Page 34 of Forging Bonds: Part Two

I frown, as I duck under a low branch, I really hope that I’m not going to need Winston or the other spirit guides because if I do, that means that shit really has hit the fan.

Typically, for me, as I continue to walk, my mind begins to wander. I am, of course, still paying attention to my surroundings just in case something tries to attack me or eat me, but my brain is busy making up a marching song, and I even find myself marching along to the little beat that I’ve made up in my head. It’s only after I’ve been doing it for half an hour and have added in extravagant arm movements and some pretty nifty head nodding if I do say so myself, it’s only then that I realize that this is Choosing task and that thousands of supernaturals, maybe more, are most likely watching me rock out to music that only I can hear, and thinking that I’m batshit insane.

I stop in the middle of the path that only I can see because there’s no actual path here, and I’m following a map that, again, is something that only I am aware of. I tilt my head to the side slightly. I must look absolutely insane, but then again, that’s nothing new for me. With that conclusion settled, I decide that I really don’t care about everyone thinking I’m insane and carry along the visible only to me pathway, doing my dance and singing my song in my head, because quite frankly, it’s helping. Life is far too short to be worrying about what others may or may not think, even as a supernatural with a long life, so I’m going to do what makes me happy, or what helps to get me through the tedious task of trying to get back to the damn castle.

I wonder if there is someone that I can talk to who would pass a message on to the Choosing for me, if the Choosing is even an entity that can communicate. I actually have no idea, and I have no idea how I would even begin to find someone who may be able to answer that question.

Actually, I bet that Mabel would have a good idea and if not, Ribit definitely would, she’s been hanging around the castle and the Choosing’s for fuck knows how long. That’s definitely something that I can ask her about if I remember and don’t forget in approximately two point five seconds, when the next round of random thoughts crosses my brain.

Holy shit, I met a unicorn.

There it is.

Seriously though, I met and interacted with a mother fucking unicorn. Glancing down at my wrist in what I hope is not an obvious way, I can’t help but have the urge to have another look at the design underneath my new, and now permanent, leather bracelet. It’s a good job that I like, since I’m not going to be able to take it off around anyone other than the guys. At least that’s what I’m assuming. The cuff wouldn’t have appeared, and the unicorn wouldn’t have looked at it so pointedly if I could just have the mark on show.

I am insanely curious about what it means. If it means anything, it could very well just be a thank you. Although I’m not sure why I would have to hide it if it was a thank you.

Huh, I’m sure I’ll figure it out, with help of course.

Checking the mental map that I’m following, I frown when I realize that I am still so far away from the castle. I’m not going to lie, I do briefly consider calling on Mael to give me a lift back to the castle, but I stop myself because I don’t want to take advantage of the fact that I can call on him. I also don’t want thousands of supernaturals to know that I am bonded to a kelpie. It’s not a common thing, and I feel like it would be giving too much away. I don’t wantto put Mael in danger, and despite the fact that I am in the Choosing, I really don’t want to gain more attention than I already have.

Having a kelpie bonded to you and not trying to eat you would be drawing too much attention. It’s for those reasons that I won’t call on Mael or the rest of the herd unless I really need to. Resigning myself to the long walk ahead, I carry on with my song and awesome dance moves, hoping that it’s going to make the time go quicker.

Plot twist.

It won’t.

Doc

“Where the hell is she?” I demand.

I’ve been patient, we all have. We’ve run through the list of excuses about where she could be, but I’m starting to lose it now. She’s not fucking here.

“We should do the spell again,” Griff suggests, holding it together as well as I am. “Maybe it just glitched the first time that we tried, and she is still on a trial for the Choosing?”

Evander frowns, “I don’t think that the Choosing glitches, but at this point, I’m running out of ideas.”

He doesn’t waste any time as he quickly says the trigger words that should bring up the screen that allows us to watch the Choosing trials when we aren’t in one ourselves. Again, nothing happens.

I run my hands through my hair, gripping it tightly and then letting go before I actually pull any out. The trial that we’ve just been through was difficult to say the least and fucking long. If it weren’t for River, then we mightnot have made it out, and the fact that he did manage to get us out could mean trouble for him. Even though Ransom’s quick thinking hopefully stopped the majority of people from realizing that it was River who was controlling the creatures. The fact that Ransom could control them would be incredibly impressive and let everyone know just how powerful he is, but it’s not going to cause the same number of problems that it will if certain people realize what River is capable of.

Ransom can easily explain away how he was able to control the lava snakes. Either by saying that he had some spell potions that worked, or that we lent him power, or something along those lines, which would lessen how shocked people would be that he managed to do it. We are trying to keep our true strengths hidden unless we don’t have a choice. Some of the things that Ransom can do he shouldn’t be able to, just like the rest of us.

But River, that’s a whole other story and one that wouldn’t be easily explained away.

Chapter Thirteen

Doc

We were all slightly surprised when we arrived back and Neith wasn’t waiting for us, but we quickly realized that none of us had told her how to pull up the screen to watch the trials and to be honest, with her magic as limited as it currently is none of us are even sure that she will be able to trigger the spell. Because of this, we figured that she may not know that we’re back. We were all heading out of the door in a rush to find her when Raiden pointed out that it might be best to heal those of us that needed to be healed first because if she didn’t watch the trial then she would most likely freak the fuck out when she saw us covered in blood and obviously injured.

When we went to find her though after I had healed them all quicker than I think I’ve healed anyone before, in my need to see Neith and make sure that she’s okay, she wasn’t in her room or in the common area and she wasn’t evenup by the painting of her parents. We tried to get the screen up to see if she was still doing her trial, since in our rush to check on her, we had all seemed to temporarily forget that she was pulled into one. It didn’t work though, and that brings us to now, standing in front of the portrait of her parents, which is a crazy development in itself, wondering where the hell she is.

We struggled while we were on the trial, knowing that she had just been through something so traumatic and that we couldn’t be there for her because we had been pulled into another one. I know that Neith is strong, she’s insanely fucking strong, and it’s apparent that we are only just beginning to scratch the surface of the shit that she has been through and dealt with in her life. That’s not the point however. Just because she’s strong and she can deal with it doesn’t mean that she should deal with it all by herself; she’s not alone now. We’re all here for her, and we all want her to lean on us.

None of us wanted to leave her alone, not after what she went through, and quite honestly, it was for our peace of mind as well as for her. I never want to experience that feeling of absolute hopelessness ever again. It’s worse knowing that if it does happen again, that we still won’t be able to help her. The only person, or should I say people, that can calm her down and pull her out of such a traumatic panic attack are Coen and Dimitri.

I never would have figured that out, but it’s become increasingly clear that Coen has also kept quite a lot about himself and the sorts of things that he was up to from us. Even when we were all in school together, whenever he went back to the keep, we never returned with him, mostly because we had our own families to go back to or places that we needed to be, and he never invited us, we didn’t mind at all. Everyone knows that the dragons are very particular about who they allow to see their keep.

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