Planet Omega

Chapter 13

Nassanther had told me to call for her when we need a ride back to Spectre City. It was less pathetic sounding at the time, when everyone wasn't watching me half-heartedly yelling out "Nassanther!" and then waiting in silence.

"You know what, I'll just walk," Phin announces and begins taking steps out into the desert. None of us stop her.

"What if you used your magic? That's how she detected you the first time, isn't it?" Mateo suggested with a shrug. "Magic connects you."

Will still wasn't well enough to shift into a mage demon, so we had to resort to asking Nassanther for the ride. I watch Phin saunter off without a single care in the world. She doesn't even look back at us. Well, if a kid like her can have that kind of confidence, why can't I?

"Come on, you demon worm, you're making me look bad," I mutter as I hold out my hands. Everything about me requires more output when I'm not angry about it all. Especially my magic.

Lineya would have smacked me upside the head for this sort of delay.

With one hand, I use my magic to raise up a sand waterfall, and with the other, I compress the air down into it until both palms of my hands connect. It isn't quite sky that meets the ground, but it's close enough to be able to create a mini sand tornado. Mateo is quick to whip out his notebook and a pen, as he seems endlessly fascinated by my magical capabilities.

It's elements. There's really only so much I can do out in the desert. Will he ever get tired of my sameness? Probably not.

Phin turns back to glance at the whooshing sound my sand tornado has produced and actually pauses for a second longer than expected to stare. Soon after, a slight rumble comes from below us, and Phin barely looks ahead for a second before the giant serpentine mage demon emerges from the sand right in front of her.

I relax my hands and the sand tornado splits back into its respective elements, just in time to see Phin fall back onto the sand to watch Nassanther in terror.

Oh, wait, that's not terror, that's-

Nassanther settles, her arrowhead tail fully out of the sand, and she begins slithering towards me. Her unblemished silver-scarlet scales shimmer in the sunlight, fading in and out from silver to scarlet and back again. She watches me with those sky blue eyes of hers, almost adoringly, before they scan the faces of the others in the group in recognition.

"That's the prettiest fucking snake I've ever seen in my entire life!" Phin comes practically shouting as she runs back to us through the sand.

Knew it. It was awe on her face. Delight. Joy, even. If Nassanther can't scare her, then nothing probably will.

"She's a mage demon, show some respect," Will retorts, but their eyes are also brimming with excitement.

And on the bright side, Mateo was right - magic did summon the mage demon, which should have been obvious from the start. "Can you take us back across the desert?" I ask Nassanther softly as she nuzzles the palm of my outstretched hand.

It's incredible, really. I didn't get to have much time with Nassanther, this creature who was about to kill us but bonded with me instead because of my magic. Speaking with her felt natural to me, like having a second voice in my head, but I know nothing about her. She's truly the most beautiful creature I've ever seen, which means she's the perfect target for the empire.

They can't, and they won't ever have her.

"I can cross onto the flatlands," Nassanther says in my mind, bobbing her head slightly.

"No," I immediately tell her out loud. "Stay in the desert, stay hidden whenever you can. We can walk once we get out of the region."

"What's she saying?" Emma asks, curiosity getting the best of her.