Gift of the Serpent

by Wylder Willis

  Nikita answered,“Yea, but it’s not as bad as it looks.” Oliver shot her a challenging look. “Okay, it’s worse than it looks.”

  Oliver said commandingly, “I’m coming to get you out of there. Tell me where you are and I’ll be there as fast as I can.”

  Nikita said quickly, “Got to go. Nice glass shard.” She disappeared before he could say anything and then he was awake and bolting upright.

  He held the glass shard close to his heart as he thought about what Nikita had told him an hour earlier. He had tried to get back to sleep, but gave up after several minutes. It was still dark with the moon high above.

  Suddenly a thought popped into Oliver’s head, “She left me a clue!” he held the shard close to his face as he whispered to it, “Lead me to Nikita Blade please.” The glass shard glowed a red-black hue as it levitated and began to float in the opposite direction the boys were heading. Oliver quickly and quietly packed his sleeping bag and followed the glass shard after leaving a note for his brothers.

  He made sure to leave no tracks for his brothers to follow during the first mile that he followed after the glass shard. He made great time as he went. By midday Oliver figured that he had traveled 15 miles. He continued following the glass shard until it came to a rest and dropped out of the air into Oliver’s outstretched hand. Night was falling.

  Chapter 12

  Into the Canyon

  He continued on like this for a few days until the shard stopped near a canyon pass and projected a message from Nikita. She was standing. She seemed to be looking right at him. She said, “Beware what hides in shadow. She sees much and strikes when she wishes. She bears no fangs, yet her bite is a thousand needles. No venom will kill, but a hug from her will.”

  With that the projected message faded and the glass shard fell into Oliver’s open hand. “Guess I continue on my own,” Oliver said as he placed the shard necklace back on his neck.

  He walked cautiously—watching for movement and listening intently for the scraping sound of scales on rock. When he reached what seemed to be the midway point of the canyon pass, he began to feel like someone was watching him. He looked along both sides of the pass but saw nothing.

  “It is rare to see a human so far from their world. Perhaps he is lost, sister.”

  “ We should help him,” said a harsh whispery female voice.

  Oliver heard the voices, and tried to swallow his nervousness. “Who’s there? Show yourselves.”

  Out of the shadows came the most peculiar sight Oliver had ever seen, it was a 38 foot long constrictor with two heads. Each head had its own five foot long neck. The head on the left had blood red eyes, while the one on the right had reptilian yellow eyes. “I am Viperelix. This is my sister Sermantra. State your name and business,” said the head on the left in the whispery voice.

  “I am Oliver. I need to pass through your canyon to help Nikita Blade.”

  Viperelix hissed, “I know of no Nikita Blade that passed through this canyon.”

  “You may know her as the Reptilian Protector.”

  Sermantra seemed both surprised and worried, but her voice as gentle as a stream,“You know the Reptilian Protector? Seknar Delmoss is the name we know her by, and she was here several days ago. Usually she would have come back through our pass by now and continued back towards man’s world.”

  “You worry for her safety as do I. I need to ask, did anyone else come by here after she left the canyon?” Semantra and Viperelix looked at each other then back at Oliver and shook their heads. “I only ask because Nikita visited me in a dream and told me that she was being held captive, and this is the only passage to whatever lies beyond, right.”

  Viperelix mused, “It is possible that someone might have come through here while we were sleeping during the night, but no one other than the Reptilian Protector knows about this passage.”

  Sermantra countered, “But sister there are great trackers in man’s world. They could have tracked Nikita here and waited till we were asleep to pass through safely.”

  Oliver cleared his throat and asked, “If you two were worried about Nikita then why didn’t you go check on her?”

  Viperelix countered, “If we left, then who would be here to guard the passage of the Reptilian Protector?”

  Oliver nodded seeing the dilemma in that. “One more question. What lies beyond this passage that is so precious that only the Reptilian Protector can know about this passage?”

