"The navy is scattered all along the coast," Niko told her quietly. "The few ships left in Summersea harbour are trapped now. We have to wait for the ships that are at sea to gather and come to our rescue. What are they doing out there?"
"Catapults." Neither of them realized that Skyfire had come over; both jumped at the sound of his harsh voice. "I can't see 'em - don't have to. The movements are right. It's what I'd be doing, right about now. Shurri knows they've got our range."
"C-c-catapults?" squeaked Tris.
"Could be worse," Skyfire told her, shielding his eyes. "They could be landing in the cove - which is what they will do, when they learn the spell-net down there is gone."
Tris remembered what Daja had said about the spell-net, and flinched. Winding Circle had no army, just the dedicates of the Fire temple, those who wanted to help them, and mages. Would they be enough? Would pirates take this place, and burn her only home? Would they take her and...
"Sometimes a good imagination is a bad thing." Niko put an arm around her shoulders. "The defences around the rest of Winding Circle are in perfect condition, and we aren't exactly helpless here."
"Certainly not," commented Skyfire, with a bark of a laugh. Raising his voice he called, "Six mages - air and fire, if you please."
The top of the wall was dotted with red- and white-robed soldiers, mingled with dedicates from all four temples. Now Tris saw that all of the non-warriors had the black bordered robes of initiates. Three in yellow - initiates from the Air temple - and three in red came over to Skyfire. He paired up Fire and Air, then pointed out their stations along the wall, about fifty yards apart, all facing the cove. "By air," he told them, still watching the shimmering vessels. "By air - a hundred feet up, no less. I want a solid shield - no sloppiness. No cracks. Get ready."
Tris eyed the pair closest to her. They were rapidly threading copper wire through the wide links of a two-foot-long gold chain. Once that was done, the initiate in yellow hung dull grey stones on small hooks in the wire, spacing them well apart. The initiate in red did the same thing with stones that looked like amber, flint and onyx.
"Copper is an air element," Niko murmured in her ear. "The grey stones are pumice, a stone of air. Gold?"
"Fire, and protection," said Tris.
"Very good. And onyx, amber and flint are protective." Niko kept his voice soft, in order not to distract the initiates. "Everything in the device has been repeatedly spelled for protection against trouble from the air. Daja would call it a bijili, a thing that stores magic. With such a tool, these mages don't have to use much of their own power - which they might need later - to protect this section of the wall. All they need do is call on the strength of the metal, and the stones -"
"And the temple walls," added Skyfire. Tris jumped. She hadn't even thought he was listening. "Like everything else here, the walls themselves hold magic, put into them over - here we go."
Two black, round balls soared into the air between the ships and the walls. Squinting at them, Tris shivered. She got the impression of magical signs, and of her eyes being thrust away from the balls. Quarrelling breezes yanked at her hair until her kerchief fell off, and her unruly curls went flying. She scrambled for the cloth.
"Why bespell catapult stones?" she heard Niko ask.
"Too high!" someone down the wall - an archer - yelled, shielding his eyes to follow the missiles' flight. "They're too light for stones, Skyfire!"
"He's right," growled the dedicate. "What in Shurri's name..."
Higher and higher the dark balls rose.
"They'll be over your shields!" cried Skyfire. "Raise them, raise them..."
Tris shook, terrified. It was as plain as day that the things would pass over the wall higher than a hundred feet. She would be ripped to pieces, like the dead of the Bit Island tower and the men Daja had seen on that galley!
Winds swirled over the wall, coming from everywhere. They raced around Tris, knocking Skyfire and Niko and Briar out of the way. Tris barely noticed; her eyes were on the round balls as they began to drop. She reached blindly for the winds.
They shrieked, spinning tighter and tighter, shaping themselves into a funnel. The narrow end of the funnel swirled around her hands, tearing at the skin. The wide end stretched, and stretched as the whole thing grew.
Tris clenched her fists, then opened them.
The funnel jumped free of her, racing into the sky to scoop up the twin balls. Turning, it paused, as if it tried to decide which way to go.
A giant, invisible hand pressed those on the wall. A breath later, a dull crack boomed through the air. The funnel blew apart. In another breath, a dusting of soot, dirt and splinters rained down on them all.
Tris sneezed. Niko drew a clean handkerchief from his overrobe, wiped her cheeks with it, then gave it to her so she could blow her nose.
"I must re-think my opinion of weather-witches," Moonstream said, her voice clear and calm in the ringing silence on the wall. "It seems they do more than just bring rain."
Skyfire leaned down, so he could look straight into Tris's eyes. Nervous, the girl backed up a step, then two, until she collided with Briar. The boy held on to her. Two more steps, and they would both go off the wall.
"Girl, can you do that cold?" Skyfire wanted to know, making his voice as gentle as he could. "Or do you have to be scared? If it comes to that -" he grinned, showing far too many teeth for Tris's comfort - "I'm sure I can think of ways to scare you when they launch those things. The other way is much friendlier, of course."