Harry hoped Harry's plan was sound. It would never not be unnerving that people deferred to his choices in these matters, because his choices had people's lives on the line. It was a big risk to take, it was a lot to lose if he was wrong and Sif was trusting him to be right right now. If Harry was the only one to die as a result of his choices, he could live with that. But if this decision killed even one other person on their team or anyone else down on that planet, well, then Harry could go right to Hell. He'd deserve it too.
So Harry nodded at Sif and Torunn then steeled himself for what he thought was coming. Sif stepped forward, Xena, Warrior Princess that she was, and made a living target of herself. Harry advanced to stand beside her, needing to be ahead of them if he didn't want them to get caught up in the blast. He watched with steady, sharp eyes and a rapidly pounding heart as the creature lowered its freaking canon into the passageway and geared itself up to fire.
Holy shit.
Harry had been shot before. He'd been thrown around before. He'd stared into the maw of ugly creatures and come out alive again by sheer luck and quick reflexes. He'd shaken hands and had a drink with Hades, God of the Underworld, but he had not once stared down the barrel of a canon from an alien species and tried to outsmart it.
Setting aside fear, focusing his mind on the moment, Harry raised his left hand and shook out the shield bracelet around his wrist, a singular band of copper inscribed with sigils that he'd updated from the tiny shields that was his customary item. At the same time, he reached for the magic inside him, gathering up the storm and formulating it inside his mind, allowing the power to pool as he opened himself to Winter's wellspring and drew on the season to bolster his magic and his stamina. He shaped the spell, pushing the shield into the proper dimensions, enough to fill the passage before, overhead and below them in case the walls and floor gave, hard enough to deflect the oncoming storm, strong enough not to let the heat through lest they burn alive.
It was all about timing now.
The beast lowered itself to the proper angle.
Harry's heart beat in his chest, seeming to slow for all the power he was gathering around himself.
And then the beast fired.
Harry yelled and unleashed the magic an instant later, the blue shield bursting into existence as the canon shot raced toward them and with a deafening impact and the roar of force, met the obdurate strength of the energy field and exploded in a shower of concussive force, that, having nowhere else to go in such a narrow chute, blew back into the beasts trying to enter the passage and caught the wave up in a fiery chain of explosions that radiated outward into the larger hall, sweeping them up with it. The passage shook, if the living beast was roaring Harry couldn't hear it. The energy drained out of him in a nauseating wave, pulling at his resources in a whopping instant that brought him to his knees. His ears were ringing, his nose had started bleeding, and Harry saw white in front of his eyes and his freaking head ached. The longer the shield held the more it sapped at him, but if he let it go too soon he'd be swallowed up in the heat from the blast. Maybe Sif and Torunn, too.
He didn't have a choice.
He had nothing left.
Harry dropped the shield and hit the floor on hands and knees, sucking in a lungful of air as he went in a bid not to lose consciousness.
It had stopped the wave anyway. For a moment at least. There were others that would come. Maybe they'd be smarter about it now. Maybe they'd rethink coming through this way. Yeah, and maybe Harry could sprout wings and fly out of here. Either way, there was nothing Harry could do about it, the rest was up to the others. He wasn't even sure he could stand up, let alone throw out any more magic.