The early evening sky took on a purplish hue as the sun made one final attempt at shining over the horizon. The air was still. Crickets could be heard chirping in the thickets of grass that dotted the rocky village path. Small beams of light shined out through the windows of the village buildings. The door of the tavern was wide open, and the vague humanoid shapes of patrons could be seen from the street outside.

Garreth looked Mathias over. He was not wearing his squire’s tunic anymore. Around him was a simple brown robe. A baggy hood laid over the top of his head, concealing any hint of individualism. A generic, rope-braided belt hung around his waist and concealed a few items in the bags that lay attached. Underneath the robe, strapped to his leg, was a sheath that held his freshly sharpened sword.

“You look like a villager, Mathias, this should fool the beast,” Garreth said.

“It reminds me of home,” Mathias said, examining the fabric of his clothes.

The squire beamed for a moment before replacing the happiness to please his knight with a look of determination. He reached down towards the ground and produced a small bindle. It was a thin stick from one of the small trees that dotted the outskirts of the village. Attached to the end was a rag that held the offering of silver. He looked like a traveler.

Garreth himself was still wearing his armor. Its small clank meant it wasn’t the stealthiest option, but he preferred wearing it to potentially facing the lamia without it. He reckoned the creature’s claws, even as sharp as he was told they could be, stood little chance of piercing the plate. If something happened, Garreth would be nearby ready to strike.

He had a bundle of rope attached at his waist and held the bit in his off hand. They were a long way from any sort of competent doctor. If the poison proved deadly, being struck could mean amputation of the affected area, or death. Garreth knew that out here they were likely interchangeable.

They looked like an interesting pair. One, with dark skin, no attempt to conceal his identity, and the other’s paleness disturbed the dark color that made his disguise so effective. They spoke no more words but set out on the path that led outside the village. The loud crunch of Garreth’s footsteps gave Mathias no audible sound. He was not worried about stealth yet. The Lamia lived deeper into the mountains and likely preyed on the villagers who were further away from any potential assistance.

“This isn’t my first experience with Lamia,” Mathias said suddenly.

“Is that so?” Garreth replied.

He was legitimately surprised. They were common creatures enough but their appearances were few and far between. Their penchant for attacking lone travelers was so great that many had never seen one in the flesh.

“It was when I was young, there must have been a small den in the fields on the outskirts of our village,” Mathias said. “First it was just glimpses of them, the shepherds noticed them on the outskirts of the flock. They took the sick and dying sheep.”

Garreth said nothing and let Mathias continue.

“Then they got bold, maybe they had a new leader or something, I don’t know,” he said. “It progressed to taking the healthy sheep, then one of the children went missing.”

“They have leaders,” Garreth replied. “Well, den mothers is the proper term.”

“We tried to get him back, the village sent a group of men to ask for the child’s return,” Mathias said.

“I take it there were difficulties in that,” Garreth said.

“Aye,” replied Mathias. “They sent one man back, they made him carry the others’ heads on a pike.”

The mental image of a crude stick, fastened and dripping with dried black blood invoked a sense of pity in Garreth. Perhaps the one they would deal with soon would be more agreeable, but he felt better having his sword after hearing Mathias’s encounter.

“So how did your village drive them out?” Garreth asked.

“It wasn’t us, there was a traveling hero, I don’t remember his name,” Mathias said. “He had nothing but a small dagger and a pail of water; he returned with the den mother’s corpse and the missing boy’s clothing.”

Garreth mused at the idea. Such feats were not unheard of, but slaying an entire den of Lamia implied the hero was one of great strength. Great to a level that was perhaps among the best of Caelum’s knights.

Suddenly, Garreth realized the absence of sound that surrounded them. There were no crickets, birds, or any of the regular sounds of nighttime fauna. The sun had all but set, and only a sliver of light remained. It was dark enough that Garreth had trouble seeing much more than eight feet in front of him. It was the perfect situation for a hunt.

“Mathias,” Garreth whispered, “I am going to conceal myself just off the path; be careful.”

