His lips twisted. "Well, how nice to see you again."
Before Linh could react, he flicked his hands. Linh gasped, doubling over as all the air in her lungs flew out. She sucked in a breath, trying to get some in air in. Any air in. But no. Quan was a master Guster. He drained all the air around her in a two-metre radius.
Linh raised her hands, causing ice-cold water to drop on his head. Quan flinched, and a bit of air entered Linh's lungs. She used telekinesis to knock his feet under him. Come on! Just let me-
"I see your stubbornness hasn't changed." Quan's lips curled up. A second later, something slammed into Linh, pinning her down, folding her into the fetal position so it's even harder to breathe. There's air back in her lungs now. Of course. Quan wouldn't have let her take the easy way down. She tried to summon water but can't. Her telekinesis was gone too. Dimly, she felt the metal circlet on top of her head. So that's why he took so long.
Her eyesight started to dim. Voices started calling to her.
Wylie. Mai. Tam. Voices she didn't know. They blended into one voice. Plaintive, accusing, pleading. The voices tore at her mind, calling for her to come to them.
There was a warm light behind Quan.
Is this it? Am I going to die?
But Linh couldn't feel the panic anymore. It all fell away. Her mind was blanked, peaceful. After all those years fighting the numbness, she began to hate numbness. But this feeling, it was the good kind. Like how, caused by her parents, Linh's nervousness was like being jabbed by nails. But when it's because of-
Linh went rigid with shock. Her lips shaped the name.
Biana.
For, behind Quan, backlit by the core of light, there she was.