Page 93 of Heart of the Summer Queen

My fingers start to slip. I grip the sword so tightly my bones ache. But I’m dragged down, as if an anchor shackles my boots.

And just when I’m about to lose hold of my sword, I’m flipped over.

My back slams into a solid surface—the roof of the serpent’s mouth. The impact rattles through my bones and wrenches my sword free. I quickly steady my blade before it crashes into my skull.

Heart pounding, I sit there for several long minutes, my rasping breaths echoing through the darkness. Adrenaline thrums through my veins. My brain struggles to make sense of what just happened.

When my pulse settles, I swallow hard and rise. I must escape. Except finding a way out of here is another matter entirely.

I douse the rising panic before it can spiral into unhelpful thoughts and begin walking, sword extended to probe the surrounding oblivion.

After counting perhaps a hundred blind, shuffling paces, I smack into a spongy barrier. My blade meets little resistance, sinking hilt-deep, and blood spurts out.

Since there’s no responding roar, the creature must be dead.

But my relief is short-lived as I realize the implications of its defeat. Right now, I am likely plummeting to the bottom of the ocean, caged in the serpent’s maw.

I force aside the churning in my gut before it seizes all my senses.

I wander left, trailing my sword along the spongy walls. My blade taps upward, clinking against gigantic fangs. They mark the exit of the creature’s mouth. My path to freedom.

But the fangs span over an arm’s width each, with less than half that gap between them.

The gums form a steep, satiny slope up to its fangs. I have just one hand to use for climbing, since I need my other hand to carry the sword. I can’t leave our only weapon to slay Isidore in the serpent’s remains.

Regardless, this plan is far too risky. The fangs are razor sharp and possibly laced with poison.

I step back, gritting my teeth. My other option is to carve a tunnel through the monster’s body. Given how easily my sword sliced through the beast’s thick scales, I’m sure it would fare aswell against its bones. Yet if I create an opening in its remains, seawater will be free to gush in. And I will drown.

At least it would mean a quicker end than dying from starvation, caged at the bottom of the ocean—

An echo interrupts my thoughts.

Crouching, I press my ear to smooth gum. There’s a rubble from somewhere beyond, growing louder every second.

A crack erupts, and when I remove my ear from the serpent’s gums, I realize they are no longer made of flesh but are translucent all the way through. Though thick enough to distort my view, I can discern the rippling of water beyond.

My heart skips a beat.

Elaric.

It seems I needn’t fear drowning or starving after all.

The dark splits apart to reveal twinkling stars.

“Adara!” comes Elaric’s shout.

I crane my neck until I spot his worried face through the opening.

“I’m here!” I call, waving both hands high for him to see.

A tendril of ice wraps around my waist, plucking me from the serpent’s mouth.

Elaric uses his magic to place me next to him, my feet settling upon the frozen scales of the serpent’s underside. These are much thinner than the ones on its back.

He pulls me into a forceful hug. “Are you hurt?” he demands.

I shake my head, though he holds me so tightly it’s a struggle.

---