He Stoll My Heart - Connor Stoll.

Ch.23: Enemies of Flame.

A/N

Happy birthday Jason! Our beautiful blonde superman with a cute scar on his lip! ;) (01/07)

I know that recently I've only been posting on the character's birthdays (Piper, Uncle Rick, Frank, Grover (granted, the last three share their birthday)), but it's because I haven't had too much time to write. I still decided to write during my spare time so that I could celebrate these characters in my own way, so I hope these don't get too annoyingly repetitive.

I suppose you can expect new chapters on Leo and Annabeth's birthdays soon!

*cries in overworked author*

Just kidding, I love writing these, and having a deadline just motivates me more.

Thank you for reading my rant!

Enjoy the chapter!

- GG

- - -

Rose and Katie stood back to back, circled by Tassy and Sodi, the purple and yellow fire creatures.

Katie was panting, stressed by Travis' situation. Her eyes brimmed with tears, from fear and smoke alike. She thought irrationally, she couldn't think of a strategy.

Rose's head, on the other hand, was as level and logical as ever.

She parried and parried and ducked under blasts of purple and yellow fire.

She ordered Katie to duck, side-step and parry when she needed to, and Katie obeyed without hesitation, mind too preoccupied to do anything else.

But Tassy and Sodi were relentless. Blasts kept coming. The flames kept growing, drawing nearer and nearer towards the sisters.

Much to Rose's irritation, they kept getting further and further away from Travis and Pinkish-red Lion Lithia.

It took all her concentration to defend and give orders to Katie.

Be okay, Travis, she begged. Come on.

She stabbed at Tassy's potassium core and missed, scorching her hand with a hiss.

"Travis," Katie whispered, desperate.

Next, much to their horror, Tassy and Sodi started changing shape.

The purple fire monster became long and thick, flames moving in sinc towards its end. A snake. Its core was near the end of its tail. Rose cursed in her mind, wondering how the heck she would defeat it.

The yellow fire creature morphed into a large eagle. Its core was at its neck.

Their eyes glowed like dying stars, and they left scorch marks on the cave floor.

"Oh, Jiminy Cricket's umbrella's rods," Rose said.

"What!?" Katie hissed.

"I don't know! We're screwed!"

The huge, fiery eagle dove towards them.

Rose, who was the one facing it, screamed, and grabbed Katie and pulled her to the ground.

They scrambled to their feet.

"Eagle and snake. They're pretty relevant in most cultures," Rose said weakly, sidestepping and dash of the snake.

"What!?" Katie said, trying to slash at the eagle's neck and missing, due to it taking off and flying above them. "Great. It can fly."

"In many cultures, the eagle is seen as a divine messenger," Rose ducked under the eagle's swipe, "and it is often associated with the sun and sky while snakes are often associated with deceit and danger." Katie and Rose sidestepped from another dash of the snake. "The snake, meanwhile, is often seen as a symbol of wisdom and knowledge."