There I sat on the cold rocky ground in the cave with Brutus by my side, being spoken to about the will if Ile’Sethak by his children. By what seemed like an accident, we had come face to face with the ones my lord spoke to me about. The Ophidians were serpent men that looked upon me with awe. The red female knelt down and offered her hand. I took it and helped Brutus up. Her scales were smooth to the touch. She looked at her hand and mine as her yellow serpent eyes flickered in the dark. She lowered her head to my hand and used her forked tongue to sense me.

She looked up at me, her tail wagging happily like that of a dogs while her serpentine face had a large serpentine smile upon it. The slits of her eyes had become round and black with just a bit of color around it.

“It's you! It’s really you! You are the Kai’Sar!”

One of the other Ophidians walked up to her. He leaned forward and spoke in some strange language.

“Sylithra. Hissara en venkra kralesh, arlin en skaar?”

“Hira! Ile'Sethak kralesh en arlin venkra coilithek!”

The language was strange to me. It was exotic and yet beautiful. Kingly in a way. At the time I had no idea what they were saying to me. Eventually I would get a detailed lesson, but at the time, all I could understand was the basics. The mention of Ile’Sethak was perhaps the only piece of the language I understood. The serpent girl turned her attention back to me and examined me. I didn’t know if she was just excited to see me in general or if she had never seen a human before in her life.

“My name is Sylithra. I am the Mystrenthra. What your people would call a storyteller. The earth rumbled like thunder and we heard loud roars from the beast above! You killed it! No one has ever managed to kill the beast until now! There's no doubt about it; you are the Kai’Sar! The Prophet of Ile’Sethak has finally come! I never thought it would happen in my lifetime.”

She moved around me and examined every inch of me as if she were trying desperately to make sure that I was not part of a dream she was having. Satisfied that I was in fact real, she moved her attention to Brutus.It was clear that her people knew what humans were, but she herself had never been around one, let alone two, and especially on the same day. She poked and prodded him, never having encountered a being so large and muscular. If her passion was humans, then she would have no better apex specimen. Though quickly, her attention fell to me again. Like some excited young girl, she grabbed my hands with both of hers and pulled me.

“Come on! We have to show you to the Venkra’Thral.”

“The what?” I asked in confusion as she pulled me along with her, guided by her as she hurried along with my arm in tow.

“Ugh… How would your people call it? He is in…” She struggled to find the correct words. There were limits to her common speech. “He guides us and gives us commands. Not like Ile’Sethak, but for our people.”

“Your chieftain then?”

“Yes!” She squealed excitedly at my answer. “Yes! Chieftain! That is the word! Thank you, Kai’Sar! I will take you to our Chieftain! Then you will begin to teach us!”

“Teach you?” I raised my eyebrow. Was this the plan that our lord had? The noble task that he wanted me to do? Teach these serpent men what humans did? “What about my companions on the surface? They’ll think Brutus and I are dead.”

Sylithra turned her head to face one of the warriors next to her and spoke in that language. “Hissara, arlin skaar Kai’Sar kraleshra. Kai’Sar en kralesh en Ile’Sethak kralesh.”

With a simple nod, the armored serpent man quickly looked around for an exit area and took it, climbing up to the surface. Sylithra then turned to me and spoke yet again.

“Rykos will speak with your companions in the above world and bring them here. Until then, you can meet the Venkra’Thral.”

Sylithra led us lower into the caverns where her people resided. I was curious to see what type of people lived down in the deep dark of the world. The type of people the Ophidians were and what the culture was like. My mind raced with many questions. These creatures were created by Ile’Sethak. The effort such a feat used must have drained the serpent god. He did say that he was new to my world, and was not strong enough to do something like that again. Still… I thought of a particularly interesting question that I kept to myself at the time. What use was there for a God that couldn’t do much of anything? If Ile’Sethak was indeed a God, then he shouldn’t get tired.

We continued to snake down the massive caverns —pun intended— until we saw some lights up ahead. The mouth of the exit grew larger as we approached it until we found a vast underground city. For me, it was quite a strange scenario. The buildings were carved into the walls, yet they had the craftsmanship and appeal of buildings made in Roharim. I would have felt like I had walked home were it not underground and populated by serpentine humanoids. I got to experience what life was like for some of these people as I passed them by on the streets.

