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It wasn't Cassie. Morgan discovered this when he reached
a small clearing and almost rand into Cassie who had been running from a different
direction altogether. She was flushed and looking worried, but it was obvious
that she had been the one who had screamed.
"It's Lana," Cassie gasped. "Something's happened."
Morgan didn't need to reply. It had to be Lana if Cassie was alright, and Lana
wouldn't scream like that if it wasn't serious. They ran together in silence,
each desperately hoping the she was unharmed.
It seemed like an eternity before they finally
found her. She was huddled up against a hawthorn tree trying not to move, her
dark eyes wide with terror as they stared wildly ahead.
It soon became apparent what had caused her to
scream and become this frightened. A massive Reptillor swayed back and forth
in front of her, its thick body undulating hypnotically. Lana gazed into is
glittering black eyes, caught in the rhythmic movement.
Her face was of an unnatural pallor, and to their
horror, two small red marks were visible on her ankle. She had been bitten.
They had to get the vile reptile away from so that Lana could be helped.
As Morgan and Cassie tried to come up with ways
to help Lana, Anshi appeared beside them. He looked out of breath, but his face
showed little sign of fatigue. When he saw what was taking place in the clearing
though, the color drained from his face and his eyes widened in shock and horror.
"We have got to get her out of there!" he hissed
urgently. "She will die from that bite if we don't start treating her immediately!"
"Do you have any ideas on how we are to go about
that?" spat Morgan irritably. He was angry at being so helpless when it came
to getting to Lana.
"Yes I do," replied Anshi coolly. "In Hutan
Rawa, there are lots of poisonous reptiles such as Reptillors. We grow up knowing
how to deal with them."
"Well that's convenient," growled Morgan feeling
more than a little annoyed at the small Kyrii.
"Listen to him, Morgan," murmured Cassie. "He
knows what he's talking about."
"Okay then. What we have to do is find a forked
stick. We need the stick to be long, but the gap in it to be fairly small. If
every body can find one, then we will be all set. Get looking!"
The fanned out and searched for forked branches.
Anshi found one first and showed the others what to look for. Soon they all
had what they needed.
Anshi explained that some one had to distract
the snake while the other two snuck up behind it and pinned it to the ground
with their sticks. He told them to pin the head down first if possible, and
to hold on tight.
Cassie volunteered to get the head, and Anshi
said it would be best if he did the distracting. Morgan just followed along
feeling sulky at being bossed around by some pint sized Kyrii.
Anshi stepped out to confront the reptile while
Cassie and Morgan slipped in behind it. The watched amazed as Anshi used the
stick to lead the snake away from its prey. He moved rhythmically, swaying this
way and that, never taking his eyes off of the dangerous creature before him.
"Now," he whispered careful not to startle the
snake.
They needed no further bidding. Cassie brought
her stick down firmly at the base of the snake's skull. It hissed angrily and
swung its tail around viciously. A jolt of terror and anger, as tangible as
pain shot up the stick and Cassie shuddered. But despite this, Cassie managed
to keep it trapped.
Morgan had a harder time as the Reptillor writhed
violently. He finally pinned it, but only after sustaining several welts from
the lashing tail.
Anshi hurried over to Lana as soon as he was
sure that the other two had the snake under control. He gently touched her face
and looked into her eyes. They were starting to get the glassy look of fever
in them, and he knew she needed help fast. Then he examined her wound.
It was turning a disturbing shade of gray. The
blood was still tricking out as it had not yet clotted.
"We have got to help her fast," Anshi said quietly.
"She doesn't have long to this world if we don't."
The rest of the night was a blur. Anshi kept
them busy gathering herbs and roots while he tended to Lana.
"The poison is still working its way methodically
through her body. Its doing its vile job well, too." Anshi applied a poultice
he had made to her wound and tenderly put a cool cloth on her heated brow. The
punctured ankle had swollen and turned a blotchy purple, and the rest of the
leg was now that unnatural grey.
"These herbs are not enough," murmured Anshi
distractedly as he covered her shaking form with a cloak. "We need to get her
some antivenom."
"How do we do that?" asked Cassie desperately
as she watched her friend quake with chills and fever.
"There is another reptile that lives around
here. It is called a Magtile, and it is immune to Reptillor bites. Its venom
has been used to make an antidote before. If we can find one, I think it could
save her."
"Alright then. What does it look like?" said
Cassie clinging frantically to this shred of hope that had been offered her.
"It is a white snake with a slender body. I
must warn you though; it is much more intelligent than a Reptillor, and it will
take more than a stick to distract it."
"In that case, I'll go too. It might take two
of us to bring down this white menace." Morgan brandished his stick. "Besides,
you never know what might happen."
They walked off into the darkness keeping a
careful watch for anything white and slender.
Morgan leapt to one side and swung his branch
in an arc above his head. He brought it down hard on a thin white shape.
"Gotcha," he cried triumphantly only to find
he had just beaten a pale tree limb into submission.
Cassie laughed at these antics, but it was a
hollow laugh. She could sense something watching them. Something that was aware
and watchful. But something that was also in pain.
"Quiet!" she said suddenly. Morgan stopped and
looked at her curiously. Her eyes were darting back and forth. Her body was
erect and rigid.
