Shawn had never fired a on at another person. He’d never sidered it a possibility in his life.

  But the wolfman firing off a searing beam of fmes in his general direade it easier to justify breaking that restraint; the beam of deadly heat missed him by inches. He fired without fling, catg the wolven humanoid in the chest, snapping the lever a back with instinctive muscle memory, and put a sed round into his head, when he was staggered.

  His eyes widened when his foe shook it off. The wolven was bleeding from a round that hit his forehead, but it must not have peed. “No effe the target!” he called out. Garrett answered instantly.

  “That’s a Vorhuhick skulls and broad ribs, and they regen from wounds! Foassive systemic damage, or clustered shots through the head!” Garrett called out. The beast stalked forward, more fire in hand, and flung it at them. Other humanoid foes in blue and biforms charged in behind him.

  He had to make a tactical decision. He o clear the crowd out first and deal with the big guy. He held the firearm with one hand, his free hand outstretched, and energy itched to his cw tips. Halsey, time to fire off some magic!

  Focus on the lessers, I don’t think they’ll be as tough to take down as that furry menace! Focus on your ability, it’ll feel like a burst of stati your chest, you’ll feel it ‘catch’ if you’ve do right! Make sure to direct it outward, aally aim at your intearget!

  The message was nearly instant. The e between him and Halsey had vastly increased in speed, and he focused on a burning fury that surged from his core, down to his fiips. His cws on his free hand glowed golden, then white hot, and his palm felt searing hot.

  He hoped this gestalt wouldn’t cause him any self-damage, as he felt the heat reach a peak in his hand–he had to release it, or it might ie his whole arm!

  He felt the energy release like someone pulled a hair trigger when he mentally willed himself to let go ahat tether of energy ing from his core snap. His hand recoiled from the bst of fire in the shape of a dart-like projectile, no lohan a few ihat seared towards his first target. It was a human male, dressed in a red and biform that looked like it was choking him, his face torted in rage.

  Shawn could feel the projectile's flight, a e to it at a dista felt like his fingers were still ected to the fme, and he could guide it toward his foes–all of these feelings of a range sensation, occurred in the blink of an eye.

  The man at the front had raised a metallic crossbow to aim, once clear of the now-destroyed doorway. The fiery bolts streaked towards the man and drove into his chest, burning past his armor and dropping the man from the massive impae. He caught fire, screaming.

  He didn’t have time to appreciate the effectiveness of the attack, and fired off two more rifle rounds, striking home. The others at his back opened fire with their rifles, and Telga fired off an energy bolt. Three more attackers fell, with two additional foes on fire, but the Vorhunde pounced, fmes in hand. Shawn tensed and waited for that split sed when he’d itted, a pulsing fireball in his foe's hand. He did a risk calcution.

  That projectile likely required focus, just as his magical abilities did. Which meant that he had one ce to pull off a surprise.

  His aim so the outstretched hand of the Vorhuhe globule of fire gleaming with deadliness in his palm; Shawn had his target, and he fired.

  The rifle round pierced the wolfman’s hand and the magical fireball, which prematurely detonated, flinging the wolfman off trajectory to the side. The out-of-trol e crashed into a bench, tumbling and ing to a stop by Cire.

  “Shit, move!” he screamed out. The wolfma her leg, and she screamed–but rather thaing panisue, she leveled the rifle at the man’s eye socket and fired in a bze of deadly accuracy. She reeled backward, shoving the lifeless foe aside with a vicious kick, and Regia grabbed her, while she fired off a stream of water with her one free hand, bsting the invaders backward.

  “Get her and Telga out of here!” Garrett screamed out, beak gritted as his eyes gleamed with iy, and a fsh of green lit them up. Garrett fired several shots at an impossible speed–Shawn barely saw his hand movements, and two more foes staggered by Regia’s hydro bst keeled over, riddled with effective shots that bloomed blood. Garrett let out a gasp as he seemed to lurch forward, but it was only to grab more ammo from an ammo belt that had been ko the floor, loading the on with incredible speed.

  Halsey also was trying to get his attention, too.

