“Miracle,” Cole said kindly. “All of Carnag should lie down. Gently, though.”
The giant mishmash of objects and substances crouched down, then spread out on the field on its back. The people inside the cages clung to the bars as their floors became walls.
“Very good,” Cole said. “Now open a way out for the captives. Once they’re clear, I’m going to ask you to part yourself from that big body. You’ll cut that little cord that connects you to all that junk and just be our size.”
Before he had finished talking, Carnag’s cages dissolved. Jace’s cage evaporated. Mira’s cage disintegrated as well, and her chains fell away. On the ground nearby, Quima squirmed, desperately trying to make her stifled protests heard.
Eyes shining, Mira hurried over to Cole. “You can get up now, Miracle,” Cole instructed. “Just your normal-size self. Let the big Carnag part of you stay on the ground.”
With the tendril still in her back, fake Mira got to her feet. Legionnaires and other prisoners poured out of Carnag.
“Everybody out!” Cole called. “Everyone back away!” He watched to make sure the cells were empty.
“Looks good,” Liam said.
“Go ahead and disconnect from that big body,” Cole suggested.
There was a pause, and fake Mira’s lip twitched upward in a sneer. Then the tendril fell from fake Mira’s back.
“The cloak is smoking,” Twitch whispered.
He was right. Wisps of steam or smoke were rising from the shawl. Cole stood near enough to feel the heat. Despite this, fake Mira showed no discomfort. In fact, she looked serene.
“Miracle,” Cole said hurriedly. “Your power actually belongs to Mira. The real Miracle. It needs to return to her. Give Mira her powers back.”
“Oh wow,” Mira said, her voice choked with emotion. “It’s coming fast. I can feel it.”
Fake Mira pivoted to face the real one. Anger ignited in fake Mira’s eyes. Then her face contorted in hate, and her body quivered. The shawl smoked heavily and burst into flames.
“How dare you!” the fake Mira screamed, wheeling on Cole, her gaze promising murder.
With a wave of her hand, Mira sent the flaming shawl fluttering off to one side. “Miracle!” Mira commanded, her eyes intense. “Don’t blame him. I think you’re just angry with yourself.”
Baring her teeth in a sneering grimace, fake Mira turned and charged the real one. Mira held up a hand, and fake Mira stopped short and started floating a little, her arms and legs spreading unnaturally wide. Mira glared at her duplicate, jaw clenched, sweat beading on her brow.
“What are you doing?” fake Mira asked, her voice strained.
“Taking what’s mine,” Mira said. She spread her hands apart, and fake Mira tore in half with a burst of light. When the flash was gone, so was all evidence of Mira’s semblance.
Chapter 34
QUIMA
Mira dropped to her knees. She stared at Cole with wide eyes.
“You did that?” Cole asked.
Mira nodded and let out a shocked giggle.
“She’s gone?” Cole asked. “It worked?”
Mira nodded again. “I got a big dose of my power back before she turned on us. Suddenly I could sense her tangible form more clearly than ever, brittle and false, but with so much energy boiling inside. Energy that belonged to me. I had the strongest urge to release it.”
“You released it, all right,” Twitch said with a nervous laugh.
“It worked,” Liam confirmed. “Carnag is gone. I sense none of her presence.”
“I can feel my power,” Mira said. “It’s been so long. At the same time . . . it’s incredibly familiar. Like I only lost it yesterday.”
Liam glided over to where the former prisoners had gathered after exiting Carnag. “Move along,” he announced from his floating disk. “You need to go find the people trapped in Carnag’s stronghold. The nearest road is that way. Nothing to see here. Smartest policy might be to pretend none of this ever happened.”
Cole doubted whether anybody would be able to forget what happened, but the freed captives started trudging away. The giant form of the fallen Carnag lay inert, not disappearing like fake Mira, but utterly lifeless, no longer anything more than a baffling heap of random debris.
“What do we do with Quima?” Jace asked, standing over her.
“I have some questions for her,” Liam said, returning. “I want a little more privacy first.”
His posture uncomfortable, Jace glanced at Cole. “Thanks. You really bailed us out.”
“Thank Liam,” Cole said. “Thank Mira. Without them, we wouldn’t have had a chance.”
Liam shook his head. “I helped. But Carnag’s power was much more than I could have defeated. Mira was amazing. But without your quick thinking, Cole, I don’t think any of us would have survived.”
“You really were a lifesaver,” Mira said.
Cole tried not to blush. The temperature of his face implied that he was failing.
The nearest of the departing captives was now hundreds of yards away and getting farther with every step. “All right,” Liam said. “Let’s talk to Quima.”
The gag disappeared from her mouth. “You have no idea what you’re tangling with,” Quima spat. “Today you crossed the wrong woman.”
Liam shook his head. “I’m not sure that’s the lesson here. I think you crossed the wrong girl.”
“Think what you like,” Quima said. “Mira has only delayed her ruin. This was one small piece of a much larger puzzle.”
“Not surprising,” Liam said. “I want to hear more about shapecraft.”
Quima’s smile was both knowing and taunting all at once. “Grant me permission, and I’ll show you.”
“Considering what happened to Mira, I’m going to decline,” Liam said. “I’ve worked with some knowledgeable shapers, but I’ve never heard of shapecraft.”
“After meeting Carnag, you’ve had a lesson,” Quima said. “I think that’s enough for today. Those who practice shapecraft have done so quietly for longer than you can guess. Our time is nearing. You’ll learn plenty before long. Be warned—what you don’t know can hurt you.”
“Does my father practice shapecraft?” Mira asked.
“To an extent,” Quima said.
“Did he have help taking my powers?”