Kisah Masyitah Rukyah

Bab 24: Broken Heart/Hati Patah

Like before, the Commandos' lasers point to everywhere in the auditorium. It doesn't take long before the lasers converge on us. The symphony of gunfire begins, with them as the conductors and us as the reluctant audience.

My ears have gotten used to the loudness by now. My barriers endure the onslaught with little signs of compromising integrity. The bullets simply scrunch up into a flat piece of metal when they hit them. Xiao is still conjuring up his blood marker, beads of sweat travelling down his face as Jaxon sits against him half-unconscious.

"Kira! What's our next move?"

She sits fairly still leaning back against the barrier. Her hands don't even shake as she makes adjustments to her top-break revolver. "Their guns aren't the only thing we'll have to worry about. Be vigilant, and be patient. I have a plan." She replaces all of the bullets with a different kind, ones that have a sparkling red hue on their casings.

I point to them. "If I may ask...?"

She gives me one of her reassuring smiles that I've grown to love, and wish to see more of.

"You'll see."

Suddenly, the auditorium lights switch off. That must be the work of the Commandos. Oddly enough, they should know by now that sorcerers can see in the dark. I pay no mind and keep waiting. Makira urges the others to do the same, especially Harmony who already has a raging fireball primed in her hand.

I should mention that my projected barriers are transparent, but only on one side. We can see them, but they can't see us. Using that feature, I pay very close attention to VAT 69's formation. The twelve operators have now split up into three evenly-sized groups. The front-most operators in each group take out a small, grey and cylindrical gadget that I'm not familiar with. They pull the pins and toss them near us, causing puffy clouds of smoke to emerge and spread from the rolling canisters.

"Ah, smoke grenades?"

"M83 TA, to be exact," states Makira. "A few minutes and they'll cover the entire auditorium. Tell everyone to keep their heads down."

I send a quick telepathic message to all my friends with a bit of focus. "Done."

"Right, where was I? Ah yes, they have thermal imaging goggles that can detect heat signatures even through your projections. Come closer."

Makira pulls me in and brings herself to my ear. I can feel my cheeks getting hotter.

"W-what are you doing...?"

"You'll have to relay my plan to the others. We can't let the Commandos overhear."

"Oh. Obviously."

>>

She doesn't think I saw her blushing. How cute.

Kiah's blue eyes light up with determination. Her inai faintly glows as she uses her telepathy. One by one, everybody in our large group acknowledges the message with a nod of their own.

My breathing starts to release vapour, much like fog. I find it a touch amusing to see such a phenomenon happening in tropical Malaysia. The first part of the plan is under way.

Frost starts to form on Harmony's fingertips and spread its sharp edges around her hands and arms. Her skin now has a blue tinge. Thermal imaging detects infrared waves instead of light, thus a person's heat signature can be detected through smoke. At the moment, Harmony doesn't have one.

Our heat manipulator exits her cover and tiptoes to the side of the auditorium, her feet forming small patches of ice everywhere she steps. 

"Kiah, can you sense her?"