Page 238 of A Reign of Chromes & Shadows

Straight into the line of fire.

Time fractured.

The world didn’t slow; it stretched, pulled thin like molten glass. Every sound warped, distant and muffled, as though Rain was submerged underwater. His heart slammed against his ribs; each beat a violent echo in his skull. The male’s arm came down.

The order to shoot rippled outward like a shock-wave.

Rain felt Jay’s proximity—too close, too exposed—and horror detonated inside him. His power surged before conscious thought could catch up. He shoved Snow aside with a burst of force, sending her tumbling into the tree line, and threw himself in front of Jay.

He thrust up a wall of energy; bright, shimmering, desperate, a barrier meant to protect them all.

But the robed male reacted instantly.

Rain felt it; the moment their powers collided.

The moment the enemy’s ability latched onto his shield.

The moment his energy was swallowed whole.

His eyes widened.

Too late.

The shield collapsed.

A violent impact slammed into him, ripping the air from his lungs. The world spun in a blur of white and grey as he hit the frozen ground and skidded across it, the cold biting through him like teeth. Pain flared through his chest, sharp and disorienting, but distant; as though his body belonged to someone else.

He tried to breathe.

Nothing happened.

His throat seized. His lungs refused to expand. Panic clawed up his spine as his mind scrambled to understand what had gone wrong.

Somewhere behind him, Snow screamed.

“No,no, no—NO!”

Her voice cracked with a fury Rain had never heard from her; a sound that split the air like ice breaking under pressure. The slushed ground beneath him hardened, freezing solid as the temperature plummeted. The air stilled, heavy and suffocating.

Jay skidded into view, clumsy and frantic, his teeth chattering as he dropped to his knees beside Rain.

Above them, the sky convulsed.

Clouds churned violently, streaked with sickly green light. Thunder rolled across the heavens with such force the earth trembled beneath them. The air vibrated, humming with raw, electric tension.

Then the storm broke.

Lightning tore through the sky in jagged forks, each strike illuminating the battlefield in blinding flashes. The energy crackled, wild and furious, lashing out with unrestrained intent. The hidden red aetherial were hit in rapid succession; their energy signatures snuffed out in an instant, the air left thrumming with the aftermath.

Storm is here.

Rain felt her; a silver thread tugging at his soul, familiar and steady; an anchor amidst the chaos. Relief washed through him, warm and overwhelming. She had protected Snow. She had done what he could not. For a fleeting moment, Rain allowed himself to feel it; the protection, the gratitude, the fragile peace.

Then intense pain dragged him back into his body.

Something pressed hard against his chest. Rain forced his eyes open, vision swimming.

Jay hovered over him; bare-skinned, shivering violently, eyes wide with terror. His hands braced against Rain, trying to keep him anchored to the world.