The Serpent League

by Brendan Walsh

  “I’m okay, Lindsey. I’m okay.”

  Gently, he brushed the rest of the bubble off his bed, standing up on his feet. He was still the same height, but his voice was something else. His daughter caught a look at his mouth. Most of it looked more like a beak than a human’s, but there were still teeth, and the general human jaw shape that enabled spoken language.

  “You’re…you’re…” Lindsey stuttered.

  The giant avian thing that was now her father looked around the room. He gave Lindsey and BJ quick glances before approaching the mirror on the back of the door, watching himself. He rubbed a giant-wing finger across his face, then extended his arms, admiring the full length of his new form.

  “I guess this is what I get trying to make a difference.” He said and turned to his daughter and smiled with his new mouth.

  He almost fell back on his feathered rump as Lindsey leaped onto him, digging her fingers into his soft shoulders.

  “You’re okay, my God, you’re okay!”

  “How long was I out for?” the detective brushed his head with a wing.

  BJ faced them. “A couple days. And perfect timing too, because some really bad stuff is about to start happening.”

  “Have we met before?” asked her father.

  “Oh,” BJ laughed nervously. “I’m BJ Elder, Samuel Elder’s daughter. I’m friends with Lindsey.”

  Her response only elicited confused blinking from Hunter.

  “It’s a long story.” Lindsey brushed her hand away. “Dad, you need to listen to us. We need to get everyone together if we’re going to want even a small chance at beating the Serpent League.”

  The shouting from behind the doors was getting loud again. The three of them could hear the jingling of keys together.

  “I got it.” Hunter said.

  The avian man dug his talons under the bed and practically chucked it like a shotput against the door. Medicine, blankets, and pillows spilled everywhere.

  “Guess I don’t know my own strength.” Eagle Eye laughed. “That should buy us more time.”

  “We need to get out.” Lindsey urged. “There’s a lot we need to update you on. I’m not going to lie, Dad, things are not looking good for us. We’re going to need everything in the world’s arsenal.”

  “There are thousands of people like you around the globe.” BJ told him. “The League struck in pretty much every country. They picked you because of your willingness to kill, to do what you had to do for the greater good. That’s the kind of mentality they have, and we’re going to need to use it against them. The fact that you woke up and are still yourself is proof of that.”

  “Okay…okay.” He sighed. “You girls are giving me a lot of heavy stuff really quickly. I’m going to need time. I haven’t even had time to get over the fact that I’m an eagle person thing yet.”

  The door opened, budging against the bed Hunter had thrown. Several bodies were being thrown at the door like they were trying to tip over a rhino.

  “Let’s get out of here.” BJ said.

  In another second she had shrunk down and grown a pair of wings, and looked around at the Hunters with big glossy eyes.

  “She can turn into an owl?” Hunter asked. “I’m disturbed by my ability to not be surprised by that.”

  “She can turn into anything really.” His daughter said. “Now, let’s get out the window. I think Slate and Jane are probably outside waiting for us. We have a car.”

  “I don’t think that’ll be necessary.” he said.

  “What do you mean?”

  Eagle Eye smirked. “I was hoping I could stretch out my wings a bit. As I see it, I’ll be a lot of help to you in this new body.” He crouched down on one knee, tapping the side of his belly with a massive finger. “Hop on.”

  16

  Delta Talks To Animals

  “Leave him alone.” commanded the darker gryphon.

  “At a time like this?” replied the young, shaggy looking man.

  The larger creature turned up, looking far out into the woods. “The end is near. He needs time to be ready. Besides, you don’t want to be on the receiving end of his post-transformation madness, do you, Inas?”

  “Is that really a thing?” the human-wolf asked.

  “Didn’t you go through something like that, when you were turned into what you are?” she asked.

  “I don’t remember.” Inas scratched his ears. “But it wasn’t like this. He has the blood now.”

  The gryphon turned around, hoping to see their new leader. But he wasn’t there. Not yet. Once he had taken Master’s blood he had retreated into the darkest space between the trees he could find. “It’s instinct.” Master had said. “It takes time for everyone. But he is strong and willing, and he’ll be a whole new animal once he’s processed all the blood he took.”

  “But will he be the same?” Inas asked.

  “Impossible to know.”

  “But you were there.” the boy crouched down like a monkey, looking up at his friend. “You fought him in D.C. before you were free from Elder.”

  “I did.”

  “What was he like?”

  The beast looked down at her friend. “He was angry. He was quick, strong, and annoying when he latched on to your neck, but I sense that’s not the answer you were looking for.”

  Inas shook his head. “I think you know what I mean.”

  She smiled, the best a gryphon was able to. “He was loving. Anyone could see that everything he did he did for the humans. There was a sort of infinity in his eyes. They didn’t go with his appearance. They didn’t look like they belonged on something that fought so well and violently.”

  “Hold that thought.” Inas showed her all his teeth, and hopped about, still looking more simian.

  The werewolf stood up on two legs, shaking, and let out a whistle. It was very high pitched and made the gryphon wince. If she could hear it, there was someone else who could definitely hear it too.

