The snake slithered up the mound, a few inches of his belly now exposed.
I had to act fast.
As if sensing my plan, two more soldiers charged at me.
I crouched low to the ground and swept my foot in an arc. Blood and guts sprayed through the air as I knocked them down.
Two more daggers hissed into my palm as I whirled in a blur of slashes. I ribboned every inch of skin I saw, severing fingers and cutting straight to the bone.
Finally, the soldiers couldn’t stand anymore.
One twitched hard enough that he exposed the side of his neck.
I sucked in a breath as my eyes landed on the dark mark on what remained on his skin.
The Borderline Bands circle.
Mercenaries, pretending to be Serpents.
We weren’t facing a single army.
My bones cracked once more as I raced away from the realization.
That’s how they were overwhelming us with shocking surge after shocking surge.
My daggers slit two more throats, the veins and sinew too strong against my weapons, as I pushed forward.
The snake was halfway up the small hill, a sliver of space between its yellow abdomen and the ground.
This plan could kill me.
I ran faster.
I twisted and used the momentum to propel myself forward. My body hit the ground with a painful thud, as I slid through guts and severed limbs, right between the ground and the beast’s underside.
The mud reeked of death.
The snake smelled worse.
The light faded as the snake covered me, its filthy, putrid scales only an inch away from my face.
I pushed my daggers into the snake with all my might. But the blades only scraped against the scales, hard enough that sparks flew.
The coiling mass above me pushed down, threatening to crush me.
But I was faster.
By the time I’d slowed down and saw light again on the other side of the snake, I’d left no mark behind.
I jumped to my feet, sucking in breath after breath.
Every being in this world had a soft spot. But this monster seemed to be protected by a frightening magicked shell.
It kept slithering forward. It hadn’t even noticed I’d risked my life to impale it.
I swallowed my growing despair as it flicked its fetid forked tongue toward my warriors.
It was getting ready to strike again.
