The Alpha's Unclaimed Mate novel Chapter 513

Chapter 513: Five Pillars Of Pissed-Off Fire

The lava below them moved. A massive serpent of liquid fire rose out of the pit like a god dragging itself from the underworld.

Its body dripped flames in slow-moving sheets. Each drop hit the molten river below and was reabsorbed, the creature shedding and regenerating its own skin in a continuous cycle of fire that made it look like it was perpetually melting and perpetually rebuilding and the perpetual was hypnotic and the hypnotic was a trap because staring at the thing was using up seconds they didn’t have. Its mouth glowed white-hot, heat warping the air around it. Its eyes snapped open, two burning coals, locked on them.

Aeron looked at Hyran.

"Is that a lava serpent?"

Before Hyran could answer, another one erupted behind them, spiraling upward around a jagged spire. The stone screamed as it melted beneath the coils.

A third exploded out of the lava river farther down the path.

Then a fourth.

Then a fifth.

Five serpents. Five pillars of molten fire coiling upward from the pit, each one the size of a tree trunk, each one radiating enough heat to melt stone on contact, and each one staring at the seven people on the knife-edge trail with the focused hunger of predators who had been sleeping in lava for centuries and had just been woken up by vibrations and were absolutely, comprehensively pissed about it.

Maelor’s voice went into a register that had never been used before. "NO THANK YOU!"

Hyran backed up so quickly he nearly fell off the trail. "WHY. WHY IS EVERYTHING DOWN HERE SENTIENT?!"

"The vines were sentient! The walls were sentient! The FLOOR was sentient! And now the LAVA is sentient!" Hyran was gesturing at the serpents with both hands, the gesturing of a man whose professional capacity for impossible fauna had been exceeded seven creatures ago. "What is NEXT? Is the AIR going to develop OPINIONS? Is GRAVITY going to start making DEMANDS?"

Dexmon drew his sword, sweat evaporating off his skin before it could fall. The evaporation was instant, his body producing moisture and the volcano consuming it in the same second, the heat operating at a temperature that made the jungle feel like a vacation.

Dexmon: Diamond formation. Serena center. Mages on flanks. Gavriel, rear guard. Fin, with me on point. Move as one.

Serena snapped a shield around the group, pulling from Dexmon’s magic. The gold dome hummed to life around them, the construct drawing from his reserves.

She had not meant to do that. But it kept happening and Dex liked it so she rolled with it.

Hyran and Maelor’s shields snapped over hers. Triple layer. The triple was becoming their signature. The signature was the only reason any of them were still standing.

"Mages," Fin said. "Tell me what I need to know."

"They respond to vibration," Hyran answered. "If these are what I think they are. Caldera wyrms. Volcanic predators. Ancient texts describe them as territorial, aggressive, and attracted to rhythmic vibration patterns. Footsteps. Heartbeats. Breathing."

Gavriel blinked. "We’re on a narrow ledge. On a mountain. ABOVE A VOLCANO. That vibrates when we BREATHE."

"Yes."

"So our options are: stop breathing, or get eaten by lava snakes."

"Those are the broad strokes, yes."

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