A Snake's Life

by Kenaren

  She shook her head and said. “Nothing… it’s nothing.” I knew she wasn’t telling me the truth because she was acting strangely.

  “It’s clearly something since you’re acting like you’ve seen a ghost. So, tell me the truth, Lena.” My words caused her to raise one brow and folded her arms across her chest. “Are you calling me a liar, Torga?” She asked, and I immediately nodded in confirmation. “Yes.” My response surprised her enough, that she took a step back and stared at me in wonder.

  “That… Wasn’t the answer I was expecting.” She said after a few seconds, so I gave her my version of a shrug. Which was a slight tilt of my head to the side. An act that probably looked a little strange, coming from a giant snake. Then, I said. “I’m not your husband. Whether or not you like my answer, is irrelevant to me.” She looked away and puffed out her cheeks. *hmph*

  I rolled my eyes at her. “Please, do act your age. I already have to deal with one immature brat and I’d rather not deal with another.” Solon apparently heard my words and felt the need to correct me. “Hey!” he yelled before storming over and pointing his finger at me. “I’m not immature!” I tilted my head to one side and stared for a few seconds, then I started laughing. *Laughing* “I… I was actually referring to your father. But, if you feel the shoe fits, then feel free to lace it up and wear it.” He stared at me with a blank expression on his face until I stopped laughing, then he asked. “What shoe are you talking about?” He looked down at his bare feet, then back to me. “I don’t wear shoes.” He said with a slight shrug… Which started a round of chuckles from me and his mother. *Chuckle* “It’s a colloquialism, so don’t take it literally.” His face went through multiple changes, before settling on confusion. He looked to his mother, who was trying to hide her own mirth at her son’s confused face.

  “Mom… What’s a co.. co… colocoism?” She quickly stamped down her mirth, then answered. “Colloquialism, dear. It means it was a saying not meant to be taken literally.” She patted him on the head and smiled.” So, don’t worry about it.” He seemed suspicious for a second, then nodded and walked off. But not before giving me one last glare. Lena watched him walk over to the other side of the ship, then she looked back at me. “Why do you do that?” I tilted my head in confusion. “Do…what?” She huffed, then answered. “Use words that you know he can’t understand. He has enough trouble understanding the simple words, then you go and use words like ‘colloquialism’.” I stared at her for a few seconds, then looked over to Solon. “The boy’s more intelligent than you’re giving him credit for.” She apparently didn’t like my saying so because her response was to glare at me. “I know my son isn’t stupid!”

  I turned my head to her, then said. “I realize that. But, you do treat him as if he’s not as smart as Hali… I think Fenris is the most guilty of this.” Her left brow rose. ” I take it, you have a reason for saying so?” I nodded my head, then asked. “If I tell you, will you explain why you reacted so strangely upon seeing me?” She thought over my words for a moment, her head shifting from side to side… Then, she tentatively nodded.

  *Sigh* I looked back to Solon, who was currently in a conversation with his sister. “The two of you are clearly proud of Hali because of her druid magic… But, I sometimes see Solon off by himself practicing with that dagger of his.” She folded her arms and interrupted me by saying. “I know he practices, but I fail to see how that means we are treating him as if he was dumber than Hali.”

  “If you’d shut up and let me finish. I’ll explain further.” I unintentionally bared my teeth and hissed. She took a few steps back, but her face and demeanor remained the same, so I continued. “I’ve seen Solon practicing moves that neither of you have shown him. And the moves you do show him only takes him a few tries before he has them down pat… And yet, I’ve seen neither you nor Fenris praise him for it.” She opened her mouth to interrupt again, but I beat her to it. “Lena, I’m not saying you’re neglecting him, so shut up.” Her mouth snapped shut and she glared at me. “All I’m saying. Is you pay more attention to Lena’s magic, than you do Solon’s combat training. And Fenris outright ignores his combat training in favor of sleeping all day, while you are left trying to teach them both.”