Mathias nodded and continued along. He moved with purpose now and Garreth could see his head turn as he scanned the path in front of him. The cloak did well to conceal Mathias’s identity. He was almost unrecognizable from behind. The deep brown tone swirled into the inky blackness at the end of Garreth’s vision and he could not make out the hickory of the bindle that hung off of Mathias’s shoulder.

Garreth crouched down and walked towards the side of the path, making sure to dip down as close to the earth as possible. The taller patches of grass brushed across his neck and cheek. He did not wear his helmet, and his braids hung loosely on the top of his head.

He winced as the slight creak of his armor pierced the air. He felt lucky they were not hunting but luring because he did not think he could sneak up on anything in this state. He tried to keep Mathias in his vision as he continued forward, but it was hard with the darkness around him. He knew he would be able to hear the negotiation, and kept his ears strained.

Garreth stopped. Something entered the peripheral of his hearing. It was only audible due to the absence of other noises. It was a slight, small sound. Subtle, like a premature tinnitus. It was the sound of something gliding through the grass and earth. It slid among the individual blades, the rough surface making contact. He recognized it immediately. It was the sound of a snake.

He did not call out to Mathias, for that would have revealed Garreth’s position in the bush along the side of the path. He strained his eyes, looking for the squire. He noted Mathias was just ahead of him, not any more than ten feet. He was stopped in the path, and Garreth could see the motion of the back of his hood moving from side to side, scanning. Mathias had heard the noise, or at least noticed something was amiss. It may not have been audible to him as he traveled, but it was that prehistoric, primordial fear that all men held in the presence of nature.

Two small orbs appeared to the left of Mathias. He noticed them immediately and turned his head. They were a marbled brown in shade. A black, oval mass sat in the center of each orb. The color cut out for a moment and it dawned on Garreth that these were the source of the noise, or at least what was attached to them. They were eyes.

A warning hiss escaped from the side of the path as Mathias took a small step towards the mass. There was another sound, dry with a slight buzz. Mathias moved the lantern forward slightly as the darkness in front of it sloughed away. The light revealed more brown. There was tan, like a pair of breeches, and even a slight tinge of green. The material revealed by the color and light was brittle. Scales. As the lantern moved upward, the creature’s head came into view. The orbs from before sat on opposite sides of the head. Two nostrils sat underneath. The nose of the creature came directly out of its face and was almost as wide as the entire head. A forked, black, tongue hung out of a simple lined mouth below. The face was covered in scales like the rest of its body. The humanoid resemblance began in the lamia’s shoulders. They broadened out from its long neck and continued down in arms and fingers. The fingers were bare of nails, the scales protected anything soft underneath. Its chest was flat, and the midsection of the thing was indistinguishable from that of its animal relatives. It did not have traditional legs and sat upright on a coiled tail that ended in a mound of ribbed scale. A rattle.

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The tail twisted and vibrated slowly. The entire height of the monster was equal to Mathias. This was one from the mountains. Garreth was not familiar with this specific subspecies. His experience was with Jungle Lamia. They were bigger and had hooded heads. What they lacked in fang and venom, they made up for in strength. He had seen them in battle. They could grab a soldier or knight and constrict them until their ribs were crushed beneath their armor and their organs exited out of the top of their throat. This one was different, the vibrating rattle gave Garreth a sense of dread. It was a warning for a reason, likely highly venomous.

The Lamia cocked her head to the side, sizing up the squire in front of her. Garreth could not see Mathias’s face but hoped he was not showing the expression it would be natural to see. Fear.

“L-lamia, I want to trade with you,” Mathias said.

His voice broke the stillness of the moment. The lamia said nothing but continued its stare. Its tongue flicked in and out of its mouth repeatedly. Garreth did not know the specifics of their biology but knew they could perceive things that humans couldn’t. He hoped the creature could not sense him in the bushes.

“Trade?” The lamia questioned.

It was a dry, raspy sound that emanated from its throat. It was reminiscent of the hiss that descended from its breath moments before.

“I…trade…secrets,” she continued.

“There is a sorcerer in the mountains raising the dead,” Mathias said.

The lamia nodded, keeping its gaze on the squire. It was a slow nod, likely a result of the creature trying to understand Mathias’s nervous speech.