"What is it?"
"It knows we're here." She looked at him her
eyes glowing bright in the moon light. "But its will do us no harm."
Cassie walked to the left, disappeared for a
few seconds, and then reappeared with a pale shape coiled around her neck.
"Cassie!"
Morgan lunged at her with the intent of tearing
the thing from her throat, but was brought to a standstill when she cried, "Stop!"
"She won't hurt me. She is in pain herself."
Morgan stopped and looked at her as if she had
gone mad. She might have for all he knew as she had a venomous snake draped
about her shoulders.
"How do you know 'she' wont hurt you? What makes
you sure enough to let the wretched thing curl itself around your neck?"
"She told me."
Morgan stared at her unsure how to respond to
this statement. Cassie seeing his obvious confusion tried to explain.
"I could feel something was wrong while we were
walking, but I couldn't tell what it was," she explained. "I sensed something
was in pain because I could feel it, almost as if I were in pain. I followed
that feeling, and found Isilme. She has been attacked by a crokabek. Fortunately
the foul creature was frightened by our approach."
The Magtile made an odd hissing and spitting
noise. Cassie looked startled.
"She says the dark one has many spies that inhabit
the air and earth. The bird that attacked her was one of them."
"How can you understand her?" Morgan asked curiously.
"Isilme is one of the more intelligent creatures
of Agrestis. I could feel the Reptillor too, but it didn't have the intelligence
to communicate. I think that I have some kind of bond with the land," Cassie
replied stroking the pale reptile's milky head. The golden eyes closed and a
contented hiss escaped the thin mouth.
"There isss a way for your friend to underssstand
usss too," Isilme breathed, "but it will come at great cossst."
Cassie listened as she explained. Then she told
Morgan what she had heard.
"You can learn to understand the creatures of
Agrestis too, but I don't think you will like what has to happen first," Cassie
said.
"Try me," said Morgan eager to learn to speak
to the pale snake, but unsure why.
"You'll have to let her bite you."
"WHAT!!!" Morgan looked at the creature curled
around Cassie's neck. He could imagine its long fangs plunging into his flesh
and releasing their poison to be dispersed through out his body. It wasn't worth
it. Or was it.
"He will feel sssome pain, but then he will
fall asssleep." Cassie relayed this message to Morgan who was looking very
skeptical.
"If anything happens to me in the battle that
is to come, you will be able to receive instructions from the land via its inhabitants."
Morgan looked at Cassie and saw that she was serious. "It could turn out to
be vital."
"Alright then," Morgan begrudgingly replied,
"But at least wait until we get back to camp before you let that thing emerge
its fangs into my arm. I don't want you to have to drag me all the way back."
"Can do," said Cassie smiling at him. With that
they walked back to camp.
***
Anshi reacted much the same way Morgan had when
Cassie entered the camp with a long white serpent coiled around her neck. He
leapt up, and was about to move forward when she explained the circumstances.
"I understand," Anshi said after hearing her
story, "though I must admit that I have never heard tell of anything like this
before."
He explained how he was going to use the snake's
venom with out causing any harm to the snake. "I will get it to bite a membrane
that I have fitted over a jar. The venom will squirt out through the fangs into
the jar. I will then use it in an antidote."
Cassie started to explain this to Isilme but
was cut short.
"I don't need a transsslation. I can underssstand
him, and if I'm not missstaken, he knowsss what I am sssaying assss well."
Anshi looked stunned. He had heard the snake
clear as day and was very confused. This had never happened before.
"You were bitten on your way to foressst after
your parentsss death. You never realisssed your new talent becausssse you were
never allowed out of the Casssstle."
"How did you know?" Anshi stammered.
"We sssnakesss can sssee thingssss that othersss
are unable to," she hissed. "You are marked by Agresssstisss."
Anshi jumped as he heard a sound behind him.
Lana was moaning and shaking again.
"We had better do this quick," he said urgently.
"She needs that antidote." Cassie nodded and uncoiled Isilme who hissed softly.
Anshi brought over a jar covered with a thin piece of leather.
Isilme gave the reptilian equivalent of a grimace
and sunk her teeth into the hide. Spurts of venom sprayed against the bottom
of the jar. Isilme pulled her fangs from the leather and winced. Anshi thanked
her and went back to tending to Lana.
He mixed some herbs in with the poison and the
diluted it down with some water. He carefully stirred it together and poured
it into an earthen cup. Then he tenderly poured it down her throat, careful
not to choke her. Her shaking ceased and she fell into a peaceful sleep.
"Now," Isilme whispered, "it isss your turn."
Cassie turned to Morgan. "It's time."
Morgan gulped down his fear. It was time for
him to be brave, but he couldn't help but think about those long sharp fangs
piercing his skin. It gave him the chills just thinking about it. Cassie brought
him a mattress to lie down on so he wouldn't fall. He stretched out on it trying
to relax. It was impossible. There would be no relaxing while that creature
was about to take a bite out of his flesh.
Cassie brought over Isilme and set her next to
Morgan. He closed his eyes and waited for the pain. Isilme reared back and struck.
To be continued…
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