by Quinn Loftis
It was then that Tara noticed the rumbling wasn’t continuous. It was actually a pattern of short bursts of shaking coming in rapid succession, almost like … pounding footsteps. Just then the forest exploded behind them, and a moving mountain came sprinting straight toward them. No, it wasn't actually a mountain. It only looked like one. Instead it was a giant humanoid figure that appeared to be carved from solid stone.
“Mountain troll,” Professor Warren yelled.
Of course, Tara was terrified at first. But then she realized this creature probably wasn’t that dangerous. Everyone knew that mountain trolls were slow, lumbering beasts with IQs that barely ranked above banana slugs. All she had to do was stay out of the way of its slow-swinging club and she’d be fine. Except this one didn’t have a club. Why was there no club? Tara was mentally prepared for a club battle, but the troll wasn’t cooperating. Its hands were empty. Strange. Oh, well. One less thing to worry about. But the monster didn’t exactly lumber. In fact, it moved just like a human would, only on a much larger scale, which meant it covered ground considerably faster than a human.
Elias immediately sprang up from the ground and leaped in front of Tara. He thrust his hands forward, and the ground rose up in front of the troll. It only reached his knee, but the beast’s foot hit the rising earth as it ran, causing it to stumble. It righted itself before falling and then stood up straight. It looked at Elias, shook its head, then held up a finger and waggled it at him.
Okay, that’s just funny. Then something happened which Tara found extremely surprising: it spoke.
“Silly little human. You think to trip me up. I wield the power of the Great White North. You are nothing.”
It raised its hands, much like she’d done herself when wielding her magic, and shot a bolt of ice directly at Elias. Tara was too stunned to even cry out. Luckily, Elias was ready for it. Again, the earth sprang up, this time forming a shield in front of him. The ice hit the shield with a deafening crack and exploded in shards all around them. Tara threw her fist in the air. “One point for us!”
“Run, Tara,” Elias yelled, but she was already way ahead of him. A troll was bad enough. But one that threw ice bolts? Yeah, that was too much. The only problem was there was nowhere to go. There was nothing but coastline to her left and right, and a troll stood between her and the safety of the trees. She picked a direction and ran for it, sprinting down the beach. After she’d gone about a hundred yards, she was panting. A figure passed her, a blur of fire moving in the opposite direction. Cara. Did she realize she was running toward the troll? Was she missing some brain cells from one too many ice shots to the head? Tara turned and watched her go. When she came within striking distance of the monster, Cara shot a bolt of fire from her hand that hit the troll squarely in the chest. It didn’t seem to have an effect on the beast.
The creature turned to face this new annoyance. He pulled back his arm as if to throw a punch, and a giant ball of ice the size of a Volkswagen Beetle appeared there. Just as he was about to let it fly toward Cara, his back exploded in a cloud of steam. He turned and hurled the ball at Lawson, who’d just blasted him with a stream of fire.
A knot formed in Tara’s stomach, and it wasn’t from running. She watched as Elias, Cara, Lawson, and Professor Warren began hurling magical projectiles at the beast. Some it deflected. Some hit but seemed to have little effect. Even dodging and blocking the humans’ attacks, the troll had time to continually return their bombardments with ice shards of its own that were twice the size of those sent by its attackers. As Tara watched an ice spike zip past Elias’s head, the knot in her stomach grew even more painful. The magic within her soul cried out, and it was all she could do to stand still. But she couldn’t hold out long. The magic in her practically dragged her back to her soul bonded. She wasn’t going to simply stand and watch while Elias and the others fought the beast. If he was going to be impaled by a giant icicle, then by Mother Gaia, so was she.
She sprinted back toward the fight, using what she’d learned about allowing the earth to propel her feet forward, increasing her speed. When she reached the others, she took up a place next to Elias and started forming giant rocks in her hands and chucking them at the troll. She didn’t even know how she was doing it. Tara only knew she had to fight alongside her soul bonded.
Elias did a double take when he saw one of the boulders hit the troll and bounce off. “Dammit, Tara, I told you to run.”
