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I take in the ocean behind us My Kenettran warships wait for our co smile "Shall we, White Wolf?"

I turn back to the vast bay and the Tay The whispers in y all around me shimmers in a web of threads I a the fear in the hearts of our enemy soldiers, the anxiety in the hearts of those in rows in my chest until I can’t hold it in anymore

So I let it out--and weave

The clouds over our fleet glow a faint blue Then, a phantoure of black shost of a white wolf, each of its fangs as large as one of our ships, its eyes glowing red against the storlare trained on the Taht as another clap of thunder shatters the sky

The Tarin, because I can feel the sudden spike of terror in the hearts of their soldiers To thelance at Magiano "Ready?" I ask

He winks Rain soaks us both now, coh knot of braids "Always ready for you, my love"

I blush a little, in spite of myself, and turn quickly away before he can see it Then I shift iano reaches out with his energy this time--he takes over the illusion of the white wolf, and as he holds it in place, I weave an enor thee of black ocean and stor waves

The Ta, but now I can tell that they are ai blindly, trained only in the direction of their last attack We are close enough now to the bay’s entrance that I can see the Ta back and forth on the decks of the ships, their head wraps soaked in the rain My heartbeat quickens in excite for you all

I as out, "Fire!"

Our cannons erupt in unison They rip into the sides of the Tamouran ships, and distant smoke and screams fill the air They fire back, but they still cannot see us Our ship reaches the bay’s uides us in, narrowly avoiding the jagged rocks on either side

Magiano suddenly seizes my wrist and yanks me doer in the crow’s nest I duck instinctively with hiht his attention--baliras, dressed in silver arnize one of their riders And the recognition only comes because of the flaers are here

Our pennant catches fire for an instant, before the huge spray of waves crashes over us again and puts it out But the glimpse of flames temporarily exposed where our ship is, and the Ta cannonballs toward us

I’iano as one of their cannons rips into the side of our vessel My concentration flickers, and hosts ainst the storm, before I quickly cover them up Overhead, Enzo rains down another burst of fire This time, it hits one of the ships behind us, and its forward sails erupt in flarit iano for war to the sound as they slice through the air Our ship, as well as two others, hasfast enough to repel the Tas hard atout for me as I call to him instinctively He knows exactly where I a back around, a rider separated fro iano as I stagger to my feet "We need to be airborne"

As soon as the words leave rabs ainst the crow’s nest, shielding our faces froale that it threatens to lift us off our feet Only Magiano’s clinging to the crow’s nest keeps us froht into the ocean At the saainst the ship behind us with a force far greater than the storiano calls out to me When I lift my head to look, he points at a balira that rushes past, coh forbehind its rider Lucent has someone else with her, and her posture is hunched, as if she is exhausted But it doesn’t stop her fro in our direction, and as she does, another blast of wind strikes us

The impact hurls me off my feet I collapse as another wave pu water froain and the world clears a little Lucent’s stunt has scattered all my concentration, and nowmy ships fully exposed I force back ain, and weave

Gradually, the ships disappear again into the storm Off in the distance, Tamouran riders head in the direction of our second fleet as they close in on the capital’s western border My invisibility has thrown off the Ta the main bay, and as we look on, several of ourstheir cannons into the vulnerable sides of the closest enemy vessels