"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 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 and 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. 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 woman find each other attractive they, uh."
"Have sex?”
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. 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 them and Fenris, then I just sighed and began to make my way down to the water below. I had to follow the edge of our tunnel, as I was too large to move past 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 again. " 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 glassy 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."
She bit her bottom lip, before responding. "Is... is that a no?"
I nodded. "To the husband bit, yes."
"Why?" she asked.
I sighed, then lifted my head out of the water to look at the stars. "I'm already married, Hali. And, if I'm being honest, I see you as a niece or a granddaughter. To think otherwise would just be... weird."
She was silent for a long time after that. She just sat there and watched the stars with me for about ten minutes before, "You're married!?" she blurted out.
I laughed at her outburst, then nodded my head. "I am."
"Why am I just now hearing about this!? What's her name? What race is she? Is she a snake like you? How long have you been together!?" She continued to rapid fire questions at me for several minutes, so I told her everything. Well, almost everything.
"One question at a time please." I said, and she responded by snapping her mouth shut. "Now, what was the first question, again?"
"Why haven't you said anything about this before?" she asked and moved so that she was looking me in the eye.
I gave her my version of a shrug. "It didn't seem relevant... Also, you never asked."
She puffed her cheeks at me, then asked her second question. "What's her name?"
"Re... Sarah, her name is Sarah."
"Ooh, is she a human?" she asked with sparkling eyes.
I nodded. "She was."
I couldn't tell if she caught on to my slip-up, but since she asked another question immediately after, I decided not to dwell on it. "How long have you been married?" she asked.
"... Thirty-four years." What I didn't say, and she had yet to ask, was how long we were together, not married. We had actually known each other since we were children as we went to the same school and were even in the same class... but our paths went in separate directions after high school.
Before I could get further lost in my memories, Hali asked, "So, where is she?"
I blinked away the memories and answered. "We...we were separated years ago, and I've been searching for her ever since."
"Oh." She was quiet for a while, then mumbled, "I'm sorry... Do... do you have any clues?"
I "shrugged” in response.
She let out a soft sigh, then stood up. "Alright, I'm going to sleep now. Night Torga!" she chirped, then jumped off my head.
I watched her walk over to the sleeping area, then lie down next to her brother. "False cheer doesn't suit you, Hali." I sunk down to the ocean's floor and went to sleep.
"THERE YOU ARE, YOU BASTARD!" My eyes snapped open, and I saw my "cousin” heading for us at high speed. I quickly raised my head out of the water and told Lena and the kids what was happening. They abandoned the ship and jumped over to the path we had dug out of the giant, then started running to higher ground.
I turned back to the Leviathan and let out a deep sigh. "Why did this bitch have to find us now? We were so close to escaping, too..." Once it had gotten close enough, the Leviathan shot her head out of the water and attempted to bite me, but I dodged to the side causing it to slam into the giant's leg. Its massive teeth latched onto the Titan's flesh, then tore off a huge chunk and swallowed it. Then, it turned back to face me and rose to its full height, baring its teeth as it did.
"Well... Shit." The Leviathan was still longer than me, though not by much. Its true advantage came from the weight this thing carried around. It was almost three times wider than I was and nearly twice as tall. Which meant it probably weighed several thousand pounds more than I did. Even after the two years of constantly eating Titan meat, I knew that I couldn't match up to this thing in a straight up fight.
"You little shit! Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting for this
moment!?" the colossal serpent roared.
I tilted my head to the left, then said. “Hmm... Since I gave you that scar, most likely.” I was referring to the circular scar I’d left after eating my way out of its intestines.
“You’re damn right! Now, I’m going to finish what I started, but I think I’ll chew you up before I eat you this time," it said with a dangerous hiss, then charged at me. Its massive size easily capsized the ship as it charged past. I dodged out of the way again, then quickly bit into the Leviathan's hide. The beast’s acidic blood slightly melted my fangs, but the act fulfilled its purpose of pissing it off even more. I tore out a small bit of its meat, then swallowed it before I dove under the water and swam away. It roared in pain, then charged after me. She was probably expecting things to go as they had the last time, but things were different now. I was different now, and I'd be damned if I let some overgrown bitch beat me a second time.
