Page 17 of Forging Bonds: Part One

Walking through the door to the office, I see that the wall that usually turns into the portal still looks like a normal wall.

"That's strange. He's normally not late," Niamh says, worry in her eyes.

I smile, "Don't worry, it's my fault. I forgot to text him to tell him that I would need the portal soon."

She shakes her head, "It will probably take a few moments."

I stare at the wall, and I have to admit that I am fascinated to see what the portal forming looks like. I don't have to wait long, and soon enough, a smallspec right in the middle of the wall starts to glow, and then it swirls, spinning into different colors until the entire wall is taken up by the mass of swirling magic.

River groans, "Don't make me go back through there."

"Can we fly back?" Reed asks, "I somehow forgot that in order to get home, we had to go through this portal again."

Evander seems to genuinely consider it for a moment, and Reed's expression fills with hope, only to look disappointed moments later when Evander shakes his head.

"Normally, I would say that we could, but we don't have the time to fly back now," Van says.

All of the guy's shoulders, apart from Raiden's, drop in disappointment, and I hide my smile.

Feeling bad that I'm finding this so amusing, I try to reassure them, "It really is better the second time that you go through it."

"So, we're not likely to feel like the world is spinning?" Doc asks, looking slightly white.

I wince, "Well, it won't be as bad as the first time, but you will still most likely feel a bit dizzy."

"Great," Ransom mutters sarcastically.

I chuckle, "Hey, just be glad you aren't going through it with blood loss, that's a fucker."

"What do you mean blood loss?" Reed asks very carefully.

I wave off his concern, "The portal doesn't just lead here, and one of the places that it leads to, I was in the middle of fighting a particularly feisty group of mercenaries that were determined to take my head," I lift my neck and show the scar that is hidden under my chin, eliciting quite a few growls, "fortunately for me, Sully's portal appeared at just the right moment, and Iescaped through it. Ahren and Sully finished off the fuckers while Murray healed me up."

"I'm not even sure how to respond to that," Doc mutters, his eyes troubled.

I shrug, "It's all good, I'm fine. It was a while ago anyway."

"It has just occurred to me that there is a lot about you that we still don't know," Griff says.

"Right back at ya," I reply. "Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, you're all stuck with me forever now."

Or until the Choosing puts you on the other team. My inner voice decides to play devil's advocate, and I am not okay with it. I flip her the finger and tell her to fuck off. There is no room for that kind of negativity.

"Not unfortunately, Neith," River says, his eyes intently watching me.

It makes me wonder if he somehow knows where my thoughts just went, and that deep down, I am absolutely fucking terrified that the magic behind the Choosing won't choose their team for me, and I will end up with the Draconian Team.

"Alright, enough stalling," Naimh chuckles, "through the portal with you."

"See you on the other side, guys," I say and then stride through the portal, my bag on my back and Betty and Asael in my hands.

The sounds of the guys groaning follow me through the portal, and I'm chuckling when I step out of the other side.

Sully grins, "I'm going to assume from your smile that those boys are bitching about having to use the portal again?"

I nod, "Yep. It's pretty funny, actually."

Raiden steps through next, a relaxed and happy smile on his face.

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