Vipero the Snake Man (4 page)

T
OM STARED DOWN INTO THE VALLEY. So THIS
was the Beast! Vipero had the body of a snake, which lay on the sand in coils of red and green. But where the snake’s head would have been was the muscular body of a man. Its neck was split into two, and each part carried the flat, wedge-shaped head of a snake. The two heads swayed, hissing angrily, their tiny bright eyes scanning the desert.

Tom suppressed a shudder. Then he spotted the golden leg armor in the middle of Vipero’s coils. The swirling decoration on the metal glittered in the sunlight.

Though Tom was still a long way from the snake man, he could feel the waves of heat that were thrown out by his body. It was as if a wall of fire separated them from Vipero.

“That’s why the desert is even hotter,” Tom whispered to Elenna.

“And why all the wells have dried up,” she agreed.

Tom fumbled in his pocket to find his father’s compass. He pointed it toward Vipero. The needle swung quickly, pointing straight to Danger.

But whatever the danger, he would have to confront the Beast. And he had to be braver than ever now, because any doubt would send Aduro deeper into the pit of boiling tar.

Tom put the compass away and unsheathed his sword. Elenna put a hand on his arm. In spite of the heat, her face was drained of blood and her eyes were wide with fear.

“What are you doing?” she asked. “I can’t let you walk straight into danger like this.”

Tom forced himself to smile. “I’m going to circle around and surprise Vipero from behind.”

Elenna managed to smile, too. “That’s a great plan.”

Cautiously they began crawling around the edge of the valley, keeping low and crouching for cover behind the rocks. More huge, spiny cacti were growing there, and Tom and Elenna had to force their way between the tightly packed plants. Tom bit his lip to stop himself from crying out as the cacti tore at him, and Elenna gasped as one long spine drove deep into her hand. She pressed the end of her scarf against the wound where blood was welling out.

They were closer to Vipero now. Peering through the cacti, Tom could see the heaped coils of the Beast. The two snake heads were turned away from them: One scanned the horizon while the other kept its eyes fixed on the leg armor.

The clumps of cacti grew even more closely in this part of the desert. As Tom thrust his way between two of the fleshy stems he felt a tug on his belt. Looking around, he stared in horror to see that the water skin had caught on one of the vicious spines. There was a long tear in the leather and their precious water was leaking away into the sand.

“No!” Elenna cried. She grabbed the ruined water skin and put it to her lips, sucking up the last few drops of water.

Instantly, Tom heard a loud hissing from the valley where Vipero was lying. The two snake heads had whipped around, and the Beast’s four eyes glared with a red light as he tried to see where the cry had come from.

“Get down!” Tom whispered.

He and Elenna lay flat. Tom’s heart pounded and his muscles tensed. Gradually he relaxed; Vipero hadn’t spotted them.

“I’m sorry,” Elenna murmured.

“It’s all right,” Tom replied. Even so, he was asking himself how they could possibly defeat the Beast and get safely out of the desert, now that they had no water at all. His mouth already felt parched.

Once again he pulled his father’s compass from his pocket and held it in Vipero’s direction. At first the needle whirled about uncontrollably, refusing to settle. Then a faint shadow seemed to pass across the desert. Tom glanced up to see a small cloud drifting across the sun. When he looked at the compass again, the needle pointed toward Destiny.

“It’s time,” Tom said.

T
OM AND ELENNA CREPT DOWN INTO THE
valley. Before they’d gone more than a few paces Tom spotted a dried-up watercourse, leading down toward Vipero.

“Let’s go this way,” he whispered to Elenna. “It’ll help us hide from the Beast.”

They could move more quickly in the gully because the steep sides hid them from the snake man’s view. But they still crouched and trod cautiously, in case the rattle of loose stones alerted the Beast.

Halfway down, Tom peered above the level of the rocks to check how far they had to go. What he
saw made him freeze. In the bottom of the valley stretched a shimmering lake of blue water.

“How did we miss seeing that?” he whispered to Elenna.

But his friend was already scrambling out of the gully and running down the slope toward the lake. Tom followed her. His whole body burned with fever as he imagined plunging into the cool water.

He tripped over a rock and fell, then stumbled to his feet and staggered the last few paces. A hissing filled his ears as he flung himself to the ground, where he could see waves lapping against the sand.

But instead of cool water, he felt only scorching sand. Tom let out a cry of pain and frustration. It was a mirage, an illusion. The floor of the valley was a fiery pit, not a lake. Beside him Elenna crouched with her hands covering her face, trying to hold back tears of exhaustion. Tom felt his
throat tighten. In spite of the golden chain mail and the strength of heart it gave him, he knew he couldn’t do any more; the burning heat of the desert had defeated him even before he fought the Beast.

Then he remembered Wizard Aduro, hanging over the pit of boiling tar. He would be closer to it now, because Tom’s courage had faltered. Perhaps it was already too late, and the good wizard was dead.

