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

by Kenneth Arant

  Naunet grabbed her arm and pulled her into his chest. "You won't touch her, Torga. I’ll die before I let you touch her.”

  "Naunet, my friend,” an ominous laugh echoed from deep within the cloud. “I'm coming for you first."

  Naunet and Sereath teleported away as the wave suddenly sped up and devoured everything in sight.

  FOR TEN years in the dilated zone, my aura devoured everything it touched: the twin stars, the old neutron star, every part of Yggdrasil within the system, and everything else both large and small were devoured just as fast. When nothing else remained within the time dilation, my hunger turned on me and consumed everything except for my consciousness, leaving me to float endlessly through space as a void of darkness and hunger.

  *Ding!*

  ꝏꝏꝏꝏꝏꝏ

  You have unlocked a hidden evolution!

  From dirt and leaves, to monsters and trees. You have consumed everything on your path to power. Through great trials and tribulations, what started as a burden has become your greatest strength. A new body must be forged from fires of your will: Would you like to ascend?

  ꝏꝏꝏꝏꝏꝏ

  “Y—E—S.”

  *Ding!* Ding!* Ding!*

  ꝏꝏꝏꝏꝏꝏ

  Congratulations!

  Through your own power and force of will, you have ascended to the realm of the divine as a minor Dark God.

  Name: Torga

  Race: Quasar Serpent/Gluttonous Dark God of Hunger and Gravity

  Minor

  Classification: Tier 10(+1)

  Level: 100(?)

  Experience: N/A

  Titles: Destroyer of Asgard, The Dark Serpent, The Unwavering One, Royal Serpent, Free, The Devourer of Worlds, God of Hunger, God of Gravity

  Stats:

  Physical Strength: ∞

  Endurance: ∞

  Dexterity: 1,051

  Speed: 1,583

  Mental Intelligence: 74

  Wisdom: 51

  Charisma: 31

  Resistances Elements: 90%

  Divinity: 90%

  Mental: 60%

  Immunities Mind Control

  Illusions

  Disease

  Skills: Major Stealth, Heat Detection, Absolute Gluttony, Absolute Growth, Greater Petrifying Gaze, Superior Acid Venom, Detect Concealment, Energy Breath, Fly, Magic Enhancement, Elemental Manipulation, Omnipotent Control over Hunger and Gravity, Shapeshift, Aethereal Form, Size Control

  Traits: Dark Gluttonous Aura ∞, Growth +1,000, Forever Growing, Indomitable, Absolute Regeneration, Ageless, Oxygen Independent, Self-Sustaining, God of Hunger, God of Gravity

  ꝏꝏꝏꝏꝏꝏ

  My aura flared out around me, and I could suddenly move again. After ten years of being locked into one position, I was free. "I'm coming for you all..."

  Interlude: Birth of a Monster

  CHAOS FILLED THE STREETS as every god’s worst nightmare became reality. Orochi's prison was broken, the Serpent King was free, and judging by the power he’d used to break out, he'd gotten much stronger after his imprisonment.

  No one knew what to do. When the older gods sealed Orochi ten thousand years ago, it was with the promise that neither he nor his brother would ever be able to escape. But with that promise broken and the original sealers nowhere to be found, what were they supposed to do!?

  "Attention everyone, can I have your attention please!?" Ytyx, current de facto “king” of this branch of the Golden City gods yelled from his balcony.

  All motion and sound within the area ceased as every citizen turned their sights on the king himself, or on his holographic projections littered throughout the city.

  "Ahem, thank you. Now, I know what you're all thinking: 'Orochi's free from his prison, so he must be infinitely more powerful than before' right?’"

  Chaos and chatter exploded in the streets.

  "Quiet!" All sounds once again ceased. "Please, listen to my words until the end." When no one objected or started to panic, he continued. "As I was saying, yes, it would seem as if Orochi has gotten more powerful. However, I have just been informed by the captain of our wonderful royal guard, the Seraphs, that a plot to free Orochi has been uncovered, and they seemingly failed to stop it. But do not worry, my subjects. The captain has been executed for his incompetence and a task force has been created to slay Orochi once and for all!"

