… I’m gonna do it. Gonna fire. Just… please be ready to stop it.”
“It’s all good,” he said, shifting his weight as I did, mirroring me.
“Dad, call your power first.”
“Once you fire, you’ll understand why I can’t do that. But, like I said, it’s all good.”
“But I—”
“Fire or absorb, Win. Now.”
