Kib can't so much flee. He can shriek - he can lurch in the direction of the nearest house and try the door - it's locked. He can amble briskly...
He can break into a run when the snake gains on him and fall flat on his face.
And he can get eaten up.
And it's too bright too bright too bright and he flings his arm over his eyes.
"It just seems really susceptible to oaths made without all salient information, or worded badly, or way too far in advance, stuff like that. Maybe you're all really really careful."
"Most people never use oaths to commit themselves to future courses of action, just for trustworthiness. If the stakes are high enough it is sometimes worth committing yourself to certain reactions to actions by others - that sort of thing has to be worded very carefully, or sworn before someone who can release you."
"And they work for trustworthiness, like, swearing that you really did a thing? What happens if you try to do that falsely - or mistakenly, like, you're swearing you told the truth all yesterday but forgot some trivial fib?"
"Is swearing an oath the sort of thing I could do by accident, because if it isn't I might just wait for Valar to show up in a few days and see if they know."
"I am not usually that sort of person but I don't want to bet anybody's life or more likely possessions-or-something on it. Would it be a safe test to say something false and then swear that I just told the truth, if I can do that?"
"Good, I hate exploding and being in horrible pain! Ummm... strawberries are blue. I swear that I have just spoken the truth."
"So inconvenient! I mean, I do make a habit of keeping promises meant seriously but I can get sarcastic and I'm not sure how the use-mention distinction border is drawn when magic is doing the drawing."
"It's kind of a nerve-wracking subject, but there should be, like, an informational pamphlet!"
"Seems like basic courtesy. I mean, we don't get any of those either but we don't have oaths as a species feature."
"I don't know. Maybe they'd be raised by talking golems made by crazy survivalists, or something."