The Names Our Children Will Know

The Sand Snake - Draft One

They could hear running feet and worried voices outside, but no one came into the tent. Jordan strained to see outside, tugging everyone's wrists in her direction. The soft clinks and rattles of the old chains were loud in her ears. She wasn't quite close enough to see outside, but she could hear taut voices calling across the camp.

"There's something coming, I think. They're worried, it's not supposed to be here. They're repeating a word I don't recognize. 'Basalick,' maybe?"

Mark sat up straight very suddenly, almost wrenching Jordan to the ground again. "It wasn't 'basilisk' by any chance, was it?" His face was draining of color.

"Maybe, why?"

Tessa leaned forward and asked, "Are you sure?" Jordan and Wesson exchanged confused glances.

"So who's going to be brave and tell us what a baskalisk thingy is?"

Mark shot Wesson a glare before saying, "It's a sand snake."

"What's so bad about that? It's just a snake," Jordan scoffed.

"Not just any snake. If you look it in the eyes, you drop dead. There's no known cure for the venom. Basically, they're impossible to kill, about fifty feet long, and they like to slam into their prey at about the speed of a galloping horse–which is much faster than it sounds."

"So why is it here?"

"It probably smelled the camp and came running... Not literally, but you know what I mean," Mark said with a tinge of grave humor.

"Are we gonna wait here, or try and escape?" Jordan tried to look like she was ready for either one.

"We should flee!" Wesson insisted. "Into the desert, where no one would think to find us! We would be safe from the slavers–"

"–Who likely know this place like the back of their hands."

"–and that baskilick thing!"

"That came from the desert. Yeah, let's go to one of the most hostile territories in the country without supplies or even that much prior knowledge and chained to each other. I'm sure we'll be fine." Tessa threw her hands up in exasperation, forgetting in the moment that her hands were bound. In the action, her hands wrenched open the manacles holding her wrists to the central ring. Even then, she didn't seem to notice.

"Hey, um, Tessa?"

"What?"

"Look at your hands." Mark pointed to the short chain.

"What about the–oh." Tessa glanced around at the other three, a grin beginning to creep across her face. "Looks like we're getting out," she said.

She grabbed the chain connecting Jordan's feet and hands to the central ring and twisted it apart. It took her a few tries, but before even two minutes had passed, the chains had been broken. Tessa's infectious grin spread to the others as Tessa systematically twisted their chains off.

"Now the question just is how do we get out of here without getting caught or eaten?"

☀

Jordan and Tessa both had the iron bands off of their hands and feet, but the other two still had a few links of chains attached to their manacles, and Tessa hadn't thought to release the giant dog at all. This made silence a very difficult endeavor.

"Would you quit clanking?" Jordan hissed at Mark. He grinned ruefully and jingled the last two links at her.

"I wouldn't if Tessa had deigned to release me, but you're her favorite. So clank I must."