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THE BLACK TEMPEST

Veering away from the path, Asha cut into the little forest, and
they crashed through the undergrowth after her. With each
step, hope grew in Malcolm’s chest.
They burst through the tree line and stopped in their tracks.
Two dozen soldiers formed a double line between the twins and
the Empyrean Bridge.
Out in front, a short and stocky soldier put a ‹nger to his ear
as if listening to something, then nodded and drew a gleaming
rapier.
Malcolm sighed. They didn’t have time for this.
“Watchers!” the soldier said. “Protect the—”
Pointing forward, Malcolm created two walls of ice down
the center of the Watchers’ formation, ten feet tall and thicker
than a man. Following his gestures, one wall slid left and the
other slid right. Like giant brooms, they swept the soldiers aside
and cleared a path to the platform. Valentine and Asha sprinted
through the opening.
On reaching the platform, Asha knelt and placed her ‹n-
gertips on a particular stone. It glowed in response and a control
panel rose up.
Before the Watchers could counterassault, Malcolm curved
the walls and froze their ends together, making two perfect cir-
cles with them trapped inside. Shouting challenges, they hacked
at the ice, but normal weapons would never break through.
If they had more powerful weapons, Malcolm guessed they
wouldn’t use them so close to their comrades.
With a wave of Asha’s hand, two virtual keyboards projected
from the control panel and a three-dimensional holographic
display glowed to life above them. She called instructions to
Valentine as her ‹ngers £ew across her own keyboard. The
Empyrean Bridge’s three massive rings began to move.

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