  Cheers erupted and a new kind of chaos ensued.

  "Sire, you do know what will happen if we're wrong and Orochi escaped under his own power, yes?" Haskill, Ytyx's loyal vassal, asked from his position behind the king.

  "Of course. But if I'm wrong, then we're all dead anyway. So why should I let my citizens destroy my beautiful city before Orochi can? It will take time for Orochi to make his way here. Time that I fully intend to enjoy."

  "As you say, sir. Shall I send in some goddesses for the lord to enjoy?"

  "Yes, three should be sufficient. Thank you, Haskill."

  "Of course, sir."

  "WHAT HAVE WE DONE?" Naunet stared wide-eyed at what used to be Orochi's prison and the star-sized orange eye glaring at them.

  After escaping Torga’s wrath, they were finally back together and could live their lives as they wanted, or so he thought. Lacking the magical power necessary to teleport them to a planet connected to the Bi-frost, Naunet and Sereath were enjoying flying alongside each other when it happened.

  A sound akin to breaking glass echoed throughout all of Yggdrasil. Naunet's eyes widened and he looked back the way they'd came. He saw a titanic wave of green mist with two star-sized orange orbs staring down at them.

  "Well, look who it is. Fancy meeting you here, Naunet."

  "Damnit! Run!"

  "How is he free already!? It's been less than ten hours since we sealed him!"

  "I don't know, but I'm not sticking around to find out!"

  Suddenly the branch beneath them lurched, causing them to lose their balance and fall. Naunet looked back and saw a great green-scaled hand formed from the mist wrap around the branch. It was pulling the entire thing towards the eyes.

  "You're not getting away this time."

  "Like hell we're not!" Naunet wrapped his arms around Sereath and started to leap as far and as fast as he could from the ominous orange eyes. However, before they could jump more than twice, a green-scaled humanoid was suddenly standing in front of them. It was clearly male from the rather obscene thing hanging from its pelvis. It stood around six feet tall with an above average sized body, short black hair, and almond-shaped orange eyes. The snake-man appeared to be inspecting himself and wasn't paying Naunet and Sereath any attention. Well, until they tried to jump again and an intense gravitational pull slammed the two of them into the branch.

  "You know I don't make false promises, Naunet."

  Naunet struggled to lift his head and look Torga in the eyes. "H—How did you escape?"

  “Don’t worry about it, “friend,” Torga sneered

  While Torga was speaking, Sereath managed to twitch a finger and send a spike of the branch towards his back. But the branch disintegrated before it came anywhere near him.

  Torga just made an annoyed sound and glanced at the offending digit. "It appears that's not going to work anymore.” He reached down and grabbed Sereath’s hand.

  Naunet screamed, and he begged Torga not to hurt her.

  Without looking away from Naunet, a burst of aura traveled down Torga’s arm and surrounded Sereath.

  “I promised you a quick death, and I’m a man of my word.” Before either of them could react, Sereath just—vanished, as if she’d never been there at all. “Now, it’s your turn.” Torga grabbed Naunet’s arm and squeezed. Pain unlike any Naunet had ever felt coursed through him as his arm was instantly consumed and a creeping blackness raced up his arm until he could no longer tell if he even still had an arm.

  "It would seem I can control what I eat and what I don't with more precision than before. For example, I just ate every nerve, mus
cle, and tendon in your arm while leaving the hide behind. Isn't that neat?"

  Naunet's eyes glazed over as his mind was overloaded with pain.

  Torga "lightly” slapped him a few times to wake him up. "Now, now, you can sleep all you like when you're dead."

  Naunet's eyes refocused.

  "That's better." Torga lifted him by the throat and smiled at him. "I want you to know I take no pleasure in this, Naunet. Believe it or not, if you'd done what you could to help me instead of betraying me as soon as you got what you wanted, I would've let the both of you go on with your lives."

  "You—You bastard! I'll kill you! You hear me!? I'll fucking kill you!"