  She seemed to consider my words for a few moments, then she looked over at Fenris… who was sleeping… as usual. She stormed over to him and kicked him in the nose. Though she didn’t put any real strength behind the kick, Fenris yelped and stood up. “What was that for!?” He yelled… Which only served to annoy Lena even more than she already was. “You need to help Solon with his training, instead of expecting me to do everything!” Her sudden shouting confused not only Fenris but the kids as well. “Mom?” Hali questioned, while Solon just looked confused.

  “What’s gotten into you all of a sudden? I’m sure Solon’s training is going fine.” A piece of wood came loose from the deck of the ship and smacked Fenris on the butt, causing him to yelp again. “Of course, it’s going fine. He’s my son, after all, but I’m tired of seeing you lounge around all day. So, you have two choices. Either you get off your ass and begin Solon’s training or…” She leaned in and whispered something in his ear. Whatever she said to him, I doubt I’ll ever know. But he transformed into his human form so fast it just about made my head spin. “Alright, Solon. Training time!” Fenris marched over and grabbed Solon’s arm, then dragged him to the back of the ship.

  Lena made her way back over to me and bowed her head. *Sigh* “I hate to admit it… but, you’re right. We haven’t been spending nearly enough time on Solon’s training. Hopefully, we can still get him up to speed before something… else… happens.” Her eyes went foggy and she lost focus for a few seconds, then she suddenly snapped back to attention. “I just realized… We never thanked you for saving us.” I shook my head. “There’s no need to thank me, as I’m not the one that saved you.” She slightly nodded her head, then said. “I’m well aware that it was Solon who did the actual ‘rescuing’, but he couldn’t have done it without your help… In fact, I feel a spike of dread whenever I think about what could have happened had you not been there.” Her eyes grew slightly misty and she just barely managed to choke out. “Seriously, Torga. My family and I are forever in your debt.” She bowed at the waist until her head was parallel to the deck and I could see the tears dripping down her face.

  “Then, would you mind doing me a favor before you answer my question?” She quickly nodded her head, then said. “Anything within my power.” I nodded then glanced over to Fenris and Solon, then back to Lena. “Can you please… Find that damn mutt a pair of pants.” Her face went blank, then she slowly turned her head and looked at Fenris. Who was currently jumping up and down… while being completely naked… in front of his son and daughter. *Sigh* “Yes… I can definitely do that.”

  After forcing Fenris into a pair of loose breeches, she returned and told me that her tribe actually used to worship an Elemental Basilisk as a ‘protector’ of sorts. And this particular basilisk was, according to Lena, Gigantic. It was said to have been over a mile long when it finally passed away from old age, but by that point, it had been their guardian for over a century. So its death didn’t really come as a surprise to them, and though they wished for it to continue protecting them. They knew better than anyone, that the cycle of life must not be broken by anyone… Which made me internally chuckle as I was someone who had deliberately broken the cycle, so I could see and protect Sarah, again.

  After the talk between Lena and I, things went back to normal. I swam just ahead of the ship in order to keep an eye out for any predators that may be lurking just beneath the surface. And in this way, another month passed and we finally found what we’d been looking for… The Giant.

  * * *

  “There it is!” Solon yelled from his place atop my head. A place he had seemingly taken a liken to since we left the city, as anytime he was free, he would climb on my head and just talk with me. Hali would also join him up there some nights
… Said it made her feel safe to know that I would, in her words, “Eat anything that tried to harm us.” And since their children were usually sleeping on my head. Lena and Fenris had taken the time to get ‘reacquainted’ with one another… Despite my frequent requests for them to at least wait until I had gone to sleep before they started humping. I was just as frequently ignored. So, lo and behold. Fenris and Lena came up to the children one day and said. “We’re going to have a baby!” It took forever to get my ‘ears’ to stop ringing after Hali began to celebrate by screaming whilst atop my head….