“Sorry, I’ve never been good at doing what I’m told. Just ask Shelly.”
Elias growled in response. “It’s too dangerous.”
“Which is exactly why I’m here. WATCH OUT!” She shrieked as another ice bomb whizzed past Elias’s shoulder.
Elias reached down and touched the ground. A wall of earth rose up in front of Tara, completely obscuring her view of the troll.
“Elias, no.” She simply stepped to the side, out from behind his protective barrier. “I’m here to fight with you, not be protected like some damsel in distress. Now, either let me help you or get the hell out of the way.”
“There’s no arguing with you when you get like this, luv.”
“You’re damn right, there isn’t. Now, are we going to take down this ugly bastard or not?”
“Fine, but we’re going to talk about this later.”
Tara didn’t have time to respond as a volley of ice arrows came speeding toward her. She jumped back behind Elias’s wall just in time to avoid being impaled.
“Enough!” The troll roared. Tara peeked out from behind the wall to see the troll extend his hand. A hammer the size of a telephone poll formed completely of ice appeared in his hand. He bolted toward Cara, raising the hammer and bringing it down with inhuman speed. Cara rolled out of the way, but the force of the blow right next to her shook the earth and sent her sprawling.
So much for the troll not having a weapon.
“Okay, luv,” said Elias, “now it’s time to see what you’ve learned. We need that troll immobile.”
“Okay?”
“So, soften the ground at its feet. Push out the dense soil and bring in the loose stuff.”
“I don’t think I can.”
“You’re going to have to. Professor Warren,” yelled Elias, “we need water and a ton of it, right at its feet.”
Tara put her hands on the ground, trying to do what Elias had commanded.
“On it,” said the professor. She tensed and a wall of water formed up out of the lake. Warren waved a hand and sent it crashing on the shore right at the troll’s feet. The beach instantly became muddy. The troll turned and ran toward Lawson, who was helping Cara back to her feet. But the mud caused it to slip. It didn’t fall, but it’s feet scrabbled comically, looking for purchase.
“Lawson, steam!” Elias called. The fire elementalist got the message. It shot a jet of flame that met Professor’s Warren’s stream of water right at the troll’s location. There was an explosion of steam and a roar from the troll.
“Let’s go, Tara,” said Elias. She glanced toward the troll, which was now obscured in a giant steam cloud.
Elias put his hands on the ground and joined his magic with Tara’s. There was another roar from within the steam. Then the troll appeared out of the cloud, its face a mask of fury, half melted where it had been burned by Professor Warren and the fire elementalists’ combined powers. It was coming straight for Tara, hammer raised.
She squeezed her eyes shut and pushed every ounce of power she could muster into the ground, trying her best to soften it. She winced, waiting for the ice hammer to smash down on the back of her head. At least it will be quick. She imagined her body squished by the giant hammerhead.
The troll roared. She turned her head and cracked one eye open. She saw the troll, now thigh deep in the mud she’d created, struggling to free itself.
“Don’t let up,” said Elias.
Tara continued to force the dense earth away from the troll. It began sinking. It was now waist deep in a quagmire of s
oupy dirt. “More fire! More water!” roared Elias. Two streams of flame and one jet of water met each other in the center of the beast’s great head. The result was nothing short of catastrophic. The troll’s head made a deafening popping sound and erupted in a shower of rock and ice, flying in all directions. Tara threw herself down and covered her face with her arms. Even through her heavy clothing, the projectiles caused her to wince in pain. A moment later, there was silence. She looked up again and saw a giant, headless stone torso resting in the dirt.
“Whoop!” Tara jumped up and threw a fist in the air. “Take that, you icy bastard.” She went quiet when she saw the others staring at her.
“Is she always like that?” asked Lawson, who put his arm around Cara.
“No, just after battles,” replied Elias.
“You know what?” said Tara. “I don’t even care. That was my first real battle that I, you know, actually helped out in. I’m celebrating.” She let out another whoop of triumph.
