Beneath the Ruins of Gilgil

Pall picked up a fallen staff and gently poked the sandy mound. A shower of grains cascaded to the floor, but the stick stopped after penetrating only a few inches. "It is made thick and strong. Perhaps it is not an ant hill," he thought. Mia, one of the catwomen, pressed her ear against another of the mounds. "Do any of you hear it?" she asked. Pall shook his head, annoyed, "Get away from there, silly girl!" 

Willian was in awe of the riches before him. He was not a greedy man, and he was keenly aware that gold meant nothing in this savage new world he lived in. But the seed of avarice lives in all men, and Willian was no exception. 

The others had joined him on the floor of the treasure room and they too stared with covetous amazement. "If only they had offered this wealth to their gods before the catastrophe struck," Astra said, "Mine would have heeded the plea for help with an offering like this." "I doubt they had time," Fred replied. "I'm sure that death overtook them before they knew what was happening." 

Suddenly a blood curdling scream broke through the air. Everyone froze. And then the scream was abruptly cut short. "Back to the others!" Fred commanded. But before they reached the stairs, something shot out and struck at them. 

Fred slammed to the ground and rolled backward. He spun to the side of a marble griffon and flashed out his sword. 

HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

A nightmarish, scarlet eyed king cobra, its head nearly three feet across, raised its scaly neck high above Fred and his friends. Its fangs were wet and sharp, and it swayed back and forth as it prepared to strike again. At the foot of the stairway Cholm lay writhing in agony, the snake's poison coursing through his veins. 

"Oh dear God," Willian whispered. 

"Synizn!" Fred barked, "I think we need your expertise!" Synizn nodded from behind a huge, silver pedestal. He was already frantically searching through his bag of magical compounds and components. 

Astra, though, refused to wait for the conjuror's aid. She had spotted a mighty bow when she had first entered the room and now she ran straight for it. It was shaped of thick yew wood and ivory tusk. No simple bowman could bend back that powerful bowstring. But then Astra was no simple bowman; she was a warrior-maid of Aqualaria. Famed throughout the world for their skill in archery, the Amazon Warriors knew no rivals and suffered no defeats as long as their steel tipped black arrows rained down on their enemies. The muscles of her arm rippled as she pulled back on the bow. 

THUNK!
THUNK!THUNK!THUNK! 

The cobra squirmed back up the steps, four bone white arrows embedded in its skin. 

Willian now rushed forward. He gripped the shaft of an eight foot long spear and a tall bronze shield of the ancient oblong design. His spear buried itself deep into the side of the beast and a spray of frothing green blood burst from the wound. Willian had only time enough to jump aside before the thing's wicked fangs came hurtling at him. The bronze shield was almost torn from his grasp, and then the snake twisted and struck from the other side. Willian slammed the shield down into the creature's face, but it twisted back again and came down on top of him instead. He heaved the shield to his front and the full weight of the monster crashed into him. He fell to the floor with a painful grunt. But he was still alive! 

Fred leaped down into a side aisle filled with pastoral statuary. The second half of the snake's undulating body lay hidden there. With all his might he thrust his sword down into the meat of the snake. He buried it up to its hilt, and then with a quick and graceful twist and pull he sliced it back out again. The snake's body heaved and the statues were flung across the room. And so was Fred. 

Astra let go with another barrage of deadly arrows. The beast had only one eye left, and its skin was peppered with feathered shafts. But it was anything except ready to die. It's double-hinged mouth opened up, a hideous black and red nightmare, and it hammered down onto Willian. He thrust the bronze shield straight up and into the thing's gaping mouth. The jaws sprung shut but all it caught between its fangs was the battered metal square. Willian rolled away with all his strength and Fred dashed over to him, grabbed his arm and pulled him away. But behind them they saw a glittering, scaly streak as the cobra sprang forward, hissing vengeance at their backs. 

Astra raised her bow one last time, she knew that Willian and Fred were dead if the speed of her arrow failed to match the death charge of the reptilian horror. The arrow flew, but Astra could see that it would not reach the snake in time. The king cobra seemed to laugh as it bore down on its two victims, its one remaining eye glittering in triumph. 

1. And then it struck!