Page 230 of Axis of Fire

At first, I’d thought the iron statue was our greatest threat.

But the figure made of clouds hit the hardest.

Massive torrents of water crashed into us.

So powerful that even my flames recoiled from them.

My shield was weak.

Far too weak.

“You know,” Stasia began through gritted teeth, “we could just make them stop.”

She was stronger than I was.

She managed to hold her ground.

Without the fire bracing my back, though, I would’ve been thrown clear across the room.

Another blast of water slammed into us.

My flames sputtered out, though they absorbed enough of the impact to keep me on my feet.

Barely.

Even so, my boots skidded across the floor.

“But I really don’t want to embarrass myself in front of them.”

Stasia spat out the water that had gotten into her mouth.

“What are we supposed to do?” I shouted.

“Do you even know how to combine our powers?”

“I think this is more about physics than magic!” Stasia shot back.

A shield of green mist burst from her hands, swallowing the next wave before it could reach us.

I forced myself to think.

How were fire, plants, and biochemistry supposed to work together?

“Wouldn’t my flames just burn the plants?” I asked, stumbling backward as another shockwave from the iron statue hit me.

Once again, it tried to knock the air from my lungs.

“My plants aren’t that weak,” Stasia scoffed.

With a sharp sweep of her hand, a massive tree erupted from the ground in front of us.

Its trunk was thick enough to shield us both.

“Damn it.”

“Why didn’t I think of this sooner?” she muttered.

“Because you panicked,” Tarven called.