Greyson cocks his head to the side. “Can you access his hellfire through your mate bond?”
“I probably could, but I won’t.” I shake my head.
“Why not? If it could help take the asshole down quicker, shouldn’t you try?” Greyson asks.
“No, we have no idea what is happening to them at the academy. They could be in the middle of a battle right now and I won’t take magic he needs to survive to make my life easier.” I step around Greyson, allowing my magic to crackle along my whip and sword.
“That’s valid. Kira, are you up for this?” Raven asks.
“I don’t know if I can call fire the way you need me to.” Kira’s shoulders slump.
“You can. I’m sure of it.” I squeeze her shoulder.
“Okay, let’s do this.” Her voice wobbles.
“Don’t let the assholes in your past control your confidence. You are a badass, just like me and Raven. You can do this. You have done so much to help already.”
“That’s easier said than done, but I’ll try.” She rolls her shoulders back.
“That’s all I can ask for and if it proves too difficult get out of there and I’ll figure out a plan B.” I turn to Draven. “Can you light arrowheads on fire?”
“They won’t be hot enough to kill the giant,” he warns.
“I don’t need them to be. I just need them to distract him.” I grin.
“So, the plan is to shoot flaming arrows at the huge giant serpent while you two hit it with supercharged lightning and molten lava?” Raven nods. “It’s absolutely insane but it could work.”
“It has to. We’ve been here too long already. The rogue attack set us back a bit.” I shrug.
We trudge through the forest, stopping several times when a thump on the ground sends us all off-balance.
“This is how the damn thing defeats his enemies before they ever get to him,” Raven snarls. “We’ll be too bruised to stand a chance by the time we get there.”
“Ah, shit. Move.” I shove Raven out of the way as fire spews in the exact spot we were just standing. “It knows we’re here.”
“You think?” Raven bats my hands away and reaches into the ether for her bow. “I’ll go to the left and you guys sneak behind it to the right.”
“Perfect.” I grab Kira and haul her with me around the side of the mountain trail to the right.
“Hey, you big ugly giant. Look over here,” Raven shouts, nocking an arrow and Draven lights it with his palm.
“Are they going to be okay?” Kira whispers.
“Raven will keep the guys safe. We need to worry about the giant.” I glance over my shoulder before sprinting up the side of the mountain.
“What if the distraction doesn’t work?” Kira whispers. “I’m sure this giant has normal arms and he’s huge.”
As if she spoke it into existence, a hand slams on the ground right in front of us. I grab Kira, dive to the side, and roll. “Let’s not give him ideas, okay?”
“Yeah,” Kira says. “Let’s just get this over with.”
We pick our way up the mountain, trying our best to keep quiet as Raven hurls taunts at the big ugly giant far below. I point to Kira’s left, and she nods, getting into position behind Mimas’ head or where I think it should be. He hasn’t surfaced from inside the mountain just yet.
“Raven needs to draw him out or we won’t be defeating him at all,” I whisper. “Unless…”
Shit. They are all going to be so pissed at me.
“Brace yourself, Kira,” I shout and flick my whip at the giant.
