She felt the impact later, an earth-shaking crash that left her ears ringing. But she wasn’t dead. She wasn’t even hurt. She opened her eyes, confused, then glanced up. A great shield of water stood above her. Beside her stood Nezha, hands stretched to the sky. His mouth was moving. Several seconds passed before his shouts became audible through her ringing ears. “—you fucking idiot—what were you—” “I thought I could kill it,” she murmured, still dazed. “I thought . . . I really thought—” “Do you know what you’ve done?” He nodded toward the city.