No!
Tom refused to give up hope. He struggled to his feet, determined to carry on.

Then a shadow fell over him. Tom looked up, expecting to see clouds covering the sun. But the sky was clear blue. Looking down again, he saw the shadow swaying from side to side. The top of it separated into two distinct outlines, rearing back …

Suddenly, Tom realized what he was looking at — the Beast’s shadow! He leaped to one side
just as Vipero’s double fangs snapped on empty air. Two arcs of poison jetted out and fell harmlessly onto the sand.

Tom grabbed Elenna by the shoulder and dragged her to her feet. “We have to fight the Beast — now!” he yelled.

Vipero’s two snake heads stabbed at Tom and Elenna, his fangs bared and his forked tongues flickering in and out as he hissed in defiance. Tom choked on the foul, acrid stench that came from his gaping jaws.

“That way!” he cried. As he dodged to one side, Elenna dove in the opposite direction, rolling in the sand and springing up again.

Vipero’s heads hissed furiously. Tom realized how difficult this fight would be; the snake man was the first Beast they had faced who could attack both of them at the same time. He drew his sword and flung up his shield, just in time to ward off the head that swooped down toward him. Vipero’s fangs struck vainly at the polished surface.

“Elenna!” Tom called. “We have to distract him. When I give the signal, pounce on him from behind.”

Elenna raised a hand to show she’d heard. She was panting in the hot, dry atmosphere, but she looked determined now.

Tom swung his sword, the blade slicing through the air just below Vipero’s heads. The Beast hissed in anger. He reared back again, and Tom knew he was getting ready to strike.

“Now!” he yelled at Elenna.

Elenna threw herself forward, grabbing the snake man’s tail. Startled, Vipero whipped around one head.

Tom wasn’t prepared for how fast he was. Before he could do anything, the Beast’s head struck down and Vipero sank his fangs into the soft flesh of Elenna’s arm.

Elenna let out a scream of agony and lost her grip on Vipero’s tail. For a moment she staggered on the sand. Then she slipped to the ground and lay there, motionless.

Tom stared in horror at the body of his friend. What had he done?

T
OM STOOD RIGID AS VIPERO TURNED TO FIX
him with a hypnotic gaze. He couldn’t believe what had happened. He wanted desperately to run to Elenna — but that was impossible while Vipero stood in the way.

“Come on, then, snake man!” he shouted, the golden chain mail giving him extra strength of heart. “Are you brave enough to face my sword?”

Vipero’s two heads bobbed back and forth; Tom couldn’t tell when they were going to strike. If he tried to concentrate on one of them, the other would dart forward, fangs bared. He slashed with his sword, but the heads swayed back out of range,
and Vipero still blocked the way to the glittering leg armor and Elenna.

Sweat was pouring off Tom’s body. His head swam with the heat. He knew he couldn’t go on fighting for much longer. Vipero would weaken him and then strike when he was defenseless. Now that he was alone, he couldn’t hope to defeat a Beast with
two
pairs of eyes watching him closely and
two
heads that could attack him separately.

Suddenly, Tom heard the sound of galloping hooves. At first he thought he must be imagining it, but glancing over his shoulder he saw Storm and Silver racing down into the valley. Tom felt a new surge of energy as he realized that his animal friends had come to help.

Storm’s coat was slick with sweat and Silver was panting rapidly, but they ran straight up to Vipero without hesitating. Turning away from Tom, the Beast loomed over the stallion and the wolf, his jaws gaping as if he were going to eat them alive.
But Storm and Silver stood firm. Silver let out a ferocious howl while Storm reared up and pawed at the air with his hooves.

Now Tom saw his chance. He charged forward and slashed at Vipero. His blade sliced easily through the Beast’s necks, severing both heads with one blow.

The Beast’s body fell to the ground with a dull thud. The snaky coils twitched once or twice and then were still.

Tom sagged with relief. Another of Malvel’s evil Beasts had been defeated! Now he would be able to help Elenna.

But before he could move, Tom heard a vicious hissing. The two snake heads were moving! For a moment Tom could do nothing but gaze at them in horror. The rest of Vipero’s body lay still, but the heads had a life of their own!

Tom could never have known that this was going to happen.
I need more help
, he thought. He
looked at the magical tokens embedded in his shield. Which of Avantia’s friendly Beasts could he call upon?

“Epos!” he said aloud, and frantically rubbed the phoenix feather in his shield, imagining the great flame bird instantly swooping to his rescue. But though he searched the sky with the help of his golden helmet, he couldn’t see anything. There was no sign of the friendly Beast.

Suddenly, the two snake heads darted toward Tom. Desperately, Tom slashed at them with his sword.

“Epos, where are you?”

He swung his shield, trying to ward off both heads at once as they bared their fangs again, ready to strike. But the weight of the shield threw Tom off balance. He fell sprawling onto the hot sand, and lost his grip on his sword.

It’s over,
he thought.
Malvel has won.