Chapter 68

A Gathering of Serpents

Bright green flames rising with unscented smoke.

Percussion sounds of thunder.

As the smoke rose, distant drums echoed over the lands and fields. Those sounds, along with the deep resonating sounds of heavy cloven feet pounding on the ground echoed in an odd off cadence of sound covering movements.

“It seems that this time we will have more honored guests,” Prentip’s voice called out, his voice mixing with the odd rhythmic pounding of war drums.

Or at least, that is what Frank had been taught that such a sound meant. Just hearing the sounds caused waves of ingrained fear to rise up within Frank.

Gentle caress.

Just as he seemed to be getting flustered by the sound, the long delicate fingers of Drava rested on his arm and all but forced him to relax.

“Relax, all are welcome to a joining, in fact, this might be more beneficial to everyone,” Drava stated as she turned and looked at the others.

Following her gaze, Frank was surprised to see that Major and the others were visibly frightened by the sounds of the war drums.

“That isn’t the sound of war drums?” Frank found himself asking.

Melodic laughter.

At his question both Ravena and Drava seemed to laugh in unison.

“War drums? Is that what your kind calls those?” Ravena asked.

“Yeah, they say the sound will echo for miles around, and signify a long and unstoppable death. Best to run when hearing such instruments,” Frank stated, recalling the messages from his SERE training.

“Do your kind often strike out against people who beat such drums?” Drava asked, her tone curious as if finally understanding a hidden mystery.

“Yes, though often it is advised to attack from ambush, but know that the drums can cause madness.”

More laughter.

This time both girls seemed to giggle, at the comments being made.

“What?” Frank questioned.

“The drums are a symbol of peace. By pounding the drums so loudly, it indicates that those who are coming do not wish to battle. Though, I could see it fully enraging tribe members if their gesture of peace was met with hostility, for then it is considered a dishonor and death to the last person is required as homage to the ancestors,” Ravena replied.

Hearing this, Frank couldn’t help but wonder if so many conflicts with the shifter tribes were caused by such misunderstandings.

That was also when he realized that for the most part the shifter tribes avoided the human realms, despite clearly being able to pass themselves off as human.

His mind was just understanding these odd nuances to life, when everyone around him began to rise.

Seeing the sudden actions, Frank too found himself rising, only to see that the first group acting as an apparent envoy appeared.

“Well met,” Prentip exclaimed, going forward to meet the first group.

Frank was at first interested in seeing the new people, when suddenly he felt a wave of cold wash over him as he peered into the deep mesmerizing gaze of a predator.

Even Drava from his side seemed to take a half step back from the new group, inadvertently using Frank as a shield between her and the newcomers.

“Who are they?” Frank found himself asking.

“Those are delegates from the dark serpentine faction,” Ravena answered. As she spoke, Frank could see the fluid like movements of the ambassadors that came to partake.

As if curious, the delegates dismounted and proceeded to glide forward. Yes, they glided, only faint movements of their long flowing robes against the ground could be felt as they moved. Even then, as they moved, the movements did not trample any grass, or disrupt any dirt, their movements were as artifact-less as they were fluid.

So engrossed was Frank in his trying to even feel the subtle movements of the members of the serpentine clan, that he apparently drew too much attention to himself.

For while, the others were contented to look at Blue, Pi, and the Major, one particularly graceful member stopped their languid movement.

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That pause, that sudden stop and tightening of muscles was the only indication of change. Before then the movements were slow and motionless. Then with that one pause, it was clear that not only this one, but the others quickly noticed a change.

Flicker.

While it was not seen, Frank could almost swear he felt odd movements from the mouths of these newcomers. In an odd cascade of movement, the outer guards that had gone forward, turned their attention from interacting with various individuals present and suddenly turned their attention inward.

There was an odd form of reverence to the look, as they all seemed to wait and try to understand what had caused this apparent leader of the tribe to stop.

Before anyone could so much as ask, the leader who had apparently felt Frank’s gentle probing with Earth energy stopped and found her way gliding forward.

With this new movement, Frank dared not continue monitoring. Though it was clear that the being before him was suddenly walking harder, with more purpose, as he could feel the earth easily tell him of the movements now being made by the individual in question.

A gaze showed that this leader was not only rich, but powerful, with barely restrained strength. The robes worn by this individual seemed both simple and intricate, with layers folding into and around the different torsos. There were clearly two sleeves for arms, but a faint movement under the first layer indicated that there was a second set of shorter limbs as well.

Frank found this finding to be fascinating, for the older one of the serpent shifters got, the more and larger their set of arms became. Here it was clear that this leader had not just one regular, or maybe larger than human equivalent set of arms, but a second set that could be concealed, while moving weapons and other instruments about, under a layer of protective and elegant clothing.

Added to that was the fact that she wore a wide brim hat, one with intricate designs that had silk draped in front, leaving only a horizontal slit, where two mesmerizing golden eyes stared back at him.

Golden eyes with seeming dancing flecks of silver.

Seeing the creature, Frank felt true fear and fascination form within his gut. There was a strange hypnotic effect with the eyes, one that Frank was able to mostly overcome by his sheer fascination with trying to gauge just how powerful the being before her was.

This was a killer, an apex monster who was clearly older than most of the oldest cultivators that the humans had to offer. And here was Frank, being forced to encounter such a creature.

From the corner of his eye, he could see that Blue, Pi, and even the Major were all stiff in fear.

Seeing their fear oddly had a calming effect on Frank. It was almost as if their state of inability to move gave credence to the way Frank now felt.

That and the reverence being displayed by the two powerful women by his side showed that even here, on their shared lands, these two could do nothing to defend against this invasion of privacy.

Which meant, that Frank could only do two things. He could stiffen up in fear, and appear weak before the monster. Or, he could watch the proceedings and react accordingly.

