The mage beside him had been mid-chant when the water reached her, and her own mana became a conductor that pulled the lightning into her channels and burned them out from the inside. She crumpled without a sound.
Three dead from a single broken barrier.
The rightmost tanker held, but the two mages who had been chanting protective wards behind the formation were not so lucky. The first mage went rigid, her staff falling from fingers that locked open. The second mage's ward caught part of the discharge, but the water had already soaked through the gaps in his plate and found the path of least resistance through his legs and into his chest. He dropped.
Five dead.
The healer screamed.
Kill notifications flooded through Quinlan's mind. He exhaled.
The white glow bled out of him slowly.
