Chapter 4

Finding an unblocked way through the forest was no easy task, especially as Dylan hacked through all the unkept land full of undergrowth. He soon found himself caught in a cluster of thick briars and used his sword to cut a path through them.

Unfortunately the task of freeing himself distracted him from mentally keeping the ice within the sword, and he heard the ice crawling on the ground before he remembered to focus on containing it.

He took the disc from inside the hilt before he could get too exhausted from the effort of trying to keep the ice under control—the sword was just a regular blade without it. He put the disc inside his pocket, hoping that without the sword it wouldn't cause anymore trouble for him.

Dylan wished he was a better swordsman, being that it was the only weapon he had available right now. As he kept cutting through the vegetation that stood in his way, he wondered if his escape from the castle had been too easy. The Magician didn't carry that title for nothing. But who was Isirien the Sorcerer? Dylan couldn't remember hearing of him before.

And the voice. Who was the voice? Had he imagined it? But no, Isirien had responded when the voice spoke to him.

Dylan suddenly heard dogs barking from behind. The Magician's guards were still looking for him. He searched around for a river so that he could make his scent less easy for them to track. He didn't see one.

There was a whine from the dogs, then a complete and unexpected silence.

Dylan paused where he stood and listened, sweat soaking his clothes and probably making his hair greasy. He heard nothing, no footsteps or any sign of life—including animals. The forest was eerily still, as if under some lulling spell.

Crack!

Dylan readied his sword. Where had the sound come from? There was another crack that came distinctly from behind, and Dylan just caught a glimpse of some plants rocking slightly as if something had moved past them.

Slowly he kept walking and lessened his cutting to only when it was absolutely necessary. And even then he did it very quietly and carefully to avoid making too much noise.

He came into a clearing and spotted something he'd never expect to see—a mansion, overtaken by vines so that the original color of the place couldn't be distinguished. The windows were dark inside, and Dylan wondered if the house had been abandoned.
As if on cue, one of the windows slid open. A girl's eyes widened and she shouted, "Look out!”

Dylan turned back and found himself looking up at a huge cobra, as big and thick as one of the tall trees surrounding them. Its yellow eyes, which were bigger than his hands, looked emptily down at him.

"Don't move!" the girl said. Dylan wasn't sure if she was talking to him or the cobra. He already knew that if you saw a cobra you were supposed to stay where you were—they could detect movement, but they couldn't actually see.

So was he just supposed to stand there and wait for it to leave? Well, that was probably the wisest option. Then he remembered the disc was still in his pocket. But if he wasn't fast enough getting it out and inserting it into the hilt, he would probably be dead if that monster even lunged at him. Its fangs were almost thicker than the width of his sword.
But if this was the kind of creature Dylan thought it was, it wasn't a regular snake—besides the fact that it was monster sized—it had a degree of intelligence that most of its smaller kind didn’t.

"Hides from me?" the serpent hissed. "Scent is not hard to miss," he said, holding his s's for several seconds each time as he began to slither in a circle around Dylan. Dylan kept a close eye on him. "Two slitherers down last week, one human. One more makes even." At this the serpent drew up again to its full length.

Dylan's heart pounded. He needed the disc. There wouldn't be time for fumbling around—every movement had to be precise.

"Serpent!" the girl called out in an authoritative voice. "Touch him and I will burn down five slitherers.”

"Serpent, she calls me?" the creature said, lowering itself and circling Dylan again like he was some kind of prey. "I kill ten human fighters, I can," it bragged threateningly, stopping once to look toward the window in her direction. Could it see anything? Dylan wondered.

"You're breaking the rules," she shouted, "and you will lose your scales over nothing!”

"Swears it, does she?" the serpent said in a mocking voice.

"I don't need to swear," she said, "when I keep my word. Unlike you.”

"What she'll do, if I kill friend here? Ha! Helpless, she helpless.”

The serpent's talk was all nonsense, and for the moment it distracted Dylan—any other time he might have laughed. Then he realized that the girl was buying him time, whether or not she recognized he had the Ice Sword in his hand without the disc inside.

He counted to three, threw the Ice Sword into his left hand and grabbed for the disc in his right pocket. In response, the serpent rammed him back into a thick tree. Dylan held the sword, but the serpent stood between him and the disc, which had fallen. He wished the pounding in his head would leave quickly, and blinked a few times before the pain was gone.

"Wants disc?" the serpent taunted with an ugly grin. "Come get it, human. Give me game before kill.”

"Hisser!" the girl shouted, "leave him alone!”

The serpent laughed, hissing and showing his fangs as he did so. "Helpless, she—,"
Dylan jumped over the serpent's thick body and fell to the ground with a thud as he lost his balance—it was like trying to jump a fence. He grabbed the disc, then felt something wrap around him tightly. So it wasn't just an over-sized cobra he was dealing with. He could feel that his hand holding the disc was sweating, and he saw the serpent's thick tail wrap around the sword. He should have just tried to stab the beast with it, he thought, instead of making a fuss about getting the disc.

Dylan came face to face with the yellow eyes again as the serpent coiled tighter around him, making it difficult to breathe. The creature saw his struggle and grinned.

"Fights hard," it said in a suddenly low voice. "Hisser not like difficult prey," it said as it pointed the end of the sword towards him.

"Hisser!" a woman's voice suddenly cut through the air. The serpent looked up, still holding Dylan in its grip. Dylan was positioned so that he couldn't see the woman who was addressing the creature. "You will not kill him. You know what happens to fighters who break the rules, man or creature.”

"No rules in fight," the serpent hissed. "I kill if I want kill.”

"Oh, no you don't!" she said with a voice that would have frightened any monster. "You will leave him here and go into the forest this instant! You are trespassing. Otherwise you will have me to deal with.”

"Hisser fears no human," the serpent claimed but released Dylan, flipping him onto his back in the dead forest leaves. It set the Ice Sword beside him. Dylan still clutched the disc in his hand.

"I come for you," the serpent hissed angrily as Dylan stood, brushing himself of the dead leaves. "I kill when you alone. I bring other slitherers.”

Irritated despite being a bit frightened at the same time, Dylan said, "I'd just turn you and your friends into serpent ice cubes.”

The serpent hissed again, angrily. "We see. I take challenge." It slithered into the forest.
Dylan turned towards the mansion, not sure what explanation he should give for his being there. Would he be considered a trespasser also?

"You're alright?" the woman asked with concern as she approached him. She was draped in a grey cloak, which was set over a white dress decorated with black flowers. The girl at the window was gone, probably back inside the mansion. Maybe she had even called for this woman to come out and help him. "Forgive the serpents," she said. "They usually play by the rules. But they're still seething after their loss in the previous game." She laughed contemptuously.

"What rules?" Dylan asked.

"Come inside," she said, gesturing towards the mansion. "I'd rather explain within the safety of brick walls.”

Dylan followed, but he still felt uneasy. What was this place? Why had this lady offered to take him in without making him explain who he was or what he was doing there? Her home was still close to the Magician's castle—and until he was out of Lilithia, he didn't think he could feel very safe yet.