Chapter 136: Book 2: The Truth of Change
The asteroid looms above the city of Isthanok. I look up at it, and I feel less fear than I should. Shifting to the third layer has... changed things.
Not as much as I'd like, perhaps. That asteroid is still entirely capable of killing me if it hits.
If it hits.
I just have to make sure it misses.
He-Who-Guards and She-Who-Whispers are both holding it off with everything they can. I see waves of Whisper's power pulsing over the asteroid, trying to disintegrate it, to push it back; the force of its Firmament deflects her own.
The best she can do is slow it down.
Guard has every single one of his proxies placed strategically around the asteroid at equidistant points. Each one of them carries a heavy shield of pure Firmament, and they use that shield to press up against it. A thousand thrusters fire, each one attempting to push the asteroid back, blasting raw Firmament into the air above the city.
He, too, can only slow it down.
They both notice me when I approach, pouring Firmament into Accelerate to keep myself aloft in the air. It's not something I would have been able to do without help before—Accelerate is meant to support a direction of travel, not to simply allow one to fly—but now it feels... trivial, almost. Like a drop of my Firmament feeds the skill with everything it needs.