  Sermantra answered, “That is shrouded in myth. Some say it is a temple that the Reptilian Protector can use to commune with the Great Snake herself. Others believe it is the home of the Great Snake herself, but all agree that it is a place that should be forever protected and kept secret for the safety of the Reptilian Protector and whatever lies beyond this canyon.”

  “So I can’t pass?”

  Viperelix said, “You received a message from Seknar Delmoss, the Reptilian Protector. All that we ask is that you tell no one of what you see and don’t tell anyone that someone snuck past us. Take care of the invaders and may the Great Snake guide you.”

  “And may the Great Snake guide you as well. Thank you Viperelix and Sermantra, I will never forget your kindness,” Oliver said before he ran off to the other end of the canyon pass. Viperelix and Sermantra returned to the shadows as Oliver ran off.

  Oliver made it to the other end of the canyon with no problem. Beyond the canyon was a thick fog bank. He reached the edge of the fog and the glass shard began to levitate and pull him forward. He took the necklace off and wrapped its string around his hand so he wouldn't lose sight of the shard. Oliver followed the pull of the shard until he entered a clearing and left the fog behind him.

  In front of him stood a somewhat Greek-style-temple. It was a pale white with pillars in the shape of different species of reptiles that marked the entrance. There was a boa constrictor, a cobra, a komodo dragon, and an alligator. As Oliver got closer he saw that there were also statues in two parallel lines forming a pathway. There were turtles, lizards, tortoises, geckos, chameleons, crocodiles, caiman, and a small version of Viperelix and Sermantra.

  Oliver made his way to the large entrance and saw that it looked like the mouth of a poisonous snake, with two half pillars shaped like fangs hanging from the top, a forked tongue design carved into the floor, and scales and reptilian eyes carved on the sides of the cave-style entrance. He kept walking forward as he kept alert for any surprises. Oliver kept his eyes looking in front of him at the large statue that was in the middle of the room. It looked like a giant snake with wings similar to the wings of Nikita’s dragon form. It’s eyes were intricately carved and each had a blood red stone to serve as the eye color. He could see that it was much like Nikita, always ready to strike. It even had the same teasing smile and knowing glaze as Nikita. “This must be a statue of Great Snake. It looks much like Nikita in that coiled-to-strike pose, especially,” Oliver mused.

  Suddenly, he felt something hard hit him on the back of his head. Oliver turned, dazed, his vision beginning to go black, only to get hit again—this time on the left side of his head. He fell as the world went black. The last thing he saw was someone in a leather mask standing over him. It was Long Fang.

  When Oliver came to, he found himself in a room with Nikita, who was bound, behind her back, by the wrists—chained to the wall. He found himself in a similar predicament as his wrists were bound to the wall above his head, though his legs were chained to the floor. “Great you're awake. Now you can be awake when you drown. My hero!” Nikita said flippantly.

  Oliver offered, “At least we won’t die alone.”

  “Great, I feel much better knowing I won’t die alone,” said Nikita, tongue-in-cheek.

  Oliver asked—trying to change the subject, “What kind of temple has a drowning chamber anyway?”

  “A top secret one,” Nikita answered coldly. Suddenly, they heard footsteps coming from the other side of the sliding glass wall, and beyond in a dark hallway. “Fan
g’s coming. She plans to drown us both, desecrate this temple even more, then go and kill your brothers, sensei, and friends.”

  Oliver said,“You really love this temple don’t you?”

  Nikita glared at him,with her reptilian yellow eyes, in answer, as if to say “Not the time.”

  Long Fang emerged from the shadows and crossed the room to the sliding glass wall, then entered through a door in the glass. She stood right in front of Nikita with no weapon drawn. She spoke in her rough voice, “Now that I have the leader and his viper, I have no more use for bait. Time to say hello to your next life.”

  Nikita hissed, “This is the temple of the Great Snake. Your very presence is forbidden, human.”

  “Shame this Great Snake won’t do anything about it,” taunted Long Fang.

