Page 112 of Of Serpents and Ruins
The basilisk's head swung around, those burning yellow eyes fixing in my direction. Another hiss rumbled through her chest as her lips curled back, exposing rows of dagger-like teeth. Venom dripped from her fangs.
My muscles tensed, my body begging me to run.
This wasn’t what I had envisioned when Arjax had said the mirror-tails helped with prey. I frowned as I considered what was happening here. Something deeper rooted me into place.
These foxes were clever, but so were my friends.
No one had freaked out yet.
Lorna and Arjax still hadn’t emerged. Kine was just watching with his hand up, not motioning for me to move.
This was an ancient basilisk. I eased my gaze up, keeping it soft but not looking directly into her eyes. Yes, they were murky. She probably couldn’t see me, and I wasn’t making a sound.
Right. The mirror-tails were trying to scare me into bolting. Then it would be game over.
Clever babies.
The two foxes gave rasping barks. Their tails pulsed, the energy along the edges crackling. They stepped closer, bright-blue eyes narrowing as if daring me to run.
The basilisk slid farther out, swinging her head back and forth. Her tongue flicked out faster. Her nostrils flared.
Kine kept his gaze fixed on me, but he had angled more toward the trench. The other four mirror-tails started to draw closer as well.
I held my ground, refusing to move out of the basilisk’s shadow as she continued to ease over the side of the ledge. She was so close I could see the individual scales lining her pale-green underbelly.
One of the pairs neared the trench, and she let out another rumbling hiss.
The foxes barked again, tails crackling with energy as they framed the basilisk’s reflection. She reared up, following their illusion. Her massive head swung down, yellow eyes blazing.
I dropped my gaze, my breath snagging.
A deep, grumbling roar speared through the silence as a dark-orange spinosaurus seemed to suddenly appear. Lorna. Finally! Her shoulders and backfin lurched into position as she snapped her jaws and entered the fullness of the new shape.
All the mirror-tail foxes spun around. They chittered, a couple of them prancing in place as the energy arced faster between their tails. Two started producing a much higher call.
The basilisk arched up, baring her massive fangs. Droplets of venom dripped from the tips. Each droplet burned into the mud, leaving a painfully bad scent in its wake.
Lorna roared again, extending her neck and gnashing her massive jaws. She then lunged out onto the edge of the valley. Her heavy footsteps shook the ground.
Kine shot out, his own body transformed into his serpent shape. He caught the two mirror-tails nearest the trench right in the side, clotheslining them into the pit. They yelped as they fell into the slick mud.
The basilisk snarled, her cotton-white mouth gaping open. She swiped her head back and forth, but Lorna stomped forward. The basilisk surged at her, flinging her body out like a sidewinder.
The mirror-tail foxes raced forward, the pairs splitting. Silver-white energy pulsed along the iridescent rings on their tails.
I darted forward, flattening myself as the basilisk’s body shot over me and letting the power of the water serpent tear through me and remake me. Pain ripped along my body as I curled inward and forced myself to stretch out. The momentum of the transformation carried me forward until I struck the mud. I gasped, the wind crushed from my lungs as I gulped for air. I tried to draw myself back then cringed.
Oh! Mud in the scales was disgusting! I shivered and shuddered. Ihlkit! This was vile. I hadn’t kept my scales tight enough, and some of it had gotten stuck. It felt worse than a wet sock sliding halfway off while you were walking, and sidewinding made it so much worse.
One of the mirror-tail foxes nipped at my tail. Its teeth glanced over the scales. It felt like nail files rubbing the wrong way. Not painful but annoying.
I flung my body around and encircled the nearest mirror-tail. It bared its white teeth. As I tried to coil around it, it jumped up, escaping. I coiled again, twisting a little more. If only I could have my arms and fingers! It would be much easier to grab things. I could practically feel phantom digits futilely trying to close around the fox. The fox slipped out with a chastising bark and bolted away.
Damn it! It had seemed easy when I was coiled on Buttercup and practicing that launching maneuver.
Arjax stomped out from the other side of the valley. His steps were so heavy I felt them reverberating through the mud into my body. He straightened his neck and sent out a great echoing bellow that nearly deafened me.
The basilisk swung around, rearing up.
