At the center of the coil lay the creature’s huge head, its scarlet ribbon tongue licking the air. It blinked like a child whose mother has just thrown open the bedroom curtains.
Evander’s hand found his knife, but, remembering his oath, he uncurled his fingers from the hilt.
If he wanted to get into Cobblepine, he needed his tattoo intact.
Evander cast a quick look around. No chance of climbing out, and even if he could, his head throbbed so he could hardly see straight.
The serpent’s body slid like water as it raised its glittering head. It was so tall, it cast a shadow over Evander like storm clouds rising against the sun. Again, his hand closed over his knife. Again, he released it.
To keep the oath was to die; to break it was to die. If he met his end today, he would choose an honorable ending.
The snake opened its jaws, baring fangs as long as a man’s forearm, and struck.
Evander dodged, and the creature rammed its snout against the wall, its fangs sinking into the dirt. For a breath, the snake was stunned, so Evander snatched the opportunity and ran up its back, then clambered to its head and jumped, his fingers catching the snarl of roots. Kicking, Evander hauled himself up, caught the pit’s rim, and dragged himself over the edge to the forest floor.
The snake rose from its lair and lunged at Evander as he sprang to his feet and threw himself behind a moss-laden cedar. The serpent snubbed its nose on the bark, and the tree splintered, peeling down the middle with an aching groan.
Somewhere in the canopy, Evander thought he heard Raska cackle.
Staggering to his feet, Evander tore through the trees, swatting away cutting branches and vaulting over fallen logs. The creature followed, gaining with each of Evander’s frantic breaths. Suddenly, the forest floor sloped downward to a clearing jumbled withman-sized boulders. Hoping he could find shelter, he charged down the embankment.
The serpent’s body hissed against the leafy floor behind him. He knew better than to look back; it would slow him, but the hairs on his neck prickled as he dove between two stones leaning together. The instant he slid into their shadow, scales covered the gap, plunging him into darkness.
The rock crackled, and Evander’s heart stilled. Tentatively, he reached out and touched the snake’s side. The muscles were taut—the creature was constricting, attempting to crush him in his hiding place.
Drawing his knife, Evander slashed the snake’s side, leaving shallow cuts in its skin. The creature recoiled, then redoubled its squeeze. The boulders cracked, shots of light streaming down on Evander. His cuts grew more frantic, deeper. Blood soaked his sleeves. Images flashed across his mind—of Valenna in a cottage garden, her hair interwoven with cornflowers; dragons in his own dracorium; quiet mornings wrapped in Valenna’s arms; sitting before the fire in their bare feet, talking until the moon hung high in the shimmering dark, and the fire burned to embers.
He thought he’d let that dream go, but his heart betrayed him.
If he could not get into Cobblepine, it would be a slow ending, painful, and Valenna would have to watch. And that, he feared, would destroy her. With a scream of frustration, he released the knife and dropped to his knees. But as he did, the snake relented its grip, and the boulder crumbled away. For a breathless second, the serpent loomed over Evander, its tongue tasting the air.
He shut his eyes and clenched his teeth, his breath whistling in his nostrils. It would be over soon. Just a second of pain and then the warm, dark waters of death. How many times had he dipped his toe in that pool? More than he could count.
A roar echoed through the hollow, so loud it made the trees quiver. Evander opened his eyes in time to glimpse a blur of blue-gray. Hera stood over him, her center teeth clamped on the serpent’s slippery neck. The snake squealed and twisted, sinking its fangs into Hera’s shoulder. She shrieked three layers of fury as the snake wound its heavy coils around her body. With a pitiful, strangled cry, Hera clawed at the ground as the serpent constricted.
Hera’s cry cut Evander to his core, and before he could think, he was on his feet, clambering up the shards of the boulder. He launched himself onto Hera’s back, vaulted over the snake’s winding body, then slammed his elbow into the serpent’s eye. It wrenched its fangs from Hera’s shoulder and lunged at him, but he dropped to the forest floor and rolled. Forgetting all about Evander, Hera freed herself of the serpent’s clutch and, frightened and bleeding, she tore through the trees, wailing.
She was a coward at heart, poor thing.
Evander let out a hollow laugh and picked up his knife. How ironic that he survived years as a dragon trainer to be devoured by a serpent he happened upon by chance.
There was no time to run. No place to run. The snake struck, and Evander threw himself to the side as its fangs sank into the soft earth, but its tail whipped, catching him in the chest and tossing him into the air. He landed hard, his vision flashing. Blood wetted his lips, its coppery taste bright on his tongue.
The snake hissed, slithering toward him. It had had its fun, and now it was angry. It wanted to consume, to destroy.
Something slid down the embankment behind the serpent.
At first, Evander thought it was a trick of his addled, bleeding brain, but then a voice screamed with grating fury, “KILL IT!”
Valenna.
The woman was mad. He didn’tdeserve this fierce loyalty.
With blood dripping down his chin, Evander looked past the snake’s gleaming neck at Valenna and mouthed, “I love you.”
“Then fight!” she screamed. “LIVE!”
His mind spun. The oath. His life. The woman he loved. But Evander couldn’t bring himself to kill it. He’d wandered into the snake’s home; he was prey. What right had he to take its life?
