Magicbound to a Snake Girl

by Kurtis Eckstein

  “It is,” she admitted, peeking at me through her fingers. “I mean, I’m not sure exactly how intimate kissing is, but wrapping around each other is something only lovers do.” She paused then, pulling her hands away slightly. “I don’t think Nagas really do anything else. At least, I don’t think. That’s just what I remember from when I was little.”

  I grabbed her hand in both of mine to pull it away from her face, interlacing our fingers. “You never did tell me about that,” I said quietly. “About how you came to be alone.”

  She sighed heavily and closed her eyes. After a moment, she tightened her grip on my hand. “It’s because of how I look,” she finally whispered. “Most Nagas have a dark complexion, especially their lower bodies. My village viewed it as a bad omen when I was born. As if I was a curse.” She sighed heavily. “All the kids teased me, and some even tried hurting me. There was a lot of pressure on my family to get rid of me, and some even wanted me dead. In the end, my father decided enough was enough.”

  Unexpectedly, she sobbed, her expression overwhelmed with agony at the memory. “I thought my dad was taking me away to teach me how to hunt…” She sobbed again, followed by a shaky breath, her closed eyes tightening. “Once we were far away, he scolded me for causing them problems and told me he never wanted to see me again. Then, he just left me alone in the forest.”

  I scooted forward and placed my forehead on hers. “I’m sorry,” I whispered.

  She sniffled, her eyes still closed, tears slowly dripping onto the bed. “I was only six years old. I had no idea how to get home. We had changed directions so many times, and I was too focused on thinking we were going to spend the day together to pay attention.”

  Another wave of agony crossed her expression as she made a quiet whining noise. After a moment, she continued. “I was devastated. And I didn’t know how to hunt. I didn’t eat for two weeks.” She took a deep breath as I gently ran my fingers through her white hair. “I’m not sure I would have survived if it weren’t for my magic, because I couldn’t even find berries. My first kill was actually some kind of giant cat that tried attacking me. I was both terrified and starving. I wanted it to just die.” She opened her eyes slightly to peek at me. “It didn’t actually die of course, but it laid down and let me kill it.”

  “How did you kill it?” I wondered tentatively.

  She took another shaky breath, and then let it out slowly. “I wrapped myself around it and tightened until it couldn’t breathe. And then I swallowed it. It took me almost an hour, because I was really small then.”

  I nodded in acknowledgment. “Well, I think you’re beautiful,” I said confidently. “I love your white hair, and I especially love the color of your tail. It’s like always having the bright blue sky around, even on a gloomy day.”

  She laughed and sniffled, pressing her forehead more into mine. “Thanks,” she whispered. “You’re the only person who has ever thought that. Everyone else has always called me Chala’Brah.”

  “What?” I asked in surprise, pulling away slightly. “What’s that?”

  Her brow furrowed as she thought about it. “I’m not sure how to explain exactly. I don’t think your language has a word that fits.”

  Now my brow furrowed. “Wait. Actually, I just realized something.” I propped myself up on my elbow. “How do you even know the human language? Haven’t you been alone all this time?”

  Unexpectedly, her eyes widened in fear.

  I gasped. “Jasmyn…I thought you said you were alone all this time…”

  She grimaced then, and hid her face with her hands a second time. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t want to tell you. I didn’t know if I could trust you before.”

  “Tell me what?” I asked breathlessly.

  “I’m a slave,” she whispered. “The person who shot me with an arrow was my master, trying to hunt me down for escaping.”

  I gasped again. “H-How long have you been a slave?” I wondered seriously. “And is that even legal? I didn’t think slavery was allowed.”

  “It’s not,” she admitted quietly. “But there are still people who buy and sell slaves – Nagas, Worgron, Elderfel, Golydin, Rinefel, and even some humans occasionally. I’ve been bought and sold a few times,” she admitted quietly. “And–”

  “Wait,” I interrupted her. “I know Worgrons are like humanoid wolves, and Elderfels are like cats, but what about the other two?”