In the proper lighting, I could see the Ophidians in their proper attire. The similarities between Roharim and that dwelling ended with the architecture. Those that intended to go outside of these city walls were dressed in thick clothing. Flowing robes with a strange kind of silk and even gold woven into the hems. They came in all kinds of vibrant colors. These robes protected them from the oppressive heat of the desert sun. Even cold blooded creatures had to seek shade every now and then. I didn’t even know if the Ophidians were cold blooded themselves. As for those who stayed behind, many of them wore more revealing clothes. The heat of the rocks in this city was noteworthy, likely from the heat of the magma.

Large glowing crystals dotted the ceiling of the large city which gave off the same light a rising sun gives. I could see there was plenty of diversity in the Ophidian world. Vibrant colors dotted their scales in many patterns. Some of them even used some type of body paint to accessorize. Physically they had traits that belonged to different types of snakes: some had horns just above their eyebrows, some were larger like constrictors, others had longer tails and some had cobra hoods.

It appeared that Ile’Sethak had taken a great number of serpents from all over the world and had shaped them into men. The women were thinner than the males and had the general female shape. Strangely enough they even had breasts. I still have no idea what they are for. Venom sacks? I’ve never really asked. Anyway, before I go on a tangent, I continued to explore the city as Sylithra showed the city off to me. We arrived in the middle of the city when my eyes fell upon something that shocked my heart down to its core. The world seemed to freeze right there as I saw a sight that I never thought I’d see in my wildest dreams. There was an ancient statue. It was large and made of marble. It shone brightly even in the dim light of the cave. I could not comprehend how old that statue must have been. It was an impossibility. The age suggested that it remained there for thousands of years. Yet what made it impossible was that it was a statue of myself. The statue depicted me in the armor that I was currently wearing, though more regal. The chest armor was different. Rather than the makeshift lorica segmentata I was wearing, I was depicted wearing anatomically correct lorica musculata. The armor was modeled after my own muscle structure.

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There were many thoughts that raced through my mind. How long had Ile’Sethak been planning this? Why me? Why was I chosen to be these people’s prophet? What made me special enough for this? More importantly, had I a choice in any of this? Where did Ile’Sethak’s influence begin and my own skill end? Had I survived this long thanks to the machinations of the serpent lord or my own prowess in combat? Did my parents meet by chance or were they guided by Ile’Sethak in order to create me? How far back did his influence go?

At that moment, my mind was filled with self doubt. I wondered what my life was truly worth. Was I truly going this far of my own volition or was I simply just an actor on a stage reciting lines I had memorized since I was in the womb? I felt like I was nothing more than the character of a story. The pawn in someone’s book meant to entertain themselves. I’m sure Ile’Sethak thought that he was flattering me, but instead I felt something more potent. Emptiness.

I turned to Brutus and saw him staring at the statue as well. There was a touch of awe but mostly… resentment. He looked at me and we exchanged a simple glance at each other. The comradery that we had over slaying the great lizard had diminished at that moment. It would be a discussion that we would have in great length later in private. At that moment there was simply no time to stand around and talk about our issues. We couldn’t just butt heads with each other and squabble. Whether by choice, fate or machinations of a serpent god, it mattered not. All that mattered was that we now had allies potentially.

Sylithra paused for a moment when she realized we had overstayed our welcome at the statue and turned to face us when we did not follow her. She placed her slender and soft hand on my shoulder and smiled, her tail flicking happily from side to side.

“Is something wrong Kai’Sar?”

I shook my head and furrowed my brow before turning my attention away from the statue.

“Y-yes I am. This statue. This is how you are able to recognize me, obviously. It looks so old. How long has it been here?”

She tilted her head in confusion like a dog trying to understand a strange sound. She blinked her large round eyes and flicked her tongue out in the air at me.

“I do not know, Kai’Sar. The statue has been here long before I was even born. It has always been here. Do you like it?”

I didn’t want to tell her how I truly felt. He breathed in deeply and cleared my throat, stroking my beard as I tried to find a means to articulate my thoughts into words that would not ruin a potential friendship with her people. I may not have enjoyed the idea of being Ile’Sethak’s puppet but I was not enough of a fool to raise my voice against a God in his own holy city.

“It's certainly eye-catching. I never expected to see a statue of myself here, much less anywhere. I guess you could say it's…flattering?”

