by Archer Swift
ENTRY 4: THE BEASTS OF EDEN CONTINUED
The Serpent
We call Eden’s king of reptiles the Serpent. A cross between an anaconda and a rattlesnake, it’s difficult to call it a snake, being so much bigger than an Earth-snake. And so much smarter. And crueller. Truth be told, it’s disarmingly intelligent, cunningly devious. I get the chills just thinking about it.
Growing up to a staggering length of twenty strides, puke-green in colour, an adult Serpent’s girth is as thick as the waist of four large men. To put this in context, my father told me that this was more than twice the length of the biggest Earth-snake.
Despite its thick belt, the Serpent is lightning quick and kills on sight. Any living thing in its way is as good as dead. Even with a full belly, it kills simply because it can. With twenty centimetre dagger fangs that can penetrate the underbelly of a Sabre, its venom is so lethal it drops an adult Sabre dead inside three minutes. I’ve witnessed two battles between these monsters of Eden. The score is one each. On each occasion, the victor killed quickly, but then took its time defiling the body of its enemy. Ripping its opponent apart, defecating on the carcass, leaving it for the scavengers to feast on. In both cases, the victor did not eat its opponent. The pleasure was purely in the kill. Eternal enemies. A feud spawned in the bowels of Eden.
In its armoury, besides the fangs, venom and vice-grip of its rippling coils, the Serpent has a rattlesnake-like tail that, used like a hypnotic magic wand, emits red and green flickers with each rattle. Though it doesn’t need this unfair advantage, the viper uses it for pleasure. To toy with and torture its prey.
Besides its drab green colour, the Serpent’s keen eyes are luminous orange with flecks of yellow—yes, the only orange and yellow I’ve seen on the planet. I guess, the eyes may be used in conjunction with the rattle-tail in hypnotising its prey or enemy. I haven’t been up that close and personal with one to find out. And I don’t plan to.
While the Sabre is the beast on Eden I hate the most, the Serpent is the creature I fear most. It shares the Sabre’s bloodlust, but is far more cunning. While you might hear a Sabre bundle through the bush from a mile away; a Serpent will wrap itself around you before you can say, “Rotting Hog’s breath.” A Sabre will tire of attempting to kill you, if you find a tall, sturdy tree to climb; if a Serpent wants you, it won’t stop until you’re dead. You can’t out climb it. You cannot out run it. It’s not afraid of water or fire. Nothing will stop the beast of our nightmares. Our saving grace is the abundance of Hog … and their stupidity. Not only does the Serpent evidently prefer the taste of Hog flesh over human, it seems to delight in torturing the poor creatures—exposing their idiocy with a telling ‘dinner and a show’ at each meal time. I’ve witnessed a Serpent tease and torture a herd of Hog on five separate occasions. I swear, each time, I’ve seen a smile of cruel delight on the Serpent’s face.
The Mogul-spider
While Eden is crawling with bug-like creatures, insects and arachnids—many of which are capable of inflicting a lethal bite; some large enough to carry a baby away—the monster of all bugs is the Mogul-spider. With a body twice as large as an Earth-watermelon, its legs, when outstretched, are as long as a human’s. Spinning sticky, sweeping webs around the jungle bush; it actively seeks out and destroys other spiders in its chosen lair—hence, its name—and I’ve seen prey as large as young Hog snared on several occasions.
Judd calls it Shelob after the spider in The Lord of the Rings, and not just because he’s a massive fan of the book. (His mother read it to him when he was young). The female Mogul-spider not only devours the male after copulation, but like Shelob, often feasts on its own offspring. A foul, wicked creature Tolkien would have taken pleasure in writing into existence*.
Through its giant mandibles, the Mogul-spider injects its prey with a bright red, acidic venom, and while death is quick, the pain is unbearably excruciating. Burning through flesh, the poison causes the blood to boil while attacking the nervous system.
I’ve seen much death on this brutal planet, and I’ve heard the entire range of agony’s scream. Tortured by the Sabre, tormented by the Serpent, torn apart by a pack of Wolves. Pecked to death by a Raptor and poisoned by any number of toxic berries. There aren’t too many pleasant ways to die. Yet, if there is one way I don’t want to die that tops the lot, it’s death by the bite of a Mogul-spider.
