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Chapter 15

"Look on the bright side," He pants beside me, between breaths. "We might get back to the main trail faster than you thought!" Since when has he been one to look on the bright side? That's usually me!
"And the dark side?" I huff.
"Stop running, and you'll find out!" We can hear the huge cobra behind us, winding leisurely through the forest of giant ferns, spitting and hissing. I glance back, and see it's forked tongue snaking through the ferns ahead of it, reaching for a tasty morsel.
"I really, really don't think I need to see the inside of a snake!" I exclaim as the barbed tongue scratches against my heels. I yelp, and put on a burst of speed.
I'm still holding the sword, and am surprised by the weight of the blade, that's so thing it appears to weight nothing. My arm is beginning to ache.
Suddenly I stumble over a tree room I didn't see. Is it me, or were the ferns shrinking, normal tree trunks appearing more often. I go for all I'm worth, arms pumping, legs working. The tongue flicks past me, hitting the dirt next to my foot.
"Maybe once we're out of the ferns, the s-" Stone yelps, and suddenly there's nobody beside me. Impulsively, I run a few more strides, slowing and spinning around in horror.
The snake stops in it's tracks, spreading it's hood again, hissing furiously at Stone, who's sprawled on the ground where he tripped, hurriedly picking himself up off the ground, scrambling for his sword, which landed a couple feet away from him. He'll never reach it in time.
The Beast knows that too, and it rises up to it's full height, almost ten feet high, before plunging, mouth open and gaping. I scream, and Stone's eyes meet mine for a second, blue to grey, and he knows what's happening. His mouth opens, to say something, and the snake's jaws hit the ground around him, blocking him from view.
"NO!" I scream, lunging at the snakes head. It's withdrawing from the ground, it's jaws shut tight, muffled yelling coming from within. I know I'm going to miss. Stone saved me so many times, and yet I failed him the one chance I had to prove myself. I could have trusted him the whole time. I was the one who shouldn't have been trusted.
I'm so deep in despair, I don't even register it as my blade sinks into the very tip of the monster's nose. Blood spurts from the black and yellow scales, and my eyes open wide. I know I have to act fast, before the snake recovers and swallows. I drop to the ground, and wish I am as coordinated with the sword as Stone is. Was. I can't hear him yelling anymore.
I dodge as the snake's head slams into the ground next to me like a wrecking ball, the dirt around it erupting outwards, spurring me as I leap, swinging the sword at the Beast's neck.
The blade rings off the hard scales, but pierces through the snaky flesh anyways, blood rolling down my blade. In spite of myself, I begin to really hope the red liquid hasn't stained my fresh clothes. It's hard to stay clean for long in the Wold.
The sword cuts right through the neck of the Beast, meeting no resistance. I quickly decide that if Stone's still alive, I will never get on his bad side while he's holding one of these.
A choking, gurgling sound becomes audible, before the head of the giant snake rolls off it's neck, thudding onto the ground, blood and ooze and other unnamed substances dripping from it's neck.
I stand motionless for a moment, breathing hard, staring down at the body of the great Beast, and then I rush over to the decapitated head, which is longer than I am tall. It's jaws have opened slightly, but I can see nothing but darkness.
Now the snake is dead, I'm wondering what to do. There's a bizarre moment when I wonder if I should knock, but instead I lean forward, peering into the dark maw, and call- "Stone?"
I call louder, and again, nothing but silence meets me. I begin to panic, wondering if the snake had swallowed him after all, or maybe if he had suffocated, or-
I scream as a pale hand shoots out of the mouth, between the fangs, scrabbling at the nose of the snake and the ground.
"Stone!" Another hand appears, holding a sword that matches mine.
"Maybe, you could open the mouth." His voice comes, muffled but alive and irritated. I hasten to bend and grasp the top jaw of the serpent's skull. It's a rather strange thing to be doing- lifting the head of a giant snake so a guy can climb out of it. But then again, this is my life, so maybe not so out of the ordinary.
