Crimson Coils (The Snake Men Book 2)

Chapter 2

Mari slowly chewed a piece of jerky she had wrapped away in her pack. It was dried and processed by her people, and staved off hunger for awhile. The meat was from fire rats – large red rodents the size of a domesticated cat. They had shiny, iridescent fins on their heads around their ears and on their backs. They loved to soak up the heat of the volcanic vents in the area. While Mari agreed that had she not been raised on their meat would she find them disgusting, but she also found they tasted similar to chicken.

Swallowing the last bite, she shouldered her pack and began to walk. The sun was about to rise, and after having a fitful night of sleeping she needed to get moving. No doubt her family would soon discover their daughter was no longer in her tent.

Hence the reason why she needed to get going. The plan was simple: she would travel through the more dangerous paths of the Wastes in order to get to a town on the other side. The town was known as Gray Watch, because it bordered the Wastes and the Dry Plains outside of it. It was also the only town that had merchants and travelers that sold their goods beyond the Plains and even further.

That was Mari's goal, to bribe one of those merchants and get the hell out of the Wastes. But first things first, she needed to get there before her family did. 

The path was a shortcut, if she survived. It cut right through dragon territories, almost hugging the base of Devil's Gate, and closer one got to Devil's Gate, the bigger they got. She was confident, however, that she wouldn't get eaten by one of the giant brutes. She was small, fast, and could hide in pretty much any little nook. She proved that with her little escape the night before.

Shouldering her pack, she began to make her way towards Devil's Gate, confidence and hope in every step.

~/~

This was impossible.

Mari let out a wheezing breath as she hauled herself onto the top of the small outcrop of hardened magma, rolling onto her back as she did. She looked up at the sky, the same color of the ash that fell around her, panting softly. That had been the fourth formation she had to climb, and she didn't even know why that path had been on the map in the first place. Who looked at all those formations and small cliffs, and said "You know what? That would make a great shortcut."

Cursing under her breath, she sat up again, slowly rolling to the side and standing up. Dusting some of the ash off, she continued her walk in silence. That is until, some of the rocks from the hill next to her suddenly rolled down to her feet. She froze and looked to the top of it. The rocks were small, about the size of the marbles that she had seen made from the crystals they had gathered, but something had to have moved them.

There hadn't be a slight shake from the volcanoes, and there wasn't a gas pocket nearby. She moved a little closer to the crag, looking around it. She found nothing, nothing to have made the rocks move.

"I'm losing my mind." she murmured, shaking her head and walking back to the path. It wasn't long until she came across yet another outcrop, and she knew now that the Wastes wanted to kill her; not by dragons, not by lava, but by climbing.

Lots, and lots, of climbing.

She wanted to give up, look to the sky and yell "I give up! Let the Wastes take me!" But if she didn't have the risk of her family finding her, she would've given up right there and then. She needed to get further into the Wastes. So she limply threw herself at the rock, and began to climb, slowly crawling towards the top.

She felt a prickle on the back of her neck and she looked behind her. Her eyes scanned the land behind her, the path she took to reach this spot. Nothing, no one, yet she couldn't help but feel that someone was watching her. It couldn't be dragons, they didn't live this faraway from the main volcanoes. Could her father have sent scouts to find her? Could he have sent Kavash?

Now panic coursed through her veins, and she hurriedly climbed up the side of the outcrop, and quickly got to her feet as she reached the top. She broke into a run, her exhaustion fleeing as she continued down the path. Mari didn't care that her feet hurt, or her legs feltlike they were about to give out.

She just kept running, until her legs crumpled and she fell onto the ground, panting heavily. She couldn't remember the last time she ran that fast, and that far. Mari glanced behind her, and let out a breathy laugh.

Nothing was there, nothing had found her. It had all been in her imagination. Her family was far behind her, she had nothing to worry about. Still chuckling, she turned her head to look forward-

-to come face to face with a dragons snout.

~/~

"Dragon" was a very loose term for what she was facing.

For starters, it was quite small, about the size of a dog. If she were standing, it's head would be at her hip. It had no wings, and four, long and lithe legs. It was covered head to two in red and black scales, golden eyes staring at her with hunger. The horns on it's head a creamy white, straight and rigid. Much smaller spikes grew along it's spine and down it's long tail. Black claws glistened with menace, further insinuated by the creatures growl. It's lips peeled back as it snarled, it's pupils turning to slits, and was that...lava spit dripping from its jowls? The best part was:

There was five of them.

"Shit." Mari breathed, bolting to her feet and running back the way she came. The dragons leapt into action, snarling and snapping at her. She didn't dare to see how many of them were chasing her. A snarl to her right revealed that one of them caught up, and was running alongside the formation beside her, using it's claws like hooks to grip to the side of the rock. With a hiss it launched itself at her.

Mari ducked just in time, feeling the air brush against her back as it sailed over her, hitting the rock to her right with a pained yelping noise. She still didn't stop as they chased her. She jumped over the area she just climbed, landing with enough force her teeth rattled. Still she kept going, taking another path further into the wastes as she did.

A disgusting, gurgling sound came from behind her, and before she could look a lob of bright yellow-orange flew by her, hitting a rock beside her and missing her by mere inches. The strange fluid made a hissing sound as it made contact with the rock, slowly sliding down and leaving scorch marks as it did.

Yup .Lava spit.

And she definitely didn't want to see what would happen if one of the dragons hit her with that. Unfortunately, she ducked under an arch, thinking she was safe, but found that she had just sealed her doom. There was nowhere else to run, because they had cornered her to the edge of a cliff.

Nowhere they were, creating a half circle, with the Alpha in the middle, she guessed. Slowly they crept closer, snarling as they did, their saliva dripping from their muzzles onto the ground, sizzling and popping as it did. Mari glanced behind her. It was such a sheer drop, she would be a red stain on the ground if she fell.

The snarls brought her attention back to her hunters. One of them leapt forward and snapped at her. She gasped and stumbled back, her heels at the edge of the cliff. Another crept forward, lowering itself to the ground in a crouch, ready to pounce.

She figured this was the end, that she would die here. Perhaps death washer true freedom all along. She had nowhere to go, and here she was, trapped by a pack of dragons, becoming their meal.

 As the dragon was about to pounce, the ground began to shake, causing them to whimper and look around. There was a cracking sound, and the ground gave way to Mari, collapsing and taking her down at the same time. She screamed as she began to plummet to the ground below.