5 Fire Snake

Alekai narrowed his eyes. This turtle girl was an enigma. She was also dangerous.

The part of him that was innately reptilian could sense danger, although it was not solely coming from her.

He could sense it everywhere. His ears were buzzing so much it was almost itchy.

"Talk." He barked with lack of patience.

"Okay, okay. Stop looking at me like you're going to sink your fangs into me."

A guttural sound emanated from his throat. "Talk or I WILL sink my fangs into you."

She exhaled with exasperation. "As I told you before. I'm a chelonian and I've been handed a mission."

"What mission?"

"I've been charged with locating YOU!" She poked his chest with strong fingers.

"Well you can stop now. I don't want any part of this."

"I can stop now but only because I've found you. You're just going to have to trust me that I'm not out to hurt you."

"How do I know that?"

"If you will just take me to meet Tom, I can prove it."

"Prove what? You still haven't told me a thing."

"I can prove that I—"

"Look out!"

Alekai pushed Jesse off his bike with a force that flung her sideways into the bushes.

At the same time, he launched himself up, twisted his body and kicked at the large black and yellow looking thing that was flying straight at him.

His foot hit its soft yellow center, making a disgusting SPLAT sound but it was enough to knock it off its trajectory.

It came back with a vengeance. In a couple of its hands was some weapon that looked wicked.

Alekai did not wait to see what the thing would do with the weapon.

He launched his body towards it, grappling with the appendages and tearing the weapon from its grasp.

The thing made a buzzing angry sound and curled itself into a C. It pointed a sharp projectile at Alekai and shot itself towards him.

Alekai swung the weapon at it breaking off its sharp projectile.

The thing buzzed with maddened anger and redoubled its effort to launch itself at Alekai.

He leaped up from the ground and kicked it once more, knocking it up and away from where he stood.

Its body burst open, innards spewing out into an arc.

THUD.

It splatted by the side of the road, its legs twitching in the final throes of death.

Huffing and puffing, Alekai stared at the thing in disgust.

"What in heavens is that?"

Jesse picked herself up from the bushes and came to join him.

"He's probably a stray."

Alekai peered closer but then had to draw back as a gust of wind picked up the smell and slapped it in his face.

The smell was godawful, a cross between diarrhea and rotten eggs.

He had whacked it so hard that its yellowish brown innards were strewn all over the side of the road.

"That doesn't even look like anything I've ever seen before."

Jesse rolled her eyes. "It's an apoidea, one of the worker wasps that managed to not get annihilated by my doom-boom."

"What in hell is a doom-boom?"

Jesse grinned and pointed at the thing he was holding in his hand.

"It's something like that, but prettier!"

Alekai looked down at the weapon he had snagged out of the apoidea's grasping arms.

"Anything is prettier than this ugly thing." He muttered.

It was stained yellow-brown with the apoidea's guts and looked disgusting.

"Forget about the guts on it. Look at its design. You see how many handles it has?"

He inspected it carefully. It was in the shape of a chunky acute triangle with six handles.

It felt clunky and awkward, but he could see that it would be perfect for someone with six hands.

She pulled hers out. "Mine only has one."

Alekai's eyes nearly popped out of his skull. She was holding something vaguely weapon-like but it was a rounded ball shape with a single handle on one side.

It almost looked like a coffee mug.

"That doesn't look anything like this," he stared down at the cylindrical thing in his hand.

"That's because I only have two hands and this was designed for me to use."

"What you got there," Jesse indicated with her head, "was designed for a wasp with six appendages."

"So how does this thing work?" He looked at the thing in his hand.

"See that pointed end?"

Alekai nodded.

"Don't aim it at yourself or you will lose a body part."

"How…how do you shoot this thing?"

"Mind control. You can't shoot it yet because it's not synched to your mind-wave." She scratched her nose.

"Hang on."

She moved closer to him and inspected the thing in his hand.

"Hmm. I see it."

She looked up at him with sparkling blue eyes.

"Keep holding it. Don't let go!"

With one swift move, she pecked at the top panel with her fingers.

Suddenly, the weapon glowed a bright yellow.

Alekai gasped and nearly dropped the thing.

Except that he couldn't.

The weapon had frozen his hand to itself. In fact, his entire body was frozen solid and he could not move.

He grimaced as his body was gripped with the energy blasting from the weapon. The pain was not so much a pain as it was a tingling sensation similar to electrocution.

It only lasted a few seconds but in that short amount of time, Alekai could feel the pores in his head opening up. At the same time, his feet were also tingling with energy.

Two seconds was all it took and his body was released from its paralysis.

The weapon had formed around his hand, looking as if it was made for him. Where it had six handles, it now only had one. Of the gut and gore that had covered it, the energetic discharged had burned it away.

"Wow that's so cool!" Jesse laughed. "You look like you're wearing a clunky glove!"

Alekai looked down at his hand. It did look like a glove.

"Now, point it at that apoidea and project your thought at it to fire at the wasp."

Alekai clenched his jaw. The powerful energetic current had startled him.

If he tried to discharge this weapon, chances are, he would be electrocuted again.

But he had to try. He couldn't show his fear in front of this short little girl.

He took a deep breath, aimed the glove at the dead wasp and sent a strong thought at the glove to incinerate the body of the apoidea.

ZAAAAP!!!

The wasp caught on fire.

In a matter of minutes it had turned into a small bonfire.

"Oh wow! You're a pyromancer!" Jesse laughed with excitement.

"A what?"

She blinked at him. "You're a fire snake!!!"