  Torga suddenly released Naunet and allowed him to fall to the branch. Then he took two steps back and appeared to concentrate for a moment.

  With the gravity gone and Torga no longer suppressing him, Naunet dashed towards Torga with the intention of ripping his face off. But a sudden hunger pain tore through him and he collapsed against the branch.

  "What did you do to me!?" Naunet clawed at his stomach in a vain attempt to relieve himself of the pain.

  "I gave you only a tiny portion of the hunger I've felt over the years." Torga crouched down in front of him. "The pain you're feeling right now? That's what I felt after not eating for only two hours."

  The pain in Naunet’s stomach tripled and he screamed.

  “Let’s see how long you can handle the pain I’ve felt all these years.”

  THE WHOLE TIME NAUNET cannibalized his own body, I looked on with a feeling of complete and total apathy. Naunet succumbed to his own self-inflicted injuries after making it to the seven-hour mark.

  You were a good man, Naunet. A good husband. It's a shame you were such a shit friend. I sighed and with a wave of my hand, Naunet was reduced to ash.

  I jumped into the air and my body exploded into green energy particles, then I began to swim through space while following the branch towards whatever planet it was connected to. Luckily, in my current form at least, there didn't appear to be a limit to how fast I could move. My new form was also much more intuitive than my body ever was; every one of the skills I used required little more than a thought to activate. Using magic was as easy as breathing and happened near instantaneously.

  The best part of it all? Because of my Self-Sustaining trait, I was no longer hungry. Not even a little bit. Even after ten hours of flying, I felt nothing. Not one spark of hunger, not one iota of thirst, and It. Was. Glorious! I took to flying around in my snake-man form, so I could enjoy being normal, for a change. Well, maybe not normal, but closer than I’d been in a long time.

  Unfortunately, my fun was cut short when an explosion of lights flashed all around me and a mob of gods appeared to block my path. I jerked my head back and flipped to avoid flying into one of the more brazen members of the pack.

  Okay, I really need to learn how to teleport.

  "Captain, it would appear we've managed to stop Orochi before he could escape." A small hobbit looking man said to a tall cat-man.

  "Orochi? Wait, I'm not—"

  "Save your excuses snake-king. We know who you are. Your form doesn't fool our eyes."

  "Look, as much as I'd like to stand here and argue, I'm kind of in the middle of something, so—"

  "Under the order of Lord Ytyx; God-King of Yggdrasil, you, Orochi; Serpent King, are hereby sentenced to death."

  "I'm telling you, I'm not Orochi."

  "Our intelligence says otherwise. Kill him." A group of five overly large and muscular men charged after hearing the order.

  "Your intelligence, much like my patience, is nonexistent. Now, would you kindly get out of my way?" A burst of aura wiped out every god caught in the blast. The lucky few who were too far away managed to teleport at the last second, saving them from their comrades’ fate.

  "Everyone! Regroup and attack at range, on my mark!" The gods began manipulating their domain. Most created gigantic balls of elemental energy, others began using time, space, and destruction magic to slow or otherwise debilitate me.

  But, before any of them could get a shot or a spell off, I raised my right hand and the full weight of a star slammed into each and every god still in my way, crushing all but the most durable into a bloody mist. Then I released another burst of aura and wiped out everyone but the lone captain amongst them.

  "Now that the meat-shields are out of the way, you're going to teach me that little teleporting trick. Got it?"

  The cat-man visibly swallowed and replied in a quivering voice, "And if I refuse?"

  "Eh, I'm sure an 'intelligent' man such as yourself can figure that out, all on his own."

  "If I do this, you'll let me go?"

  "Sure, I'll let you go." I showed the god a friendly smile and internally added, straight to hell. But I couldn't say that last part out loud. No, the teleporting trick was too neat to pass up. So, I'd wait until after the god taught me how to do it before sending him into the great beyond. Ayla, Findral, and the rest could afford to wait a few more hours for my return.

  Chapter 27

  AYLA LEANED BACK AND propped herself on her elbows while she stared into the moonless night sky. Ever since her father left almost a week ago, she'd taken to hanging out on the deck of Gungnir to watch the stars and to get away from Taranis, the bustling city the Asgardians had claimed as their new home.