  I think you have more than one ability! That first one, I think was some kind of fire burst, for all your pyromaniadencies!

  I’m not a pyromaniac!

  Every pyromaniac aluts out a forceful denial! It’s okay, I might have beeoo! Maybe that’s why I got thrown into that oblivion beforehand–wait–did I say that aloud?

  Oh for Fate’s sake, Halsey, you better not be some nerfed, insane goddess living in my head now. Because I had too many issues already before you popped in here.

  He had far bigger problems to deal with as he finished reloading, and more shouts e echoed down the hall.

  Shawn turo focus on the foes trying to stream past the bst of water, still being held back by the torrent of water hitting like a fire hose but Regia’s power seemed to be rapidly losing force. Shawn’s rifle bucked and he cycled the lever a, keeping t of the rounds fired. He had o in the chamber before he caught a lull, and grabbed more of the alchemical cartridges off the bandolier on his vest.

  “Reload!”

  Garrett’s volley of fire was joined by others, f the foes to take cover–briefly. Now armored foes were ing through the door, the rounds pinging off of shimmering barriers that flowed like water around their bodies. Eve of water fria wasn’t enough to slow them down.

  “Fire iive!” Shawn barked out, still shoving rounds into the oube, and ducked from ining fire. Two crossbow bolts pierced through the thial, just above his head. Another shot nearly bounced into his skull from a ricochet, and he wihat had been too close. He flicked out his palm, trying to snipe one off with several fiery bolts, but the barrage bounced off that shimmery barrier and slipped aside, boung into the ceiling or the walls. But the shimmering yer did seem to be flickering as if damaged by the assault.

  “They’re using are barriers! Focus fire on one spot!” Garrett screamed out like he’d dohis many times before. Shawn ducked to avoid the return fire of aric crackle that sizzled and singed his feathers by his shoulder–a near miss. Garrett peered at him from his vantage point in cover. “Focus fire on my mark, then fall back down the hall!”

  Shawn dared a gnce back. Regia had put up a barrier of water that floated along with her, abs the impact of the bolts. The rounds would make a huge spsh, slow, then cttered to the floor. But the barrier was shrinking with each impact, water soaking the floor while she helped Cire limp backward toward the portal room. Shawn saw the portal was building up a charge, with a shimmer of blue light now spinning on the floor.

  He gnced back at Garrett, his face etched in focus, and he nodded grimly. “On your call!”

  He held up three fingers with his free hand, and ted down silently. Shawn dared a peek and saw more of the men advang. Garrett pulled a metal der with small runes flickering angrily, and he pulled a metal pin with one cw. “Gonna be loud!” he shouted and tossed the ister around the er. Shawn dove down, covered his ears, and ted off in his head.

  It would have helped if he had ‘ears’ because they were more like tufts of feathers c an opening. C them did little to dampen the deafening ringing sound he heard, and the intense fsh of light. Garrett finished ting, and held a closed fist.

  Now!

  He focus-fired on the armored male, and fired at the same time as Garrett. The man was staggered from the blinding light and sound, and bullets pinged off in rapid succession at chest level, gleaming brighter until the barrier colpsed in a shower of gold sparks. Shawn lined up o shot, eyes narrowed on his target, and ehe man with a shot to the throat, pierg through and leaving an arterial spray of blood.

  He would have mehe loss of life. But these men had made their choices, as he watched the man on the flurgling.

  “Falling back! Shawn, go!” Garrett called out with a screed rapidly reloaded while Shawated for a sed. Halsey had a message out of the er of his eye. He could feel a calming, icy feeling in his arm–like the Etteria was trying to hint at something!

  I think you have aype of gestalt, give it a try! Focus on that feeling of energy, push it out from your core, toward your arm! Like a spigot or a valve, you trol the flow!

  Okay, gonna give it a try. He reached out for that feeling of i his veins intensified and ched his hand closed. Hoar frost climbed along the tips of his talons, f intricate fractal patterns like a rapidly growing snowfke. His ha chilly, and energy willing to be released, if he so chose.

