Using his power, I flick my wrist, raising a chunk of stone from the ground and flinging it for his head at high speeds.

His eyes widen in shock as the stasis triggers, freezing him mid-gasp.

Around me, the battle rages. Beck and Brunhild fight together, their elementals creating a perimeter of raw destruction that keeps attackers at bay. Mireen weaves water into deadly blades that flash in the morning light. Ambrose lingers near the back, seeming to call out targets for Akaron to surprise attack from above.

Raith cuts into the enemies with brutal efficiency. His sword moves like an extension of his body, each strike calculated and precise. Nearly every time he slashes that blade, there's a flash of blue as yet another of Malakai's people is cast into stasis. I feel his absolute focus, his mind working like a commander on a battlefield rather than a student in a competition.

I use my stolen earth essence to raise last-second shields of earth, saving students on our side from being put into stasis.

"They're trying to surround us," I warn Raith through our connection.

He nods, shouting orders that his fires follow with brutal efficiency. They fan out, making it harder for Malakai's people to pinch in around us.

"Nessa!" Beck shouts, his voice tight with warning.

I turn to see Malakai himself bearing down on me, shark elemental launching ahead of him. Its jaws open wide, teeth gleaming in the pale light.

Typhon abandons his serpent disguise in a flash of brilliant blue. Wings sprout from his back and his jaw lengthens, filling with sharp teeth. He grows larger until he's easily twice the size of the next largest elemental. He flaps his powerful wings and explodes through the air, putting himself between me and the shark. They collide with such force the ground beneath us shakes, water magic exploding outward in a concussive wave.

Malakai is coming for me, water blade forming in his hand as his single remaining eye glows with deadly purpose.

My stolen earth essence is nearly gone, my body aching from the impact. I reach for any magic I can find—a trickle of air from the breeze, a hint of water from the mist—but it's not enough. But I don’t have much left. Scraps of earth left and little more.

And Raith is locked in a fight with three students, trying to find an opening to get to me but being held back.

Around us, the battle has shifted. We're losing ground, our forces pushed back toward the treeline. Brunhild is bleeding from a gash on her arm, her crab elemental missing a claw. Beck is surrounded, fighting desperately to keep three attackers at bay.

Typhon continues to battle Malakai’s shark, along with Serena’s fire serpent and several other elementals at once. His blue scales gleam, wings unfurling, his form expanding beyond any elemental anyone has ever seen at Confluence.