Five bodies blurred in different directions, each leaving phantom trails as they accelerated. The elemental's fist crashed through the now-empty space they'd occupied, splintering the dock into matchsticks and sending a geyser of salt spray thirty feet into the air.

The sound resembled a hundred wine barrels breaking simultaneously, followed by the particular silence of people realizing they've narrowly escaped becoming a nautical statistic.

"Split and circle!" Ember's voice carried across the fractured pier, steady despite the chaos. "Test its reaction time!"

Pyra took this as the starting gun at a race that absolutely needed to be won. Her heels struck the remaining planks with enough force to leave smoking divots as she propelled herself forward.

Flames spiraled up from her footprints like corkscrew trails, marking her zigzagging path directly toward the towering water construct. Salt spray sizzled against her superheated skin, creating a personal steam cloud that smelled faintly of overcooked seafood.

"Hey, Splashy!" Her voice carried the particular glee of someone who'd found a new playground. "Down here! Bet you can't catch me!"

The elemental's head—not really a head so much as a suggestion that water might want to consider having a face—swiveled. Its massive torso rotated independent of its legs, defying anatomical consistency with the smug confidence of something that didn't need bones or organs. A watery arm extended downward, fingers stretching like rivers overflowing their banks during spring floods.

Kindle circled around the harbor's edge, flames wrapping around her forearms in spiraling bands. "Pyra, duck left on three!" The words scarcely left her mouth before she counted, "One, two—"

Pyra dropped and rolled, her body leaving a scorched semicircle on the planks. The space where she'd been standing erupted with a volley of fireballs, each one streaking through the air toward the elemental's outstretched arm.

Where they struck, chunks of water vanished with angry hisses, steam billowing upward in cloudy plumes. But the gaps closed almost immediately, the elemental's watery mass flowing back with the stubborn persistence of spilled soup finding the lowest point on a table.

"Oh come on!" Kindle's flames flared with irritation. "That's just cheating!"

From the ship's deck, Nasir's voice carried across the water, words lost but the tone of urgent retreat unmistakable. Captain Levinia stood at the helm, hands moving in patterns that created subtle ripples through the harbor—maritime magic struggling against something far larger than it was designed to counter.

The Puppetmaster remained motionless at the pier's edge, only her hands moving in elegant, almost dance-like patterns. Silver light spilled from her fingertips into the water, each pulse strengthening the elemental's form like invisible thread stitching a tear.

"That's our problem," Ember pointed toward the masked figure, flames drawing exclamation marks in the air around her. "The puppeteer controls the puppet."

"But where's the challenge in that?" Pyra skidded to avoid another watery fist, her boots leaving twin trails of charred wood. "I vote we beat the big water monster instead!"

"I second that motion!" Kindle's voice rang out from across the harbor as her fireball punched uselessly through the elemental's knee.

Cinder turned to Ember, flames curling around her shoulders in sharp, irritated spikes. Her sigh produced enough heat to visibly warp the air. "Some days I genuinely forget we share the same brain."

Ash drifted to Ember's side, her fire the color of dying hearth embers. She studied the elemental with narrow eyes, lips moving in silent calculation.

"The thermal applications against a hydrokinetic manifestation provide fascinating variables for—"

"Less theory, more running!" Ember shoved Ash sideways as a spear of water punched through the space between them, wood splintering where they'd stood. "Explain later!"

The masked woman's face turned toward them, one hand rising in a slow, deliberate gesture that a Renaissance painter might use to illustrate the concept of doom.

The harbor water around the pier bubbled, then erupted into a dozen snaking tentacles that writhed toward them like particularly enthusiastic water hoses from hell.

"Oh, come on!" Pyra's protest echoed across the water. "Is that even fair?"

Ember's gaze swept from Pyra's solo quest to become water elemental bait, to the increasingly damaged pier, to the ship bobbing frantically at the docks, desperately trying to unfurl its sails in some kind of "you should definitely be here, not there" semaphore.

"This," she said, her voice carrying the particular weariness of someone who'd just remembered she'd left her keys in the oven again, "needs more finesse."

