The Hunters of Artemis: A Siren's Call

8) The Basilisk

"So, your name is pronounced dead-win, but is spelled d-e-d-u-n," I said twenty minutes later. Upon boarding the downtown trolley, the cat and I sat in the way back, right beside one another. I sat in the seat by the window, he sat on a seat by the aisle's edge. We were alone on the trolley, all that was on board with us was a little man sitting behind the driver up front.
"Do you ever stop talking?" Inquired Dedun, taking a black paw and swiping behind his ear. He seemed to be trying to reach an itch he couldn't scratch. He once again tried to reach it. At first hesitant to touch him, I slowly brought my hand to his ear to give it a light scratch. Dedun looked very annoyed but soon gave a light purring sound. He moved away, looking annoyed once more that he was enjoying my touching him. Now he looked disgusted. It was this kind of attitude from cats for why I'm a dog person.
"Not really," I replied honestly. "I once thought I should make YouTube vids because I like to talk."
"YouTube vids...?"
I had him confused.
"Yeah, you know, videos on the internet. You can talk about your day, products you want to sell or try out. Some people film themselves gaming."
The cat still looked perplexed. He ignored me to look out the windows on the other side of the aisle. Maybe he had never heard of YouTube or videogames. I guess that would happen if you never lived in a house with a TV or laptop. Poor thing. "So, were you born a cat?" I asked, glad we were so far away from the old man and the trolley driver so they couldn't hear us. "Like, was there a bunch of other talking kittens with you when you were born?"
By now the cat looked mortified. I had his attention back. It was funny how shocked an animal could look. Dedun gaped at me as if he thought I was an idiot for even asking. I personally thought it was a decent question. I wondered if there was a bunch of other cats wandering around Kenosha that were capable of speech. Maybe all cats could talk and I was just never aware because of my dad's allergies. "How old are you?" He questioned suspiciously.
"What's that matter?"
"I'm wondering how a child knows Lady Artemis."
My eyes narrowed. "It's rude of you to assume I'm a child."
"But not inaccurate," guessed the cat, once more looking annoyed.
"Well, how old are you?"
"I was born before the religion of Christianity was even formed," replied the cat, once more looking away from me. That made him well over two thousand. "Now answer. How is it you know of Lady Artemis?"
"Um..."
Lie, deflect, make-up a reason.
Said the faint whisper in my head. Again, it spoke, and again I had no idea where the voice had come from. I looked around in wonder only to find the only occupants of the trolley were myself, the cat, the driver, and the little old man sitting behind the driver. "You haven't said how you know her, I don't need to divulge that information," I huffed, crossing my arms and staring out the window.
"I do not owe you an explanation," replied Dedun dryly.
"Wait a second..." I begin, reaching a conclusion. "You've been following me!'
Dedun said nothing. He only pressed together his furry cat lips as he watched me. "I'm not inaccurate," I mock, reusing what he has said earlier.
"I thought perhaps you could have been among the sirens."
"Sirens...?"
But at that moment the head of the old man sitting behind the driver suddenly turned our direction. I thought for a moment the trolley driver must have missed the man's stop. Dedun was explaining to me about sirens but I wasn't paying him attention. My eyes were transfixed upon the old man's crooked smile. He was looking directly at us; simply talking of sirens had gotten his attention. The man's smile was turning into something sinister. The canines were growing, turning into deep fangs. The man's eyes were growing larger, large enough to be the size of outrageous jawbreakers. His brown contacts popped out the second his eyes grew. They started to glow a bright yellow.
DON'T LOOK HIM IN THE EYE!

Said the windchime-likevoice in my head. I was startled enough by the shout inside my head to give ajump. I ducked my head down and obediently did as the voice said. Dedun soonrealized why I looked so terrified. He finally saw what I was looking at. Thecat hissed at the old man.
