A Snake's Path (A Snake's Life Book 2)

by Kenneth Arant

As the jewel had been performing as expected, I had lost about ten percent of my body mass a second before stopping at my current size. I was a far cry from where I wanted to be, but I wasn’t about to start complaining. I was enjoying my relatively small size while I could as I made my way over to the stone crusaders and began to eat them.

  "Sup, Fatass," Fenris said by way of greeting as he stepped up behind me.

  “I’m thinner than you are.”

  "Hey, just because that jewel is making you appear smaller than you are, doesn't mean I don't know what's in front of me."

  “Aw, and after I’d told the doctor to make it look natural.”

  "What, no—What does that even mean?”

  "Don’t worry about it," I chuckled. “Now, as much as I like talking to you... Do you mind?”

  “Knock yourself out,” Fenris blanched.

  "Master!" Findral yelled as she came running over to me.

  "What is it now?" I whined.

  "Ayla’s fiancé—er, boyfriend—is requesting your presence,” she replied.

  I tilted my head. “He’s requesting my presence?”

  “Yes.”

  “Sir pretty boy, lord of the runway models, is requesting my presence?”

  “Um—Y-Yes?” she stammered.

  “Okay, thanks for passing on the message, Fin,” I said happily as I picked up a crusader and started munching on him like he was a piece of hard candy.

  “Um—m-master?”

  “Mm?” I turned to her with a half-eaten crusader hanging out of my mouth and tilted my head again.

  “Never mind, master. I’m sure he won’t mind waiting.”

  Actually, I’m rather hoping he does mind. I smirked at the thought and went back to eating.

  When I was finished snacking on my rock candy, I slowly made my way through town until I arrived at the last place I’d seen the group. I found Ayla, the pretty boy, and a militia’s worth of men in leather armor unloading wooden boxes from several ships. I found myself staring at the vessels and wondering two things: how they managed to get them into the village harbor, and why they looked so damned familiar.

  "Finally, he shows up," Thor said angrily. “What, were you off taking a nap somewhere?”

  “No,” I replied while staring him down.

  He glared expectantly at me, waiting for an excuse that would never come. Ayla began to fidget from the uncomfortable silence that stretched out between us. The pretty boy, on the other hand, looked perfectly calm as he returned my stare.

  At least he’s brave.

  After a few minutes of neither of us speaking, Ayla finally spoke up. “Look, the two of you can compare dick sizes later. Thor, you needed him for a reason, right?”

  “Yes,” he replied without looking away from me. “But I think I have my answer.”

  “Do you now?” I laughed. “And what answer would that be?”

  “You aren’t coming with us to Asgard.” His reply was delivered with the confidence of someone used to being obeyed.

  “Then have fun returning by yourself.”

  “Oh, Ayla’s coming with me.” He grabbed her hand to emphasize what he was saying and tugged her into his side. “The others are welcome to come along if they wish. But you aren’t coming.”

  I looked between him and Ayla: She looked uncomfortable, but wasn’t objecting to his words. “I see,” I sighed.

  “Good, now—Urk!” Thor was interrupted as a slab of stone slammed into his chest, sending him skipping across the cobblestone road like a pebble over water. A few of his soldiers grabbed him before he could skip too far and helped him back to his feet. He was shaken but didn’t seem to be badly hurt.

  “Let me explain something,” I hissed. “I don’t care who you are, where you came from, or what your title is. Compared to the things I’ve seen, the things I’ve killed, you’re nothing more than an insignificant whelp who thinks he’s tough shit. And yet, you have the gall, the absolute nerve, to order me around? To let you whisk my daughter away somewhere I cannot follow?” I leaned down until we were at eye level. “You’re even dumber than I thought.”

  “Care to put your money where your mouth is?” Thor asked, drawing his sword, and stepping towards me. "I’m the first prince of Asgard, brother to the king, and a level seventy-nine magic-swordsman. I’ve killed giants, dragons, and many others in defense of my kingdom. What makes you so special, what gives you the confidence to take me on?" the prince asked with no small amount of amusement in his voice.

  “Because, whelp. I eat heroes like you for breakfast.” I looked to the left and twisted my head as if I’d heard something, which prompted the prince to look that way as well. Then I shot forward and lightly headbutted him in the chest. He was knocked off balance, landing on his ass with a heavy thud.

