closing in at a swift pace. He acted as if nothing was shifting in the weather as he prepared my drink with marshmallows and did the same with his.
Lifting his mug up, he waited for a toast.
"Cheers?"
I worried about keeping my eyes away from the forest, but staring at those gold spheres told me this chance was going to be a successful one. There was no need to experience fear when you're prepared to face the obstacles being written before you.
"Cheers," I whispered as I lifted my cup to clink his.
The mere sound seemed to kindle Kaito's voice. "BRIANNE!"
I couldn't stop myself from turning my head back, but I was already being protectively wrapped as Fuwa's disguise shifted entirely and his tall god form was out, ready to shine brilliantly in this moment of evasiveness.
I expected him to lift me out of the way or protect us with some sort of barrier, but I watched in pure shock as he lifted his other hand to catch the very bullet between his fingertips.
The way he smirked with a sinister glare that was locked on the assassin would send anyone running through the hills in desperation, but it made me giddy with the growing need to get revenge.
Marianna's presence seemed more dominant in the back of my mind as Fuwa let go of me. I was behind him in less than a second, my fingers wrapping around the base of my wand as my magic was on a rollercoaster ride to charge it with thrumming magic.
The sky cracked with thunder as the snowflakes began to shift into hail blocks, but it wasn't going to stop any of us from acting upon our desire for vengeance.
Before I could make a move, Finnick landed upon the ledge right before us. The risky move made my heart skip a few beats, and I was about to voice my discomfort with him attacking head-on, but his bow had already materialized in his grasp while the arrow of striking death was being pulled back.
Heavy dark magic flowed around him as the winds picked up marvellously. It was a sight that captivated me for a few seconds as his pink strands fluttered upward before he spoke.
"ARROWCANDA DE LA VU!"
The spell was far different from what we'd previously experienced, and I could see why as the single arrow left its captive hold and began soaring through the air in a perfect arch.
The arrow then multiplied from two to ten, and with three blinks there were surely fifty, all of which met their targets. The assassin who shot the bullet screamed in agony as the arrow did exactly what it had the previous time. The hole in this stranger's chest cued his shocked expression. He acknowledged his obvious defeat and approaching death by lowering his gaze to the gaping hole.
His scream wasn't the only one echoing through the forest, as bodies fell to the snowy ground while hail continued to assault us. The balls of ice didn't bother me, for I realized that nothing was hitting me.
It was then that I noticed Connor was behind me while a massive umbrella that held a slightly transparent exterior hovered above us. Turning around, I realized Kaito and Jax were already present and fully geared up - Jax's hair floating with firepower while Kaito had his swords strapped and ready.
Connor stood boldly. Even though I was sure the coursing emotional energy happening around us must have been crippling in this intense moment, he didn't falter. Not even in the slightest.
I acknowledged each of them with a mere look, and they nodded slightly in return before I turned back to see Finnick push off the ledge in time as the first round of bullets from the remaining assassins went off.
Fuwa clapped his hands and spread them out with his arms in a wide spread, and we watched in amazement as talismans of black with golden incantations and red strings at the top spread along like a solid line before a wall of gold shot upward while another line of black shot downward.
The symbols burned with magic that pulsated enough energetic force that the bullets didn't even reach the wall before they disintegrated into ash. No matter how many bullets were shot from the rifles in the distance, nothing was penetrating through or getting close to us.
"They have reinforcements," Kaito declared, and I glanced back to see his eyes were in that void gaze of glowing purples and hints of silver. "Fifty in total."
"Find Elijah,"