"Protector of ancient Egypt; Hunter of Artemis," said the man who now lookedmore snake than human. His old and weathered skin was starting to grow scales.His body was growing to a ridiculous length; his arms and legs weredisappearing as he grew into a ridiculously large snake. The driver of thetrolley soon came to a crushing stop, propelling my head into the seat forward.The driver started screaming once the old man morphed into the snake that hadto be at least twenty feet in the length. The snake's attention was now on thedriver. It whipped its body around to simply stare at the man. That was enoughto kill the trolley driver. The man gave an involuntary lurch. His mouth becameslack jawed and his eyes bugged out. I wasn't anywhere near the man, but Icould tell he was immediately dead. I cowered back in my seat and kept my headdown.
"Basilisk," sneered Dedun.
But when I looked around, Dedun was no longer near me. Peering around Icouldn't find the cat anywhere. There was suddenly a young man who looked nomore than twenty. His jet-black hair was just as dark as the cats; his eyes apretty golden color. His skin was tan, showcasing he was Egyptian. The nowhuman Dedun slipped on a strange pair of black goggles that he pulled out of asatchel he was suddenly wearing. The cat and this young man were one and thesame. That much was proven the second the human Dedun spoke. He had the cat'svoice. "You are tooooo late," rasped the basilisk, sending a hiss towardsDedun's direction. I couldn't move from where I sat on the trolley. What washappening right in front of me suddenly made the thought of great-white shark ina lake and the talking cat seem quite rational. "The end of Midgard is coming,"hissed the basilisk, "the realms will fall as will the Olympians. Tell yourlady Artemis that!"
"That's it?" sneered Dedun. "A message for the goddess of the hunt? Nothingelse?"
I wasn't sure what else he wanted from the giant snake who only seemed to growlarger with passing time. I was shocked as well as amazed such a large snakemanaged to look like the tiny old man just ten minutes earlier.
"Not quite," said the monster that was still transforming into a wickedly longsnake. "The message is for the child to relay, you, are to die, protector." Atthat declaration, the snake lunged for Dedun.
But the cat-turned human was too fast for the snake's reach. He too easilydodged the basilisk
"You need to leave, NOW," said Dedun to me as he threw what looked like agrenade. The strange pyramid looking object exploded soon after, a mess ofcobwebs now covering the Basilisk's face.
Do what he says and GO!
Urged the voice inside my head. I was probably going to need severepsychological help for all of this when it was over.
"No," I said aloud, answering the voice. Dedun sent me an odd look but he shouldn'thave spared me a glance. The basilisk too easily removed the sticky cobwebsfrom its face to strike its mighty tail at Dedun. Hitting the back of thetrolley roughly, Dedun caused the glass to explode upon impact.
Dedun cringed as he removed bloody glass from his arm. His black goggles wereaskew. He kept his eyes squeezed shut as he struggled to put them back on. Hewas running out of the time; the snake was trying to kill him.
"HEY!" I shouted at the snake creature. The basilisk was close to striking. Iintentionally kept my head down, but I tried to keep the snake in my sight. "L-leavehim alone!"
I'm not quite sure what I thought would happen. Surely, I wasn't dumb enough tobelieve the snake would suddenly stop attacking just because I commanded it to.The basilisk released a chortle. But I now had his attention. I had to work toavoid getting hit with its large scaly black tail as it turned. The snake was nowwatching me while Dedun recovered. I could see as he pulled a large piece ofglass from his arm.
Distract the basilisk.
Said the voice in my head. I was terrified but I knew the voice was right.Again, I had to avoid being tripped by the enormous tail of the snake. At leastI remembered to wear sneakers instead of high-heeled sandals. "You gave usy-your message," I began, giving a hop as the snake wiggled its tail. It was somassive had I not hopped I would have tripped. My large bohemian purse washeavy on my arm, and then I remembered it was full because of my plans to trapthe shark. "L-let us go."
The head of the basilisk came close to me. The large snake peering at meintently, but I ignored its gaze. I froze in place, cringing as the snake tooka massive whiff of air as it was closer to me. A long-forked tongue slid out aswell, almost as if to taste the particles in the air. "I already said you willlive, child," rasped the snake. "Do not make me change my mind. I hold noqualms for spilling the blood of an Olympian decedent. Leave."