"Split up!" Cinder dropped into a roll that carried her under the first attack, her body heat turning nearby drops to instant steam. Ember and Ash accelerated in opposite directions, their flames tracing contrails through the morning air.

Pyra, seeing the others successfully evading the attack, apparently decided this was the perfect moment to do something that resided in the narrow gap between brilliance and suicide.

She sprinted directly at the giant water elemental, each footfall striking the dock with increasing force. The wood groaned under the impact, splinters flying in her wake as if trying to escape what they sensed was coming.

Five steps from where the pier met the water elemental, Pyra launched herself skyward, her body arc slicing through the harbor's mists like a comet.

"CANNONBAAAAALL!" Her body curled into a tight ball of concentrated flame, striking the elemental's head with a sound like a steam vent exploding.

For a heartbeat, nothing happened—then a Pyra-sized tunnel opened through the elemental's head, flames visible on the other side like the world's most impractical porthole.

She emerged from the back in a cloud of steam, body trailing vapor as she twisted mid-air. Her landing on a nearby fishing boat might have been impressive if she hadn't immediately slipped on the wet deck and planted herself squarely on her tailbone.

"That. Hurt." She rubbed her backside with a wince. "In multiple ways."

Behind her, the elemental's head—still sporting a cooling Pyra-tunnel—turned slowly, fixing the entirety of its attention on her. Then water surged from its shoulders, filling the gap and returning the monstrosity to its full mass.

"I don't like that look. I'm getting a vibe that really makes me uncomfortable!"

The elemental raised its enormous arm over the fishing boat, the appendage expanding to twice its original size to compensate for the distance. It descended toward her like a tidal wave compressed into a single action.

Orange flames exploded at Pyra's feet as she rocketed skyward, narrowly avoiding the elemental's strike. The ship wasn't so fortunate. Wood splintered as the elemental's hand shattered the vessel. Broken pieces scattered across the water, mingling with clouds of steam that sizzled angrily at the contact.

"That," Pyra announced as she soared toward the elemental's shoulder, "was a perfectly good boat until you showed up!"

The elemental twisted, one water-arm expanding into a massive webbed hand. Its palm raised to meet Pyra's trajectory in the universal sign for "bitch slap."

The blow connected in mid-air, engulfing Pyra in a watery fist that slammed her into the shattered dock with enough force to punctuate the point. Wood shattered into toothpicks as she crashed through the planks, extinguishing her flames.

"Ow," she murmured as the elemental's hand receded, revealing a smoking, damp, and somewhat ruffled Pyra-shaped imprint in the wreckage.

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Kindle and Cinder rushed to her side, their fireballs hammering uselessly against the elemental's legs and torso. Across the harbor, Ember and Ash zigzagged around the dock, dodging attacks from the tendrils of water that erupted from the surrounding sea while and seeking a better angle of attack.

"Pyra, talk to me!" Kindle cradled her duplicate's head in her lap, sparks of flame dancing from her fingertips as she ran a glowing hand over Pyra's body in a rapid field examination.

"Ow, again." Pyra's groaned, rubbing the back of her head with a grimace. "How many people did you say I am?"

Cinder knelt beside them, her flames sizzling against Pyra's damp form. "Less talking, more running. Can you move?"

"I think so?" Pyra tested her feet cautiously. "Still have sensation everywhere and, you know, my number of people feels right."

The elemental reared above them, its enormous fist pulled back for another hammer blow.

"That sounds like a 'yes' to me," Cinder declared, hauling Pyra to her feet. "Move!"

The three of them accelerated—Kindle and Cinder pulling Pyra between them—just as a wave of watery force pulverized the wreckage they'd been using as shelter. Splinters peppered their backs as they raced along the dock, ducking and weaving more in sync than they'd ever been on the battlefield.

"Seriously," Pyra panted as they outpaced another attack by a half step and a prayer, "whose idea was it to annoy the water elemental?"