  “That was a dirty trick.” He scrambled to his feet and picked up his sword. He held it horizontally in front of him. It was about four feet long and three inches wide. The back of the blade was made of a dark metal, while the edge was made of a much lighter metal. A circular guard extended from the bottom edge of the blade to the end of the hilt to cover his hand, and the hilt itself was covered in a dark rubber to prevent slippage.

  “Fancy sword.”

  "My father had it crafted for me. It's enchanted to never dull, never break, and to increase its sharpness upon making contact."

  I nodded to show I understood. “Good, then you should have no problem cutting me with it."

  "Um—What?"

  “Oh, here we go.” Ayla sighed.

  "Cut. Me."

  "Are you sure about this?” he asked cautiously. “This sword has cleaved through a dragon’s scales. And despite your attitude, I'd rather not hurt my future snake-in-law."

  I narrowed my eyes at him. "Alright, I'll make you a deal. If you can cut me with that blade, I won’t protest your taking Ayla with you."

  "And if I can't?"

  "Losing confidence already?”

  He frowned at me, then brought his blade to his side while drawing his body into a low stance and slightly turning to the side. "I'll try not to hurt you too much."

  He watched me for a few seconds, then his body sprang into action. He rotated to ensure maximum speed as his arm whipped towards me. The blade struck true and sparks erupted from the place of contact as it grazed my scales. Thor completed his movement and sheathed his sword.

  I glanced down and saw a thin white line across my torso: No blood had been drawn, though my scales had been slightly damaged. I looked from the mark to Thor. “Not bad. You managed to cut me.”

  “Imagine what would’ve happened if I wanted to kill you.”

  “Fair enough,” I allowed. “Now it’s my turn.”

  “Give me your best shot—" His eyes went wide, and he gasped as the air was knocked out of him. The stone pillar I’d summoned between his legs returned to dust after fulfilling its purpose. Thor fell to his knees, his sword clenched tightly in his hand but useless. “T—That’s not—" He tried to suck in a breath, but none would come.

  "I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you. Wanna try that one more time?"

  He opened and closed his mouth several times before finally shaking his head.

  "Are you sure?”

  He nodded his head, as he finally could no longer keep himself upright and he collapsed onto his stomach.

  I lowered my head until my mouth was inches from his ear. "Now, imagine what would’ve happened if I’d wanted to kill you,” I mocked. "Remember one thing going forward, 'your highness.' The girl you've chosen is a monster’s daughter. I'll gladly take any pain you inflict on her out on you, your family, and your kingdom. And I'll enjoy Every. Fucking. Second of it."

  I raised my head to my full height and grinned at Ayla, who was scowling at me. “Don’t give me that look, Brat. I owed him that one.” I left her to tend to his injuries and made my way over to Fenris and Findral.

  "Are you sure he's okay?" Fenris asked after seeing the prince lie completely moti
onless.

  "Eh, probably." I shrugged.

  Chapter 7

  WITH THE SUN HANGING high in the sky and a gentle breeze rustling the trees, I found myself having a rather crappy morning. I hadn’t had any sleep in two days since I was trying to keep my hunger under control, then Fenris had informed me that Asgard was one of over a thousand floating islands, all of which were nearly identical if you looked at them from the ground. So, we had two options: I fly us there and risk Asgard seeing it as an attack or hitch a ride on one of the Asgardian ships.

  However, now that it was just the two of us, I found myself wondering what he knew about those special evolutions.

  “Hey, Fenris?”

  “Mm?”

  “Have you ever heard of an evolution the system couldn’t recognize?”

  Fenris had a sudden coughing fit. “Y—You have one of those?”

  “No.”

  “Oh, thank the gods—”

  “I have two.”

  “WHY!?” he yelled. “No, never mind. You’re you, of course you would get that evolution.” He sighed.

  “Is it a bad thing?”

  “Bad? Not unless you count being the envy of all of Yggdrasil a bad thing. Everyone who cares about evolving as a way to gain power wants one of those evolutions.”

  “Why?”

