So far, Operation Distract and Annoy was working, but at this rate, there was no way that I would make it to the jewel before the snake reached Neel. In fact, it was on him now, and even though he fought its parries with his sword, he couldn’t seem to injure it. Tuntuni carried on singing near the ceiling but seemed too afraid to help in the fight.
With a hiss, the snake almost knocked Neel over. I struggled to hurry, but the cavern floor’s muddy surface was like walking through molasses. My thighs burned from the strain of fighting to move faster and faster. But I hadn’t progressed anywhere near where I needed to go. At this point, I was still closer to Neel and the serpent than the jewel.
Then the snake grabbed a hold of Neel, wrapped itself around him, and began to squeeze. It was obvious how much stronger the animal was than the half-demon prince. Neel was struggling. He had kept a grip on his sword and tried to injure the python with its slashes, but the snake’s skin was unbelievably tough. The sword barely made a dent. Tuntuni, to his credit, made a few haphazard dives down from the roof, flapping his wings in the snake’s eyes, but he couldn’t break the python’s concentration now that it had its prey. Neel’s face got redder as the snake squeezed.
“Princess, do something, the slacker’s gonna die!” Tuntuni shrieked.
Save him!” Tuni yelled. “How am I gonna break it to the Raja if the prince croaks?”
Neel’s plan was based on the fact that pythons aren’t poisonous; they squeeze their prey to death. And he’d figured, as a half demon, he should be able to withstand a little squeezing until I nabbed the jewel. Problem was, neither of us calculated the silt floor.
I struggled to move, but every step was such an effort. Neel was still wrestling with the enormous serpent. Muscles of steel or not, how much longer could he stand this monstrous snake? There was no way I was going to reach the jewel in time.
Okay, that was a really dumb plan. Time for a new one.
In the struggle, the python’s tail flailed around the room. It landed with a thump right next to the spot where I was struggling with the cloying ground. I made a split-second decision. It was now or never.
I jumped with both feet on the python’s tail. Feeling my weight, the snake lifted up the back of its body, trying to dislodge me. But I just lay down, and slid down the snake’s body as if it was a huge Slip’N Slide. It was rough, slimy, and scaly on my skin but much easier than running through the muddy quicksand of the cavern floor. I landed with a thump about midway up the giant serpent’s body, and, trying to imagine I was doing nothing scarier than riding Snowy, I hung on for dear life with my thigh muscles. I reached back to my quiver and chose one of the “special” arrows Neel had made me prepare before we left his kingdom. He’d shown me how to attach a long, thin rope made out of a super-strong Thirteen Rivers material to some of my arrows. At the time, I couldn’t figure what I’d need them for. But now I was glad for his forethought.
My fingers were slippery with sweat and I fumbled with the bow a little. The snake was bucking and writhing underneath me, and it wasn’t that easy to concentrate.
“Take your time, there, Princess,” Neel gasped from somewhere within the python’s coils. He was turning an unbecoming shade of purple.
“Hold on to your pants, cowboy!”
I finally managed to nock the arrow onto my bow. My stomach churned as I rode the thrashing snake, and I could only pray there wouldn’t be a repeat of the famous corn-dog incident. Neel’s life was dependending on my archery skills. No pressure or anything.
My hand shaking, I shot the arrow straight up above the snake’s head, into the cavern ceiling. Would the arrowhead be strong enough to pierce the hard stone? Bingo! It went in, leaving the rope dangling behind it like a comet’s tail. I didn’t even have time to test it to see if it would hold my weight. I just used it like mountain climbing gear to clamber up the rest of the snake’s slippery body to the top of its head.
“Show-off!” Neel choked out. Even with me climbing all over its body, the snake hadn’t stopped squeezing.
“Go Princess, go Princess, go-go-go Princess,” Tuntuni chanted.
“Remind me to thank you for the arrows after I save you!” I shouted to Neel.
I was straddling the snake’s head now, trying to stab it. But just as its skin had been too tough for Neel’s sword, my arrows couldn’t make a dent. I grabbed the dangling rope from the arrow still stuck in the ceiling and made a quick noose, which I slipped over the snake’s neck. It held! The snake hissed and thrashed around. In the process, it actually dropped Neel. He fell with a thump on the soft earth.
“Go!” I shouted at Neel.
I didn’t even bother to see if he was all right. How long would one magical rope hold this massive, super-strong snake? I shot an arrow into another part of the ceiling, making another noose out of the dangling rope and looping it over the snake’s head. I kept going like that: shooting an arrow into the ceiling, grabbing the rope, threading it under the snake’s chin, and then starting all over again. In this way, I tied the snake with a halo of ropes each attached by a different arrow to the stone ceiling.
One huge bonus of all the ropes was that the snake couldn’t move its head as much. Which was a relief, because I was still sitting astride its neck and could feel my breakfast in my throat.
Of course, the respite wasn’t for too long. The snake’s muscular body bunched and swayed as it tried to free itself, or at least ditch me onto the floor.
“Snaky’s in a terrible mess!” Tuntuni sang. “Sewn up by a royal seamstress!”
It was like being on a bucking bronco ride at a cheesy Western-themed restaurant. The snake bumped up and down, left to right, trying to shake off the ropes that pinned it to the cavern ceiling. As it fought, the ropes actually started to give way.
Oh no.
Pop.
The snake managed to yank one of my arrows from the ceiling. The weapon dangled, harmless, from the rope still around the serpent’s neck.
“Hurry, Neel!” I yelled. “I don’t know how long these things are gonna hold it!”
Pop. Another arrow gone.
Neel struggled through the mud over to the python jewel. Being Mr. Demonic Dude, it was a lot easier for him than it had been for me. But even still, would he make it in time? The python had just yanked out two of my special arrows from the ceiling. I felt back to my quiver. I only had one roped arrow left. Did I want to use it? Would it make a difference? I threaded it into my bow, aiming at the ceiling.
Pop. Pop. Pop. The snake was almost entirely free of the confining ropes now.