Part 7
The sisters were still looking at the egg with big eyes when Marigold suddenly turned around. She could have sworn she saw something move from the corner of her eye. But all she could make out were the monstrous shadows looming in the cave. The girl hugged herself and stared into the darkness. There was nothing… she was just imagining things again…
She was just about to turn around again when she noticed a pair of shining yellow eyes staring at her from the darkness.
In a second the creature shot out of the shadows. Without thinking Marigold pushed her sisters out of the way with all her power.
The two other siblings were caught off guard by this rescue and landed on the floor with a hard thud.
Sandersonia was holding her back in pain, Hancock however was even less grateful for this rescue…
"Are you insane? What got into you? You almost shattered the egg!" she barked at Marigold wrathfully.
But Marigold remained silent. She just pointed to the attacker who had tried to kill them.
It was an incredibly large Serpent; its body was as big and wide as a tree. Shimmering silver scales were covering it. It looked almost noble, if it weren't for its vicious yellow eyes.
"We...We should better run for it!" Sandersonia stuttered. But Hancock just waved if off with a boastful hand.
"This guy is just a showoff."
Slowly she stood up and turned to the snake, which looked at the three intruders with an examining eye. It seemed to be here to protect the egg….Hancock felt a thrill shiver down her body, finally she would get some action.
"You want this, am I right?"Hancock grinned and balanced the Egg in her hands. The giant snake seemed to twitch with every move the egg made...
"Here sister, take care of it. " Hancock reached the valuable object to Marigold
"I will handle this one!" She smiled confidently and approached the snake without haste.
"One should not sneak up on people; I will teach you some manners!"
Hancock didn't waste any more time, the same second she dashed to the animal and tried to knock it out. But the snake evaded her attacks elegantly. Only once the snake showed an opening. It was the moment Marigold tried to put the egg into her pouch.
The young Amazon didn't hesitate; with all her might she hit the snakes head. This punch had crushed a Rhino's armor; it should be more than enough to defeat this creature.
The warrior jumped back and waited for the animal to fall in defeat. But instead it rose up again and looked down to her, his yellow eyes burning with new rage.
Hancock heard the terrified gasp of her sister. To be honest she was surprised herself. This snake was tougher than she expected... But luckily she had thought of an emergency plan!
Hastily she reached to her back and drew a sharp silver blade. She looked at the shining sword she had borrowed from the village's blacksmith. It was told to even cut through Iron. Then this snake would be no problem…
Fast as a lightning the girl lunged to the snake again. But the moment she attacked, her sword was deflected by the silvery skin of the reptile. The weapon was thrown out of her hand and landed at the other side of the cave with a metallic rattle.
"What kind of pathetic weapon is that? I thought this could cut through Iron!!" Hancock bellowed with anger.
"If you were a swordfighter, this might have been the case!" Marigold snapped back, as she stared at the silver sword with sorrow. It had been their only weapon.
"I think I know what this snake is!" Sandersonia interfered
"The elder talked about them, those silver snakes can not be hurt with weapons! Their skin is just too hard! Only the princess was able to defeat one of them"
Hancock felt slightly nervous as the gigantic shimmering snake approached her again.
"Then how did the princess stop the snake!?" Hancock yelled frantically.
"The legend says, she just told it to leave! The Snake was afraid by her only words and left to the jungle, never to be seen again!"Sandersonia cried out.
Hancock was speechless; she covered her face with her palm… Sandersonia was actually babbling about one of those inane tails, made up by the elder …
It was completely idiotic …
But it was too easy to not give it a try!
Hancock Pointed at the snake and shouted with the most courage she could come up with.
"Foolish creature! I command you to leave!"
There was an awkward silence fulfilling the cave. The Snake stood still and glanced at the determined girl for a second. The sisters took a deep breath. Had it actually worked?
...
If the snake had been a fan of comedy, it would have been rolling on the floor laughing right this moment. It would have cried tears of laughter at this pathetic attempt to make it leave. But unfortunately for Hancock this very Snake didn't have a sense of humor … the serpent seemed unsure what to make of this absurd command and inspected the girl arrogantly.
Finally it decided to just go with killing the little human…
In a split second the snake shot down and pierced through Hancock's shoulder with his gigantic fangs. The girl's body was impaled by the Snake like a puppet, dangling helplessly in the air. Hancock howled with pain, desperately trying to free herself with one arm.
This pain was out of this world, worse than anything she ever experienced before. It was boiling inside her, burning through her veins like acid.
Finally the snake decided to let go. The girl landed on her knees. The pain was so overwhelming, that the Amazon had trouble keeping her consciousness…
The gigantic predator was now circling her without a sound; its smooth body was flowing like water. It looked like it wanted to play before it would devour her.
It should get its game!
Hancock got up with shaky legs. The terrified screams of her sisters were only a faint echo. Her mind was obsessed with defeating the snake and restoring her foolish wounded pride. With all her powers the girl started hammering on the silvery body. It was as if the snake was observing her with some kind of twisted amusement. Her attacks didn't even cause a scratch…
With a sharp whip of the back of its tail the animal threw her out of track and face first into the mud.
"You little …" Hancock puffed; she tried to get up immediately. But her body wouldn't listen anymore. It started to spasm and kick uncontrollably. The venom had taken over.
Her throat was burning, longing for fresh cold air. She tried to breathe; but even her lungs refused to work. She was left wheezing on the floor. Hot tears were running down her cheeks. She was such a weakling.
The Snake didn't bother about his dying victim anymore and turned to the two girls at the other end of the room. They had followed the spectacle with pure Horror. Sandersonia and Marigold were holding each other, cowering in fear.
"Hancock, please hold on! We will get you out of here!" Marigold screamed. She stood up to rush to her sister's aid. But the snakes massive body blocked her path.
"Please run…I beg of you… run…"Hancock's voice was a muffled sob.
"We will not leave without you! We are sisters!" Sandersonia insisted. She tried to sound confident, but her voice was a trembling whimper. Hancock couldn't believe her ears. They were actually thinking of fighting this deadly creature for her sake!
It was laughable, pathetic, hopeless! But most importantly, it was all her fault. She was the one who convinced them to come to the cave. She was the one who dared them to go deeper and deeper into it.
Her arrogance would be responsible for her sisters' death.
This gruesome realization tortured her more than any venom ever could. Pure Terror, pain and rage mengled up inside of her. Hancock tried to stand up, she tried to stop this ordeal…but the poison was working against her…
Every muscle was burning like fire. The taste of blood was filling her mouth and every breath was a battle for itself... But she had to get up, no matter how big the suffering would be… as long as her heart was beating she had to protect her sisters.