​     Estelle said, "That Adam that's a woman..."​

​     "There's an Adam that's a woman?" Noel asked. "How does that work? I mean, I thought that the whole idea behind the Adam strategy was for him to impregnate..."

     "I'm sure that's what she is. She looks like...She could be Gramps' daughter or Adam's sister. She's talking to empty air. She's standing about fifty feet from the cauldron."

​     "She's talking to Gramps, or perhaps she's talking to Adam Forwarder himself. How far away are they?"

     "From us?"

​     "Yeah."

​     "Hmm. I'd say, again about fifty feet."

​     "Let's go."

​     Easier said than done. Algrim came at them from all sides to injure them in any way they could, which was not at all for the moment because of Noel. Still, The Valids found it hard to make any headway what with all those algrim shooting at them and getting in their way.

     "You want to get us out of here, Shawnacy?" Noel asked.

​     They rose over the heads of the algrim. Problem: Anti-grav devices were part of the algrim's armor. They rose right along with the Valids. 

     "Brock!" Estelle shouted. "Burst!" 

​     Brock spun into a clot of algrim soldiers, then went into another one of his "starbrusts", expending energy in every direction like a bomb blast. That knocked the algrim that surrounded him out of the air.

     That still left the Silvers, however...

     They heard Estelle yell for the burst, so they flew behind a pair of thick, stone pillars while Brock "detonated". Then they came at him. They knew that creating the blast probably weakened Brock a little, although he managed to stay floating in midair. The Silver Scorpion swung on him with her massive scorpion tail and almost got through to him. While she did, Hoby Barker flew around behind Brock, then threw himself at the floating wheelchair like a human torpedo.

     WHOM! 

     That jarred him. Brock always kept himself coated with his own azure force, especially in battle. Barker smacked himself into Brock again, and this time he sent Brock pinwheeling into his four floating friends.

     The five of them slammed into the rock floor hard. 

     They flew apart, flying away in five different directions.

     No! 

     Now, except for Noel, they were all vulnerable. Brock's wheelchair was on its side, and Brock himself was on the ground. He muttered incoherently. The algrim converged on them. Overhead, the Silvers waited patiently for a chance to attack.

     No! 

CONTINUE