I swam around the Titan's leg, then dove deeper into the water. A few seconds later, I glanced back and saw her right on my tail, literally. I quickly reached my top speed, then did a complete one-eighty and swam directly beneath its jaws. I circled around it, while it was still trying to turn around, then I bit into her hide once again.
Almost immediately after, I had to dodge as she bit down right where my head had been and causing her to bite into her own hide. This only pissed her off further, and instead of aiming for my head, she aimed for my body, which was still wrapped around her... which is what I was waiting for.
She opened her mouth wide, so I shoved my head inside and aimed the jewel at the roof of her mouth, "Fuck off!" The energy that I'd been storing in the jewel over the last two years was released in an instant, and a massive explosion went off inside the Leviathan's mouth. The energy easily tore through the soft flesh inside her mouth, then obliterated her brain, where it then continued to travel through the water for about fifty feet, before finally dissipating just as it reached the surface. However, despite my success in killing the Leviathan, I couldn't celebrate. I was in severe pain from the explosion, as it had destroyed most of the scales on my head, and possibly given me a concussion. I blacked out from the pain shortly after realizing that I'd won.
I FLOATED UNDER THE water for an unknown amount of time before Fenris and Lena managed to fish me out. Then Lena began to use her druidic magic to heal my scales, though she said that her magic was unable to heal a concussion, so I would just have to suffer.
"It's what you deserve after fighting that thing on your own!" she berated me.
I groaned from the pain. "Listen... I know you're mad, but can you please not yell right now? I have a severe headache."
My words only served to make her even angrier. "A headache!? Oh, you have a headache, do you? Well, sorry, but that's the least of your problems, right now! You could have died, Torga! Do you not understand that!?"
I blankly stared at her for several seconds, then asked. "Hey, Fenris?"
"What is it?"
"I'm hungry. You didn't happen to snag any of that Leviathan meat, did you?"
Lena screamed in anger, then stormed off inside the tunnel. I looked around at Fenris and the kids and asked, "What's her problem?"
Hali let out a deep sigh, then followed after her mother. Solon gave me a bright smile and yelled, "That was awesome, Torga!" Then he too followed his mother, leaving Fenris as the only person to watch over me.
"Why can't you ever make it easy to hate you?" I heard him ask, so I gave him my version of a shrug.
"Don't know. Sarah said it was a quirk of mine..."
As I drifted off to sleep I thought I heard Fenris ask, "Who's Sarah?" A minute later, I heard him sigh and mutter, “Oh, well. I’m sure you’ll tell me eventually. Sleep well, you’ve earned it.”
Chapter 23
THE FIRST THING I SAW upon waking up the next day was little Talia using her hands to rub something on the side of my head, just below the eye. I lifted my head up, which caused her to get angry and yell at me.
"No! Bad Torga!" She hollered and slammed her little hands on the ground. But since we were currently inside a flesh-and-blood creature, instead of making a thumping sound when she hit the inside of the tunnel, it made a squish.
I moved my head out of the tunnel and over the water below, so I could see what she'd been rubbing on my scales. When I lowered my head down to the water and turned my head to the side... I saw a crude drawing, in blood, of her family and me. I sighed, then pulled my head back inside the tunnel to glare at her.
"Please refrain from turning me into your personal art project." I attempted to stare the brat down, but she just laughed, clapped her hands, and cheered.
"I make Torga pretty!"
I rolled my eyes at her, then lay back down. “Do whatever you want, brat. I'm going back to sleep."
I heard her cheer again, as she started to rub on my side again. I honestly hated how the little brat thought I was her pet snake. But I couldn't really blame her for that, since Fenris was the one to put the idea inside her head. Oh, the mutt thought it was hilarious watching Talia attempt to order me around because I was her pet. Though I returned the favor by convincing Hali and Solon to call Fenris Mutt instead of Dad for a week.
