No, that wasn’t going to work. I needed to get down there and help Bec!
I let go of Beatrix, allowing gravity to take over.
“Danzig, no!” Beatrix cried out and tried to grab hold of me, but she wasn’t fast enough.
This wasn’t the first time I went plummeting to the ground from a dizzying height. It wasn’t my favorite thing, but I knew how to deal with it.
I made myself big and shaped my body so I was much wider than I was thick. Spreading myself out, I caught enough air to change my free fall into something less violent.
When I was close enough to see the druid holding Bec in the air, I focused on going big.
Very big.
By the time I hit the ground, I was probably about a thousand pounds. I couldn’t land on the druid and risk hurting Bec, but my landing was hard enough to make everyone gasp and the druid dropped Bec to turn around and face me.
“You again?” he snarled. “Why are you bothering me? I have nothing to do with your kind.”
I couldn’t talk in my snake form, but it wasn’t as if I wanted to have a conversation with him anyway. I shot my tail out to grab Bec and tuck her safely between my coils, only to have the druid mumble a string of words and break something apart in his hand.
His magic hit me hard. It pushed me back and flayed off most of my protective aura. How had Marduk managed to stand against this for as long as he did?
“Leave him alone!”
I heard the scream at the same time I saw Bec swing something at the druid's head. She was wobbly on her feet and missed, but he stopped attacking me and turned his magic on her.
She flew back, hitting the side of a nearby car, her mouth open in a silent scream. I coiled up my body and opened my mouth to bite the druid in half only to hear gunfire and felt something ping off my side.
The druid pulled his focus and magic off Bec to send his power out at the two humans cowering next to some shrubs. The woman holding a gun fired again, this time aiming at the druid.
“I was trying to help!” she screamed even as she fired again. Dirt kicked up past the druid. He didn’t even flinch. With calm movements, he produced another woven loop and broke it.
The man and woman didn’t even get a chance to scream. Their bodies glowed brightly, then they both turned to ash from the inside out.
It only took a few seconds and both humans were completely gone.
With those two humans disintegrated, the druid turned his attention back on Bec. She'd slumped to the ground, awake but dazed.
I put myself in motion, but I was slow and clumsy. In all my five hundred years, I’d never felt an attack as powerful as the one I’d just endured. It had taken a toll and now I felt sluggish and uncoordinated.
I didn’t make it far before the druid faced me again. At least his back was turned on Bec. I mentally urged her to get up and hide. But she sat there, looking around as if she was trying to figure out where she was and what was going on.
“Talk to me as a man, serpent,” the druid demanded. “I don’t want to waste all my ties killing you. I’d much rather negotiate.”
I didn’t want to shift back to my human form, but I saw the wisdom in stalling. If I had Marduk at my side, we would be able to stand against this druid better.
I drew back and shrank my form until I was in my human body again. He nodded his head and relaxed a little.
“Thank you,” he said. “What do you want in exchange for leaving me alone to finish my work?”
“I have demands,” I said, trying to come up with things to keep him talking but not suspicious.
“What?” he asked with an impatient scowl.
Behind the druid, Beatrix silently landed and went to Bec. Relief almost made me smile. When this was all over, I was going to give the pixie anything she asked for.
I put a haughty expression on my face. “Have you never met a Jörmungandr before? You must not have or you wouldn't have entered my territory without offering me tribute first.”
“Fine, what tribute do you require?” he asked.
