The Asgarnian Articles: Book 2 The Just Shall Rebel Sneak Preview Melanie turned her horse to face her friends, for she had momentarily been hit with a thought. As she turned to share the thought, Melanie became engulfed in shadow. Looking to her right and left, she could see light. The shadow covered a strip of earth that covered only herself and Marentex. Looking towards her friends, Melanie finally caught the sinister feeling of danger. Her friends’ faces were deathly pale, and the horses instinctively began backing away, neighing in fear. The hairs on Melanie’s neck pricked up, along with Marentex’s ears. “Melanie,” Liyah whispered. Then, extending her arm slowly, she pointed behind the she-warrior with a foreboding gesture. All were frozen in place by fear, while Melanie slowly turned her head to face the shadow creature. Her gaze went from surprise to a look that sank deeper and deeper in the waves of fear. It was beginning to cover her head as she realized what she was looking at. Directly in her line of vision, towered a huge snake. Its body was the size of an ancient tree trunk, while its head was equal in size to that of a whole horse. The serpent was the same sand color as the rocks and coarse dust surrounding the Asgarnians in every direction. It had apparently been following its target the whole time without being fully detected by the travelers. Its massive tail and body circled around the small group, and the creature focused on its prey, poised to strike. Melanie’s horse was stricken with terror and began to bolt at the exact moment the monster snake lunged. Its massive head launched down toward the startled prey. As a result of Marentex’s mad dash for safety, the snake skidded slightly off target, so that it could not sever Melanie’s head from her body. However, one of the dagger-sharp fangs hooked the skin on Melanie’s left arm, knocking her off balance. This sent Melanie rolling into the searing hot sand. Soon, the sand surrounding her became soaked through with blood from the deep penetrating gash. The snake hissed in anger at missing his target and swallowing of mouthful of sand touched with Melanie’s blood which glistened on its venomous fangs. The taste of its prey provoked it further, maddening it beyond any sense of reason. Melanie began a mad scramble across the sand as the snake continually struck down toward her, creating a deafening bang. It was only missing by a hair each moment and continually gained ground. Blood never ceased to flow from Melanie’s open wound. The she-warrior could feel the release weakening her. Liyah and Ryvan shot arrows at the creature, but they rebounded off as if the snake was made of stone. This angered the creature further, and it momentarily directed its attention toward the bothersome warriors. The serpent swept its massive tail across the desert surface directly underneath the warriors, knocking them from their mounts into the sun-baked sand. The next thing they knew, the snake had encircled Melanie with its tail. Just as it was about to strike down for the fatal blow, Tyrese delivered a violent attack to the serpent’s tail. However, when the blade struck the creature, it rebounded off violently just as the arrows had done. The serpent was pure stone. The creature lashed out by flinging Tyrese into the sandstone wall with its tail. In the frame of time the serpent was distracted, Melanie was able to scramble out of its hold on her. As she frantically crawled toward her companions, the ground began to shake, and the sand began to shift beneath her. “Oh, no!” Liyah knew what was happening, and she tried to warn her friend; however, there was nothing anyone could do. A second snake surged up from the sand directly beneath Melanie, swallowing her whole.
Posted on: Sun, 29 Sep 2013 16:26:26 +0000
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