  “There it is…” I said in wonder at the sheer size of the thing. It’s appearance hadn’t changed at all since I’d last seen it. The dark blue skin, tribal tattoos, curved horns, long hair, but most importantly. The island that rested on its shoulders, and only held there by the massive chains that wrapped around the entirety of the island’s base. I looked back at the family and asked. “We’re here at last.” The kids started jumping around, while Fenris and Lena just stared at the creature. “H… How are we going to get up there!?” Lena stuttered out. “Climbing it is certainly out.” Fenris said, then he looked at me. “Any ideas?” I looked back at the creature, then at the island above… then at its feet. I nodded and said. “We dig our way to the top.“

  Fenris, Lena, and the kids just stared at me in confusion, then Fenris asked. “And… how do we do that, when we don’t have any tools?” I tilted my head to one side, then smiled to show off my teeth. “Of course, we do… I have teeth, you have claws and teeth… What more could we need?” Fenris looked back at the giant, then sighed and looked at Lena. “The things I do for you and the kids…” She smiled at him, then patted him on the shoulder. “And we really appreciate it… don’t we kids?” They nodded and yelled. “Love you, dad!” Fenris looked between Lena and the kids, then back at the giant, before finally saying. *Sigh* “Oh well, might as well get us started, Snake.” I nodded, then swam ahead of the ship and over to the giant’s leg where I started to dig out a path.

  “Well, I’m certainly not going to go hungry anytime soon…”

  Chapter 23

  Two years… Two years of nothing, but eating my way up and around this monstrosity. And that’s not counting the several weeks I had to wait for my worn out teeth to grow back. The giant’s skin was harder than stone, so every few days I would lose a tooth or fang, which would severely slow down my digging speed. Of course, I couldn’t exactly fault the giant for this, especially after I saw the pop-up.

  You have eaten the following race for the first time Colossal Titan: Tier 9

  The Titan’s were a race of prehistoric giants that used to rule Yggdrasil. However, they were overthrown when the first god grew tired of their brutality and killed the Titan king…. This giant is all that remains of the first Titan Prince.

  A tier nine creature… A creature on the edges of divinity… and it was delicious. I’d been eating this or ‘tunneling’ my way in a spiral around the creature. However, as I could not make the inclines too steep, the path wound up looping around the giant over thirty times before I managed to make it up to the neck. Which is where I was currently waiting for Fenris to make his way up and take over, so I could get some sleep.

  The mutt has been getting progressively lazier, ever since his daughter was born last year. Talia was her name, and she was a warg like her father. Even now, she was probably running around the ship and playing ‘attack anything that moves’… one of the little brats favorite games. She had dark hair and red eyes like her father and brother and was usually a happy, healthy baby… Well, toddler now, I guess.

  *Yawn* I looked off to my right and saw Fenris walking over to me in his complete warg form… Which leads me to another change that has occurred over the last two years. I’ve gotten a little bit bigger… Ok, a lot bigger. The constant eating actually had two effects on me. The first was an increase to my gluttonous trait, which now sat at a plus three. And that, in turn, further increased my growth trait to a plus three as well.

  This resulted in me having a tremendous growth spurt over the last two years. I’m now over ten times larger than I was before I began to eat the giant. I could no longer even compare myself to the ship, or to Fenris because they were so small. Fenris was so small now, he could easily sit on my head with the rest of the family.

  Speaking of… Lena and the kids have been doing quite well, all things considered. Though it did take them awhile to get over what happened back in Edgehaven. I was told, that while the man did do some invasive ‘inspections’ on Hali and Lena. Neither of them was actually raped. It was a close call for Lena, however, as the man had been attempting to do just that when I knocked into the building. The impact distracted him enough that Lena was able to force a stone spike to form between her legs… which then pierced through his crotch and slammed him into the ceiling. Where he was pinned until the explosion tore off part of the building, causing him and his spike to be exposed to the sky above… A fitting end for such a man, I suppose.

