"He is hailing us," Lou deadpans as if we can't all hear the buzzing of Vulcan's watch in Isis's hand.

Isis places the watch on the console where everyone can see it and then twists it counterclockwise before tapping the face twice to answer. "I'm not sure that counts as a ship, Mother. It certainly does not instill me with confidence that you can defend our people."

"If you scan the planet, you will find that none of our people are on it."

"Truly?" We all wait with bated breath on his reply as he scans Earth. Those of us who don't actually need air haven't been breathing this whole time, but even those that do are unnaturally still. A human might think us all wax statues. "Have they already succeeded in exterminating us?" Ra sounds irritated and shocked like he doesn't quite believe what he is seeing.

"No. All our people are safe on the fourth planet in the system. The Humans have named the planet Mars, but I doubt it will continue to carry that name."

"Can the humans not reach the planet?"

"They have sent some rudimentary probes to the planet. It is unlikely they will manage a manned mission for quite some time. In the meantime, planetary defenses are being erected and the planet is being terraformed."

"You intend to maintain the balance from the fourth planet."

"If you look at the scanners that monitor the health of the ley lines that your grandfather gifted you, I think you will find the ley lines' health is already bolstered."

"This doesn't change your inability to protect yourselves or the humans." The watch clicks and the line goes dead. Everyone tenses, Belenus, Oberon, Lilith, and Samara focus entirely on their controls while the rest of us brace for a bumpy ride and Remus unsheathes a blade.

The first shot was not unexpected, that it was aimed right for us was. We expected a few warning rounds to test our defenses first, not actual fire intended to kill. Oberon uses his fairy circles to port the torpedo past us and the planet while Belenus simultaneously flames us behind Ra's ship. The second we reappear, Samara and Lilith start firing.

I always thought a space battle would be loud. Lots of shouting as people relay information to each other, or orders given from a captain. That is what TV science fiction does. But it is silent. No one is talking, and very few of us are breathing.

Belenus and Oberon seem to be communicating in the small rises of energy that precede their different forms of teleportation. Samara and Lilith seem to be directing their fire so it starts from the hull and then always targets Ra's ship, avoiding the teleportation problem altogether. We can flame away in the middle of a shot and it will go where they want it to.

I wish I had magic like that. Remus told me it would be at least a millennia before my body was capable of taking some of the Ley line's energy and turning it into magic. I feel so useless in this fight.

We hold out for five minutes before Oberon fails to catch a shot. It clips us and we spin, but Belenus is able to fix it in the next jump. A minute later, Oberon misses again and we spin head over heels over and over before Belenus can correct it.

I look over at them. Oberon looks feint. He is absolutely drenched in sweat, and with every shot Ra fires he moves slower and slower. Belenus isn't much better off. He is jumping us around less and less, making us a much easier target than before.

Samara has changed from offensive to defensive, surrounding us and the planet in a shield to give Oberon a break. I can tell the shield won't hold for long.

Our ship is damaged beyond repair. Were we still underwater, we would have crushed like a can already. The only reason we are still alive is the lower pressure of the outside environment and because we aren't relying on any electronics at all. Just magic. Magic that is slowly running out.

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I check my watch. Our backup won't arrive in time.

We need to stall.

"What if we run? Would Ra chase us?" I ask my voice loud in the silence.

"Unlikely," everyone deflates a little at Isis's answer. "If we run he would see that as defeat and blanket permission to kill the humans."

"Well, can we talk to him again? Is there any way to buy us a little more time?" The shield around our ship falls. Samara looks like she is about to feint, but she maintains the shield around Earth. If the humans come to harm, we will have lost our peaceful negotiations.

Isis fumbles with the watch in her lap for a moment. Has she ever used it to contact him? Does she even know how?

A minute passes. Samara collapses. Lilith takes over defending the Earth. Oberon manages to shield us twice more before he too sits unconscious in his chair, his breath coming in short pants and his skin grey. Did he expend too much energy? Fey can die that way. They turn grey and crumble to dust. Cracks appear on his neck and hands, they grow slowly up to his face. If his chest weren't heaving for breath, I would have thought he was a broken statue.

Lilith momes to unbuckle her seat belt and run to him. "Don't," Remus reprimands.

"He will die if someone doesn't give him energy!"

"We could all die if the humans decide we aren't peaceful," Loki counters.

I unbuckle my seatbelt and run over to Oberon, "Tell me how to transfer energy!"

Lilith turns her focus back to the shield over the planet. "Put one hand gently on his neck and the other over his heart. Breath deep. Do you feel the way the breath moves in you? Through your lungs, out through your nose?"

"Yes!"

"Good, on your next inhale, imagine all the energy in your flowing with that breath. On every inhale, direct that energy through your palms. Focus on giving him energy and preventing him from dying."

I breathe in and focus on the flow of energy. It is difficult at first, but I used to do yoga, so I figure it is the same concept as breathing into your toes. I used to hate that phrase, but now I'm happy I pushed past that and got the hang of it.

The first time the energy enters him, I am both surprised and elated. I wasn't ready for the black ooze of toxic sludge-like energy to flow back into me. "Am I supposed to get bad energy back," I gasp, doing everything in my power to not pull away and break the connection.

"Breath that out! Then send more energy his way."

It takes a few tries to breathe the toxic energy out, and it is even harder to not allow it to flow back to him while I'm trying to release it. Once I get the hang of it, the process becomes meditative. Breathe good energy in, toxic energy out.

Easy.

With every breath, the cracks recede, and I become more exhausted. Our ship shimmies and shakes. I nearly lose my connection a few times, but I can't focus on that. We could be blown to pieces and I wouldn't notice.

His color has returned and his breathing evened out, though he is still unconscious. I feel hollowed out, empty from exhaustion when I finally break the connection. He will probably live, but if I continue, I could lose consciousness.

It takes a moment for me to focus on what is going on in the rest of the ship. How much time has passed?

Belenus and Lilith both look moments from passing out. Lilith's eyes are closed and her breathing is labored. Remus stands braced against a console with his sword drawn, and Loki is signing to Isis in a language that is clearly not ASL. She signs back, both of their hands moving so fast I can't even attempt to follow the shapes they make. While they sign, Isis is speaking with Ra to buy time. I'm so tired it takes me a moment to realize Loki is advising Isis on what to say.

I'm not sure even Loki can stall for enough time.

"I am on the ship in front of you. Would you really kill your own mother?"

"Stand aside! You have failed. Let me finish what I came here for."

"We will not stand aside when the humans are on the brink of coming together as a planet. You want to kill them, you will have to go through us!"

A bright blast shoots past us toward Earth and slams against Lilith's shield. She screams and falls silent as the shield shatters. I can't tell if she is breathing. Belenus places us squarely between Ra's ship and Earth. Loki unbuckles and starts breathing energy into Lilith, while Lou tries to do the same for Belenus. Neither of them seems to be having any success.

"STAND ASSIDE!" Ra screams through the communicator watch, voice so loud it crackles on the tiny speaker.

"We will not. Your next shot will kill us if you proceed. I thought you needed me for something. Can you live with destroying me and your chance at getting what you need?"

Through the window, I can see the weapon powering. "The humans are clearly still more important to you than I am. If you will not move, you will die with them!" The weapon fires, the beam heading straight for us.

I close my eyes. This is all my fault.