  “Oh,” she said in surprise. “The Golydin are lizard-people and Rinefel actually look like humans except for having rabbit features.” She paused to make sure I was satisfied with her answer before continuing. “Anyway, I’ve seen at least one of every race at the secret auctions.” She hesitated. “Well, except the dwarves, and the magical races – dragons, demons, and elves. They’re too powerful to be forced into slavery.”

  I laid back down, grimacing at the idea. “What did they make you do?” I wondered hesitantly.

  She sighed. “Nothing actually. I could make them do whatever I wanted as long as I made eye-contact. That’s why I kept getting sold. Often, it took over a year, sometimes even longer, to realize something weird was going on. Once they did, they got rid of me.”

  “But why not make them keep you?” I wondered seriously. “And why not run away?”

  She grimaced. “Because I was afraid to live in the wilderness,” she admitted quietly. “And because if I stayed, they might figure out my secret.” She lowered her voice. “That’s what happened with my last master. He figured out I could control people, so he wore some special type of glasses that prevented my magic from working.” She looked away. “He tried to get me to do horrible things, threatening to cut me in half if I didn’t. I was able to knock off his glasses and used the opportunity to escape.” She sighed heavily. “He still tracked me down though. At least, I’m pretty sure that’s who shot me.”

  I nodded absentmindedly, my fatigued mind suddenly thinking of an idea that hadn’t crossed my thoughts up until this point. “Jasmyn…” I began hesitantly.

  She reached out and rested her hand on my arm, lifting her head up slightly. “What’s wrong?”

  I held her gaze. “Why didn’t you use your ‘snake eye’ on the boy who stabbed me?”

  Her eyes widened. “I tried,” she replied seriously. “That’s why I was so afraid of them. Because it didn’t work.” She shook her head at the memory. “I don’t know why it wouldn’t work, but they were completely unaffected.”

  I nodded silently as I considered that. My mind was becoming too tired to think clearly, so I couldn’t come up with any explanations. Jasmyn noticed my sleepiness and tilted her chin up to kiss me on the forehead. It got me thinking again. “Why do you do that?” I wondered quietly. “If Nagas don’t kiss?”

  Her gold eyes widened slightly. “Oh,” she exclaimed, her cheeks blushing. “That’s called a kiss too?” she wondered timidly.

  I nodded. “Yeah, it’s not necessarily a romantic thing, but any time someone does that with their lips, it’s called a kiss.” I then held up her hand to my mouth and illustrated, pressing my lips against her skin. “See? That was a kiss too.”

  “Oh,” she repeated, blinking a few times. “Well, I’ve grown up around humans, so I knew they did that to show affection – and it makes sense to me. I didn’t know what it was called though. No one has ever talked about kissing around me, and I don’t think there’s a word for it in my original language.”

  I smirked at her. “That sounds about right,” I agreed, kissing her on the hand again. “Showing affection.”

  She smiled warmly at me, before unexpectedly grimacing. “I’ve never seen the mouth-to-mouth thing though – that doesn’t make sense to me. It just sounds really gross.”

  I nodded in acknowledgment, not really agreeing, but my eyelids felt too heavy to respond. The last thing I remembered was feeling her pull me closer and placing her lips on my forehead again one more time.

  Chapter 10: Premonition

&n
bsp; I woke up in a panic, my eyes suddenly wide, my mind alert. The first thing I noticed was a pair of golden eyes glowing brightly. I sucked in a sharp breath before my mind began registering Jasmyn’s concerned expression…as well as a hint of pain in her eyes.

  “Alyssa,” she exclaimed softly. “You’re hurting me.”

  I gasped when I realized my gray hand was holding onto her arm tightly. I immediately let go. “Sorry!” I pleaded with her, my thoughts calming down some. “I think I had a nightmare. Are you alright?”

  She nodded somberly, tightening her embrace on me. I was still in her arms, one underneath my head like a pillow while the other was pulling me against her torso. I realized the end of her tail was also snaked around my entire leg, which she gently constricted for a moment as if to reassure me. “I’m okay,” she whispered. “I don’t think it will even bruise.”