  The following sound couldn’t be described as a roar. The sound of a roar is meant to give terror, to give a potentially doomed creature the knowledge of where its killer is, and that, wherever it is, it should not have come there.

  The sound from the darkness gave away no location. It was as uncertain as north and south in outer space and contained more hunger and rage than a chained-up pride of lions.

  A pack of gryphons dispersed in screams, and all the werewolves bared their fangs. There was a pause in the growls when the meaty sound of claw on flesh began, and a drizzle of blood caught the dark gryphon in her chest. She reared back, but the fight had already been contained.

  “Easy! Easy!” Master shouted, his crocodilian form getting in between the injured wolves and gryphons.

  Inas was on his back, howling with laughter. Enough moonlight seeped through the trees for her to see the attacker.

  Edgar, or what was formerly Edgar.

  He didn’t look much different, but just being within earshot of him made the gryphon want to retreat. His wings looked less baggy, more like metal than skin. His eyes, which had previously been yellow with the warmth of the sun were as active as fire, swirling around in his head, and his teeth were sharper, stronger, and as he moved in and out, stalking the injured creatures, he drooled like a hungry wolf.

  His eyes batted about, and only the sight of the Master seemed to calm him down. The bat shook his head and thrashed his wings and feet about, as if he were a newborn monster trying to make sense of its body.

  “See that? See that thing?” Inas cackled to her. “Where’s your sentimental pet now? Where’s your winged poet now?”

  She looked at him without amusement, but couldn’t hide her terror at what she had seen. But what else would she have expected? This creature was now meant to lead a rebellion, to become the pioneer and king of the new world. Would something that had become so savage have that capacity? And if not, what did it mean that Master wanted creatures like her to do?

  “Inas, if that happens ag
ain you will be made an example of.” Master frowned, approaching him like an angry father.

  “Yes, Master.” he replied, unable to hide his amusement. “I apologize for anyone that was hurt.”

  “I don’t care about them.” Master turned to the bat, rubbing his claws together. “Delta is in a very sensitive state right now. Any wrong movies could mess him up for a longer time than we have.”

  “He’ll be alright in the end?” the gryphon asked. “This is temporary, and he’ll return to how he was?”

  Master shook his head. “You’re seeing a new organism. As different from Edgar as Edgar was from your common vampire bat. There is no going back.” He smiled. “Only forward.”

  Master turned away, making a pleased growl as he caught a glimpse at Delta, and walked away.

  Inas looked at her and she looked at him. Their expressions were two very different languages.

  “Can’t wait to see Delta released on mankind.” Inas licked his lips. “It’ll be an extraordinary sight. Don’t you agree.”

  “It would be one-of-a-kind.” she replied. “Definitely something that’s never happened before.”

  She knew he could sense her lack of enthusiasm for violence, but she didn’t care. What difference would it make? They both had the same goal. It didn’t matter if one of them found enjoyment in doing the job and the other didn’t.

  The beast now known as Delta snarled at his adversaries, and they snarled back. As he retreated back into darkness the dark gryphon looked at his eyes one more time. The flames were still spreading, but as he calmed down and separated himself from the other creatures she could see a spark of the former bat in there.

  He had something that she never did. Real companionship. Prior to her freedom, she was just a worker for Elder, then too afraid and too uncertain with her freedom to enjoy anything. Then the League came along and she liked what she got from them. That was it.

  Edgar was different. He had friends. Even though they were humans, she could tell that he cared for them. She knew that that would be enough for her. The bat had sacrificed that, turned himself into something else with a noble goal. There was almost no chance he would have that kind of companionship again now that he was so powerful. Edgar had been made to be a killer, to be an object to be used. And now as Delta, he’d willingly done the same to himself.

  Was it worth it?

  “This is the first time we’re all going to be back here in weeks.” Patrick said to his friends.

  “I have a bad feeling about this.” Gary replied.

  Johnny turned to him. “I know what you’re talking about, but what are you specifically talking about here?”

  “Everything.” Gary tried a smile. “I think we’re all going to be here and it’s going to be a goddam wonderful thing and we’re all going to realize how hopeless it is.”

  “All a delay before we all start worshiping the bat god.” Johnny smirked.

  Patrick and Gary frowned at him. “That’s not going to happen.” said the former. “We’re going to see him, and we’ll tell him exactly what we think, regardless if he even thinks of us as friends.”

  “If he ever did…” said Gary.

  The trio quieted as they saw Laura and Samuel turn and look at them. It was hardest for Patrick. There was no way he and his mother were going to be able to work through things for a long time.

  “You’re going to have to talk about it eventually.” Johnny said to Patrick, sensing the tension.

  “I know.” he replied. “But what else is there to say? Unless we find out more about that night…the night my father died, we’re not going to break any more ground. At least I’m not.”

  Gary raised a hand. “Here here. At least you have a mother. I know how my parents died, and I have no one to talk to about it. I think-”

  Patrick grabbed his shoulder. “What’s that!”

  A massive pair of black wings dominated the sky. The sound of them flapping was like thunder, a lot like the gryphons the gang was used to.

  “Edgar?” asked Johnny.

  “Don’t think so.” said Patrick. “That thing looks a bit different. It looks bigger than him.”