I let out a small chuckle at the memory, then closed my eyes and went back to sleep.
The next day, I had nearly reached the top of our tunnel. Because we were so close to reaching the base of the island, I volunteered to dig the rest of the way, since I dug faster than Fenris.
I’d torn off chunks of Titan meat and had long since eaten my fill. This Titan, whatever or whoever it had been in life, must have been a truly amazing sight to see in motion. Being well over five miles tall, at the very least, and easily a mile or two wide, this thing completely eclipsed anything that could possibly be imagined. However, a being of such massive size must have had an equal strength to match. So, how powerful must the gods be, to not only defeat this creature but to enslave it as well? Is there really such a gap between the ninth and tenth tiers?
"How close are we to the other side?"
I looked behind me and saw Fenris, Lena, and the kids watching me. Hali was carrying Talia around on her hip as she'd been frequently doing, ever since the girl was born. Solon looked bored, as he was standing there with a blank look on his face and was staring towards the sea. While Fenris, who was currently in his demi-human form, was standing beside Lena with his left arm wrapped around her waist.
"Well, we'd be a lot closer if you'd get off your lazy ass and help me."
Fenris rolled his eyes and replied, "You volunteered for this."
I nodded. "Believe me, I'm well aware of that. However, if you're currently not too busy licking your balls or humping the air, maybe you could assist me?"
Lena snorted from her place beside Fenris, then took a step away from him. "Yes, why don't you help Torga dig, while the kids and I go get dinner ready."
Fenris looked away from me and stared at Lena with such hurt in his eyes, you'd think she was divorcing him. "But... but I thought we could go relax together on the ship. You know... like we used to?" He ran his fingers down her arm and was heading as far south as he could.
Lena pulled her arm away from him and glared. "And wind up pregnant again? No thanks. Three kids are enough for me at the moment."
Fenris groaned but didn't say anything as Lena and the kids walked off. Though Hali lingered and seemed slightly disappointed about going, she followed a few seconds later.
I watched her go, then turned to look at Fenris, who was still whining about helping me. "Quit whining, mutt. Just remember, the sooner we get off this planet, the sooner you and Lena can go back to your old lives."
My words seemed to strike a chord with Fenris, as he shifted into his normal appearance and began to help me dig.
A FEW DAYS PASSED AND with the two of us digging side by side, we "quickly” reached the base of the island. After which, the digging went much smoother for Fenris than it had for me. Fe
nris' claws could easily dig through the stone and dirt base, in a way I just couldn't duplicate.
"One of the benefits of having legs with claws, snake," he smugly said, and though I tried not to let it show, his words had an effect on me. Having hands would be incredibly useful in a variety of ways, but I still hadn't made up my mind on which evolution I should go for. Though I did rule out the Elemental Wyrm and Leviathan paths, because of the information I have since learned about the two races.
The Leviathan I didn't really need any information on. That had more to do with my personal feelings on the matter, rather than whether it could be a potentially useful path to take. I mean, other than its massive size and the acidic blood I knew it possessed, there simply wasn't anything appealing to me about the creature, so I ruled it out.
And then I asked Lena for any possible information on my evolution paths. Though she was surprised at first, she soon offered what help she could. She didn't have any viable information on either the Naga or the Serpentine dragon paths, but she knew quite a bit about the Wyrm.
Apparently, the Elemental Wyrm is a creature most often found in areas of the purest magic. Now, originally, when she told me this, I assumed it meant places where “pure” creatures could be found, and in a way, I was right. However, she later clarified that by "pure,” she meant places entirely composed of magic, where the normal laws of the world didn't apply.
For example, she told me of a place of pure wind magic, where mountains floated on wind currents. Where creatures miles long and made completely of stone floated through the air as if they weighed nothing. But most importantly, a place where if you exposed your bare skin to the air... your flesh would be sliced off as if with a sharp blade. And this, along with the monsters that often inhabited the place, is what made them so dangerous.
A Snake's Life Page 15