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I track his pointing finger.

The fountain casts forming and reforming shadows that dance across the ground.

Cold, choking, unreasonable fear crawls down my spine.

Shadows writhe like living beings, like liquid darkness solidified.

Like drachen.

Memories crash over me, and a slimy sensation invades my gut.

Those vile creatures of darkness…enrapturing people with fear, leaving corruption and death in their wake. Narc controlled me, used me against my own people, against Lark. Forced me to murder innocents.

I nearly choke while swallowing down my panic and telling myself to pull it together.

The drachen are gone. Lark destroyed them months ago, along with the God of Nightmares.

Shadows are just shadows now. They can’t hurt anyone ever again.

Sucking down a lungful of air, I shove aside the memories.

“Everyone stay within the shield.” I circle my free hand, drawing more water from the fountain. The liquid responds by spiraling around each cherub like transparent snakes. With a flick of my wrist, I drop the temperature and freeze them in cocoons of ice.

Relief washes through me as my magic works exactly as intended.

About damn time.

The cherubs fall back to their pedestals, still somehow singing through their diamond teeth in a high scraping sound akin to grinding crystal.

Shadows arrange themselves in symbols that begin to glow.

The air crackles with the energy of an approaching thunderstorm, the scent of magic rising.

I check on Lark to ensure she’s okay.

Her golden gaze meets mine, and in that instant, we hold an entire conversation without words. We’ve fought together enough times to understand each other’s intentions.

My water magic surges through the fountain again, not fighting the crystals, but flowing around them, containing them. The crystalline formations beginning to grow from the cherubs’ icy prisons shudder. They try to spread, but they’re trapped in shells of swirling water that I control.

My muscles strain with effort.

Sweat beads on my forehead despite the chilly temperature. Despite the cold emanating from my palms.

Lark calls up precise bursts of fire, not to destroy but to illuminate. Her flames prance along her arms, curling from her fingertips in tight, controlled spirals. The fierce flare catches in my water spheres. Prisms form, spilling radiant rainbow fragments across the courtyard.

The cherubs’ song wavers. Their diamond teeth begin to crack.

“It’s working.” I can’t explain how I know. The magic just feels right, like a puzzle piece clicking into place.

Confusion blooms behind Lark’s determined expression. She intensifies her fire, careful to work with me, and the flames within my water create beautiful and complex patterns.

All the cherubs fall silent.

Their teeth dissolve into ordinary stone. Twisted shadows snap back to natural angles. The crystal formations inside my water spheres melt away, leaving nothing but ordinary fountain water that splashes to the ground when I release my hold.

“Well, I don’t,” Odessa clutches her papers to her chest, “know how I feel about that!”

I keep my face impassive. Flexing my fingers, I stretch out the stiffness from channeling so much magic.