The surprise, like any other distraction in the heat of a fight, fled from Aldrich. Or, to be more precise, he rolled it up, crushed it, and tossed it away into the same void he booted distracting thoughts during a fight into.
His mind geared into complete focus, and like a well oiled engine, ran a dozen thoughts at once.
Once more, he was in the 'zone', the world all around him slowing down to a crawl.
The ice bolt that targeted the Grave Ward had followed a linear trajectory. That meant it lead directly to whoever had fired it. He traced the travel path of the bolt back to a spot behind a four wheeler painted a dull blue powdered with dust and dirt.
With a fluid series of trained motions, Aldrich held his bolter pistol in front of him, taking aim. He felt the edges of his vision strain and darken, his psyche automatically cutting out everything except the car, everything except the target.
Absolute focus.
Aldrich pulled the trigger.
