Page 27 of Forging Bonds: Part Two

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” I curse, as the heat starts to warm the soles of my feet.

“Keep your feet moving!” Ransom shouts.

I don’t question him; I just start to do a weird kind of tap dance on top of the damn snake as I pick my feet up as quickly as possible and run down the length of him trying to avoid him taking me into the lava with him as he dives.

“Evander, try to cool his feet down with your water,” Reed yells.

“On it!” Evander shouts back.

I immediately feel a cooling sensation around my boots, or at least what’s left of them. Thank fuck for that. I can’t slow down though because the damn snake is still diving and my only saving grace is that it’s so damn long that it’s taking a long time to dive.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Reed jump into the air to try to get me, but any time that he starts to fly in my direction, one of the other snakes dives for him and forces him away. Griff immediately launches himself in the air to help Reed, and also try to get to me, but having someone else in the air seems just to piss them off more and the lava snakes double their attack.

Ransom starts to chant, throwing spells in order to help them and me, while Doc and Raiden call out directions to both Ransom and Evander so that they can switch quickly between those who need the most help.

I’m running out of snake, and there is no way that I’m going to make the jump back to the rock from here, and even if I do, it just means that we’re back where we started, stuck on a tiny rock island like sitting ducks. Neith is also on a trial, and although I trust that Mabel was telling the truth, we have noreal way of knowing if it’s going to bring up painful things from her past again. The thought of her struggling and being alone pisses me off. We need to get this over and done with.

“Watch out!” Raiden yells, urgently, panic heavy in his voice.

I glance to the side to see a snake, mouth open wide heading straight for Reed, there is absolutely no way that he can move out of the way in time.

I’m done with this. I can see Raiden is about to shift and give away his power, and I am not going to let that happen. I’m reasonably sure, thanks to some strange instinct that I have, that I may be able to stop this. I just have to make sure that I aim the command at the snakes and not the guys. The last thing I need is for them to be incapacitated as well.

That would also be a really big giveaway for everyone watching what I’m capable of. Although it’s going to be anyway. I shake my head, now is not the time to let my thoughts get away with me.

“Enough!” I say firmly, I don’t even raise my voice.

The alpha power in it snaps out around me, and the creature about to consume Reed freezes and then flops down into the lava, causing a giant wave.

The snake that I’m on stops diving and stays still so that I won’t fall off, and the scales beneath my feet cool so that I don’t have to keep moving on them like an idiot.

“What the fuck?” Griff is the first to exclaim.

I just shrug. We need to be really fucking careful what we say right now. Most supes watching will be speculating on who has got the lava snakes under control. Whoever they decide that it is, the supes watching will also know that they are stronger than they should be. For some of us, that wouldn’t be a big deal, it would only be mildly surprising, but for others it could cause issues.

Ransom would probably be the most likely choice for them to assume has managed to get control over the lava snakes, since he’s a warlock. However,if anyone realizes that I did it, and I used the alpha voice to do so, then that could cause issues with Ahren and his shifters at the least. But there’s nothing I can do about it now, and I’m going to need to use my alpha voice more in order to get us over to the bank and out of here.

My gaze moves to Ransom, and he winks, as he starts to wave his hands around dramatically and chant absolute bullshit. It may not fool everyone, but it will definitely trick the majority, and that’s better than nothing. The other guys quickly catch on to what he’s doing and start to add their own distractions in as well.

“Can we land?” Griff asks me.

I nod, “Yeah, I don’t know what’s happened, but the scales are cool here.”

The lava around us is as still as it was before the snakes appeared, and the one that I’m standing on won’t go anywhere unless I say so. Reed and Griff cautiously land next to me, and the cool scales expand so that they aren’t going to burn either.

“I need to get closer to the head so that it can hear me better if I speak quietly,” I mutter, hoping that they will be able to hear me.

“You could just start walking, maybe the cool scales will go with you?” Griff suggests. “Or actually run, or it’s going to take us forever.”

Chapter Ten

River

Ishrug. It’s worth a go. With the others on the rock still doing their thing to try to distract whoever is watching, I take off at a run. Reed and Griff launch themselves back into the air and follow me from there. I put on a burst of speed and then launch myself toward its head, landing in a crouch. With my head still bowed from where I landed, I say quietly, “Thank you. Pick up the others from the rock and then take us over to the shore to safety.”

It begins to move immediately, and I stand up, finding my balance. I may be using my alpha voice, but that doesn’t mean that I have to be a dick about it. When we get to the guys, Van raises his eyebrow questioningly, and I tilt my head to the side slightly in acknowledgement of his question, the movement telling him and the others that it’s safe to climb on board. They cautiously climb onto the snake’s head, and then the snake immediately startsto take us toward the shore, and the closest point to the glowing dot in the distance. The dot that we are assuming is the portal to take us back home.

Everyone is silent as the snake’s body weaves from side to side behind us in the lava, keeping its head above the lava and ensuring our safety. Ransom carries on chanting and moving his hands in a similar way to the way that normal warlocks use their power, and I smirk. He’s pretty fucking awesome for making sure that people are at least confused about who has managed to control the lava snakes.

---