“Okay, calm down, troll-slayer. You’re bleeding.” Elias took his sleeve and pushed it against her forehead.
“I’m bleeding and I don’t care, cause I just killed a mountain troll,” she sang. She knew the adrenaline coursing through her veins probably dulled any pain sensations she might be feeling, and that she’d probably be all kinds of sore later, but Tara wasn’t concerned. She just helped kill a freaking troll.
“We can celebrate later,” said Professor Warren as she opened a portal. “Let’s get back to the academy and lick our wounds. I think this lake will be good for some time now. Good work, Tara, but don’t let it go to your head.”
Gabby forced her mind to be still. She ignored the voices in her head that screamed at her. You’re not good enough to be soul bonded, especially with someone like Liam. One day he will realize it was a mistake, just like your parents did. She clenched her jaw and focused on what Josie had told her. And prayed it was the truth. Gabby closed her eyes and pictured Liam standing there in front of her. She felt his foreign magic in her skin and the tug at her heart. When she looked for the origin of that tug, she could see a gold strand connecting her heart to Liam’s. Her first instinct was to grab it and rip it out like a splinter embedded under her fingernail. But if she did that, Liam would die. He was already teetering on the brink. But he’d used his last bit of strength to push his power into her, merging them, bonding them.
She should totally be angry about that, right? Or maybe not. Hell, she didn’t know what to feel. So, instead of letting herself explore her feelings, she shook her head and focused on the task at hand—keeping Liam alive while they were on top of the damn volcano.
Gabby pushed her magic into him and imagined her fire like a protective coating, encasing everything inside and outside of him so that it would repel the outside heat source.
“Damn, that feels good.” Liam’s voice, a weak whisper, reached her ears. Somehow, he’d gathered the strength to scoot closer while her eyes were closed. She opened them now and saw that his face was practically tucked into her neck, his mouth right beside her ear.
“What?” she asked, unsure how to process the fact that she could feel something coming from the bond inside her. It was affection … and something more.
“You’re fire,” Liam murmured against her skin. “It’s like drinking warm hot chocolate while sinking into a hot bath. Mmmm.” He breathed out and then whispered, “Thank you, beautiful, for saving my life.”
“You sort of made me when you demanded I touch your skin.”
“You’re not the type of girl anyone can make do anything,” he replied.
Gabby growled. “Can I take my hand off of him now?” she asked Josie. Gabby sounded angry, but she wasn’t really. She didn't have time to be angry. She was just glad he was alive.
“Tell her no,” Liam mumbled against her.
Gabby couldn’t help the laugh that escaped, even though she was still trembling.
“I’m not going to lie to your soul bonded, dick wad,” Josie said.
“Ooh, language. This woman is harsh,” Liam said as he stepped back. He lifted his shirt and invited Gabby to remove her hand. She did not notice his washboard abs at all. Nope. She didn’t even glance at them. Shouldn’t I be doing something right now?
Liam wrapped his hand around her wrist, pulled it away, and then lowered his shirt. He entwined their fingers, pressing their hands tightly together. Gabby could feel the magic pulsing between them, like it was jumping back and forth between their palms. She had trouble making sense of the sensation. The magic was … happy, she guessed, if magic could feel an emotion.
“Alright,” Frost said as she clapped her hands together. “First crisis averted. It went much better than I thought.”
“What,” Gabby yelled as her stomach hit her feet. “You knew that was going to happen?”
“You actually planned to let me get cooked alive, Professor Frost?” Liam asked.
Gabby glared at her favorite professor, willing the woman to tell her she had not purposely brought a student up to the top of a volcano to put him in harm’s way.
“I knew Gabby would do what needed to be done. She’s powerful and smart,” Frost said. There was no remorse in her voice. “As much as you seem to need coddling, I don’t have time and neither does the island. We have to get the pressure off this volcano as quickly as possible.” She turned to Josie, “Open a portal and get back down to your mate.”
Josie was gone a second later. Frost looked back at them. “Gabby, I know you might be freaking out.”
