Chapter 2: A Rope Between Life and Death (Part 4)

Kai unable to resist a jab, said. “Sure hope you know what you’re doing. I mean, ancient hidden islands aren’t exactly on most tourist maps. Then again, you would know. You probably wrote them back in the day.”

From above, perched in the rigging, Dex let out a laugh.

“Cut him some slack,” he called down, adjusting his grip on a rope. “He may not have any hair, but he’s hardly old enough to be your father!”

Dalton sighed and rolled his dark brown eyes, not bothering responding.

Dex grinned and reached for the small snake looped snugly around his arm like a makeshift bracelet. “Don’t mind them, Mr. Noodle,” he muttered, stroking the tan Northern water snake’s smooth scales. The creature flicked its tongue, its beady eyes playfully darting between the crew below. Dex had found him as a baby, weak and trapped in a discarded noodle box by the river. Ever since that day, Mr. Noodle’s name, like the snake, had stuck. Nursing him back to health had formed an unbreakable bond between them.