  “Shawn, fall baow!” Garrett ducked behind cover as someone shot another series of crossbow bolts and more electrical bolts that arced and stung his skin, even with near misses. Shawn’s nostrils on his beak were filled with the unfortable smell of singed feathers–someone was gonna cook his goose? Not today.

  Okay, following along so far? You hold the energy primed in your body, but you mentally let go of it for it to take true form. It’ll feel like a metaphysical rubber band snapping. Bst them with the ice, and focus all your power away from your core, and outward!

  Here’s hoping I don’t make myself an impromptu ice sculpture, then!

  He replicated that feeling–that estiap as he mentally let go of the charge accumuted in his core. A bst of chill air nearly recoiled his hand upwards and away from his intearget, but he held his hand steady with the rifle frame, snap-freezing the standing water on the ground. It froze into a solid sheet of ice beh the advang foes’ feet, little icicles f into a massive barrier closest to him, and quickly grew to immense size. He rexed his cwed hand, grimag–it felt like his hand was burning, and he gnced down. A yer of ice was ed around his hand, and he smacked it off against the bench, freeing it from the icasement.

  “Falling back!” Shawed out before skidding out of cover, now that they had a temporary barrier of safety from ining fire. Their foes struggled to move across the ice when he dared a gnce back. He dove into cover by an open doorway, and fed more rounds into the rifle. Garrett peered at him, bewildered.

  “You have two gestalts?” he gasped.

  “Is that normal?” He didn’t have a response adequate for this one.

  “No, Shawn, most people don’t get two pletely different powers!” Garrett rapidly reloaded his rifle, and threw a et into the hallway, intending to serve as more barricades. Shawn dared a goward safety, there were numerous people gathered around the shimmering ring of light, now spinning faster on the meical ptform, a bright hum filling the air. Telga was direg people to stand in the middle, and he saw starlight outside a window, and a s of the world below.

  This was some way to crash nd into a new world–in a gunfight and magic-slinging fight of his life, in under a few hours. Halsey, do me a favor? Don’t keep a murder t of the people that are dead in that other room.

  It isn’t murder if they were pnning on killing you first, Shawn. Or you know, everyone in the room.

  He couldn’t help but feel that Halsey had just sassed him, and given him a fine point on the unfortable notion he was fighting for his life, in a battle not of his choosing. Whatever she was, she was not artificial.

  You know, I still hear you thinking.

  His eyes wide this prospect. Does that include the strahoughts for the teal-colored bird woman down the hall, a few moments ago?

  Yes. Including those thoughts. I would also like to make a fair point, she seems to be a prime example of her species, and quite desirable to–

  Oh, no. We’re tabling this thought until after I’ve dealt with all the killers looking to end our existence. He peered back around the er, looking for movement. “Telga, how much longer?!” He cawed out. Or called out? He was lucky he could say anything, sidering his physiology still felt all off.

  “I wo minutes!”

  “We’re gonna be cooked chi in two minutes!” He didn’t bother expining what a chi was, and was more ed when he felt aric buzz over his feathers. Halsey, is that you messing with ic powers inside my body? Because I don’t think I need any more surprises!

  Still figuring it out! Hmm, the Etteria pathways are figured quite strangely for this one…I’m not even sure I know what this one is.

  Both their thoughts were interrupted by screeg metal, and intense heat emanating from the door. It was melting iime, aared, bewildered, at another Aveeran, red feathers seemingly alight, and he gred at them with golden eyes, intense fmes emanating from his cwed hands.

  Yeah, this one could be problematic.

  He fired until he emptied the magaziube, and Garrett fired off his rifle. Shawn swore he saw the rounds melting in mid-air as they approached the new foe, who was burning through their barricade like it was nothing, “Garrett, what is that power?!”

  “Pyromancer gestalt, and a dangerous one! He’s melting our rounds, or there’s a force mage proteg him!”

  Either way, this foe was making short work of their defehey weren’t going to survive twenty seds, let alowo minutes unless Shawn did something desperate. He racked his brains for an idea–and inspiration struck him!

  “Give me a grenade. I’ve got an idea!”

  Regia firing off her hydro powers:

  Spoiler

  [colpse]