If this serpentine leader wanted Frank to die, then there was little anyone could do to stop the sudden eruption of violence that this creature was more than capable of performing.

“Your majesty,” The two girls, turned clan dignitaries, called out from Frank’s sides.

Hearing them, Frank too bowed, purposefully breaking eye contact and forcing his mind and heart to slow as he gracefully bowed as well.

Silence.

There was an odd silence that filled the camp, with only the distant crackling of a bonfire letting Frank know that the world had not paused, that time was still moving along as usual.

“Rise, cavern dweller, slayer of mythos,” the leader called out from beyond her veil. Despite her face being covered, her voice carried evenly throughout the camp.

At her words, memories flashed in Frank’s mind, about how he first began his path of cultivation. How he slayed a giant serpent that had intended to eat him. Yet, he did not want to play his hand.

Instead, he did as requested. He rose up and stared at the maiden. A maiden who could seemingly grow and elongate her form as needed. For as soon as Frank raised his head and was fully erect, the serpentine delegate gracefully lunged forward, placing her veiled face next to Frank’s neck.

Seeing the movement, Frank was unable to react in time to stop the clearly controlled movement. And it was a controlled movement, for Frank could feel the coiling tension in the ground tell him as much. The coiled muscles said that should this person try, they could move faster and were prepared to do so even now.

These sensations from the earth below, and its slow calming effect on his overall emotions allowed him to stay still. His feet never moving, his body never swaying in response to the violent burst of wind that pushed against his form.

Instead, his only true form of movement was the slight turning of his head. A movement that put his eyes, and the eyes of this monstrous queen right next to each other.

Once again, he found his gaze attracted to those gently glowing vertically slitted orbs.

From there, it was only a matter of seconds before the serpentine queen did something. There was the faintest flittering of the dark veil covering her face, before she seemed to nod her head slightly.

With that, she began to shrink back to her normal position. Only now did Frank realize that this serpentine Queen has positioned herself to be four feet away, but despite this, she could stretch out all four feet, and even a bit more to allow her to leer over Frank’s shoulder.

Mentally, Frank tried to do the math, noting that right now the being was standing a good six feet tall, as she was large and imposing over Frank’s smaller frame. Then his mind noted that in order for most serpents to stand up in such a way, they need to have at least twice more of their body weight. These calculations were confirmed by the sudden increased weight on the ground where the coiling creature stood.

With that odd encounter over, a clearly younger male serpent came forward and stood possessively by the serpentine queen.

“This is the one?” The male bodyguard asked, anger and malevolence all but radiating from his body and shown in his slitted gaze.

“Yes, this is the one indeed. The one we were told to come out and evaluate.” The Serpentine Queen answered, her eyes never leaving Frank.

As she spoke, Frank could see and feel the tension in Drava and Ravena both, as they inherently reacted to the violent intent that was seeming to radiate from the male bodyguard.

“He does not look worthy,” the angry male bodyguard protested.

At his words, a few of the other guards that were part of the initial envoy forward seemed to hiss or mutter in agreement.

Prentip, seeing that things were quickly escalating, stepped forward.

“Now, I will remind you that you came under the banner of peace,” Prentip stated, and then looking out saw the gaggle of serpentine warriors who were clearly mounted on corrupted horses and other great beasts of burden.

Seeing the creatures, Frank could only wonder how long it took to train a horse, even a corrupted one to let a snake ride it? Then his thoughts were forced to switch to the present as things were clearly heating up.

“These are not worthy of the gift, not even that of the dog or bird factions,” the bodyguard hissed.

“Be that as it may, you are more than able to not provide an offering to them, as is your right,” Prentip responded, again seeming to try to deescalate the situation.

“No, I challenge for the right of their offerings, they are not worthy of the gifts of change and balance,” the bodyguard spat out. The more he spoke, the more animated he became in his gestures, until finally his face and body were seeming to wiggle in odd frequencies of each other.

“Calm yourself, if you change here, you know what that means,” Prentip shouted, by now even the fabled Erloche was coming forward, seeming to act as a shield for his charge, Prentip.

“I do, and I demand it, I challenge this usurper of gifts to battle, if he fails, then his offerings will go to our tribe. If I fail, then my blood in its entirety will be used to increase his offering.” The bodyguard hissed out.

Shocked whispers.

With that declaration out of the way, Frak could feel tension rising, but most took a step back. Even Ravena and Drava seemed to pause by his sides as they stared on in horror.

“And you, would you agree to this?” Prentip spat out, as he directed his comments towards the Serpentine queen, a person who likely could defuse this whole situation with but a word, but instead she seemed to fan the flames of conflict.

“Yes, Broadine’s blood for victor,” the leader of the Serpentine delegation began. Then with a slightly disgusted gaze, she turned her head to see the three other initiates that were still standing and had opted to remain completely still at this time. As she turned her head, all three looked down, even the Major.

“And only to the victor,” the serpentine Queen hissed out. Then turning her head back, to Prentip she continued. “That said, if we win, we will take this sacred mixture and offer it directly to our Gods, until you are able to find someone worthy of the gifts of duality.”

Hearing that, Prentip could only pause and nod his head, “a fair exchange has been offered, and a contest of strength has been posed.”

And like that, Frank could almost feel the energies of the world conspiring and conversing in the distance.

Gentle breeze.

If he focused, he swore he could feel aspects of the wind calling out to him, warning him of impending danger.

Yet, despite all of this, Frank knew that he was incapable of changing anything.

Then seeing the way Erloche gave a subtle nod to one of the serpentine guards, Frank knew this had all been a setup from the start. How else would a strong faction of the serpentine clan get here just at this exact moment.

Still, that observation did little to change the current state of affairs, as he now had to prepare for an apparent duel for blood.