  However, on this night, she was not alone.

  "You know you're not supposed to be out here unattended."

  Ayla rolled her eyes and turned to look over her shoulder at the intruder. "Alone? It seems like that's become a foreign concept lately. I've been surrounded by guards and maids for so long I can barely remember what being alone feels like."

  "Can you blame us for being cautious? You did almost die a few days ago."

  "Yes, and you and Findral did a great job of ensuring that did not happen." She huffed and turned away from him.

  A few moments later, she heard his light footsteps as he came nearer, then she felt movement just behind her as two strong arms covered in a thin white fabric wrapped around her waist and pulled her closer until she was practically sitting in his lap. Luckily, she was wearing trousers, or this could have been a very problematic position to be in.

  "I'm sorry," he mumbled into her back.

  She jumped in surprise and turned in his arms until she was sitting sideways with her head facing him. "What're you apologizing for? It's not your fault I was attacked."

  "Yes, actually, it is. We finally got the would-be assassin talking and..."

  "And?"

  "It was a warning. It was her way of letting me know that she knew about you and she wasn't happy about my—trespasses."

  "What in Yggdrasil do you mean? Who's warning you and what trespasses are you talking about?" Her eyes narrowed in consternation at the uncomfortable look on his face. She turned to fully face him and grabbed his head between her hands so she could look into his eyes. "Thor, I won't be able to understand unless you explain it to me. "

  He leaned into her hands and the uncomfortable look changed to one of sadness. "Before we met, I was already engaged to someone else. She found out about you and sent the assassin as a warning to me. 'Stay faithful to your family's promise or else,’ or something along those lines."

  Ayla's face went blank as she attempted to process what Thor said. Eventually, she grew tired of sitting so close to him, so she slid off his lap and sat on the ground beside him.

  "Did you love her?" she whispered. Almost as if she were afraid of the answer.

  "Gods no!" Thor spun to fully face her. "I swear on my family's honor, Ayla. I wanted nothing—nothing to do with this engagement."

  "Then why agree to it?"

  "That's—It's complicated."

  "Try me."

  Thor sighed and fell back onto his butt.

  "My father made a deal with the Greek king Zeus to prevent a full-scale war between our peoples. I was to wed the youngest of Zeus' daughters to seal th
e deal, as it were."

  "And it was this fiancé of yours that sent the assassin?"

  "Unfortunately." Thor allowed a sardonic laugh to escape his lips, which was echoed by Ayla only moments later.

  "Ha. Why can't things just be simple, for once?" She sighed and pulled her knees into her chest.

  "Who says they can't?"

  "Hmm?"

  "Be simple, I mean. What if we left and didn't tell anyone where we were going or even that we were leaving?"

  "Don't be ridiculous, Thor. We can't just up and leave. What would your parents say? What would my father say?"

  "Who cares what they'll say?" He got on his knees in front of her. "I was serious when I asked you to marry me, Ayla. Please, run away with me."

  "Do you realize what you're saying?" she asked as she stood up and started walking away. "You'll be giving up your kingdom, your family, your—"

  "But I'll have you." He gently grabbed her waist and turned her to face him. "And that's all I want."

  "You're set on not making this easy for me, aren't you?"

  His response was to roguishly grin and pull her closer to him. "Well, I am known to be quite vexing when I want to be."

  "So, I've noticed." She sighed and placed a hand on his chest to slightly push him away. "But you know this can't last forever."

  "We don't have to run forever. Just until we're free to be together without all of this holding us back."

  "And what if that never happens? What if this," she motioned to the two of them, " isn't what fate has in store for us? What then?"

  "Then we'll make our own fate. We'll decide our own destiny and to hell with the fates."

  "That's impossible." She pushed him away and turned from him. "No one can deny their fate, Thor. Not my father, not my grandmother... not my biological parents." She whispered with a hitch in her voice. She took a few deep breaths to calm down and started walking off.

  "Ayla, wait!"

  "Don't touch me!"