“What the—”

“LOOK OUT!”

Cami’s shout interrupts Kael, and she tackles him to the side just as a speared flash of light streams toward us. It misses the two of them by inches, but it’s enough for the rest of us to spin and see the figures running our way.

“It’s Lengard!” Pandora cries.

“Watch out!” Arryn warns when another stream of light comes at us, this time connecting with Keeda and throwing her back through the air to land hard on the ground.

“Son of a—”

“OFF!” I shout over her as she struggles to her feet with a grimace, not putting weight on her left ankle. The command leaves my lips along with a flash of light that disappears with the rest of the brightness, leaving us all in the dark again and fighting for our eyes to adjust once more.

I can’t tell how many Speakers have come from Lengard, the darkness too complete for me to see anything other than shadowy outlines still heading toward us, but slower now, their limited visibility making them more cautious. They haven’t stopped Speaking, though, with lights flaring as they aim blindly in our direction, thankfully failing to make contact— likely because Kael has been destroying as many commands as he can. But with so many coming our way … We can’t expect to remain safe for long.

“Quick, while they’re disoriented,” Arryn urges, hurrying toward Keeda. She turns back when a stream of light sails toward us and raises her hand, uttering a word I don’t hear. At her Spoken command, a wall of blue flame appears between us and Lengard, the attacking commands melting in the fire before they can reach us.

“Whoa,” Cami says, and even I can admit to being impressed by the show of power.

“Come on!” Arryn cries, but then swears loudly when Keeda tries to take a step and stumbles into her, their foreheads butting before Arryn can steady her. In an instant, the flame wall disappears. Arryn swears again and turns to me.

“Alyssa,” she barks, “forget what I said—it’s time to show off!”

“What—”

“Help Kael shield us!” she orders as more lights stream our way, our assailants’ eyes having adjusted enough to better make out our positions.

I flounder for a moment, wondering why she doesn’t just make another flame wall. But her urgent look has me realizing something is wrong, and she’s counting on me—they all are.

Adrenaline makes my mind sharper, causing me to think of the soundproof bubble I created at Lengard when Kael projected into my room. Imagining something similar now, I cry, “Shield!” and a pearlescent dome bursts into being, covering the six of us. I don’t know if it’ll hold for long—I have no idea the kinds of Speaking powers that are now slamming into it, the light fading harmlessly into nothing upon colliding with the bubble.

“Hurry, in case it fails,” Arryn says, and together with Kael, she half drags Keeda to the side of the laneway, with Pandora, Cami, and me scrambling behind them. There we duck down behind an ice cream stand. It’s a tight squeeze with the six of us all squatting and pressed up against each other to keep out of sight, the pearly dome still holding around us.