Not a pretty sight by any stretch of the imagination.
How was this thing still alive?
A raspy hiss coming from my right caused me to rise to my full height and the serpents to shine their light in that direction.
Well, that certainly answers that question.
The creature I saw creeping towards me was another serpentine dragon and, just like the prior one, it didn't look great. The bottom half of its jaw was missing, as were large portions of its scales. Actually, now that I thought about it, it looked like it'd been skinned.
I seriously doubted the creature could still be alive with such grievous injuries, which led me to only one conclusion: It wasn't.
"Undead serpents," I muttered. I glanced at the rapidly closing wound on my arm. Theoretically, my regeneration should protect me if it’s virus based. But I can only hope it’s not magic based, or I’m well and truly fucked. Though it was true that I’d had very little experience with the undead, what little experience I did taught me a valuable lesson and convinced me of one truth: Never. Underestimate. The undead.
From what I’d learned during my adventuring days, undead can be divided into two types: The Undeath and the Monstrous.
The Undeath, more commonly referred to as just "the undead,” are undead beings brought to life by highly infectious spells, viruses, or other unnatural elements. They are, for all intents and purposes, just mobile corpses with little to no higher thought processes and can be killed fairly easily by a semi-athletic human, so long as they target the brain.
The Monstrous are an entirely different bag of worms. The only positive to this type is that most of them couldn't pass on the curse themselves and needed their creator to do it for them. They are created when the soul of a creature is destroyed, and foul magic is used to sustain them. Vampires, ghouls, and yes, even my puppets are considered Monstrous undead.
It was this last fact that led me to conclude this welcoming party was of the latter variety. Especially once the second one stretched its lower jaw wide and began to create a magical ball of yellow energy, and the first serpent lifted its destroyed head off the ground and gurgled.
This is about to get interesting. With my back to the first serpent and the second serpent blocking my path, I tensed and readied myself for the inevitable.
The second serpent fired a lightning bolt out of its mouth and struck my left pectoral. However, due to my elemental resistances, I barely noticed the impact as I began to move. My aura flared to life as I ducked under a leaping bite from the first serpent and tackled it into the wall, pinning it there with my right arms. I was momentarily surprised to see my aura fail to dissolve the undead, but I didn’t have time to dwell on it. I used my remaining left arm to pummel its face into the cave wall.
The lone hit cracked the serpent’s head wide open and shattered the cave wall behind it. I turned in time to see three of my serpent heads snatch a leaping undead out of the air and slam it into the ground. Then two other heads blasted it with condensed mana.
The sound of scales on stone prompted my serpent heads to shine their lights around the cave. I spotted two divergent pathways; each one sounded occupied at the moment. I stepped in between the two pathways and waited for the undead to show themselves.
A lone undead slithered out of the left tunnel, and my serpent heads struck, easily ripping the undead serpent apart and throwing the pieces as far away from my body as they could in this narrow space.
However, before I could even think to celebrate, the walls of the cave began to violently shake as tens of undead serpents poured out of each opening and attacked.
Though the undead serpent horde attempted to dog-pile me, my serpent heads kept them off of me without me having to direct them. It was a reminder that I didn’t really know what my other heads could do, though I had good test subjects to experiment on.
I waded into the horde, trusting that my serpent heads would protect me from any nasty surprises.
For the first time since I’d gained them, all nine heads attacked in unison. While I focused on shoving my way through the undead and crushing their bones into a fine powder, the serpent heads were free to attack completely independently from one another.
Five of the heads used magical forces—Lightning, Fire, Ice, and Wind—to form a nearly impenetrable wall of magic that tore apart anything stupid enough to try and get through. Meanwhile, the other four heads worked in concert with me to crush the undead lucky enough to make it through the wall, creating a three-pronged assault.
Any undead fortunate enough to remain in one piece after this was quickly devoured and helped suppress my insatiable appetite. So far I’d managed to keep it just beneath the surface, but with my current situation worsening by the second, I wanted to err on the side of caution and get it under control before it had a chance to become a problem.
Once the swarm was crushed, I picked a direction and pressed even deeper into the cave.
Occasionally another horde of undead serpents would spew out of a hole in the wall and attack me, but for the most part it was a relatively boring walk through a disgusting cave.
Without warning, one of my heads curved around my chest and spewed a line of fire out of its mouth. An undead let out a sound I could’ve gone my entire life without hearing as it fell apart, its rotten tendons and bones not possessing the strength it needed to keep itself together.
All nine heads pressed off the wall across from me, shoving me aside in time for an electrically charged serpent to bust through the wall and miss me by only a few inches. Before the undead serpent could turn its head, a stone hand shot out of the opposite wall and crushed it flat.
I pulled back my right arms and shoved a minor gravity well down the tunnel, multiplying the weight of everything in its path by a factor a five. Three of my heads sprang forward, headbutting four serpents and crushing them against another wall. With the four serpents still pinned to the wall, another head opened its mouth and fired a beam of compressed energy into the head of the leftmost undead, before quickly dragging it ninety degrees to the right. The heads of the other three undead were instantly vaporized, and their bodies were dropped to the ground.
