Dragon Witch ✔️

60 - Desert Child

I retracted the mace-ball and moved toward the spot where it'd hit. I could've sworn the ground said "ouch." There was nothing there, though. Not even when I focused really hard to see through any potential glamour.

Eva flew to my shoulder from where I'd left her, apparently more curious than angry.

What see?

I'm not sure. Making as little noise as possible, I crept toward the patch of ground.

It shifted as I came near. Something rose out of the ground, shedding sand. My first instinct was to run. But I shouldn't run if it was a giant worm; they would sense the vibrations. No, it couldn't be a worm. It was too small. Should I run? It could be a baby worm.

After an endless moment of worry, a small child was sitting on the patch of sand. She looked perfectly normal at first glance. Wrapped from head to toe in sandy-yellow linens, she had to be a native. Were there natives in a dragon arena? The worms were native enough. They were obviously an obstacle for the survival competition.

When the competition wasn't in session, the worms still had to eat. Maybe there was a colony of humans around to feed them.

"Are you okay? Where's your mom?" I took a step closer and leaned over.

Eva hissed. No good. Bad girl.

She's not bad. She's just a hum-

The linen scarf on the girl's head wiggled. Not a normal wiggle, more like a "there's something under there" wiggle. I stepped back as the linen fell off her head. Writhing baby snakes sprouted from her scalp. Closing my eyes, I scrambled backward so fast that I tripped over my own feet and fell on my rear.

Why close eyes? No help nothing, Eva said. She nipped my ear. Eyes open, medusa make stone. Eyes closed, medusa make stone. Open eyes stupid.

I opened my eyes. Scrambling to my feet, I kept an eye on the medusa child. She hadn't moved from her spot in the sand. She was crying softly. On closer inspection, one of her snakes was hanging limply down her back. I must've hit it with the mace.

"Oh, I'm sorry. It was an accident. I didn't mean to hit you. I was just practicing, and-"

A slender figure darted out from behind a nearby sand dune. Again, the woman looked human at first glance, but she was wearing the same yellow linen as the girl, and her headscarf wiggled strangely. She dropped at the girl's side.

"It was an accident, I swear," I said.

The adult medusa hissed, and her headscarf fell back to reveal a head-full of hissing vipers. They rose in a striking position.

I turned to run. Too late. Violet venom sprayed from the snakes' mouths, aimed right at my face. Eva leapt off my shoulder with a screech. The venom hit her straight-on. She started falling, but I caught her in my arms. A stony covering was creeping over her feathers.

"Turn her back," I shouted at the medusa.

She hissed, and her snakes rose again.

I ran.

The others were still arguing. When I ran up with an Eva statue in my arms, their arguments died out.

"What happened?" Piper poked Eva.

I jerked Eva away. "A medusa. I ticked it off, and-"

Looking past me with a horrified look on his face, Kyton grabbed me and took off. Nissa and Piper were in the air a second later. Peeking under Kyton's arm, I spotted a whole tribe of medusas sprinting after us.