Page 863

Hector flew into the side of a car, which did not survive the impact nearly as well as he did. His weight collapsed the cabin like tin foil, but Hector certainly appreciated the softened landing. He could feel a few bones snapping back into place as he stepped back onto pavement, parts of the vehicle’s shattered frame clinging briefly to his armor.

Already, Silvia had completely regenerated. It couldn’t have been more than thirty seconds since he took his eyes off her, but all that melted flesh, even the missing arm, had returned. Only her shredded raincoat and still-smoldering vest remained as evidence of the attack she’d endured.

Jada was on the move now, bounding over fences and behind vehicles in search of fresh cover while cesium erupted in her wake. Hector helped her out, materializing a half-dozen iron logs above Silvia’s head, granting them spikes for good measure. That bought Jada some space, while Hector thundered headlong into the breach for the third time.

A spear of frozen cesium shot toward him and broke upon his shield, causing him to miss a step and stagger to his right before finding his feet again. Silvia doused him in liquid cesium another time, but Hector was prepared. He stopped moving as soon as he heard the splash against his metal and added a much thicker layer of iron to the armor. The iron popped out all at once, shaking off most of the cesium before the rain could cause it to explode. A few splotches remained, but it was only enough for Hector to hear a handful of light pops from within his now brick-like iron shell. The cesium all around his feet was busy going off like a ring of fireworks as he annihilated his extra layer of iron so that he could move again.

Silvia seemed ready to receive him when a pyramid of solid quartz materialized all around her, sealing her movement.

And Hector stopped, abruptly unsure what he should do. Silvia Blackburn merely stood there, eyes moving while the rest of her was stuck fast, as if she were being preserved for posterity.

Hector looked toward Asad, who did not seem to be having very much trouble on his end. Fidel was suspended in the air, impaled on a huge glass spike while his melted arms and legs all struggled to regenerate; and Sabas was locked in hand-to-hand combat with Asad.