  I grimaced. “I hope not,” I replied. “I’d feel horrible.”

  Jasmyn quickly reached up and gently ran her hand along the side of my face. “You didn’t do it on purpose,” she replied gently.

  I winced. “But still…” I sighed. “I’m sorry for waking you up.”

  She gave me a weak smile. “It must have been a really bad dream. My suppression magic activating is actually what woke me.”

  My eyes widened as I held up my hand and stared at my claws again. There was a low roar in my ears, like the faint memory of a sound I heard in my dream. And something else. Something horrifying.

  “Do you remember what it was about?” she wondered hesitantly.

  I met her gaze, the fear still lingering. “I’m not sure,” I admitted. “I remember hearing a sound, sort of like a thunderous…flapping noise. It was all I could hear, as if everything else in the world had gone silent.” I shook my head. “I don’t really know how to explain it. And then there was…” My eyes widened as I felt panicked again.

  “What?” she whispered, pulling me closer – something I didn’t even think possible at this point.

  “Death,” I replied quietly. “I felt like I was staring straight at the mouth of death.”

  “The face of death?” Jasmyn asked, sounding confused now. She quickly clarified. “That’s a phrase, right? The face of death?”

  I nodded slowly. “Yes, but I mean it literally. I felt like I was staring death in the mouth. Like it was about to eat me.” I shivered at the distant memory. I couldn’t really recall the details anymore, but the overall sense of impending doom prevailed. “Has my dad returned yet?” I wondered seriously.

  Jasmyn shook her head. “I don’t know. I didn’t wake up until just now.”

  I nodded. “I’m going to go check on him,” I whispered.

  She let go of me automatically as I sat up, freeing my leg too. I was surprised by how much I liked having her tail wrapped around my leg. I didn’t fully realize how much until she let go.

  As I climbed over her, she smirked, prompting me to pause while I was still straddling her wide tail just below her waist.

  “What?” I wondered.

  She shook her head, twisting her upper body to lay on her back while her tail remained motionless underneath me. “You wouldn’t know,” she began. “But you sitting on me like that reminds me of what Nagas do when they want to wrestle.”

  I cocked my head to the side. “Wrestle? As in fight?” I asked seriously, concerned that I was being rude.

  Her smile widened at my confusion, and she shook her head. “No, it’s something that friends do. I guess it is like fighting, but it’s for fun. Playful. And usually it’s between the same genders.”

  Sounded like normal wrestling to me, not that I had ever really wrestled with anyone for fun. “Why does gender matter?” I asked.

  She shrugged. “I don’t know.” She was then pensive. “Probably because they didn’t want males and females wrapping around each other like I was saying earlier. It would be easy for wrestling to turn into that.”

  “But it’s okay for the same genders to wrap around each other?” I teased.

  She grinned. “Well they certainly can’t have little Naga babies if they accidentally get carried away.”

  My brow furrowed. “Just how young can Nagas start having babies?” I asked in disbelief.

  She cocked her head to the side. “Well, it varies I guess, but usually around ten or eleven. What about for humans?”

  “I think usually a few years older than that,” I admitted. “I’m not really sure about boys.”

  Jasmyn nodded with her brow furrowed. “So then, you’re old enough to have babies, aren’t you?”

  I stared at her in disbelief, my shock quickly turning to embarrassment. “I’m going to go check on my dad,” I announced, jumping off her before she could stop me.

  Unexpectedly I almost tripped when I felt the end of her tail snake around my leg again. I looked back at her in surprise as she got off the bed and moved herself over to me, lifting up the larger portion of her tail to wrap once more around my body, along with her arms embracing my shoulders from behind. I probably could have gotten away if I was still transformed, but I had already returned to my human self while talking with her.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t mean to make you upset.”

  I shook my head, my face still red. “I’m not mad,” I replied quietly. “Just embarrassed. I don’t really like talking about that subject, especially not in regard to me specifically.”

