Aiden's Quest

Chapter 2.4 Part 9

Neither of the travelers were sleepy, so they sat there with their eyes open and stared into the darkness. In the silence and in the darkness, they searched and listened intensely. After many minutes the sounds of the forest became apparent. Slowly their dark-adapted eyes perceived bits of light. One small patch of the sky was visible and some stars were making their way onto the evening's imagery. In time, they both stared up at this and another smaller patch of visible starlight. Danger did not seem very near. Only the scurrying of small animals could be heard and no longer did wolf howls pierce the silence.

They, however, could not have picked a worse spot to stop for the night. High above them, in the branches of the very tree with which they were resting against the trunk, was an enormous anaconda. The snake, too, was wide awake and silently listening in the dark. It had heard their approach and had sensed their presence as they stopped up against the trunk of its tree. Slowly and silently it was unraveling itself. Its head and tail, both loose, were dangling downward. Inch by inch it moved toward its prey, our travelers unaware.

This beast was well known to the other creatures lurking in the forest. Nothing was so deadly and as dangerous as this giant anaconda. Even the wolves would not enter into its domain. As the snake's extremities neared the ground, it sensed its prey—one small and one large. If it acted carefully it could have both. If one got away it would prefer to have the large one. But the small one would be the easiest to capture.

Jashion felt his leg near the gash. It was very warm—almost hot—swollen and tender. He, very gently, rubbed around the injured area. Since soaking it in the stream it had been tolerable to walk on. Sitting for a while it was becoming painful and he wondered how it would feel to try to walk again. He glanced toward Jemma, though he could scarcely see her outline, and wondered how her feet were holding up. She was indeed rubbing each of her feet with her hands. Jashion heard a branch snap up above him, and the two looked up. Nothing could be seen, and it became instantly quiet again. Then Jemma made a tiny shriek. A rather large insect had begun to crawl up her leg. She began to slap and push at her leg frantically.

"What's it ye're screamin' at?" Jashion asked as he turned and leaned towards her.

"A bug's crawlin' up me leg," she said in a forced quietness.

She was still fussing with her leg, though the insect was gone, as the anaconda's tail began to wrap around her trunk. She assumed that it was Jashion's arm coming around her to comfort her, so she did not turn from it—being glad for the comfort, and of having him close to her. She would have liked to have sat on his lap, and have both of his arms around her at this moment. But the embrace that she was about to receive was much more that she had bargained for. In mere moments, the anaconda had wrapped around her sufficiently to begin to squeeze and to pull her up. She shrieked again, this time violently.

Jashion could tell that she moved, and thought momentarily that the bug was back. He reached towards her, but her body was not there.

"Jemma," he called. There was no reply. The beast had her tight then, such that she had almost no function in her lungs. Jashion felt towards her again and called out more loudly. He stood up slowly such that upon hitting his head on the tree branch above him it did not smart too much.

"Ouch," he said and began to rub his head. He started to walk forward until his nose touched the coiled body of the anaconda wrapped around Jemma. It took him a moment to realize what his face was up against. He could feel that it was scaly and then he felt it move and the muscles tense. He began to beat upon the body of the snake with his fists. He swung again and again, but his blows couldn't break the snakes grip on Jemma. He bent down looking for a stick to jab into the body of the snake.

The snake was pleased, the large one didn't run; it would have both the large and the small prey to feast upon. While Jashion shuffled his hands around on the ground looking for a stick, the snake circled head first around his left leg. A stick was found just as the snake tightened around his leg. The stick and the beatings would be for the part of the snake attacking him, rather than the portion of the anaconda crushing Jemma.

Jashion and his blows were no match for the strength of the anaconda. In short order Jashion was wrapped up in the snake's coil. He fought with whatever limb had movement for as long as he could, but he could not break the grip of the snake, and the pressure was getting tighter. Soon he was having trouble breathing and each breath became shorter. The tightness evolved from pressure to pain, and he felt that his bones would snap in two. His fingers began to scratch and dig into the body of the snake near his hands—it was useless but he was going to give the fight every bit that he could. He began to feel faint from the lack of oxygen and slowly his consciousness began to fade.

Out of the dark another pair of eyes beheld the scene. This traveler had not made a sound and the anaconda had not so much as caught a whiff of his scent. Slowly, silently, ever so carefully an arrow was placed on the bow and the string pulled back. A silent exhale, a pause, and the string was released. For just an instant the anaconda heard the sound before this fierce beast heard no more. The arrow pierced the snake's head from underneath and went straight through its brain. It died instantly, but its massive coiled body was still crushing Jemma and Jashion.

The keen hunter reached behind his head and drew his sword from the scabbard he wore on his back. If he had had a companion, his companion would not have known where Aiden had aimed, or what he had struck—the night black with darkness. But Aiden saw in the blackness what others could not, owing to his synesthesia. He saw the anaconda's head drop, and he knew that it was killed. He raced toward the dead, yet still deadly, beast. Quick, powerful, and sure were the strikes he struck upon the body. He continued to work in near silence until the sound of two coiled heaps hit the ground.

A thud, but no other sound was heard. He went to the larger and unwound the coils. A man, unconscious, injured and weak, but alive, lay in front of him. This man would live, he would save him. Next, he turned his attention to the smaller heap and removed the smaller, tighter coils, revealing the delicate body of a child, a little girl.