That caused my brows to furrow. "Wait, what...?"
But the snake started to turn away. Dedun had recovered enough to stage anattack. He launched himself at the neck of the basilisk to stab a golden spearthrough its neck.
My relief that the monster was about to die was short-lived. The spear didn'tkill it. It just made him very angry. The snake still thrashed violently, thistime tripping me when it swung its massive tail and I was unprepared. My headsmacked against the floor of the trolley while I hit my funny bone wrong. Mypurse falling scattered the contents. Lip gloss, sunglasses, a camera, a smallcan of hair spray, and many other miscellaneous objects came tumbling out. Butit was something else that caught my eye. It was the small box of baking sodathat I had planned on using as one of the ingredients for a pore scrub.
I briefly recalled Sam telling me something when I was a little. He explainedthat baking soda is sodium bicarbonate, a chemical compound. It was safe to usein baking and for at-home remedies but wouldn't be a good idea to swallow bythe spoonful.
What would happen if the snake had it in its mouth...
Developing an idea, I quickly used my manicured thumb to pop open the box ofbaking soda. I opened the container wider while Dedun tried and failed oncemore to kill the massive snake. Dedun was bound to be eaten. The snake was nowangrier than ever. The tail of the basilisk whipped violently, breaking twomore trolley windows in the process. I suspected no one in Kenosha couldwitness this violent monster attack occurring given we were in a seedy part oftown where there was nothing but an alley blocking us from view. The basiliskhad waited until the trolley was in the perfect secluded area to attack.
"HEY, YOU STUPID BASILISK!" I shouted, waving my hand not holding the bakingsoda wildly. The snake had been close to striking Dedun with what would havesurely been a death blow. Dedun was pinned underneath the massive coils of thesnake. The basilisk turned, and I had to be careful not to look at it directly atits large golden eyes. The snake came closer, its coils slowly unraveling fromDedun. It was amazing that the monster was still alive given the spear that wasstill lodge through its throat. I waited until the massive snake was right infront of me. All sense of fear was forgotten while I focused on my plan.
If it didn't work, I was surely going to die. "You will die with theprotector," rasped the Basilisk before raising his head for what was surely tobe a death strike. It was close. I could smell its putrid breath; feel the hotair issuing through its massive mouth that could probably swallow me whole. Itook the opportunity of its mouth being open to launch the open box of bakingsoda into it. The effects were instantaneous. The massive monster snake startedto gurgle violently as the baking soda started coating its forked tongue andthe inside of its mouth. It seemed whatever it was that was inside the salivaof the monster was not having a good reaction with the baking soda. Thebasilisk started to choke, its massive body thrashing from how much it didn'tenjoy my odd weapon. Dedun was smart. He used the distraction of the monster toattack. I'm not sure how or where, but he suddenly had a large golden sword.With an angry battle cry, he swung up and down, easily cutting through the neckof the thrashing basilisk as easily as a knife would slip into warm butter. Bloodsplattered everywhere, including my clothes and sprays on my face. I was verylucky I had my mouth closed.
I wasn't sure how to react. This entire time I had yet to scream. There's notmuch someone can say when you just witness a massive monster attacking awarrior that transformed from a cat to a human. All I could do was stare at thedecapitated snake, shocked by the events that just occurred.
A few moments after being decapitated, the muscles of the snake were stillmoving. It stopped about a minute after death. After he was certain the snakewas very much dead, Dedun looked exhausted. His left arm looked to be broken.Cuts and scrapes littered his body courtesy of being thrown through the window.He was covered in blood as well, but not as much as me given I was closer tothe snake when it was beheaded. Dedun used his right arm to readjust his left. Hethen watched me with his yellow eyes strangely. Soon, he gave me a bow of hisvery dark head and a wry smile that lit up his tan face.
"You little demigoddess, saved my life. I will be eternally grateful."
***