The Serpent's Secret (Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond #1)(41)

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.

In the meantime, Neel reached the jewel. Rather than just picking it up and running, as had been our original plan, he kicked mud from the cavern floor over the jewel’s shining surface. As he kept doing that, the room darkened. My heart started to speed up. I’d found the courage from who knows where to ride an enchanted snake like it was some kind of horse, but there was no way I could face doing that in the dark. If I’d had the energy, I would have yelled at Neel to stop, but it was all I could do at this point just to hang on to the thrashing serpent.

In the graying light, I saw Neel bury the hilt of his sword deep into the mud in front of the jewel, its point facing up.

He shouted, “On my count, do a Tarzan!”

A Tarzan?

“One … two …”

Right, a Tarzan. Underneath me, the python tore the last remaining rope out of the ceiling. The ropes and arrows hung from its neck like some kind of weird necklace, but they certainly weren’t doing anything more to slow it down.

I shot my last special arrow into the ceiling and hoisted myself up the rope and off the snake. It took all my remaining strength. I hung there, thirty feet off the ground, my muscles trembling.

“Three …” And with that, Neel kicked a clump of mud over the remaining part of the jewel, dousing its emanating light.

The cavern was an inky black. The darkness was filled with the rancid smell of snake—or it might have been the smell of my own fear. I started to panic, squeezing my eyes shut so hard I saw stars. But at least it was a familiar darkness, as opposed to the blackness outside them. Holy serpent poop. My hands were so sweaty, I was slipping down the rope. For the zillionth time in the last few days, I was going to plummet to my death. It seemed like a recurring theme at this point.