The Serpent's Secret by Sayantani Dasgupta

Author:Sayantani Dasgupta [Dasgupta, Sayantani]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy, Young Adult
ISBN: 9781338185706
Goodreads: 32618983
Publisher: Scholastic
Published: 2018-02-27T00:00:00+00:00

I pelted off, half expecting Neel to chase behind me. When he didn’t, I let out a sob but still couldn’t let myself cry. I wasn’t about to start doing dumb cliché things like crying over boys.

I bit back my tears, pushing branches and leaves aside as I ran into the beautiful wilderness, away from the shining lake. The moss was soft under my feet and the trees all thick with greenery. There was a gentle breeze, making it seem like the leaves were dancing all around me.

I was well out of sight of the lake’s shores when I heard something more than freaky. It came from my right: a rustling in the trees, a cracking of branches. Oh gods, it was probably one of rakkhoshi girls, braving the Kingdom of Serpents to come and get me! Why had I been so moronic and told them “better luck next time”? As Baba always said, only a fool poked a sleeping tiger. I don’t know what he would say about someone who poked a flying rakkhosh.

I reached for my new bow, only to realize that I’d left it and my quiver hooked on Snowy’s saddle. Stupid, Kiran, stupid, stupid, stupid! I looked around for a fallen branch I could use as a club, but there was nothing big enough. I’d have to take her with my hands. I took a big breath, raised my fists as I’d seen Lal do back in Parsippany, and clenched them hard. I channeled all the anger I’d felt toward Neel now into thinking about how I’d defeat a rakkhosh with my bare fists. I had to believe I could do it. Failure was not an option. Not only Ma and Baba, but now Lal and Mati were counting on me too. If I could just keep the element of surprise.

The rustling was louder now, and I heard some raspy breathing and coughing. The sounds were all coming from behind a large clump of bushes. Fists raised to protect my face, I rounded the foliage with careful steps and then jumped.

“Got you!” My mind whirling with self-preservation and not much else, I launched myself at the intruder, tackling the creature to the ground. Somehow, the target was smaller than I thought it would be. And squishier than I thought a rakkhosh should be. Then I realized there were a bunch of yellow feathers shooting into the air from my arms.

Wait a minute, this wasn’t a demon.

“Why in the world are you strangling Tuntuni?” It was Neel, having followed me through the woods. “I know he’s a pain, but I really think you’re overreacting.”

The bird was a disaster. Bleary-eyed, missing feathers, and with some leaves stuck in one wing.

“Oh no! I’m so sorry! Are you okay?” I disentangled my hands from around the bird’s neck and tried to smooth some of his ruffled feathers. “How did you get here?”

“What … do … you … call … a … bird … who’s … out … of … breath?” Tuntuni panted.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.