"You're welcome, moron!" Kindle ducked as a lance of water speared across her path, carving a trench through the dock and nearly taking off her hair. "You'll thank me when we figure out how to kill it!"

The elemental shifted, redirecting its attention from Pyra's group to the pier where Ember and Ash had found the Puppetmaster. A shimmering arc of water rose above its shoulder, paused for the space of a breath, and then broke forward, gathering mass and momentum as it streaked toward them like a silver comet.

Ember intercepted the liquid torpedo halfway to its destination, flames rippling down her outstretched hand as she thrust her palm toward the incoming attack. Fire and water met in an explosion of steam, showering the harbor in a fine, salty mist.

"That's right, keep looking this way," Ember muttered as the elemental pivoted to track her. "Just keep those watery peepers right where I want—"

Her words ended in a yelp as a tendril of water coiled around her ankle, yanking her off her feet. The world spun as she dangled upside-down, one foot the only point of stillness in a whirligig of dock, sky, and harbor.

"—them," she finished, a beat too late.

Twenty feet above the pier, the water elemental reared, its hand spreading into a mesh cage with Ember suspended at its center. Her fire flickered and spat through the gaps, sending up a constant cascade of steam, but her flames sizzled out wherever they contacted its walls.

"Hello, little spark." The Puppetmaster's voice carried over the water, as cool and confident as if she were greeting a wayward pet. "Struggle all you want; the more you burn, the more the harbor will fill your prison."

Ember's watery cage began to contract. The bars drew inward, compressing around her like a fist squeezing a grape.

"Eventually," the masked woman said, her voice the sigh of wind over a graveyard, "you'll learn that the sea puts out all fires."

Ash sprinted toward the trapped Ember, her flames spiraling around her arms in twin contrails. She wove between attacks that sought to intercept her, dodged spikes that erupted to block her path, and left smoldering footsteps on the battered docks.

She was halfway there when Pyra, Cinder, and Kindle came screaming up on her right, narrowly outpacing a watery geyser that threatened to swallow all three.

Ash's eyes flashed their way, and a silent exchange passed—unspoken, unquestioned coordination between shards of the same self. The trio banked hard to the left, leading the elemental's wrath away from Ash in a tight, controlled arc.

Ash took advantage of the diversion to fling herself into a tumbling roll that carried her beneath the elemental's caged hand. Flames pulsed around her in a spherical shell, then exploded outward in a concussive wave that rippled the water like a sonic boom.

The force shattered Ember's water prison, sending a cascade of steam billowing into the air. Ember fell the short distance to the pier, landing beside Ash in a roll that left scorch marks on the wood.

"Thanks for the assist," she said, offering an appreciative nod. "Any thoughts on how to take this thing down?"

Ash brushed a stray ember from her shoulder. "The water elemental's regeneration speed limits our ability to disrupt its cohesion. The energy required for sustained disruption far exceeds our available reserves."

"So we need another approach, then." Ember's flames traced question marks in the air around her. "Suggestions?"

Ash's eyes narrowed. "I do, but it will require precision strikes executed at the precisely correct moment." She turned away from Ember to watch Cinder, Kindle, and Pyra leading the elemental on a high-speed chase around the docks. They kept just out of reach, their combined flames creating a triple helix trail as they ducked and dodged watery spears.

"Can you do it?" Ember asked.

"Indubitably." Ash straightened, flames coalescing into symmetrical spheres above her palms. "However, there is a 67.4 percent probability that someone will end up in the harbor. Potentially me."

Ember nodded, clapping Ash encouragingly on the shoulder. "Get it done."

Ash broke away, her footsteps crackling faintly as she crossed the already-drying pier. As she moved, her flames swirled around her in concentric rings, marking her path with smoldering divots.

She spared a glance toward Ember, who rushed the Pupptmaster, orange and blue flames spiraling together like yin and yang symbols.

With a flick of her wrist, the Puppetmaster sent another series of watery tendrils writhing toward Ember, forcing her back.

"Persistent, aren't we?" the masked woman asked as Ember ducked and weaved through the watery attack.

