Shadowed Scales

Chapter 19: Before Ouroboros Swallows the Ground

_CHAPTER NINETEEN_

Before Ouroboros Swallows the Ground

Sameer had to move quickly. He knew where the missing girls might have gone. He hoped that he was not too late. If he could catch Counsellor Patel in the act, he might call the other counsellors to send him to jail.

No one deserved to be devoured.

He remembered his father's rants about handling carnivore cases where they devoured herbivores, which was against the law. If those crimes kept happening, then all herbivores wouldn't want to be friends with carnivores. Schools will be divided, and everyone would be scared of each other.

Might as well make the world plunge into darkness.

"Sameer! Sameer, wait up!" A voice called from behind. Sameer was surprised to find Beppi running towards him with the fluffy Honduran white bat riding on his back.

"Beppi? Arthur? What are you doing here?" he asked, overlooking their shoulders to see if anyone else followed them. The Tasmanian devil was panting, red-faced while Arthur dropped down from his shoulders.

"We came to help you," said Arthur, his cloudy blue eyes shone from the moonlight.

"What about Tek and the others?"

"Naia suggested that we help you since we sort of know what's going on. If the grownups don't believe us, maybe we'll catch him in the act."

"Also, Daymas and Maccus will make sure the rest of the campers are safe while the both of us go on!"

Sameer wasn't too sure if Beppi and Arthur could help. He barely knew Beppi and Arthur was blind. However, he smiled, feeling relief that he won't have to face the tunnels alone.

"Okay but we have to stick together," he hissed, making sure the two animals were beside him. "We don't know what's lurking in there."

Beppi punched the air in a small celebration while Arthur had his ears perked up.

"We're ready when you are."

With that, the three of them set off into the tunnels.

...

"Does it have to smell like a wet dog?" Beppi complaint, rubbing his nose as if he had a cold. "We're kinda lucky that we can see well. Except you, Arthur because-"

"I know, I know," Arthur stopped the Tasmanian devil from talking with a finger on his lips. "I'm trying to hear anything important. My clicks can find things quickly, but you will have to tell me what it is."

Sameer tasted the air. The temperature of the tunnels felt warm. Which meant that somebody was using the tunnels. He might not have had sensitive hearing or a great sense of smell, he can still use the best of his abilities as a cobra to help.

"The tunnel sounds lonely," Arthur commented, running his two fingers across the wall. "Must have been used for something."

"This tunnel was built during the war," Sameer explained, letting Beppi take the lead while he took the middle and let Arthur hold onto his tail. "The herbivore soldiers used this tunnel to escape from carnivores. This place was dug out by bats, moles and rabbits."

He felt his tail being tugged, signalling him to turn in Arthur's direction. His cloudy blue eyes looked eerie in the dim lit tunnel. "B-bats? So, this is what they did besides flying down onto the enemies..."

Beppi and Sameer paused. It wasn't like Arthur to talk in a serious tone. Could it be that some of the bats that went into war were related to him? There was so much Sameer wanted to ask, had it not been for their real purpose in the tunnels.

"Counsellor Patel mentioned that cobras also had a part in the war," Sameer continued, trying to sway Arthur away from a subject he clearly wasn't comfortable talking about.

"And?" Beppi prompted, scratching his muzzle.

"Cobras not only gave out their venom...They...They ate their own comrades! I have a feeling those small animals were devoured... T-they were devoured out of love..."

Arthur was trembling while Beppi let out a nervous laugh. "H-hey we shouldn't talk about this while we're in the tunnel! Aren't we supposed to be on a rescue mission? Seriously Sameer, I don't want to know about cobras' weird love-war story."

Sameer took a deep breath. The Tasmanian devil was right, and he just HAD to bring up what Counsellor Patel had told him which bothered him so much. That information made him wonder if that actually happened or it was just the counsellor's way of scaring?

If it was the latter, it was a very weird thing to say to an eleven-year-old.

"Shh! I think I hear something," said Arthur, swivelling his ears while his mouth was moving. He didn't utter a word. Sameer realised that he was using his clicks to help listen for the missing campers. What was odd was Arthur's strange rubbing on the walls.

"Are you giving the wall a massage?" Beppi asked, laughing a bit. Arthur shook his head.

"No, I'm testing the walls," said Arthur. Sameer was watching him with awe at how the blind Honduran white bat was carrying himself like a soldier. "My Grandpop told me that beasts during the war would hide within the walls to plan an ambush."

"So, is there anyone hiding in there?"

Arthur tapped the wall again, his mouth moved wordlessly. His ears began to droop, an answer both Beppi and Sameer knew. But the bat's demeanour changed when his fluffy white fur bristled. His ears perked up.

"I hear crying," Arthur reported in an urgent tone. "I know where the sound is coming from! Come on!"

So Beppi carried both the bat and cobra on his shoulder. With Sameer guarding the rear while Arthur directed the Tasmanian devil to the location. Sameer couldn't imagine how frightened the campers must've been if they can't see well in the dark.

"We're almost there," Arthur whispered. He opened his mouth to use his clicks, ears wiggling. "I can hear three campers, one of them being Arabelle."

"Anything else?" Beppi asked, picking up speed. Arthur used his clicks again, shuddering. "O-oh, I think a large snake- no, a cobra! A cobra!"

Without a word, the three of them followed Arthur's directions until they reached the source of the sound. With a sigh of relief, they have found Arabelle and the two other campers: a chinchilla and a yellow tree boa.

The three of them were huddling each other, either from fear or the cold air.

"We found you!" Beppi announced, putting down Arthur and Sameer from his back. "Are you girls okay?"

"We're o-okay," the boa replied through their chattered teeth. The three girls immediately glued themselves close to the boys. Sameer didn't understand why he was feeling warm all of a sudden.

Was this because he felt relieved that the girls are safe?

"No one knew we were here," the chinchilla murmured, sobbing into Beppi. The boys did their best to comfort the frightened girls while they themselves were terrified to the bone.

"He said...He wanted us to follow him," Arabelle explained, smoothening her feathers. Sameer couldn't help but noticed the black swan's nervous demeanour. "We...I..."

"It's okay, Arabelle," Sameer soothed the black swan. The poor avian was trembling the more Sameer tried to approach her. Instead, he flattened his hood and averted his gaze. "Let's get out of here."

The six of them were ready to leave but Arthur's ears were perked up. He heard something. His expression shifted from confusion to horror.

"SAMEER WATCH OUT!" Arthur warned, making Sameer pushed his friend away from where he was pointing at.

Before he knew it, the Egyptian cobra twisted his head and locked his fangs onto a set of another. Bigger, longer and more venomous than he could ever muster!