  “The system doesn’t recognize them because they don’t currently exist. You would be the first person in history to evolve into those creatures. You would, for all intents and purposes, become the progenitor of an entire race.”

  “Oh...” I sighed. I felt like I was sighing a lot lately.

  “What about a king evolution?”

  Fenris was quiet for a long moment. “Torga, take it from me. Be very careful saying stuff like that out loud.”

  “What? King evolution?”

  “Yes. It’s dangerous.”

  “Dangerous? Fenris, I don’t even know how to unlock it. All it says is “kill the old Serpent King,” but it doesn’t mention who that is or where I could find them. What, am I just supposed to search throughout all of Yggdrasil, killing every serpent I find along the way until I get lucky and kill the Serpent King?”

  “Torga, I mean it. Stop talking about it,” Fenris said seriously. “The path of kings is started by stating that you wish to accept the King’s Challenge. Once you say those words aloud, you and every other Serpent King will be whisked away to a private corner of Yggdrasil, in a realm outside of time and disconnected from the outside world until only one remains. There’s no quitting halfway, and no giving up. You’re stuck there until you either win or die trying, then your body is sent back for your family to deal with. This is usually the fate of those wanting to be a king of beasts. For all your power, Torga. I fear you’ll meet the same fate.”

  “Yeah—” I hesitated momentarily. “But that may not be the worst thing I could do.”

  Fenris didn’t respond, to which I was grateful. I didn’t want to explain myself any further right now. My talk with Fenris came to a screeching halt after that, but he didn’t leave my side. We began making our way over to the temporary campground we’d set up outside the inn, seeing as I was too large to fit inside any of the nearby buildings, and Fenris joined me since he didn’t feel like showing his demi-elf form to a group of strangers. On the way, we circled around one of the ships and I caught a voice I recognized. "Oh, Ayla... You shouldn't have," they mumbled.

  I felt my eye twitch as I looked up at the window above our heads. I rose to my full height and peeked through it to make sure what I thought was happening, wasn’t. After all, it would be a shame for the whelp to die before the wedding...

  Sleeping alone in the room naked as the day he was born, and using a pair of waterskins as pillows, was Thor. While I desperately ignored the telltale signs of the kind of dream he was having, I scanned the room to make sure Ayla wasn’t with him, then withdrew my head. As I did, I heard him mumble, "You're cold. I can fix that—"

  I felt my eye twitch again.

  “Well?” Fenris asked in an amused tone. It was the first thing I’d heard him say in almost ten minutes.

  “He’s definitely compensating for something with that sword of his. Surprised I managed to hit the thing,” I replied as naturally as I could.

  Fenris snorted in response and we continued heading for our sleeping area.

  As the morning continued to drag on, people started to wake up and get ready for the day. I saw Ayla, Hali, and Findral heading off on their own after breakfast and briefly wondered where they were going. They wouldn’t try to run away again, would they? That thought ran through my mind a few times. Maybe I should follow them? I wondered.

  I noticed Thor and another man following after them a few minutes later, and my decision was made.

  I let them be.

  “You’re not going to follow them?”

  “No.”

  Fenris was quiet for a moment, “You feeling okay?” He placed his paw against my forehead and muttered something about my not having a fever.

  “First of all, I’m a reptile, genius. My body temperature would be lower than yours even if I was running a fever. And secondly,” I jerked my head out from under his paw. “Get your grubby paws off me. Why’re you still hanging around me anyway? Don’t you have work to do?” I asked, referring to the fact that he was supposed to be getting ready to go collect the rest of our group.

  “I’m not leaving for another hour. And besides, I have to finish patrolling the perimeter of the village for monsters.”

  The mutt had jokes. The most powerful creature I’d seen in the forest was a tier four shaggy deer. Anything below the fourth tier wouldn’t come anywhere near the village with me around. Creatures below fourth tier were rarely sentient and lived mainly through their instincts. They ate when they were hungry, slept when they were tired, and used the bathroom whenever the urge hit them. A truly boring life—at least, to me it was. However, because of this, their senses where heightened to a level no sentient creature could truly comprehend. On some level, these animals could sense danger long before they had anyway of truly knowing what was there. This sense for danger had led to more than a few instances of my having to rely on inorganic material to survive, as every animal for miles had fled for their lives. Which was another reason I’d wanted a smaller body. It’s one thing to be a mile-long serpent when my life was on the line and I was fighting against a fellow giant. But it’s slightly difficult to procure meat when you’re the size of a mountain. Most creatures, unless they’re either deaf or stupid, will flee for their lives at the first sign of a creature higher on the food chain than they are.

