HOW WE BROKE THE FIRST MAGIC PATH

26 FEBRUARY, FRIDAY, MID-MORNING

You know how they say, once you learn to ride a bicycle, you'd never forget it? I guess it didn't extend to motorbikes. I totally forgot how.

I got onto the bike okay, and Ki rode pillion behind me. He helped me kick up the stand, and I realized I forgot where the ignition was, and also which side the break was located.

I did find it, and it only took me a moment to search both sides for it, but I felt totally uncool about that. Especially since I could see Ben on the other side with the Special Team and he wasn't having any trouble at all. This was terribly unfair since Ben was younger, and it wasn't like he was significantly taller than I was. If Ben could do it, why couldn't I?

But I had no time to watch Ben show off his biking prowess or feel jealous at his ability to pick up being cool so quickly, I had to figure out my own bike before anyone noticed how noob I was at it.

Luckily, Bell's bike came over from behind us and skidded to a stop next to our bike.

{Mate! ~ ❤️} Because Boo was still a love sick pup like that.

Get your head in the game, Boo!

But it turned out that Bell's wolf wasn't any better.

He had rode up next to us just to growl at Ki, "MINE."

Ki immediately lifted both hands in the air, but it's not like we could ride with him like that!

Okay... but it wasn't like I could ride with Bell either, our teams were running different objectives in this mission.

Ki shifted himself as far back on the bike as possible, which made him even less useful as my co-biker. I suddenly had a bright idea, "Let's switch places, Ki. You drive, I'll navigate."

So Ki and I switched places.

Now I could just ride pillion and boss Ki around and it was all Bell's fault (and nothing to do with the fact that I couldn't ride on my own). Hahaha. #imsosneaky. I think I'm growing sneakier each day.

But nevermind my growing cunning, it's time to go!

"Let's go! Let's go!" I called out from behind Ki. I even stood up on the stand bars, using Ki's shoulder as support, my betamen cape flapping and my hood falling off to give my hair freedom.

Ki's bike zoomed up to the front, leaving Harvey to lead the Snow Wolves and humans.

"Don't let her fall off the back, Dog!" Ben yelled from behind us. He was still stationed with the Special Team, they would take up the rear. Stoopid Ben, it's not as if Ki had any control over what I was doing behind him, much less stop me from falling off!

I took out the crystal key from my pocket. We were finally heading in.

"Hoo man, Sam. You better hold tight!" Beta Lucas called to me from beside Dad. Their bikes were running just behind mine noew. The other wolves got their bikes and horses to follow in formation.

We had entered the warlock forest at the right place and I was quite satisfied that our bikes were running through the right magic path that Roy had marked out.

I sat back down behind Ki and called back, "Don't worry! I'm an expert at pillion riding!"

"Open your mindlink, Sam." Dad ordered. Oh right, good idea.

{Goddess, I might have to trouble you to indicate where the next turn is.} Ki informed me the moment my mindlink was opened.

{Just follow the path.} I was enjoying the foosh feeling as our bikes ran like a noisy wind through the magic path.

{Apologies, goddess, I cannot sense the path.} Ki admitted.

Eh?

"Turn left! Left now!" I yelled aloud and patted his left shoulder quite hard in urgent steering. We very nearly missed it.

{Left sharp!} Beta Lucas instructed immediately as Dad and him followed suit.

{Hoo man, Sam. I know you youngsters like to ride like the devil, but try to give some advance warning next time.} Beta Lucas complained once his bike was running upright again.

Eh? So he couldn't sense the magic paths either? I supposed everywhere in the woods looked alike in winter, but couldn't they feel it? I stood up again because the rush of smells and magic in the air was just that exhilarating! It was like the trees were all stepping aside just for us, with a foosh and a woosh...

{Turn again!} I told Ki. I forgot to say which direction, but Ki figured it out because I pressed down on his right shoulder.

{Right turn!} Ki dutifully gave the others the "advance warning".

{Right turn! Follow close!} Beta Lucas relayed the order, {The path is tricky. Don't fall out.}

The scenery changed and suddenly the bare maple trees that had nothing but snow on their branches suddenly turned a full head of red leaves around us.

"Pop." I heard Ki breathe at the sudden change in season. Even the air smelled like autumn. Oh man, this was the coolest!

I felt my hair flare at the magic everywhere. We were really inside the warlock lands now.

"Mindlinks are on black out!" Beta Lucas reported over the rev of engines, "Follow on signal!"

Eh? I tried to link out to Ki, the next turn was coming up in a while, I could feel it in the curve of the path, but Beta Lucas was right, our mindlinks were cut off.

Darn. That was troublesome. I glanced back and noticed how Beta Lucas now had to resort to hand signals, and these hand signals were passed down, each time being repeated by one of our wolves so the ones at the back could make the turn at the right place.

Did no one else feel this electrifying rush of magic running through the paths. Even though I called them paths, they were more like tunnels.

"Next turn is coming, Ki!" I yelled to my driver, "Lean left gently, it's a wide turn!"

"Understood, princess!" Ki answered and then he signalled with his left hand, "Tell me when, goddess!"