“I will give you silver if you tell me where the sorcerer is,” Mathias said.

The creature did not speak but raised a scaly hand in the air. It turned its palm towards itself and moved its index finger back towards it, beckoning Mathias closer. He took another step forward and bent down to open the contents of the bindle that had been on his shoulder just a moment before. He untied the cloth that secured the contents to the stick and pulled out a few small pieces of silver. They gleamed in the lantern’s glow, the light refracted on the smooth surface of the coins. They bore the same symbol found on Garreth’s armor and Mathias’s battle tunic. The grinning sun. It sat there and looked up at Mathias as if to mock him. He took the precious material in his hand and advanced slowly towards the creature.

“Coin..good,” the lamia said.

Its rattle raised itself in the air. The bony material vibrated, sending a jolt of adrenaline through Garreth. It was an involuntary reaction, he could not stop his body from heeding the natural warning.

Mathias had his hand extended towards the lamia’s face now. The coins sat precariously balanced in his shaking palm. They sound of them scraping against each other was barely audible over the increasing tone of the lamia’s rattle. It rose in an anticipated crescendo.

“But food better,” the lamia whispered.

It struck forward, baring its fangs at Mathias who reeled back in surprise. The lamia’s jaws locked and snapped in the air, joined by the sound of tearing fabric. The cloak that wrapped lazily around Mathias’s torso was torn at the arm. The lamia released, then steadied itself for another strike. Mathias fumbled for the sword strapped to his leg, his hands flailed, tangled in the loose cloak.

Garreth charged towards the pair from his crouched position. The movement caught the lamia by surprise and it quickly adjusted its vision towards the immediate threat. It scowled as Garreth came into focus and beared its fangs. The were long and white. A clear liquid ran off of the left fang, a reminder of the toxin contained within its mouth. He held his sword away from his body and pointed the blade at the creature’s chest. Mathias pulled his sword out of the sheath and brought it up in a defensive position. Before he could raise it, the creature swung an arm horizontally, knocking the squire to the ground.

Garreth yelled and slashed. The lamia glided backward, dodging the strike. What it lacked in intelligence, it made up for in speed and strength. It moved back and forth in place, shimmying dangerously. Its eyes were wide and Garreth resisted the urge to stare into its black pupils. He shut his eyes.

“Don’t look Mathias, it charms!” Garreth yelled.

He turned his head to get a glimpse of the squire who was still on the ground beside him. Mathias held the sword limply in his right hand. He sat up, back straight, and had his head turned toward the lamia. He was entranced, unable to take his eyes off of the creature’s pupils.

Garreth kicked Mathias in the side as the lamia struck again, moving him out of the way of the attack. He followed the action by jabbing with his blade. The lamia hissed and a sharp rattle rose from its tale. The end of the blade met the resistance of scales and pierced the lamia’s arm. Fresh, red blood dripped from the entry wound and down the rest of the lamia’s body. She hissed again, angry, and turned to face Garreth. He averted his eyes again and the lamia used the opportunity to strike again. He heard it move through the air and felt contact against the plate that covered his chest. Pressure followed the feeling and he recognized the scrape that pierced his ears as the claws of the lamia digging into his chest. The armor held and the monster released, leaving five small holes on the left side of his torso just under his heart.

Garreth knew he could not look up to face the creature. Looking up would give it a chance to hypnotize him like what had happened to Mathias. If they both became charmed, it would mean their deaths. He swung blindly again and caught the snake woman off guard. She cried out in pain as Garreth’s swing struck true. This time the blade slashed diagonally along its chest, leaving a deep scratch in its scaly hide.

His earlier experiences of lamia did not prepare him for this. The jungle ones did not hypnotize their foes like the one that stood before him. It was an impossible fight. How could he defend himself and Mathias against a foe he could not see? The creature recovered and flicked its tail forward. The large rattle on the end gave the blow more force than Garreth expected and he was knocked backward onto the ground. He noticed Mathias still on the side of the path to his left, vision locked into the lamia’s eyes.

