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It explodes too close, the heat pulsing throughshield Dimly, I wonder if I’ll die without eyebrows But instead of burning through me, the heat stands constant, unco hands wrench ht I can just un is gone, her clothes torn, and herure cuts a black silhouette against the explosion He holds it back with a single, outstretched hand His shackles are gone,at the sky and the destroyed street, but never us Cal knows exactly what he’s doing, directing the firestorm around us like water around rock As in the arena, he for us froion beyond But now, his flae They leap up into the air, so hot the base burns ghostly blue

Moreit to feed his own It’s al ar destruction into protection with steady rhythus, I turn to see the river a hundred yards away I can even see the hulking shadows of Kilorn andtoward supposed safety

"Co my bruised and weakened body

For a second, I let her pull lance back and I understand what she’s doing, what she’s trying towithout hi fine on his own," she says, her blue eyes reflecting the fire

Once, I thought like her That Silvers were invincible, gods upon the earth, too powerful to destroy But I killed three just this ar storm And they almost killed me, and Cal, for that matter We had to save each other in the arena And we ain

Farley is bigger than ed up and half-deaf One flick of my ankle, one well-tio I turn in the sa for what I need Naercey has far less electricity than Archeon or even the Stilts, but I don’t need to leach power fro now I ainst the flath of a tidal wave Most of it flash boils into vapor, but the rest falls on the wall, extinguishing the great tongues of fire I answer the water within ionfor us At least the chained Reds have been pulled away, relegated to the back of the line Maven’s doing He won’t let the instead of open air, and behind it, Cal’s fire juesturing with an open hand I mirror hisdoo our own retreat When his flaether, we have a chance

He mutters little commands: when to step, when to raise a wall, when to let it drop He looks more exhausted than I’ve ever seen hiray circles ri keeps us froths to return just e need

"Just a little farther," Farley calls, her voice echoing fro with us, even though she’s just huave her credit for

"Farther to what?" I growl through gritted teeth, tossing up another net of electricity Despite Cal’s coh It breaks a few yards away, cru out of time

But so is Maven

I can smell the river, and the ocean beyond Sharp and salty, it beckons, but to what end, I have no idea I only know that Farley and Shade believe it will save us fro but the avenue, dead-ending at the river’s edge Farley stands, waiting, her short hair stirring in the hot wind Jue of the cru into an abyss?