Wave after wave of undead came spewing out of the walls, ceilings, and floors of the next three caves, and I was quickly overwhelmed. I was forced to retreat, stumbling over my own tail in the process.
Okay, that’s it. Time to see what this magic can really do. I created a gravity well inside my own mouth. The black vortex of energy began to swirl faster and wilder the wider I opened my mouth. Within five seconds of activating my magic, I witnessed its effect first hand. The walls, ceiling, and floor of the tunnel began to stretch towards the vortex as if they were made of rubber, the undead serpents were crushed under an invisible force and sucked in, and the very mountain itself began to moan and groan as if it were alive.
As the seconds passed and more and more of the mountain was compromised or outright destroyed under the invisible force exerted by the vortex, the void I always felt inside my stomach was being filled and my hunger pains were beginning to fade away.
"Enough!!" a shrill voice screamed.
Almost by sheer reflex, I snapped my mouth shut and “turned off” the vortex. Three serpent heads turned in the direction of the voice and began to hiss quietly.
"I've had it with you!!" the voice continued as the sound of footsteps echoed throughout what remained of the cave system. The inside of what used to be a rather large mountain had been hollowed out under the force of the vortex. The walls, ceilings, and most of the floor had all been eaten away until an almost perfect spherical hole was all that remained.
As I listened to the footsteps growing ever closer, I couldn't help but notice a beam of sunlight filtering in through the severely compromised roof, and it was because of this light, that I got my first glance at Rajah.
A severely decayed lizard-man walked into the light in a suit of resplendent golden armor.
"A dragon-
man?"
"Dragon-man? Do I look like a fucking 'dragon-man to you!?" the lizard-man screamed. "I am Rajah, the god of this world and you!" He pointed a decaying finger at me. "You destroyed bodies I've been carefully maintaining for over a thousand years!"
Rajah began to shamble towards me.
"Do you have any idea how difficult it is to maintain a constantly rotting body!?"
"No, but I'm sure you're going to tell me."
"VERY!"
I would say I told you so, but I doubt he's actually listening.
The shambling picked up speed and the lizard-man's voice somehow grew even more shrill. "Why are you here!? Tell me! Explain it to me!" As the lizard-man came within a few feet of me, I crossed my arms over my chest and narrowed my eyes at the annoying creature.
"Explain in five words or less why the fuck you thought you could just walk in here, destroy my stuff, kill my servants, and RUIN MY HOME!!" He spat in my face.
Eight of my nine serpent heads bit down on the lizard-man and practically ripped him in half. However, the lizard-man didn't even flinch, which all but confirmed that I was correct in assuming that this was just another puppet and the real Rajah was still loose on the planet, somewhere.
"This means war, you ignorant cur! I am the king of this world and here, I'm not just a king, I. AM. GOD!"
I smashed his body into the ground, then two serpent heads came forwards and disintegrated him with two gouts of flame.
Chapter 24
I STEPPED OUT OF THE cave and into the light of day. I took several deep breaths, letting the fresh air of the outside world cleanse my nostrils of the rot that clung to my scales.
I twisted my head from side to side until I felt a satisfying crack.
Now that my stomach no longer ached as much, and I’d had the opportunity to work out some of the stress I’d accumulated since I’d—died? I wasn't actually sure what happened, but I pushed it to the back of my mind like oh so many other things I didn’t want to think about. It was just something I didn't understand and probably never would. Strangely enough, I didn’t think I cared.
As I finished stretching and loosening the tension in my body, one of my heads noticed a snake staring at him with its head tilted to one side. It was barely over six feet long, and it had ruby red eyes and brown/gold scales.
"Can I help you?" I asked.
The "little” snake slowly blinked at me, then nodded its head.
"Greetings your majesty. I just wanted to be the first to congratulate you on your new title," it hissed, but not in an angry way.
Now it was my turn be confused. “Which one?"
"Pardon?" the snake replied.
"Which title do you mean?" I clarified.
The snake blinked at me and hesitated, as if it were thinking of what to say.
"The Royal Serpent title?"
A stray thought entered my mind and buzzed around like an annoying gnat. "You called me “Your majesty.” Does that mean I am now the king of this place?"
The snake nodded its head in confirmation.
I smiled. "Good. Because I'm going to need your assistance in tracking down a particularly annoying maggot." I scooped up the snake and flew off into the sky, only to re-land outside the cage I’d built for Q-Shan, who was right where I’d left him.
“I can’t believe you actually left me here—”
Without giving him a chance to finish, I dissolved the bars with a thought and grabbed him by the arm. “Better clench up. We’ve gotta go.”
I coiled my tail beneath me, then leaped into the air and departed for the city.
I SIGHED AS I SPOTTED the statue looming over the horizon. I shook my head to clear it of any distractions, then looked over my shoulder at the small brown and gold serpent following me.
