Chapter 357

• Mia stood beside Hannah, and the two women stared on and down, the only thing they could do. Jumping down meant breaking bones, or doing exactly what Scilra said, getting trampled and eaten by a bunch of big horses with ram horns and -- probably -- sharp teeth.
• The basilisk's rolling came to a stop, and the creature turned its gaze back to Adron. Animals from the surface, from Earth, didn't usually suicide for a meal unless they were starving to death. But the basilisk didn't look emaciated. It looked like a well-fed, short-limbed, wingless snake-faced dragon, stomach almost hitting the ground as it threw its weight at Adron.
• Adron tried to get his sword up in time, but it wasn't there. It'd been hooked on his back, but rolling down a hillside had tossed it. He ducked instead, and the creature's head slipped past Adron's by inches. It'd struck out first, like a snake, before the rest of its body caught up and it collided with Adron straight on.