Page 83 of Forging Bonds: Part Two

“No,” Van replies simply.

“I’m warning you, let me get back up on that disgusting creature,” Kylen shouts.

“Man, I think you’re lucky that he saved you in the first place, shut the fuck up,” Jamie tells him.

It surprises me, but I have quickly come to learn that even though the others are all assholes, apart from Coen, and actually maybe even Fetrick, none of them have any respect for Kylen. They don’t fucking like him. I think if they had a normal leader, they may have even actually helped, rather than sitting back and letting us do all of the work.

I could be wrong, but that’s the impression I get.

Kylen carries on cursing as we move further down the river to where the portal is, or at least the rough direction that we think it’s in. Every now and then, Kylen’s head dips back under the water, and he comes up spluttering again, and every time Van shrugs and apologizes, saying that his magic is really tired thanks to having to save all of us when we first fell.

I have a feeling that his magic is more than capable of keeping Kylen afloat, but he’s choosing not to because of the pure vitriol coming out of Kylen’s mouth.

Eventually, the banks of the river begin to change, and instead of being sheer cliff sides, they start to flatten out, and there start to be trees and more of an actual bank at the side.

“There,” Ransom points out. “I think we could get up the side of the cliff there, it looks like there’s a path winding up.”

“Yeah, I think you’re right,” Griff agrees.

We all head toward the bank, and the kelpies effortlessly make their way up. Evander takes off the magical protection on Kylen, just as Kylen gets to the bank, and we all carry on forward as he struggles to get out.

I would feel bad, but I know that we’re only scratching the surface of what he’s done to Coen and what he’s made him do, and quite frankly, I have a feeling that he deserves so much worse than a bit of icy water, and struggling to get out of a river.

No one says anything, all of us are pretty fucking exhausted by this point. We’re all soaking wet, and the only reason why I’m not shivering is because I have Coen pressed up against me, and he’s like a furnace. Dragons tend to run a lot hotter than most supes, apart from winter dragons, and ones with magic that rely on the cold.

The cliff path that Raiden saw from the water is really fucking steep, but the kelpies don’t seem to struggle too much, and we are soon all at the top.Our aim was pretty perfect, and the portal is only a few meters away from the edge.

As soon as the kelpies stop, all of the Draconian team practically throw themselves off them, and they cautiously move as far away from them as possible. Coen sighs heavily, squeezes me tightly once, and then gets off. Mael nudges him as he walks past, and Coen stops, turning to stroke Mael’s nose.

I can’t help but smile as I see them interacting, and Mael obviously likes Coen, that means a lot to me. Especially since I glance up just in time to see Mavros, Raiden’s kelpie, snap at Jamie when he tries to do the same.

“What the fuck,” Jamie growls, and stomps off.

“Coen!” Kylen snaps. “Go through the portal now.”

Coen’s whole body tenses, and he grits his teeth as a low growl rumbles in his chest. Moving stiffly, he follows Kylen’s command, not even looking at any of us as he passes.

I have to bite my tongue pretty fucking hard, and thread my hands into Mael’s mane to stop myself from cursing out Kylen, and throwing something sharp and pointy at him, preferably in his heart. When they’ve all disappeared through the portal, the rest of us dismount, and I move to Mael’s head.

“Thank you, buddy. You did a great job, and saved our asses,” I tell him softly, and kiss him on his nose making him huff and then nudge me for more kisses.

“We need to send them back, we should probably get out of here before something else shows up that wants to eat us,” Van says, sounding a lot more relaxed now that the Draconian team has disappeared.

“Or the Draconian team find a way to close the portal so we can’t get out,” River says, only half joking.

I think if Kylen and the others could lock us in this realm forever, then they absolutely would.

“Good point,” Evander agrees with a frown.

One by one, we all say goodbye to our kelpies after thanking them and promising to come and see them when we get home, and then send them home.

Once that’s done, we then all walk toward the portal, Reed grabs hold of my hand just before we walk through it.

Answering my curious look, he says, “I’m not risking you going one place and us going to another.”

I grin and nod, holding his hand tighter. “Me neither.”

Stepping through the portal, I am so incredibly pleased to find myself in the guy’s room and, more importantly, surrounded by a hell of a lot of food. Mabel and her team must have laid it out for us, and I’m going to give her a ginormous hug when I see her next.

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