“Don’t tell me you made that sandstorm,” I said.
“Took you this long to notice, huh? See, I figured normal methods wouldn’t work against a guy like you. But this would take anyone by surprise.”
Even at a glance, the approaching storm was large enough to qualify as a natural disaster. Countless silver blades gleamed within, tearing apart rock formations in their path as though they were nothing.
“Impossible...” Lynne murmured, her face pale. “Are those all Silver Crosses?”
“Silver...what?” I asked.
“Zadu’s signature weapons. If we get caught in their midst...”
“One of you should come out just fine,” the black-bandaged man said, looking in my direction. “As for the rest of you... Well, who knows?”
Zadu was probably right; although my [Low Heal] would get me through the storm, it wouldn’t do much to help the others or our carriage. I doubted they would come out unscathed.
“I don’t suppose you can block it, Ines...?” I ventured.
“My apologies. Negating such a great offensive is beyond me.”
“Ah...”
If not even Ines could protect everyone, then I wasn’t sure there was anything we could do. The man wasn’t throwing his weapons at me, as he’d done during our previous fight, and there were far too many in the storm for us to deal with. We couldn’t even run, as the sandstorm had us completely surrounded. Things were looking extra grim.
“There’s the rub,” the bandaged man drawled. “Be a pal and give me that sword, won’t ya? I’ll let your small-fry companions off the hook.”
“Fine,” I said in short order. “This is all you want, right?”
“Instructor?!” Lynne exclaimed.
“Sorry. I can’t think of another way to get us out of this.”
I’d spent so long with my black sword that I considered it precious to me. In many ways, it was my ever-reliable partner. Still, as reluctant as I was to hand it over, it wasn’t so important that I’d let my friends get hurt to keep it. I felt bad for Lynne’s father, who’d given me the sword in the first place, but my hands were pretty much tied. And since I was doing it for his daughter, he’d surely understand...right?
“Just to be sure,” I said, “will you really let us go?”
“Yup. I want your sword, not their lives.”
“Please wait a moment, Noor,” a voice interrupted us.
“Sirene...?”
“You don’t need to do this,” she assured me. “I think we can manage.”
“As in, we can weather the storm?”
“Um...no. That would be suicide. But I was just thinking—I could shoot them down, right?”
“All of them?”
“Yes. Was that not clear?”
She was referring to not the sandstorm but the blades sheltered within it. Seeing her bow already in her hands, I could tell she was serious.
“Are you sure you can hit that many?” I asked. “They won’t be easy targets.”
“I’m relatively confident. Since the storm’s man-made, it’s full of openings.”
“I’ll take your word for it. You’ve got this, then?”
“Yes, I’d say so.” Sirene shot a sharp look at the strangely dressed man. “Though I’d rather he not try anything in the meantime.”
“Well, you heard her,” I said.
“Hmm? Me?” Zadu shot back. “D’you really expect me to play nice?”
“I don’t think he’s going to cooperate, Sirene...”
“U-Um, actually...” Sirene’s gaze seemed to waver. “I was hoping that you’d, well...”
“Oh, right. I’ll keep an eye on him.”
There was a slight pause before Sirene replied, “Thank you. That should more than suffice.” She turned to Lynne. “Is that all right with you, my lady?”
“Of course, Sirene. If you think you can manage, then I trust your judgment.”
“Then I shall begin.” Sirene nocked an arrow and drew back her bowstring in a single movement. “First, one.”
Her arrow tore through the air. At first, it appeared to vanish into the vast storm, never to be seen again, but then I noticed it moving with the wind. It gained speed, moving faster and faster through the maelstrom of sand before slamming into a flash of silver and ejecting it from the storm.
The cross-shaped blade flew toward us, then came to rest in the sand near my feet. To my surprise, I saw Sirene’s arrow return with it, rushing back to her like a well-trained bird of prey. She plucked it from the air with two fingers, nocked it, and then drew her bowstring back again.
“Next, ten.”
Once more, Sirene’s arrow ventured into the storm. It caught a much stronger, much fiercer current than before, and just as she’d proclaimed, ten silver blades were forced outside the raging winds.
“Now what’s your deal, hmm?” Zadu mused. “Don’t tell me you can actually see the air’s movements.”
“Not all of them, but enough to grasp the bigger picture.”
“You don’t say... Guess you’re a pain in your own right, huh?”
“Next, a hundred.”
This time, when her arrow returned, Sirene allowed it to drop into the sand at her feet. She plucked four more from her quiver, nocked them all at once, and released. Each one traveled into the sandstorm at its own trajectory. They spun with the winds at dizzying speeds and sent dozens upon dozens of blades scattering through the air like silver snow.