  “What took you so long, Fenris?”

  He sleepily glared up at me, then just continued to walk by me. He arrived at the wall of flesh of a few seconds later and began to dig into it. I raised a non-existent brow at his silent response, then asked. “Fenris, what’s wrong?” He stopped digging then turned to look at me.

  “Hali was asking about forming a familiar bond with you last night, so I didn’t get any sleep.” He yawned again for emphasis, then went back to digging.

  I tilted my head to one side and thought back to what Ayla had said about familiar bonds. “Why would she want to potentially tie her life to mine?” Fenris stopped digging and turned back to me.

  “I don’t know… All she ever talks about is if you’ll accept the bond with her. *Sigh* I guess, I shouldn’t be too surprised about her decision. After all, you’re the only guy she knows that isn’t family.”

  His words confused me, so I asked. “Why does it matter, that I’m male? Shouldn’t the partner bond be with whoever she’s most compatible with?”

  Fenris nodded. “Yes, but if she wants a husband as well, then it needs to be a male.”

  My eyes went wide and I blurted out. “Husband!?”

  Fenris stared at me for a few seconds, then his eyes took on a dangerous glint. “Yes… Husband. Does that surprise you? What were you just going to use my daughter, then discard her… HUH!?” He yelled and took a few steps towards me.

  I shook my head. “Actually, I had no idea she wanted me to be her partner until you said something just now. And, just what do you mean by ‘use her’?” I stared him down with a questioning look in my eyes.

  He stopped his advance after hearing my question, then sat down and said. “Well… I mean… Don’t you think she’s beautiful?”

  I tentatively nodded. “I suppose so…. Why does that matter?”

  His eyes grew slightly wider. “Usually, when a man and a women find each other attractive they… uh.”

  “Have sex?

  *Gulp* He nodded.

  “I have no desire to have sex with Hali, though. So, again. Why does whether or not I find her attractive, mean we would be good partners for each other?”

  His eyes widened even further and I could hear him beginning to growl. “Are… Are you saying that Hali isn’t good enough for you!?”

  I tilted my head to the right, then said. “How did you possibly come to that conclusion?”

  “You just told me, you didn’t want to have sex with her!”

  “So? I don’t think of Hali in that way… Besides, shouldn’t you be happy that I’m not trying to have sex with her?”

  He paused for a few seconds, then opened his mouth to continue yelling at me, when a metal object came flying from the darkness and slammed into his nose. *Yelp!* He covered it with his front paws and glared into the darkness… Until Hali and Lena stepped out and stared him down.

  I looked between the girls and Fenris, then I just sighed and began to make my way down
to the water below. Though I had to follow the edge our tunnel as I was too large to move passed the girls otherwise. ” Hey, Torga?” Hali called out.

  “Yes?” I looked back at her.

  “Can we talk… later?”

  “Sure.” I nodded, then continued on my way.

  * * *

  Later that night, I was resting near the ship when someone landed on my head. I looked up and saw Hali standing there watching me.

  “You’re ready for that talk, I’m guessing?”

  She nodded her head, then sat down and folded her legs underneath her. “Dad already told you what I want to talk about… right?”

  I slightly nodded. “You want me to be your partner.”

  She sighed, then nodded her head. ” So… will you?”

  “Please, allow me to ask you something first.”

  “Sure.”

  “Are you doing this because you want a partner, and you’re ready to become a full druid or is it simply because you think it’s expected of you to find a husband?”

  My question obviously confused her, and she opened her mouth to respond… but nothing came out. She went glass eyed for a few seconds, then after snapping back to reality, she answered. “Well… Um… Mom and Dad became partners at my age, and since they eventually married. I guess… both, maybe?”

  I shook my head. “Hali, you don’t need to follow in their footsteps if you don’t want to. You’re fourteen years old, and no one important is expecting you to find a husband at your age.”