"When!" I yelled, "Not too fast. Just like turning up our driveway!"

"Understood, goddess!" Ki leaned the bike and we started edging left.

"More Ki! Go faster!" I ordered. I was really just going with the flow, wherever my lucky sense of direction took me.

"Yes, goddess!" Ki obliged.

Could he really sense nothing of the path? Did that mean he was driving blind?

"Oh pop." Ki muttered when he realised our bike was running straight into a large tree at full speed.

"Go straight. Don't stop." I said, feeling very much like I was playing a speed racing game at the arcade (those never quite go very well for me though.)

I had to hand it to Ki though, I almost thought he would balk and swerve off the path, but he didn't, and the tree sort of melted to the side the moment we passed it.

"Hoo man! Alpha be careful!" Beta Lucas yelled as Dad ran into the tree, but I guess the tree "melted off" to the side for him too.

Bell cursed in Lycan, quite loudly, but his voice was shortly drowned out by Jax yelling like he was going to die.

How I wished we had set up a camera at this juncture, just to capture the expressions of my wolves driving full speed into what they thought would be the end of them!

"Keep going. Don't slow." I told Ki. We were making good time.

{Approaching rogues} Boo told me, as if to confirm what I had already guessed.

By now the forest was starting to turn green. It was like a mixture of green and yellow and red, like it was approaching fall, but dragging its feet because it didn't want summer to end.

This was the right time for roses to bloom, another clue that we should be quite near the Roy's house.

I wished our mindlinks would work. Right now, I could only roughly sense that all my wolves were on track, but only because Boo could sense all three of my betas' whereabouts. It was pretty lucky (or geniusly planned) that our formation right now had one of my betas with every team.

And part of me wondered if I should feel proud or worried that my wolves would drive at top speed into a large tree just because I told them to. Hahaha.

Overall, I was feeling good about our start, but all the good feelings dissipated at the next turn.

"Slow down." I decided. I took a deep breath and listened carefully. Our bike were really noisy, but now that we slowed gradually down to a low rumble, I could hear the horses when their hooves hit the dirt too, and by now, their whinnying and snorting too. They had been running quite fast. Poor horses! I forgot that unlike motorbikes, the horses could get tired.

"Are the snow wolves okay?" I yelled behind me.

"Just focus on the road, princess." Bell was the one who called back, "If they can't keep up, they're useless to you anyway."

Wth.

"We're all fine, alpha." Harvey called back.

Good beta.

Unlike my evil luna. Sigh.

But also ~❤️

"Eh, Ki stop!" My hair flared, Ki signalled by holding up his fist and stopped.

"What is it Sam?" Dad was frowning, did he feel it too?

"I don't know." I answered honestly. My hair shimmered, something... I don't know. It's just that my lucky sense of direction suddenly wanted to run away.

But we've come so far already, how could I turn tail and run at... nothing. I scanned the forest around me. Beside the fact that we were in the wrong season, there was nothing else out of place.

Dad smelled the air and checked around him too.

"Why have we stopped?" Bell demanded.

{Trap.} Boo answered helpfully.

I flared. What? Where?

"Goddess?" Ki asked.

"Something bad is coming." I said finally.

I tried not to whimper it. I didn't like this feeling of not knowing. I'm not sure if you remembered my first meeting with the old Ciara Lord in Bell's transport truck, but the last time I didn't run away when my lucky sense of direction screamed to run, it didn't turn out very well.

Right now, our bikes and horses had gathered, almost in a row along the single magic path. We were like sitting ducks.

"Sam!" River called to me, "The horses are nervous, something isn't right."

You think?

"River, disable as many enchantments as you can." I ordered.

"Ah, yes! Okay! I'll do my best!" River shouted back.

"The rest of you, the moment anything goes wrong, get off the path and take cover." I decided.

What else could we do? Even if we retreated, I didn't feel like we could avoid this "trap".

"You heard our Sam!" Beta Lucas chimed in, "Stay on silent alert."

Immediately, all the engines were cut. No one made a sound, except for the horses... I don't suppose you could tell a horse to stop breathing so hard.

But now that the roar of our bikes had stopped, I noticed how silent these woods were. Way, way, too quiet.

Meanwhile, River was disarming the enchantments - his stone was glowing brightly, illuminating his face, and his dark hair flared upwards as if the light itself was a force, but unlike my hair, it remained it's natural length.

Eh... River was really working hard... Maybe a little too hard. I mean, I did say disarm everything, but I didn't expect the path-tunnel we were traveling in to start cracking.

I flared, the horses stamped, but none of the wolves seemed to notice.

"What is it, princess?" Bell asked. He sounded concerned, but also annoyed.

I got annoyed too. Seriously? Couldn't he feel it? Our magic path was breaking! I wanted to tell River to stop. I had just meant to clear the danger around us so that if we had to get off the path for cover, none of us would end up trapped in one of the warlock enchantments.

I didn't mean for River to break the magic path!

"Stop!" I tried to tell River before it was too late. But it was too late.

Suddenly, a chilled breeze blew past us, and it started to snow. Eh! Even the season spell was broken.

If I had known that River was so powerful, I would have been more specific with my instructions.