"Stubbornness is my defining trait." Ember darted around a thrusting lance, retaliating with a burst of flame. She punched through the watery pole, sending out a blast of steam. "Well, that, and my excellent fashion sense."

Ash ignored the banter, her senses narrowing to a tunnel that encompassed the distant trio and the giant water elemental. Pyra and Kindle dashed hand-in-hand toward her, their path curving in a shallow arc. Cinder followed, her movements more controlled, but no slower.

A tendril of water thrust upward, seeking to impale Cinder, but she accelerated, running along its length to deliver an explosive punch. The water parted, allowing her to pass through unharmed.

"Here we go!" Pyra shouted as her path carried her past Ash. Kindle flashed her an encouraging smile, and then they were gone—sprinting toward Ember and her masked opponent. Cinder blurred by a moment later, leaving the water elemental twisting in confusion as its targets scattered.

"Ash! This one's yours!" Cinder didn't slow as she passed, just gestured emphatically toward the elemental. Then she was out of sight, streaking across the harbor in Ember's direction.

For a long second, Ash stood alone beneath the elemental's shadow. The towering colossus studied her, two dozen watery eyes glistening atop a constantly shifting body.

Ash lifted one flame-wreathed hand. "Hello."

The elemental raised its arms skyward.

She struck.

The air shattered around her, compressed by a blast of heat that pulsed outward in an expanding ring. Anything flammable ignited instantly, leaving a perfect circle of flames across the dock. The shockwave crashed into the water elemental's center mass, punching a wide tunnel through its chest.

The elemental staggered, body rippling like a pond disrupted by a pebble, and began to reassemble itself.

She didn't give it a chance. The instant her shockwave cleared its torso, she was moving, feet charring the dock beneath her. Gray flames trailed from her eyes, leaving ghostly lines across her vision as if drawing trajectories to her chosen target.

It took her the space between heartbeats to cross the thirty paces to her target. Gray fire spiraled up her arms, then burst free, arcing toward the elemental's core.

The strike hit with a thunderclap. Concussive waves hammered the water on all sides, shaking the harbor like the beat of a colossal subwoofer. The elemental collapsed in on itself, its watery body spilling downward like a detonated waterfall.

Ash staggered as the waves crashed around her. She sank knee-deep into the surging tide, then rose slowly. Her flames sputtered around her body in sizzling rivulets as she waded toward the water's edge.

"Yes." Her fist clenched in a triumphant pump. "That's what I thought."

Behind her, the water surged anew, a silver wave rising into the shape of the water elemental. The liquid monstrosity rotated slowly, its innumerable eyes focusing on Ash's damp, bedraggled form.

"I see." Ash's shoulders slumped, fire guttering around her in disconsolate wisps. "Okay then."

Her complaint ended in a scream as watery hands closed around her waist. The water elemental hoisted her skyward, drawing her in close.

"Honestly," she gasped, her words barely audible over the crashing waves, "this was suboptimal to begin with."

The elemental didn't respond. It simply tightened its grip, squeezing her in its watery fist. Steam rose in spitting tendrils as her fires flickered—dark gray and bright—against the elemental's blue-green embrace.

"This," she wheezed, lungs gasping for the smallest sliver of breath, "is not the most effective situation. I would very much like not to drown."

Her vision narrowed to the glimmering lights that danced above the elemental's hands, her breath coming in shallow gasps as the crushing force drove water from her lungs. Blackness crept into the corners of her eyes as a distant part of her mind calmly informed her that air, when deprived, was really quite important to the human body.

From across the harbor, four voices rose in a frantic shout. Four pairs of feet pounded across the pier, fire streaking behind them as the others raced to reach her.

They were fast.

But not fast enough.

Ash felt the void rushing up to greet her, a wave of cold darkness that beckoned with promises of peace and calm. The waters closed around her, cocooning her in their inescapable embrace.

Far away, in some distant realm beyond the crush of water, the others shouted. Their words washed over her, garbled and meaningless, like the whispering of a gentle stream.

And then it was gone.

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