I’d offered to let Q-Shan come with me to storm the city in order to find Rajah, but he’d declined. Said he had people to warn, and a girl to see.
"I know he’s in there,” I told the serpent. “Until I find and end Rajah for good, no one is allowed in or out."
The serpent nodded its head in understanding, then left me alone on the road to the city’s gate. A few seconds after the small serpent departed, I felt the forms of several thousand snakes moving towards the city in unison. And while most of these serpents were small—barely reaching ten feet in length—a few were rather obviously not, as I heard the sound of a tree being pushed over. "I could get used to being king," I muttered as I departed for the city.
A COLD CHILL RACED down his spine and an overwhelming sense of dread settled in as he looked over the walls of the city. It started only three or four minutes prior, when thousands upon thousands of snakes began to surround his beloved city. Then came the monsters. Serpentine dragons of all sizes and classifications darkened the skies, and the sightless Earth Leviathans tore themselves free from the ground and began using their long tongue tentacles to feel for weak points along the base of the wall.
"Sir!" one of his lieutenants yelled.
Dorian barely spared the man a glance before turning back to watch the continuous nightmare unfold before him.
"Sir, what are your orders!?" the lieutenant repeated as panic began to set in. The assembled troops began chatting nervously.
Dorian ignored them in favor of staring at the Earth Leviathans. They were now staring at the top of the wall. This caused another cold chill to race down his spine as flashes of previous encounters with the eyeless horrors raced through his mind.
"Quiet," Dorian said as he continued to observe the situation.
Even though his words were barely above a whisper, they cut through the voices of his soldiers like an axe and caused years of training and discipline to kick in. The gathered soldiers quieted down almost immediately and awaited his next order. A few minutes passed before Dorian turned to the first speaker, the lieutenant, and whispered, "The magic barrier above the wall will keep out the dragons, so they are currently a non-issue."
A soldier opened his mouth to interrupt, but a harsh glare from Dorian caused the man to remain silent.
"However, as we lack any such defense against the Leviathans, I'd greatly appreciate it if you could avoid drawing their attention by screaming like frightened children. Understand?"
A chorus of near silent Yesses answered him.
"Good." He nodded, then turned to the lieutenant.
"Take the first, second, and fourth squadrons and scour the city for the civilians. I want any that can make it to the fort to go there, and all others inside the wall as quickly and as quietly as possible."
The lieutenant nodded his head and left to follow his orders.
Dorian sighed and ran his gauntleted hand over his face to wipe beads of sweat from his brow. There were only three options available to him at the moment and none of them was preferable.
Option one: Wait for the mages inside the city to come up with a spell that could remove the threat from the air and use the airships to escape. However, there were multiple issues with this plan. The first was that as with all members of the dragon family, serpentine dragons are resistant to magic. Some legends even go so far as to say they’re completely immune. This made relying on the magic of mages an extremely dangerous gamble and one Dorian wasn't sure he was ready to make. And besides, even if they could escape via that route, they lacked the airships necessary to transport all of the civilians at once, so some would have to be left behind.
Option two: Round up all of his men inside the city and push through the gates.
This option was even worse than the first due to the sheer number of monsters they'd have to fight and because there was simply no way for them to protect the civilians while fighting. Sure, some casualties are expected in battle. But Dorian knew that if he tried this option, even if he survived, very few others would be so lucky.
Option three: Bunker down and just worry about surviving.
Unfortunately for them all, this was their only real option at this point. Their lack of m
anpower, combined with the number of civilians they needed to evacuate, meant attempting to flee in any capacity would doubtlessly end with their deaths.
At least by fortifying their position here, behind the impenetrable walls of his beloved city and with their current stockpiles they could yet live—for a few more weeks, at least.
"Captain Dorian, sir!" a voice yelled.
Dorian sighed and turned in the direction of the voice. He saw a young man wearing the standard army uniform, consisting of a gray tunic, brown breeches, and leather boots that came up to his shin, running towards him.
"Quiet down, soldier!" Dorian hissed as the man opened his mouth to yell again.
Though the man clearly wanted to say something, he saluted and stood in attention until Dorian gave him the go-ahead to speak.
"Sir, there's, uh—something you need to see at the gate."
Dorian raised an eyebrow in question at the man, then turned to one of the higher-ranking officers standing nearby. He ordered the man to continue surveying the wall while he went to see what all the fuss was about. After receiving a salute from the lieutenant commander, Dorian followed the young man off the wall and into the city proper.
Upon arriving at the base of the gate and climbing four flights of stairs to the "lookout point,” as dubbed by the soldiers, they reached a rectangular section of the wall with an open view of the outside world. It was so wide open, in fact, that a fully grown wyvern could enter and exit the city from this area... Well, if not for the magical shield stopping such a thing from happening.
Inside, Dorian saw several high-ranking officers—Lady Kiera, King Tyr, and a priest of the church—staring at something outside the gate.
"What're you all doing here?" he asked the group as he made his way over to join them. “Don't you know we are in a state of emergency?"
A Snake's Path (A Snake's Life Book 2) Page 21