  “I don’t think that’s part of him.” Elder said as he and Laura rushed over to them, crouching down at the sight of the massive creature. “I think it’s carrying something on its back.”

  The creature seemed to grow larger as it got nearer to the ground. Its wings spread out their full length as if it were showing off, and it reared up its legs as it prepared for landing.

  Laura put a hand over her mouth. “That’s a person on its back.”

  The doctor’s eyes blew up. “And it’s a person flying too.”

  The flying creature descended softly. Its wings stretched all the way back and the person on its back wrapped their arms around its neck for stability. As its talons hit the ground their eyes could be made out. The creature’s eyes focused on the three younger men and the person on its back leaped onto the ground.

  “Lindsey!” Patrick shouted.

  The trio and Laura and Elder rushed to greet Lindsey and her father. They realized who the creature was, but none of them knew the proper thing to say.

  “When you told us your father started to look differently after he woke up,” Gary said. “I had no idea he had become the 2014 Best Picture winner.”

  Johnny punched him in the side as both Hunters laughed, with one of theirs sounding more gruff than before.

  “Hopefully it’s temporary.” Hunter said. “It’ll be awkward trying to sit at my desk with these wings. And finding pants that can fit over my feathered legs isn’t cheap.”

  “Detective,” Elder extended a hand out to him. “It’s good to see you doing well, especially under much friendlier circumstances.”

  The bird-man looked at him, his taller physique making him look ready to attack. “Likewise, doctor. I think we can accomplish much together.” He shook his hand with a massive finger.

  A pair of headlights made everyone recoil in the darkness. The approaching car made an abrupt stop in the mud, splattering some about. As the lights turned off three people stepped onto the grass.

  The one in front raised his arms up high. “Unbelievable. You gave us a hell of a head start!”

  “I guess I’m already used to my new body, Slate.” chuckled the detective. “I was even carrying cargo.”

  The two women followed behind Slate. Jane went over and gave Laura a hug as if she were embracing a cactus. At any other time, there would have been warmth, but not after what she knew. “Good to see you again, Aunt Laura.”

  “Same to you, Jane. I hope your internship at the hospital is going well?”

  “Reasonably.” she shrugged. “I’ll probably be let go soon because of my absence, but, helping Patrick and his friends has been the right thing to do. Wouldn’t you say?”

  Laura nodded, seemingly unsure if her niece were trying to imply something else.

  Rita stood agape at her partner. Lindsey and Slate had told her about his current state, but it was nothing like seeing it in person. “How do you feel, John?” she asked.

  “Honestly fantastic.” He replied. “But I think that’s the point. The League wanted me for them, Rita. But people aren’t so simple. I’m not leaving my family and friends for…whatever you’d call this.”

  “Superpowers?” said Rita.

  “Sure.” He laughed “I’m a superhero. I’m the world’s first superhero.”

  “I guess this is everyone, right?” asked Laura.

  “No. Not everyone.” Lindsey replied.

  Jane walked over to the doctor and her aunt, standing between them. “Sam, Aunt Laura, there’s someone that you should see again.”

  The sound of padded feet against grass made them turn their heads. A massive, mane-less lion slowly approached them.

  Laura and Samuel started to back up, but Jane shot a hand behind their backs. The calmness of everyone around them kept them quiet.

  The lion
ess’s eyes were restless. She wouldn’t look either of them in the face, which didn’t help from all the other people staring at her, just waiting for her to be the first to say something.

  “Doctor Elder,” there was a break in Lindsey’s voice. “I know this is going to be a lot to take in, but this is-”

  “My daughter.”

  The bat began to feel normal again when the voices came. They didn’t come as one after the other, but all at once. The low volume of all of them together initially made them sound like muffled static. His ears got used to them, though, and he had become an organic radio.

  “What is this?” asked the bat.

  Hello, came one of the louder ones. Can you tell me what’s happening? Who am I talking to?

  Uhhh, said the bat in his mind. I’m not sure myself. How did you find me?

  You found me. My name is -----

  What?

  -----

  I don’t understand.

  Who’s there? came a new one. It sounded meeker.

  Me! I’m Delta!

  Who?

  I’m a bat. Does that make any more sense?

  Bat…bat…like a tiny flying thing that comes out at night?

  Sort of.

  Did you fly into my ear or up my trunk? How did you get in my head?

  I don’t know!

  “Delta,” it was Master.

  He was glad to hear a concrete voice again.

  “How do you feel?”

  “Good.”

  Upon the sight of the reptile, the memories were coming back to him. He remembered the warmth of the blood in his body, and how it felt slowly slipping into unconsciousness.

  “How long was I out?”

  “Long enough for Inas to take advantage of your condition.” Master craned his head back, leering at the werewolf. “Which is to say, longer than expected, but it’s no problem.”

  “I was hearing voices. What were they?”

  The reptile smiled. “Ahh, consider them your serfs and your villagers, if you are the king. You see, let me tell you something…”

  Master’s scaly features sunk into a colorless form, shifting from one thing to the next, from fur to feathers to things without eyes. In the seconds that followed Master had shifted into dozens of different kinds of animals.