The Forge of Bonds

An Excerpt

Jason pulled on his coat, clipped a leash onto Shay’s harness and they headed out into the dwindling light of the wintry afternoon. Three times Skyfish zipped close and Jason dodged each one. Shay paid no attention to them.

Sadie’s right. I need to ignore them, or they will drive me crazy.

He paused, refocused on his route, and asked Shay to heel.

They took the shorter path to Uncle A’s house, traveling along the canal past thickets of chokecherry bushes and scrub oak, near the hidden cove where Jason and Sadie had first met, and where Jason had first encountered Skyfish.

As if triggered by the memory, a tingle crawled around the base of his skull. He scanned the sky but noticed nothing.

Shay froze and growled, her gaze fixed on a thick clutch of bramble on the other side of the canal.

Twigs snapped.

A shadow shifted.

“Who’s in there?” Jason asked. He flexed his fist. Bolts of electricity zipped inside him.

Nothing moved.

Shay pulled to get closer to the bushes. Jason held firm. Steam pumped from Shay’s nostrils as she sniffed and cleared her sinuses, scenting what seemed to be hidden in the waning light of day.

He tightened his grip on her leash. “Hey,” Jason yelled, trying to trigger a reveal. Still, nothing moved. Shay sat but remained trained on the spot. He waited another moment, his senses still triggering, but saw nothing and presumed more Skyfish had caused the alarm. He called to Shay to continue along the path.

Seconds later, something crashed through the brush on the far bank behind them. Jason’s powers flared his arms blue and he pivoted, Shay yanking him toward the sound. A brown figure, seemingly on all fours, barreled into the canal and cannonballed water in its wake. It scrambled up the bank and stopped about forty feet away, facing Jason and Shay, fixated for a moment while water dripped from its fur.

Sparks flashed from Jason’s raised arm.

The creature stepped closer.

His powers flared. Don’t do it…don’t make me do it…

Shay yipped and strained on her lead.

The creature sniffed the air once, twice, water gurgling in its nostrils, then turned and scrambled away.

Shay tugged to take chase. Jason countered her momentum with his and lowered his arm.

If that was a dog, it was the biggest, shaggiest dog I’ve ever seen…

Before using his power, he had to be sure a creature, a cryptid, was dangerous. He couldn’t let himself hurt something or someone when they didn’t deserve it, when they didn’t mean it.

Farther down the path, the figure faded from sight.

Jason’s arms still glowed a fiery blue.