  And I happen to be nearing the top of the food chain. Unbidden memories of the golden being and a laughing skeleton in a top hat floated through my mind at that thought and I retracted my statement. If you counted those things, then I was little more than a microbe in an ocean of stars.

  “Torga, are you sure about letting them go? What if they run again?”

  “Then they run.” I sighed. “I made a deal with the whelp. If he could cut me, I’d let them go. Well, he cut me.”

  “Seriously?” Fenris eyed me up and down. “There’s not a scratch on you.”

  “I never said it was good cut.” I smirked at him. “He barely managed to leave a mark on my scales. But that was all he needed.”

  “Wow—So—You’re really going to honor your word?”

  “That’s what I said.”

  “I know. I’m just surprised is all. I can’t believe you’re going to let Ayla run off with some guy to have all the wild sex she can handle. And, you let Findral go with her?”

  “I’d watch what you say, Mutt. Hali went with her too.” I looked over my shoulder at Fenris’ horrified expression and couldn’t stop a grin from almost splitting my face in two.

  “I’ll—uh—I suddenly remembered I had something to do. Talk to you later, Fatass!” He dashed away faster than I could follow and was racing through the trees a mom
ent later.

  I waited until he was out of sight before I burst out laughing. Was I happy about the situation? No, of course I wasn’t. But I intended to honor my word—and not just the promise to let her leave with him.

  A FEW DAYS LATER, I found myself napping near the campfire. Fenris was sitting nearby watching Lena and Talia play. They’d arrived with the rest of our group in tow yesterday, and he’d stuck to them like glue ever since. He was happily licking a beef-based soup out of a large wooden bowl Lena placed there for him, and periodically gnawing on a large steak.

  "You know he's glaring at you, right?" Fenris asked while watching Thor out of the corner of his eye.

  I glanced over at Thor, who was sitting on the lowest step of a nearby house, a bowl of his own clutched tightly in his hand as he shoveled the dark colored broth into his mouth. Sure enough, he was glaring at me.

  "Yep."

  "And you're not worried about him trying anything?"

  I looked at Fenris. "I'm counting on it."

  "You're plotting something." I knew it wasn’t a question. He didn't bother asking for the details because he knew me well enough to understand how my mind worked. If he had a part to play in my plan, then I would've told him by now.

  "You're testing him," Fenris muttered.

  "I'm sure you're just overthinking things, Mutt."

  "No, I know you, Fatass. If you wanted the kid dead, then nothing any of us could say or do would stop you from killing him. So, what makes this kid different from everyone else you've killed?"

  "What makes you think he's different?"

  "I've known you for over a decade, Torga. Want to know how many people I've seen you give this kind of opportunity to?" Before I could speak in defense of myself, Fenris pressed on. "Not a damn one. I've seen you kill kings without a moment's hesitation. I've seen you kill more people than I care to remember. Granted, most of them deserved it, but even still you did not hesitate to kill when necessary. So, why? Why is he any different?" Fenris stared and waited for the answer to his question.

  "Ever since I came to this 'world’ I've lived by one creed. It’s a saying that I've long since carved into my heart and is the driving force behind almost everything I do." I took a deep breath, then grimaced as magic was involuntarily drawn towards me, creating a static-like effect in the air. "Protect those I care about with everything I have, kill those who stand against me as quickly and efficiently as possible, and under no circumstances allow them to attack first. Strike fast and hard, and kill without mercy has been my strategy in almost every fight I've been in and it's served me well, but it won't work here," I said, gesturing with my head to the girls sitting around Thor. “Not too long ago, Ayla would’ve tried to follow me anywhere, even to the depths of hell itself if it meant I wouldn't leave her alone. But the whelp is a blessing, an annoying blessing I’d like nothing more than to eat, but that can’t be helped. Through him, I can ensure that she’s safe."