  Nikita hissed, “She may not attack you directly, but I am her warrior. You will pay for what you have done.”

  Long Fang observed, “Hmm… you are not like most little girls that I trap. You speak of powers and yet you are bound and helpless.”

  “You have no idea what I’m capable of,” growled Nikita. Fang grabbed her by the neck with one hand and brought Nikita’s head close to her face. Oliver caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a transformation in Nikita’s appearance—was she turning into some sort of sea snake that could survive underwater for an extended period of time?

  Long Fang had her fingers covering Nikita’s elongating neck and digging into her flesh, till she started bleeding. “No, it is you that has no idea what I am capable of,” Long Fang threatened before she let go of Nikita’s throat. Nikita gasped for air, hanging her head, as she said something almost inaudible. “Speak up girl,” Fang jabbed.

  Nikita looked up at her with blood, red eyes and the cold glare of a killer. “I said ‘Don’t mess with a reptile’.”

  Long Fang looked at her in utter surprise as she took a few steps back, but then smiled as she turned and began towards the door. “A rare find. A reptile in human clothing that has green, yellow, and red eyes. You could only be one thing: A Reptilian Protector. You're a long forgotten legend... time that legend dies.”

  Just before she closed the door Nikita hissed a green liquid at Fang. She dodged and the liquid hit the floor where it then burned a hole through the floor. “Acid spit. Impressive,” Long Fang said though the glass. She pressed a button on one of the side walls and then left.

  Chapter 13

  Waterworks

  Once Long Fang was out of sight Nikita and Oliver noticed small circular doors in the stone walls sliding open, and heard what sounded like liquid running through pipes down towards the new openings. “We have at least an hour, maybe, before the water nearly fills this room and drowns us,” Nikita calculated.

  Oliver chimed, “Then we have 25 minutes to come up with a plan to escape.”

  Nikita pointed out, “Well I have expanded lung capacity, somewhat damaged, so I won’t drown as fast, but humans can’t breathe underwater, and you’d be a goner in minutes.”

  “Can you still do spells?” Oliver asked. Nikita looked at him confused for a moment, but nodded. “You can cast a spell on me so that I grow gills or expanded breathing like you,” Oliver suggested.

  Nikita said, unamused, “I wish but that spell requires the electric shock of an electric eel. So unless you have one hidden under that outfit then we’re outta luck on that plan.”

  Oliver asked with a hint of sarcasm, “Then what spells can you do?” Nikita thought for a few minutes as she mentally sifted through all the spells that she had learned so far. The water had already reached Nikita’s knees when she prompted, “I could turn you into a statue.”

  “Like you did with Bomani?” Nikita nodded as she glared at him for the connection. “Do we have any other choices?”

  Nikita shook her head as she began to shift so she could use her Basilisk gaze. “I really hate this plan,” Oliver said just before Nikita shot the Basilisk gaze on him. Instantly he was turned to stone thanks to a strengthening spell that she had said under her breath just before she used it on him. The water was now at her waist and creeping higher.

  After what seemed like an hour the water was just above Oliver’s head now and Nikita was now using her extended breathing ability as she calmly felt her metal binds with her fingers to try and find any weak point. After several cuts from the metal Nikita found a weak point in both bindings. She then checked the sheaths hidden on her back to see if Long Fang had missed her lock-picking dagger. After a moment she found it still in its sheath. She pulled it out and started on the weak point in her bindings. It took a few minutes of hitting the weak point hard, but Nikita finally felt the binds fall away. Nikita sheathed the dagger and swam over to Oliver, who was still a statue. She looked up to see how high up the water was, It had nearly filled the room. “Half an hour has passed, soon the water will begin to drain,” Nikita thought to herself, “Maybe I can break the glass and get us out of here before Long Fang comes back.”

