There was no warning whatsoever. The surprise attack left Nick with only a fraction of a second to react. He never would have moved in time if he wasn’t already on high alert, on guard against such an occurrence.
Given the attack’s angle, he couldn’t leap out of the way, or the water bullet might hit Sophia instead, and there wasn’t enough time to draw his sword.
Instead, he judged the vector of the watery missile, then raised his oar to intercept. He angled the flat end out so that the projectile would deflect to one side, rather than taking the brunt of the blast head-on.
Even still, the impact was incredible. The magic bullet tore a hearty chunk out of the oar, sending splinters and droplets flying into the air as the shockwave traveled through Nick’s arms, almost making him lose his grip. “Ambush from the water,” he cried out, glad to see that Sophia was already in motion.
Before his words faded from the air, another three shots were fired from below the waterline. Nick dove onto his stomach, narrowly avoiding the pair of bullets that were headed his way.
Sophia sidestepped the third, shifting her weight as graceful as a dancer to let the lethal missile go sailing past her shoulder. From his new vantage point, Nick could see shapes moving within the river below. “It’s some kind of fish the size of dogs. There are three of them I can see from here. Hopefully there aren’t any more.”
“Shit,” Sophia ducked down beside him to take a closer look. “We have to drive them off or we’ll never make it to the far side. Cover me long enough to summon a pair of spear-tongues. It’s going to take a minute to summon each. Unlike the wasps, I can only create one at a time.”
“Ok,” Nick handed her the damaged oar, making sure that the other two were stowed safely in the middle of the raft, where they wouldn’t be in danger of falling over the side. “Use this to guard your head and I’ll try my best to draw their fire while you’re casting.”
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By now, the archer fish had pulled back, moving to where they could angle their shots lower to get them past the edge of the raft. “Lie flat on your back and shield your side closest to the water with my backpack. It’s proven to be indestructible so far.” Keeping his eyes on the river, he slid off his pack and set it beside Sophia, who laid down behind it while using the oar to cover her other flank.
“I’ll distract them while you’re busy casting.” Nick had no chance to hear her reply, for at that very moment, three more water bullets came streaking out from the surface of the river. Each attack was coming from a different angle, flying for his body with lethal force.
He knew in that moment that if he messed this up, he was in for a world of hurt. That the magic projectiles would break bones and pulverize organs, likely knocking him into the water as well.
Summoning every scrap of concentration he could muster, he tracked the trajectory of all three projectiles, the sensation of icy focus that sometimes came over him when his life was on the line infusing his consciousness.
Just before the bullets struck true, Nick swung his sword up in a flash, the length of its blade shining like molten bronze in the light of an alien sun. He stepped in time with the motion, moving his head four inches to the right in the process.
Halfway through his slash, Nick twisted his wrist to adjust the angle of the blade, cutting straight through the first streaking bead of water, then turning the weapon once more. At this point, three things happened at once.
The bullet that he’d slashed disintegrated into a fine spray of mist, the spreading curtain of droplets forming a rainbow over his head. Meanwhile, the second shot went screaming past the tip of his ear, tearing through the space that his face had occupied a fraction of a second prior. The third thing was that the final bullet collided with the flat of Nick’s blade. The impact kicked like a mule, nearly knocking the sword from his grasp and into the river below.
A tone like a bell resounded to accompany Sophia’s frantic chanting. He stumbled to regain his balance, nearly falling on top of her in the process and ruining her spell before the summoning was complete. Meanwhile, the deflected bullet angled down. It struck the raft with a hearty thwap, tearing a chunk of wood free from one log while carving through a section of vines holding the raft together.