Stone climbs out of the mouth, between the fangs that are almost as tall as he is. I expect him to be covered in goo or something, but it fact he looks surprisingly normal, and dry. Without a word, he turns and stares at the Beast's two halves, spewing juice onto the muddy ground. Then he turns to me.
"We never speak of this." He says flatly, wiping his clean blade on his pants. I hand him the one I used, which is stained with gooey red slime, and he wrinkles his nose, bending and wiping it in the dirt first.
"Oh, I don't know... I just saved your butt from being swallowed by a giant snake. I think I might bring it up some time... You owe me now." I say carefully, as we slowly start on our way again.
"No, I don't. If anything we're even." Stone says rubbing his tousled head.
"How so?" I know he's right, I'm just challenging him to remember why we're even.
"Well, first, I put the bandage on your leg when I found you napping and pouring a fountain of blood on the edge of the Wold... And you never told me how you got in that condition..." He adds suspiciously, glancing at my leg. That was the one thing I hadn't spilled to him yet- He didn't trust me enough to tell me everything, then I would hold back too. Besides, even though I had been traveling with him for now two days, I still barely knew him.
"Okay, that's one for you." I say stubbornly. I hadn't even thought of that one... We've just left the fern forest. My shoulders sag with relief- no more giant snakes.w
"Right. Then I agreed to accompany you to the mountains, and I told you about the rebels. That would be two." He says certainly, but I frown.
"No, you didn't save me there... That was just information, basically." I oppose.
"Fine. But it gave you purpose- what would you have done had I not come along and said that? Go back to your cave, overrun with Beast's?" He says, and yet again I realize he's right. But I don't say that, so we don't count that one.
"Then, let's see, I took you to my grandfather's, who probably saved you from dying of infection, plus got you all fixed up and cleaned and stuff." Stone says.
"I guess, but technically your grandfather saved me, and you hadn't wanted to go anyways!" I say hopefully, but I know he's right, because if he hadn't mentioned Pine at all, we never would have gone.
"And then-"
"You saved me from the Beast, that's right, we all know. So that puts you at three." I cut him off before he can mention anymore.
"Right. Now, I saved you just now from the snake, when you decided to take a nap, and the snake was going to eat you..." I say, knowing there's nothing he can say that will demote that one.
"Alright, so that puts you at one." He says smugly, and I furrow my brow, trying to think of any other incidents.
"Oh, and, the first Beast, I rolled it off of you!" I say happily, jumping up an down as we walk. We've just passed a large rock formation that looks very familiar, like the one we passed the first time.
"Eh, yeah, but that was just because I was saving your life-"
"Shut up," I say suddenly, having heard something strange.
"What do you mean, shu-" I clamp my hand over his mouth, hissing like a cat, and surprising myself. Whoa, how long have I been able to do that?
"There's something over there..." I breath, barely moving my lips. Stone's wolf ears twitch, and I know he's hearing it too. A soft rustling over the dead leaves, between the trees. A murmur. It seems like there are more than one of them.
"A Beast?" Stone murmurs, and I nod. I'm hoping I'll be the one to save him this time, so we can be more even.
We sit silently for a long time, listening intently, trying to breath as silently as possible. Then I realize it's coming closer to us, coming towards us.
"Stone, it's coming this way!" I barely manage to keep my voice below a whisper. He grimaces, looking down, and then meets my eyes, which takes my breath away.
"I- I'll go out, try and take it by surprise, kill it before it reaches us." He says grimly, pulling out his swords.
"Stone, no-" He shuts me up by giving my a quick kiss on the cheek. Very effective. I blink dazedly, before realizing he's already gone. My cheek's burning, and I lift my fingers to my skin to make sure it's not on fire.
I'm brought back to reality as I hear the murmuring getting closer, sounding more and more like... footsteps. I shake my head, trying to clear the fuzz, and stumble after Stone. I can't stay hidden now.