Sylithra smiled, still holding my hand and looking at it, examining it very closely. She was trying to study me very closely. The guards meanwhile stood vigilantly by our sides as if they too were statues. Their focus and determination was painted all around their reptilian faces. Sylithra pulled my hand with her.

“Come. We must not keep the Venkra’Thral waiting.”

I obeyed. It was time to make an alliance with the chieftain of these people. Needless to say I was looking forward to it.. We ventured up to a slope in the cavern until we saw a massive stone palace. Grandiose in its design with a large pond in front of us that was hand crafted out of beautiful white marble. It was immaculate. Splendid. Strangely enough it even had some strange species of fish that must have lived in some of the deepest parts of the lake. Their bodies were luminescent. They glowed brightly like tigers with exotic stripes. The stripes on these fish were mostly blue.

Then there was the palace itself. Mighty pillars that were decorated with the history of these people. The monsters they slew, the wars they waged, and of course tributes to Ile’Sethak. They were massive. It would take some time to circle just one of those massive columns. Once we entered the chambers, there was a large serpentine throne. A throne that had caught my eye before. It was the same serpentine throne I saw in my vision. The one where I was surrounded and constricted by serpents.

Sitting upon that throne was an old serpentine male. His scales were dulled green and bore many scars on them. Clearly he had once been a strong and mighty king, yet the greatest enemy of all great kings had come to face him. Time. Old age had beaten him and was slowly killing him with the slow passage of time, like someone dragging a knife on someone’s flesh, hard enough to draw blood but not to kill. A death by a thousand cuts.

He wore fabulous robes. His crown was modeled after a Cobra hood, yet he didn’t seem to have a natural one himself. He had a beard —or at least what I can only loosely describe a beard in the case of an Ophidian— that resembled many ends of a rattlesnake. His “hair and beard” all made subtle sounds each time he moved his head. He yawned in a quiet and docile manner as he showed his fangs. He was missing a few, perhaps losing them in battle too.

Salythra went up to the chieftain and bowed her head. She went to his side and whispered into his ear hole. His head shook with age, as if the slightest breeze would knock him over. Sylithra would make sure the chief knew exactly who I was and what I was doing here. I assumed she explained our deeds to him, since she was speaking in Ophidian. Her words were filled with the instinctive hisses within the language. The old snake then turned to me with a shocked expression. He shook as he tried to stand up. He stepped closer to me to examine me with his tired eyes that had yet to focus.

He took one good look at me and sure enough he recognized me as the statue in his city that seemingly had come to life.

“Hira! It is him! The choice of Ile’Sethak. The Kai’Sar…”

The old serpent tried to bow, but nearly fell down. I placed my hand on his shoulder and looked into his ancient eyes.

“Enough. Stand. I don’t want you to grovel before me.”

“Forgive me, Kai’Sar.” The old serpent said as he used Sylithra for support, who looked all too happy to be of service. “For many years we had been waiting for you. We’ve met with many humans, hoping and praying that you would arrive. And now you are here. You slew the great dragon!”

At that time, the guards brought forth my companions from the surface world. Octavian tried to rush, but the guards held him back.

“Hadrian! My lord! What is going on?”

I smiled at Octavian. I looked around the serpent men who appeared to hang upon my every word, waiting in bated breath for my words. I turned to Octavian and smiled like the cat that caught the canary. He raised my head up and placed my hands behind my back.

“Isn't it obvious, Octavian? Ile’Sethak is good on his word. I am to meet with these people. And with them, our lost people will have an even stronger force behind them.”

Octavian was about to speak, perhaps asking what I was talking about, when the Chieftain spoke.

“Anything you require, Kai’Sar, we will provide for you. Skalthra Kai’Sar!”

The Ophidian guards then raised their spears in the air and chanted the same word.

“Skalthra Kai’Sar! Skalthra Kai’sar! Skalthra Kai’sar!”

It didn’t take me long to realize what they were saying. They were praising me. In my heart I knew exactly what that word meant. I smiled. I had forgotten all about my existential moment of weakness as I realized what they were saying. I raised my head up in the air pridefully. I took in a deep breath and smirked.

Here they were, chanting the same thing over and over again. They simply said “Hail Kai’Sar. Eventually they would change it to something else once they would adopt Roharim into their language.

Soon two words would be on the lips of every Ophidian, nay, every citizen of my new kingdom that I was destined for. Soon, they would all chant in unison “Ave Hadrian.”