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“Ah, thatta girl.” Jo’s voice hummed around me. “Quick study.”
I smiled at the compliment, and while thunder rolled over the Phantom Saber, the raging rainstorm and lightning was held at bay. For now.
The water surged forward once more, and I knew then my assumptions had been correct—the caster could see what happened through the element. The precision of the attacks and the way it ebbed and flowed in the sky as we made our moves had been too accurate to be coincidental.
“You didn’t mention Evelyn was a powerful caster,” I said to Jo while some of the newest crew members from Jackson’s vessel murmured behind me.
I found Killian in the crowd—his face clearly grim as he watched me. He nodded from afar, his faith in me evident. His fear didn’t stem from my powers or my control of them, even in the midst of the fires I’d caused earlier on. No, his foremost fear—the one he’d flung at Jackson—was far too many people knowing my secret, and it made sense. Although, I wouldn’t have agreed with him in the moment of his heated argument with Jackson. But what choice did I have now? It was either reveal my magic and potentially save us all or hide it away and be ripped from the sky.
Concentrating on the task at hand, I found the water a fair distance ahead of us. I flicked my hand outward, calling a bolt of lightning and watching as it flashed across the sky. The movements of the water froze, suspended in the air, before it swirled harder. Faster.
“Jo,” I said. “I think perhaps that may have been the wrong choice.”
Jo pressed her palms forward, and a gust of wind shot outward and away from the airship, winding its way around the water. My body clenched as another bolt of lightning ripped across the sky.
The murmurs of the others grew louder as rain fell from the clouds I had brought about. I couldn’t hold the storm at bay for long.
“We are not here to fight,” I shouted, growing desperate for some sort of understanding or acknowledgement that Evelyn could hear us—see us. “Please, we only wish to speak to you.”
Jo snorted. “I didn’t believe you. I’m not sure why she would. She’ll be the most paranoid of everyone you try to gather for the quest Hattie had in mind.”
“Not helping,” I muttered as I observed the water, now close enough to potentially cause damage if it were to be unleashed.
Last one, a low voice inside of me said. I closed my eyes and released my magic, allowing the largest bolt of lightning yet to illuminate the sky. “We’re only here to talk, I swear it to be true.”
The water ceased. The funneling, the growth. It all halted, and instead, it slowly slithered as though it were swirling down a drain and away from the airship, clearly assessing us the entire time.
“Not so wrong after all.” Jo bumped into my shoulder with a wide grin.
Before I could pivot to inform Killian we were safe, he was shouting the orders to descend the ship toward Varium.
I jogged to his side, practically forgetting Jackson’s presence, until I was jostled short of my destination. “That was incredible, Ains.”
I stared at my old friend. “Why, Jackson, you sound as though you didn’t believe me capable of something great.”
Playfully, I pinched his arm, but then pulled away, needing to see Killian up close for some reason.
Rek’s grumbles were the first words to greet me. “I’m gettin’ real tired of magic.”
“Killian,” I said, before wrapping my arms around him.
He hesitated before returning the gesture. “I can’t say I know what this is for, but I won’t argue.”
“Thank you for believing in me,” I whispered only for him.
His breath tickled my ear. “As I always will.”
“If you two are quite finished.” Rek snorted. “We’ve got yet another problem.”
Both Killian and I jerked our heads toward his infuriated first mate.
“What now?” Killian sighed.
“See for yourself.” Rek pointed. The ship was near the water, our descent faster than I’d anticipated. “Varium should be here. And yet—”
“There’s nothing but the sea,” I finished.
Everyone was peering over the starboard side now. Where did the attack come from? Where’s the magic? Perhaps it’s not the right place.
Dissent grew more and more with every murmur. “Are you sure this is the right spot?” I asked Rek quietly, half-afraid of the retort he would send my way.
However, he was too overtaken himself to banter about being questioned on directions.
“This was the spot,” he said, rubbing his bald head.
A loud popping noise startled me, causing me to jump, and without warning, the water beneath us began whirling again. Only this time, instead of a funnel coming from the water, it was swirling down, rippling out far and wide and disturbing the quiet of the calm ocean beneath our ship.
A rumbling noise rattled the Phantom Saber, as many of us clung to the side for balance.
There, out of the depths of the ocean, a city was rising. Varium.
