Aru Shah and the Soul Trident

This Snake Really Needs to Floss

Aru groaned and shoved Aiden and Mini off of her. She drew herself up on her knees and commanded Gandalf to light up. After a reluctant pause, her glaive filled up the creature's mouth with a dazzling, orange glow.

"Are you guys okay?" She asked.

Aiden rubbed his head. "Yep, I'm good."

"I'm not! I don't want to get almost eaten. Again!" Mini crossed her arms, staring at Aru as if this was all her fault.

Aru rolled her eyes. "Well, we got out of the whale that time, didn't we? We'll be fine."

Aiden glanced back and forth at the two girls, trying to keep up with their banter. "Wait, hold up? Again? And what whale?"

Mini sighed and pushed her glasses up on her nose. "On our first quest, when it was just the two of us, we got trapped inside a whale and nearly died because of whale halitosis."

Poor Aiden seemed even more confused. Aru patted his shoulder. "It's fine, don't worry Wifey. We'll protect you. After all, we got out of the whale that time, thanks to my amazing strategic skills."

"The whale nearly ate you," Mini pointed out.

"That's beside the point. And it almost ate you too!"

"Okay, okay," Aiden butted in, carefully putting himself in between the two girls. "Let's talk about that later. For now, how are we gonna get out?" He looked around them. "Besides, we're not inside of a whale this time. I didn't exactly get a good look at the creature, but it seemed like some sort of sea serpent."

"Serpent...isn't that the same thing as a snake?" Aru asked, with hope lighting up in her eyes. "Maybe Rudy could talk to it and ask it to let us go?"

Mini shook her head. "I think that if that were possible, we would be out by now."

Aaaand the hope died. Aru sighed. "We could try mind-messaging Brynne and come up with a plan?"

Mini nodded. "Yeah, good idea."

Brynne, Aru tried. No response. All she heard was a weird, static sound. Mini seemed to be running into the same problem, and she let out a groan. "I can't get through."

"What do you mean?" Aiden asked, fidgeting with Shadowfax.

Aru shrugged helplessly. "We can't get to Brynne. There's something blocking the telepathic link. Maybe the snake is enchanted or something."

"Or...what if..." Aiden trailed off.

"What?" Mini asked.

Aiden shook his head. "Nothing, just a thought."

Not listening to the conversation, Aru cautiously strolled across its tongue to the side of its mouth.

"HEY!" She yelled, hoping the sea serpent understood English. "Let us out already! We don't taste very good!" Then, she reared her fist back, preparing to punch its flesh, when Mini caught her wrist.

"NO!" She shrieked. "Don't touch it! What if it's poisonous? Then, it could eat through your skin and you could die!"

Aru drew her hand back. "Fine, new plan." She stared at Gandalf. "Maybe we could prop open its jaws like we did with the whale?"

Mini shrugged. "I guess it's worth a try." Aru looked at Aiden for confirmation, but he seemed to be looking elsewhere.

Oh well. Aru raised her glaive up and poked the top of its mouth. The serpent didn't budge, but something else did. She couldn't see very well in the dim light, but Aru saw a weird, bubbling bulge where Gandalf had prodded it.