The Deathly Quest

Chapter 9

Meet Dan! (Picture on your right)

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Paul and Dan trudged in the dense, thick mud under extremely humid conditions. Their shirts stuck to their backs in the most uncomfortable way.

"Dude when will we find a snake?" Dan asked.

Paul rolled his eyes, it had only been half an hour and his partner was getting impatient.

"Well... Firenze said North and in North we are and there's the hill where snakes mostly make borrows, " Paul said.

"What's the plan?"

"Rat cars."

"I am sorry Paul, didn't quite get you.."

"Firenze gave us those small mobile cars almost toy like and we will cover them up with rat skin sewn together, this way we will be able to maneuver them inside the burrow unlike before where we had to place dead rats at the entrance."

"WOW! Firenze is a genius!"

"Well.. it was Andrew's idea."

"They both are geniuses then!"

"He makes it sound so easy, too easy almost." Dan thinks to himself, his head full of thoughts, raging, demanding thoughts.

"What if 'I' die this time?"

"What if 'I' break a leg this time?"

His thoughts get loud with every step he takes. He doesn't like it when his thoughts get loud. No one does.

"We are here," Paul announces as they reach the looming hill with numerous holes and burrows.

Paul takes off his weighing rucksack which had been cutting in his shoulder and takes out the nylon nets, sticks and the small mobile cars.

"See that burrow?" Paul asks pointing?

"Yeah," Dan replies hesitatingly. His macho stance has considerably fallen.

"Well I am sending in the mobile car and it has a camera fixed to it, we will be able to see the inside of burrow in this camera," Paul says taking out another device. "Will you hold the net or the stick to trap them?"

Beads of sweat roll down Dan's face. Suddenly it's too hot. Stifling hot.

"I... I dunnu," Dan stutters.

"Come on man! You were there last time too!" Paul points out.

"Yeah! But no where near the snake! I didn't do "anything" to capture it!" Dan confesses.

"Okay I guess you should hold the net, here goes the mobile car! " Paul says.

On the device in Paul's hands pops up a blurry, pixelated picture. The inside of the burrow is dark. The image is surprising! There are a lot of snakes cooped up in the little space. They seem to be asleep.

Paul takes hold of the metallic fork like stick and Dan tightens his grip on the net's handle. They both watch the screen raptly.

"I don't think they are coming out.." Dan trails off.

"Focus! "

Dan's eyes trails off to Paul's shoes and his eyes catch something slimy slithering slowly towards them.

"Paul! It,s right behind your sneakers!"

Paul snaps to attention and slowly turns around. This snake isn"t as big as the previous one but it is equally intimidating. It lets out a loud menacing hiss. Dan freezes in his boots. Paul doesn't have any idea as to what to do.

"Should i move? I want to tell Dan something but the snake might attack any moment." Paul thinks to himself, contemplating all the while.

In an instinct, he strikes the snake with the metallic stick and following suit Dan positions his net in the same direction. The snake lands in the net with a "plop". A sickening noise that makes Dan want to throw up right there.

"Shut the net!' Paul shrieks.

Dan obeys and clamps the net shut.

"Eagle's eye!" Paul shouts happily.

"Heh heh," Dan breaks out in a nervous laughter that sounds more like wheezing. Pretty soon both are toppled over laughing. Laughing out of relief that they didn't get hurt. Laughing because they caught a snake as if it was a fish or a crab. Laughing because it had been a while...

By 4 0' clock in the afternoon they have caught three more snakes. Without any dramas. Which is in itself a miracle.

"I think we are going good mate," Dan says to Paul.

"Yeah, me too."

"It's all because of you though! You the man! I was so frightened yet you were so sensible. I don't know what I'd have done without you," Dan says.

"Woah, that's big considering it came from you'" Paul says.

"Err I think we should inform Firenze of our catches and ask for further update.." Dan says.

"So far we have caught four snakes," Paul says into the walkie-talkie.

The walkie-talkie crackles back to life.

"Four?! Me and Daisey have only caught one! Great job!" Firenze says.

"What now?" Paul asks.

"Well today we will camp separately as we have to be on the trek until we gather all the snakes," Firenze says.

"Right. Any update on the others?"

"None at all." and with that the walkie-talkie goes dead.

"Seems like we would be camping among snakes tonight," Paul says.

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-Sometimes the author is even more clueless than the reader as to what will happen next.

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