*Josh doesn't seem concerned; he's concentrating again, a brilliant shimmer of light and heat growing between his hand and hook. Plumes of steam burst from the walls of the bubble to join it, seething with lightning, and static discharges crawl over his hair and skin. At the same time, the heat of the water around the bubble moves, focusing between it and Locaha's maw, flash-vaporizing seawater to shove the bubble away from the jagged chasm.

Between one eyeblink and the next, the ball of plasma ignites, violet light blazing brighter than even Josh's aura -- and he simply lets it go, allowing it to fall free of the bubble, protected by a dense shell of air. Caught in the backblast of steam, it's shoved towards the open mouth of the god.*