“Behind us!” Annon warned desperately.
She pivoted the staff between her hands and swung it down in a sharp arc on the other side, crushing one of the serpents with the blow. Others hissed and struck at the staff again, coming closer to their boots. There were too many. They were too quick.
“Fly!” Annon said, grabbing Khiara’s arm and shaking her.
Her eyes looked desperately into his.
“One of us needs to survive!” he pleaded. “One of us needs to warn the others.”
He saw the determination in her eyes. With a quick motion, she struck another serpent with the butt of the staff, breaking its body. Then she inhaled and rose above Annon, but she gripped his hand with hers as she floated upward. He wondered if she would attempt to pull him up with her. It seemed impossible.
Don’t move.
It was only the whisper of a thought. Khiara hovered in the air, her eyes closed, her mouth whispering words in a language he did not understand. He felt power surging from her into his skin, healing his injured shoulder, infusing him with life and vitality. Her whispers echoed through the circular chamber, sounding behind his eyelids, down to his very toes. The connection of her fingers against his was full of energy.
Don’t move.
Annon saw the serpents gather at his feet, hoods flaring. He saw the little forked tongues and felt pure revulsion and fear threaten to unman him. He shut his eyes, unable to bear the suspense, wondering if the keramat that Khiara was performing would save him from the fangs and the poison. He waited to feel the needle-like fangs pierce his legs. He tamed the fireblood, knowing it was useless. There was no defense against such an attack.
A serpent slithered across the top of his boots. He wanted to shudder, but he willed himself still. Clenching his jaw, he dared not even breathe. He waited for the jolts of pain.
“Annon,” Khiara whispered.
He would not speak. His jaw hurt from the pressure of his grinding teeth. Moments passed in silence. Another serpent slithered across his feet, one brushing against his ankle. He felt them continuously, snouts butting against his boots, prodding. He sank deep into himself, preserving the air in his lungs. His heart began to slow.
“They aren’t striking,” Khiara whispered. “They are searching for something. Searching for us. Annon, they cannot see us.”
Annon opened his eyes. He almost wished he hadn’t. There were probably a hundred or more. The floor of the room was a twisting, writhing mass.
Nizeera? Annon beckoned with his mind.
I am behind you, atop a tomb. They cannot strike me here. I am still.
Growl, Nizeera. Let them hear you. Tell me if they react to your noise.
He heard the low growl in her throat coming from behind him. The growl increased and then became a high-pitched shriek of anger. Annon stared at the twisting serpents, trying to see if any responded to it, but they did not. They were slithering randomly now, each serpent going its own way, prodding at the stones, tasting the air with their split tongues.
“They cannot hear us,” Annon whispered. “For some reason, they cannot hear us.” It was unnerving, feeling them glide around his body as if he were nothing but one of the stone columns in the room. “Nizeera, are you moving or still?”
“She is still as a stone,” Khiara replied, still floating above Annon’s head. Her body swayed slightly, up and down, as if she were floating in a pond. “Nizeera—move and see if they see you.”
The serpents began to converge, darting around him and gliding purposefully to the object behind Annon. He did not turn his head to see, but he saw that the serpents were responding to something.
“They see her,” Khiara said softly. “Nizeera, stop.”
“What is happening?” Annon asked, feeling sweat trickle down his neck.
“She stopped pacing. The serpents are…their heads are coming back down. They are tall enough to strike her when roused. They are searching again. Movement, Annon. They respond to movement, not sound.”
“Test it again,” Annon said. “Nizeera—growl again but do not move.”
She growled from behind, the sound a threatening and menacing one.
“No change,” Khiara said. “They cannot hear us.”
“Or see us only so long as we do not move,” Annon reminded her. “It forestalls our death but does not eliminate the risk. I can’t remain standing here forever. I see a bier on my left…how far is it away?”
“There are snakes between you and it, many of them,” Khiara replied. “They are everywhere and they are quite tall when roused. I don’t think it would protect you. There is the broken sarcophagus over there, though. That one might if you could make it inside. Where were they hiding before?”