  Nikita swam over to the glass wall where she brushed her hands over it to check for any weak spots. After several minutes she found one, but was disappointed when she checked to see if she had any of her other daggers and found only the lock-picking dagger. She checked the water level again and saw that it had lowered at least a foot. She swam back to Oliver and began the reversal spell, sounding like she was talking while she was drinking water, she said, “Restous verna tersto kronas jas-histra.” The stone encasing Oliver quickly dissolved and revealed an Oliver that was weak and without air to breathe. Nikita quickly swam to his side and supported him with his arm resting across the back of her neck and swam quickly towards the surface. Oliver and Nikita broke the surface of the water and Oliver gasped in the welcoming air, filling his oxygen starved lungs. Nikita breathed in the air as she supported Oliver until he was strong enough to swim on his own. “I… really hate… that spell,” Oliver said still gasping some.

  Nikita smiled mischievously, “It’s better than drowning.”

  “So what... do we do now?”

  “I found a weak point in the glass wall, but I don’t have the right dagger for the job.”

  Oliver groaned, “So we’re stuck in here until someone opens the glass door to retrieve our bodies?”

  Nikita said with a hint of optimism, “Not entirely. I can make a snake scale dagger out of one of my scales and use that on the glass.” Oliver smiled with enthusiasm. “But I can’t do the spell if I have to split my attention between swimming and spell casting,” Nikita moaned.

  At that Oliver swam behind her and held her around the waist to support her in the water. Oliver said teasingly into her ear, “Does this help?” Nikita smiled at him over her shoulder then plucked two scales off of her arm and began the spell.

  When Nikita completed the spell she no longer held two small snake scale in the palm of her hand. Instead she held two jet black, foot long daggers. “Now to make an exit,” Nikita gleamed. Nikita and Oliver swam down to where Nikita had found a weak point in the glass, with each of them having a snake scale dagger in hand. They struck the weak point in turn with the daggers as hard as they could. It took several hits each, but finally a crack had appeared and was now a little over an inch long. Nikita put her snake scale dagger in the sheath located on the back of her neck. She placed both hands on the crack and used her legs to propel her against the wall as she applied pressure. Oliver saw what she was doing and mimicked. The crack grew larger and larger until… Crash! The glass broke under Oliver’s and Nikita’s hands. They fell forward as the glass fell and the water rushed out through the hole.

  Nikita braced herself for a dizzying landing as she was sucked under the rushing water and was tossed around, she bumped into something (probably Oliver), until the water slowed and left her sitting, spinning, facing the hall that Long Fang had disappeared down half an hour ago. Nikita shook her head to rid herself of the dizzy feeling, then realized something was touching her back. She looked over her shoulder and saw that it
was Oliver. He had ended up landing in a similar position facing the room they had just escaped.

  Oliver was glad when he came to a stop on the now wet floor after being washed out of the drowning chamber. He quickly realized he had water in his mouth and he spit it out, making himself look like a fountain. He looked around for Nikita, until he realized that he felt eyes suddenly watching him. He looked behind him and was met by a half drowned looking Nikita. He figured that he probably didn’t look any better, but he managed to smile at her. She responded by rolling her eyes before she made a move to stand, only to slip and fall onto her back. Oliver cringed as he heard her thud onto her back. She turned her head to look at him from where she had landed and said flatly, “I’m really starting to hate water.”

  Oliver tried getting to his feet at a slower pace than Nikita had. When he was finally upright he grinned down at Nikita who was still laying on the floor. Nikita smiled a wicked smile before she brought her knees up to her forehead, her feet reaching past her head, she used the motion to fip herself over and landed on the balls of her feet and on her left palm. She pushed up off of her palm and stood standing next to Oliver.

  “Show-off,” Oliver smirked.

  “Jealous,” Nikita teased before she snapped her fingers and was instantly dry, clothes included. The snake scale daggers also returned to their place in her snakeskin as scales once more. Oliver and Nikita quietly, but quickly headed down the hallway. Nikita’s plan was to first locate their weapons then track down Long Fang and beat her till she was crawling away. Nikita took the lead in navigating around unseen in the temple.