“Well done.” The earth witch smiled before planting their backs together once more.

A little bird of hope stretched its wings inside the cage of her chest, and Nova wondered if they might somehow make it out of this situation alive. Even if they could just stall, maybe Aurora would be able to send in reinforcements.

Then the men seemed to think better of their strategy, and they all rushed in at once. She was torn away from her partner in moments, both weapons falling uselessly from her hands. Two soldiers caught her arms, hauling her back.

But the warrior witch proved to be a far greater foe than Nova. She spun and lunged, her dark hair whipping around her like a third blade. She was surrounded, but her feet moved so quickly that she managed to keep pushing them back and back, creating a small pocket in the middle for herself as she fought. When three men charged all at the same time, Nova could not see how the witch would fight them off, but then the earth lurched, the palace floor shaking and the walls rumbling, more of the damaged ceiling crumbling overhead.

Nova stumbled, as did the men holding her, and for a few brief moments, she ended up free and on her knees near a pile of burning debris. She spied a mound of firestorm embers that had piled up during the storm, and she reached, grabbing two just before a soldier took hold of her again. Nova let the soldier pull her back to her feet, then she shoved her hand at his neck, until she heard the sizzle of the still-burning ember make contact with his skin.

The man’s scream was piercing, and so close to her ear that it echoed painfully inside her head long after he had stumbled away. Novaya didn’t look down at her hand. She could feel the pleasant warmth of the ember against her palm. It did not burn her, but instead whispered to her magic, like something familiar and foreign all at the same time, like a dear old friend she could not remember. It was fire, and yet it was not. It was … more.

Another soldier came at her, and this time Nova did not hesitate, throwing one burning ember straight at the man’s chest, where it burned through the uniform in a near-perfect circle before hitting the skin beyond. The soldier dropped his weapons, his hands patting down his rapidly disintegrating uniform as he screamed in reaction to the ember’s unseen path beneath. Nova spun, scooping up as many embers as she could hold, and then she began launching them at the men who were ignoring her in favor of the warrior witch.