EXAMINATION

Chapter Ten

"Hey guys?" Shad who was looking over at his shoulder, said nervously. He had lagged behind, and all of them were now walking ahead of him.

"Yeah?" Mah-Rukh asked, without looking behind.

"Ow!!"

"Huh? What?" Now they stopped and turned towards Shad who had doubled over in pain.

"What is it? What happened?" They crowded over him, suddenly worried.

Asbar crouched down where Shad was holding on to his knee for dear life, and firmly removed his hands. Shad was biting down on his lip, trying hard not to cry out.

"What is it?" He asked.

Shad pulled his jeans up to his calf. There, a little above his ankle, his leg was turning a reddish purple color and already swelling.

"Something bit me!" He exclaimed still biting his lip to keep back the pain. "I felt a sharp stab of pain."

"But what was it?" Sehr said looking at the bruise fearfully. "It looks awful."

"It feels awful" Shad replied.

Before any of them could say anything, they heard a noise that stopped them all in their tracks; the sound of a thousand things slithering on the ground. They looked at each other with dread. Sehr looked at Shad's wound with wide eyes. Then grabbed the scarf she was wearing around her neck and tied it above the bruise tightly.

"Is that what I think it is?" Mah-Rukh said, the horror evident on her face.

"Snake bite." Khizar breathed.

"Speaking of which.." Asbar called, his voice was distracted and seemed far away. They turned to see him facing the way they came.

The sight made their blood run cold. Snakes of every shape, size and color were racing up to them with terrible speed. They stood there, frozen with fear. There was no way they could escape this.

Khizar was the first one to jolt out of his trance. He grabbed Shad's arm and hooked it over his shoulder, giving him support. Then he turned and ran, calling out to the others behind him. They startled and started running after him. But the army of snakes was gaining on them fast. And with Shad injured as he was, they couldn't run very far. Suddenly, the ground in front of them split open, and a huge tree stood to block their path. There was no way around it. They were trapped. They turned to face the snakes.

Shad removed his hand from Khizar's shoulder. Khizar looked at him in surprise. But Shad shook his head silently; he wasn't going to act weak now. He ignored the pain in his left leg, and took his lighter out. His face was set into a determined expression. The rest also took on fighting positions, with their weapons out. For a second, the snakes stopped. Complete silence descended over the group, and the only sounds that could be heard were the sounds of their heavy breathing.

Then, the snakes descended. There were thousands of them. Khizar's hand that held his dagger was moving so fast, it was merely a blur. Sehr's arrows shot down any snake that came at her. Asbar's chain and Shad's lighter cut down many in one blow. Mah-Rukh was spinning her spear in her hands with the tip outwards, so it formed a sharp edged circle, and sliced anything it touched.

But they were still way out numbered. For every five they took out, ten more would be on them.

"Umm...guys, I don't think this is working!" Sehr called out in a panicked voice between shots. "Anyone have another plan?"

"There's no way out! We can't run, until we somehow move this tree. And unless one of you has been hiding a superpower we don't know about, I don't think we can do that!" Asbar said. He was getting tired, and frustrated.

"Oh!" Sehr exclaimed suddenly, pulling an arrow out of a snake carcass. "Mah-Rukh, cover my back for a sec!"

Mah-Rukh moved, so they were standing back to back, Mah-Rukh facing the snakes, and Sehr facing the tree. Then she fired four arrows simultaneously. They hit the tree one after the other, in a line.

"Climb! Climb!" She yelled urgently.

Khizar was the closest to the tree. On hearing Sehr's voice, he tucked his dagger into his belt and climbed nimbly up the tree putting minimum weight on the arrows. After he was safely up, Sehr secured her bow and climbed up after him. Then Mah-Rukh made the climb. After that, it was just Asbar and Shad left on the ground, fighting the hordes of snakes, their backs joined together.

"Hurry, hurry!!" Mah-Rukh cried.

Suddenly Asbar leaped towards the arrows and using them as Hand holds, swung to the bottom branch of the tree, safe. Now only Shad was left, holding of the snakes by himself. Turning his back on the snakes to climb up the tree looked impossible. Then, an arrow shot towards him, hitting a snake that was slithering dangerously close to him on the head.
"Climb!" Sehr called. "I'll hold them off for a few seconds from here!"

Without wasting another second, Shad turned around and leaped for the first arrow. Gripping it hard, he swung his whole body upwards and caught the second one by his feet. Then he pulled his upper body up, push–up style and caught Asbar's stretched out hand. Sehr shot another arrow, pinning a snake that was trying to follow, to the tree. Then they all turned and climbed down the other side using Asbar's chain.

As they turned around, expecting more snakes, they found the scene fading, and Sehr's arrows returned to her quiver. They breathed a sigh of relief. Sehr collapsed exhaustedly to the ground and Shad bent down, his hands on his knees, breathing heavily.

"Thanks." He rasped out, nodding at Sehr. She nodded back, too tired to do anything else.

After resting for a few minutes, they dusted themselves off, and decided to continue. After all it was still light out and they wanted to take advantage of the time they had.