  She nodded apologetically, nestling her head against the side of my neck. “I’m sorry,” she repeated. “I let my curiosity get the better of me. I didn’t know there were subjects we couldn’t talk about.”

  I sighed heavily and reached up to rest my hand on her head, running my fingers through her white hair. “It’s not that…” I took a deep breath, deciding to answer her question. “I’m not sure honestly. My body doesn’t seem to be keeping pace with everyone else my age – everyone assumes I’m younger than I am. At least now I know it’s probably because I’m half-demon.” I sighed again. “I’ll just ask my mom about it when she comes to visit in a couple of weeks.”

  Jasmyn nodded against my neck.

  I continued. “So I guess that means you can have babies, huh?” Granted, given her chest size, I would have assumed that anyway.

  She lifted her head to look at me, angling herself so that her face was in front of mine, with my head turned to the side. I looked up at her as she replied. “Not that it matters. I’ll never have children.”

  “What? Why?”

  She scoffed. “Because I’d pass on my curse. At least, that’s what the Nagas in my village believed.” She shook her head. “Not to mention, I don’t think I could ever do that with a guy. I’ve never met one that was nice. And there’s not a single one that would ever see me as anything other than cursed.”

  I twisted my upper body around in her grasp to face her, and slid my hand on her cheek, unsure of what to say.

  Because I knew she was probably right. It was just like my dad’s red hair, which I might have inherited. Except, maybe for her, the chances of her having children that looked like her was higher than it was in my dad’s situation. Maybe all her children might turn out like her.

  I wasn’t sure, but I could see how that possibility might keep the others away. There wasn’t much hope for her to have a normal life.

  “Well,” I finally began, “I know your white hair and blue tail have caused you a lot of trouble, but I think you’re beautiful. And I’m thankful for how you look.”

  “Why?” she asked in disbelief.

  “Because I wouldn’t have known you otherwise,” I whispered meaningfully.

  Her golden eyes slowly filled with tears as she considered that. After a moment, she tightened her tail’s embrace around me, along with more firmly wrapping her arms around my shoulders as she pressed her head against the side of mine.

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome,” I responded warmly.

  The loud sound of the f
ront door opening caused us both to jump.

  “Dad?” I called out hesitantly, knowing it should be him.

  “It’s me,” he announced after a brief pause, probably a little surprised I was awake so late. A moment later, once he lit the lantern in the kitchen, he was at my bedroom doorway. Jasmyn was still hugging me with her arms, but she had dropped her tail to the floor. “Everything alright?” he asked with concern. “You haven’t been up all night, have you?”

  Jasmyn let go completely when I pulled away to give him a hug. As I wrapped my arms around his torso, my head barely reaching his shoulder, I sighed. “No, I just woke up from a really bad dream,” I admitted quietly.

  He gently rubbed my back. “I’m sorry, sweetie.” He glanced up at Jasmyn. “Thank you for being there for her.”

  “Of course,” she whispered.

  I twisted my head around to look at her too. She was blushing, her eyes trained on the floor. I looked back up at my father. “Did anything happen? It seems like you’re home later than usual.” I hadn’t looked at the pendulum clock hanging on the wall in the kitchen, but I suspected it was early in the morning.

  My father sighed. “Well, after my shift, I tracked down the man who I thought might be involved.” He paused for a long moment. “He’s gone,” he finally admitted.

  My eyes widened in surprised. “You killed him?” I whispered.

  His brow furrowed unexpectedly. “No, I mean, he disappeared. Left town or something.” He reached up and ran his fingers through his fiery hair, keeping his other arm wrapped around me. “But that just confirms what I thought – that the Mayor is likely the one who put the guy up to the task.”

  “So what do we do?” I wondered.

  He smirked at me. “You do nothing, except go to school and act normal. Let me handle him.”

  I groaned in annoyance. “Dad...” I complained. “You can still tell me what you plan on doing. I’m not a little kid anymore.”