CHAPTER 36 #2
Then the voice in her mind changed, becoming the multi-layered voice she’d heard before.
The Umi queen. “Daughter, listen carefully. Serpents like your father and uncle are closer in line to the original Umi than any other type of shifters. It’s why they can see through Djinn glamour, and why they can breathe fire.
Umi are born of fire. I sense your cells have been manipulated by a Djinn.
They mean to try to control you, but they made a mistake, as I believe they made a mistake with all the human females they have manipulated.
The Djinn meant to weaken you, and through you, weaken Gauge.
Instead, you’ve grown stronger. Or perhaps your Laizahlian mate has had something to do with it.
However it happened, you above all others are more like me now.
You will shift into a raptor, not a serpent.
And raptors like me are gifted with the ability to heal.
Let me in. Let me help you shift, then I will help you heal your mate. ”
Lena would do anything to help save Gauge. She dropped her shields, gasping when a powerful presence entered her mind, opening doors that she hadn’t known were there. So many doors.
“Do you see, young one? Use the Hunter’s gift to cool the flames. If you don’t, they will devour you. Make the shift so you can carry your mate to safety, then I will help you heal him.”
Lena screamed again as she embraced the power within her. Immediately, her scales began to glow, tiny sparks popping across them before she burst into flames. So hot, so hot, she thought, fighting not to panic. I’m going to burn up!
“No, you have the knowledge. Through Neyvarre, you know how to dampen the flames. Just do it.”
Panting heavily, surprised her lungs weren’t fried from the blue and orange flames covering her body.
Lena searched for the key to surviving this.
In an instant, she understood that the Umi queen had spent centuries trying to find a way to survive the shift into her fiery form.
It wasn’t until she met a vampire, the same Hunter being held prisoner by the humans here, that she found her answer.
He and his mate, Kimberly, could both feed off the energy of other beings, but they could also feed energy into another.
Ah, maybe this is how I’m meant to heal Gauge.
The Umi queen had used this power to save herself.
She’d found a way to send the flames away before they could devour her human host.
With sudden understanding, Lena pulled at that new knowledge, using it to send the flames away from her body.
At the same time, a switch went off in her head, and her body exploded in a blinding white light.
Glass shattered all around her from the powerful concussion her transformation had caused.
When Lena opened her eyes, she found her sight set far higher than before.
A quick glance showed her that she did indeed resemble the Umi queen, her form raptor rather than serpent, though her scales were dark gold, and she still had the red and black abaci pattern.
It ran down both sides of her chest and along her wings.
She suspected it would also be along the outside of her neck and face, a typical pattern found on Raiden warriors and their mates.
“Very good, daughter. Now, pick up your mate and carry him far away from here. Find a safe place to wait for us. As soon as we free the trapped Hunter and his mate, we will follow. I will show you then what is necessary to save Gauge.”
Lena didn’t hesitate to obey. She opened her wings and began to flap, finding it easy to take to the air.
Lowering herself, she gently grasped an unconscious Gauge in her talons and rose slowly but steadily into the air.
Behind her, the Umi queen joined the two serpents in driving back the males trying to shoot at them.
Far in the distance, Lena noticed four ships approaching fast. Her first thought had been the Raiden prince found them, but she knew that couldn’t be it.
He didn’t have his Raiden warships on this planet.
It must be humans flying the machines. Whoever they were, she did not want to be in the sky when they caught up to them.
She couldn’t protect Gauge from the air.
Scanning the land below, she thought she noticed an opening near one of the hills.
Perhaps a cave. She would have preferred to find somewhere with more cover, but this would have to do.
She would get Gauge out of the line of fire, then do whatever she could to protect him until the others came to their rescue.
Just as Lena got Gauge tucked away, one of the machines lowered, hovering about thirty feet in the air outside her shallow cave. There wasn’t room to fit her inside, not in her raptor form.
“Do not move!” came a voice from the machine. “We will open fire if you move!”
What did they mean by ‘we will open fire?’ Did they have the ability to breathe fire from their machine?
Did she? The Umi queen hadn’t mentioned anything about serpent fire, not beyond sending the flames away when she’d shifted forms. But Lena remembered looking back when she’d fled with Gauge, seeing the bright white beam coming from the colorful raptor’s beak.
Instead of fire, it had looked more like a laser.
Whatever it was had caused the buildings she aimed at to crumple.
Lena focused on the male she could see through the glass inside the ship.
Usually serpents had to exchange blood to be able to communicate telepathically, but she suspected this might be one of the gifts gained from Gauge during their mating.
“I only wish to protect my mate. As long as you leave my mate alone, I am no threat to you.”
She felt confusion from the male inside the ship, but he quickly recovered.
“If you do that again, I will shoot. You do not have permission to invade my brain. Ground support is on the way. Remain where you are until they get there.” He paused.
“I have orders to instruct you to shift back to your human form. Do you understand what that means?” I can’t believe I’m trying to talk to some giant-ass bird.
Lena knew he hadn’t meant for her to hear the last part, and she hadn’t been trying to invade his thoughts. It was more like he’d thrown them at her.
“No, don’t do it.”
Lena whipped her head around, shocked to find Gauge awake and trying to sit up. “You should stay down. You are badly hurt.”
“My own fault. I should have known they could create helmets using chromastin as a liner. It kept their thoughts hidden from me and Jax.”
Lena slowly backed up to the entrance of the shallow cave, keeping her body between Gauge and the machine hovering in front of them.
“Are you healing?” she asked.
“Yes. I’m in no real danger, though I’ll need blood soon.”
“I could shift back. You could take it from me.”
“No, you are safer like this. I don’t think their shells can penetrate your scales. Jax informed me Neyvarre and Kimberly are free of their prison. Your uncle and Samantha are carrying them and Teo in our direction while the Umi queen keeps the humans occupied.”
“What about these machines here?” There were two of them hovering in front of them now. Lena could hear the other two somewhere over the hill behind them.
“Don’t worry about those. I’ll take care of them.”
“How?” she asked, hearing the pain in his voice.
“Trust your mate, Lena. I made a mistake back at the human military base. I will not be caught off guard again. These humans don’t have chromastin lining their helmets. It’s how you were able to communicate with the pilot.”