That was what he needed to see. Garreth thought back to the story Mathias told as they walked down the path out of town. The hero who defeated the lamia that plagued Mathias’s childhood village had something that Garreth didn’t; a way to look at the creature without seeing it directly. He needed a method of reflection, something like a pail of water would have done the trick.

Thinking quickly, Garreth turned his back to the lamia. Every muscle in his body and synapse in his mind fired back in protest. It was a move that disregarded everything he had ever learned as a squire. Never turn your back on an enemy! His old master’s voice echoed through his mind. Garreth shook his head and pushed the warning into the back of his mind. This called for something unorthodox.

He raised his sword in front of him and held it so the widest part of the blade faced him. It was freshly polished and sharpened, sans some of the dried blood and scales that laid across some of the edge. They had an odor too, an acrid stink that made Garreth’s nostrils shrivel. The lantern was on the ground but it gave enough light for him to see the beast that now faced his back. The move confused the creature and he could see its head cocked to the side as it focused on the back of Garreth’s head. Garreth grinned and stepped backward towards the creature, making it hesitate.

The lamia snarled and reared back to strike again. Garreth kept the monster in the center of sword, making sure to tilt and track the blade as she swayed. Its head lurched towards his back and Garreth bent his knees, waiting for the right moment. As it looked like the lamia would bite, he sliced the sword horizontally behind him as he moved to the right. This made the blade slide over the lamia’s upper chest just below the neck. It was a deep wound. It roared in pain as the scales gave way to flesh. More blood seeped from the gash and the creature desperately tried to wrap its arms back around its chest to cover its exposed wound.

Garreth lept around behind it, straddling the rest of its tail with his legs. He raised the sword and propped it sideways against the creatures throat, wrapping the blade end with his forearm to apply pressure. He squeezed, feeling the flatness of the blade touch against the bone that made up the snake woman’s windpipe. She wheezed and choked, the absence of air shocked the creature’s system. The arms that covered her chest clawed desperately at the blade in an attempt to prevent the loss of consciousness. Garreth felt his arms burn with exertion. The lamia was strong but it had already lost too much oxygen to be effective. It crashed to the ground, unconscious. Garreth took the pressure off of its throat and allowed it to breathe. He grabbed the bit fashioned earlier from his pouch and sunk the creature’s fangs into the leather and wrapped the excess around its head.

Next he used the loop of rope to secure the lamia’s wrists behind its back and attached the rest of it to a nearby tree. He didn’t think it would have enough strength to break free due to its deep wound, which bled freely. Garreth used some of the medical supplies and made a crude bandage to apply to its chest. He hoped this would prevent it from bleeding out before it woke up.

Mathias stirred on the ground. He was coming out of his trance. His eyes scanned the air lazily, like a drunk. The relaxation turned to fear and he rose quickly to his feet, sword in hand.

“The lamia..what happened?” he asked.

“It charmed you, Mathias,” Garreth answered. “I had to cast its reflection in my sword to fight it.”

“Is it alive?” Mathias said.

“Yes, she will wake up soon,” Garreth said. “We will interrogate her when she does.”

Mathias looked at the bandage that lay across the lamia’s chest and nodded, confirming the plan made sense to him. His gaze then fell to the puncture wounds grouped at the chestplate of Garreth’s armor.

“Are you hurt?” he asked.

Garreth removed his gauntlets and reached his fingers towards the metal. He used a rag to wipe the leftover venom away from the holes and threw it to the ground. Any trace of the venom touching his flesh could prove fatal, especially so close to his heart.

“She bit through my armor but did not get through the padding beneath,” Garreth replied. His voice was calm. It was a close call but things like that didn’t bother Garreth like they had when he was younger. To Garreth, a near death experience was just that, near death. It didn’t mean one died. The worst that could come from it was injury and he hadn’t actually been pierced by the lamia’s fangs. The alternative, dying, would have been unpleasant initially but wouldn’t have been a problem for long once the venom finished coursing through his veins.

They sat there in silence for a moment. The air was still and it was dark now. Night had come swiftly and blanketed everything around them. Off in the distance, a light flickered. It started small, and slowly morphed into a solid wall of light. Garreth could suddenly smell the air around him. Smoke. Briar was on fire.