Ice slid down my spine as I clutched my bow tighter. Soldiers dashed into the water, raising their swords. The creature’s jaws snapped ferociously as it wrapped its spiked tail around those nearest, flinging them against the rock wall. They collapsed with a crash, their cries ringing in my ears. As one of Xiangliu’s heads lunged down, its fangs sank into a soldier’s neck. He screamed in agony, slashing his blade across the serpent’s scaly face.
“No!” Captain Wenzhi shouted.
It was too late, Xiangliu’s heads swarming to form a shield around its core, like the petals of a flower closed into a bud. The serpent leapt out of the water with surprising agility, drops spattering all around. Cold and reeking of death.
The soldiers pressed on. One thrust her sword into the creature’s stomach. Xiangliu shrieked, a feral sound, as it slithered toward the entrance—rising higher until it towered over Archer Feimao and me. Against the sunlight streaming in, its scales gleamed like onyx.
Fear cut my heart, not the insidious prickle of the unknown, but stabbing terror for my survival. A primitive instinct took over, my ears deaf to Captain Wenzhi’s warnings, my fingers releasing the bowstring as the arrow sprang free. Even as it struck, I cursed myself for not staying hidden as instructed. For drawing the serpent’s attention instead of emerging at the opportune moment to strike.
One of Xiangliu’s heads bent to rip out my arrow, tossing it aside almost contemptuously. The rest fanned out around me, those glowing eyes boring into mine. I froze, only now noticing the tiny, pearlescent scales covering the eye sockets of its core, barely perceptible in the dark.
“Look away!” Archer Feimao yelled, gesturing wildly at me.
I stumbled back just as a soldier hurled her spear into the serpent’s stomach. Xiangliu’s cry pierced the air as its middle head reared up, eyelids snapping open to unveil two burning coals beneath. Its core! Xiangliu’s eight jaws parted, spewing a frothing, greenish liquid across the cavern, acrid and sour. Those struck screamed in anguish, falling to the ground where they writhed in agony. The acid sprayed onto my arms, foaming as it ate through the cloth, blisters blooming over my skin like crimson poppies. I would have screamed till I was hoarse, yet the searing agony—that of my skin being peeled from my flesh—snatched the air from my lungs.
Grinding my jaws until I thought they would crack, I fumbled for another arrow, drawing it through my bow. Archer Feimao stared at me, signaling for me to attack—but I was trembling too much from terror and pain. Doubt raged through me that I would miss, that I would fail, letting down everyone who depended upon me. Archer Feimao’s arrow streaked forward—just as those glowing orbs vanished—the shaft slamming against the serpent’s eyelids and shattering to fragments.
Nine mouths curved into bone-chilling smiles, those red eyes gleaming with malice as they fixed upon us. Soldiers bolted forward as Xiangliu’s tail whipped out, slamming them aside. Archer Feimao and I backed away, but two of the creature’s heads lunged out and sank their fangs into his shoulders. He screamed, doubling over in agony, blood pouring from his wounds.
I wanted to buckle over and hurl out the contents of my stomach. To weep for his pain and those of the others, battered by this vicious creature. But terror sealed my throat shut; I could not even whimper. Xiangliu slid closer, one of its heads arching toward me with a languid grace. So close, I could see myself reflected in those crimson orbs. A strange fatigue sank over me. My grip on the bow slackened as it slipped from my fingers. The serpent’s eyes flared as it opened its mouth. Pure white fangs dripped with foaming liquid. As its foul breath pierced my daze, I recoiled, blinking in confusion. My mind cleared as I swooped down to retrieve my bow.
Someone shouted—Captain Wenzhi—racing toward us, his sword arcing high. He hacked at the serpent’s belly as Xiangliu shrieked in rage, its heads swiveling to him now.
“The target!” he shouted, as he raised his shield to fend off the creature’s snapping jaws.
Those pearlescent eyelids flicked open. Red-hot coals flickered to life once more, embers in the dark. The monster’s jaws parted, spraying acid which splattered on my hands, a little across my cheek where it burned and stung like fire and ice. Black waves of agony swept over my consciousness, dragging me under . . . yet the sight of Captain Wenzhi battling the monster lit a fierce resolve in me to not let him down again.
My leg muscles clenched as I struggled to hold my ground, fighting the urge to gag from the stench of scorched flesh. Plucking two arrows from my quiver, I drew them through the string. Xiangliu’s head snapped back, my arms wavering as I fought to get a clear shot—my gaze fixing on its eyes of flame as all else blurred into the background. My arrows tore through the air, striking with a sickening squelch.