“I’m not freaking out. Why would you think I’m freaking out? Because I’ve been forever bonded to a guy I barely know? Because we’re on top of a mountain and said guy almost just died? Because he would have died unless I bonded with him and used my magic to make him fireproof? Or maybe because now that we’re bonded, I can literally feel him inside of me, and it’s pushing me off the deep end? Is that why you think I’m freaking out?” Gabby could feel herself word vomiting, but she couldn’t do anything to stop it.
“I was wrong. You are fine,” Frost said dryly.
“Damn straight I am,” Gabby said, “now that I’ve gotten that off my chest.” She sucked in a deep breath and stood a little straighter.
“Then can we deal with this volcano now?”
“Abso-freaking-lutely.”
“I feel like I’m missing something here,” Liam said as he looked from Gabby to Professor Frost.
“You’re not,” Frost told him. “Just go with it.”
“What do we need to do?” Gabby asked. She was ready to be moving. Moving meant she would need to think about things like tripping or falling into a big hole filled with burning lava. Standing still meant she had to think about the fact her soul was now forever joined with Liam’s.
“You and I are going to make the volcano erupt, but before that, Liam is going to use some of the moisture in the air to begin channeling a path down the mountain. Basically, we are creating a riverbed where the lava can flow,” Frost explained.
“I’m still stuck on the fact that we are going to make the volcano erupt … with us on it,” Liam said. “I’ve never been near an erupting volcano so I’m not positive, but I’m pretty sure it never works out well for humans that are anywhere close to it … and it definitely doesn’t work out for those who are at the mouth of it.” His voice rose an octave as he finished speaking.
“Good thing we aren’t just human,” Frost said.
Gabby shrugged. “She has a point, I guess.” Gabby tried shaking Liam’s hand off of hers, but he was like one of those spiderwebs you walk into while hiking. He just stuck. “Alright, how do we blow this thing?”
“Oh, the things I could do with that question.” Liam sighed with a sly grin.
“I suggest you don’t. And, dammit, let go, Liam.” She barked at him and held up their clasped hands as if he didn’t know what she was talking about.
“Can’t do that, beautiful. I might die.”
G
abby’s eyes widened and her gaze snapped to Frost’s. “Is that true? If I stop touching him, will he die? I thought the whole soul bonding was supposed to fix that. I’ve wrapped him in my fire like a burrito. What more do you want from me?”
“Sounds like something that would give me some fierce gas,” said Liam. “Let’s not call it a fire burrito. How about we say you’ve wrapped me in your love fire?”
Gabby wasn’t sure if she should laugh. Fire burrito did sound like something a person might buy off a shady taco truck. But she also wanted to slug Liam in the face. He was holding her hand hostage, and her traitorous hand liked it.
“Liam will not die if you stop touching him. He will die if he continues to provoke you, and I’m simply saying that out loud as a reminder to him,” Frost said. “As for blowing this thing, as you put it, we need to heat the lava even more.”
“Because lava that could melt you like candle wax isn’t hot enough already,” Gabby muttered. She turned and kicked Liam in the shin, hard.
“OW! What the hell, woman?” He jumped around, glaring at her.
Gabby smiled sweetly and held up her now free hand. “I can’t work my magic with both hands, if I don’t have both hands.”
“I won’t complain if you’re going to use both hands.” He winked suggestively. “But next time just tell me, babe. You don’t have to kick me.”
“Lies,” Gabby sang. “Kicking is the only form of communication you seem to understand.”
“Gabby, take your shoes off,” Professor Frost instructed, ignoring the conversation between Liam and her, which was smart. Listening to them interact was a surefire way to lose brain cells.
Gabby slipped off her shoes.
“Socks too,” Frost added.
Gabby took off her socks and stuffed them in her boots. The ground was warm beneath her feet, but that wasn’t what had her frowning. She could feel heat coming up through the ground and into the soles of her feet. “What the…” she muttered.
“What?” Liam was beside her in an instant. “Are you okay? What’s wrong? What do you need?”
