Theo 1.3

Theo stared at the massive emerald-green serpent ahead. It was standing upright, with its mouth hanging wide open. As tall as a pine tree and as thick as a truck, it was truly a sight to behold.

The snake was curled around itself. He could see a poor sheep in the middle, being squeezed out of its sorry life. It then proceeded to swallow the entire thing whole. A few specks of white fur floated to the ground.

In times like this, he felt like good eyesight was no blessing.

A crow was flying past, quite far away from the beast. However, for some inexplicable reason, the crow flew directly toward the beast as if in a trance. With a snap of a jaw, the little bird was no more. Its tongue flickered about, while its eyes slowly moved toward their group of four.

Theo stood there in a daze, his jaws hanging open, his eyes dilating.

“Jeez. It’s just a snake.”

Theo sputtered. “You do see that the size of it, right?”

“Ah,” Katarina said, “that’s true. Either way, what should we do about this? Kill it?”

“Probably,” Nikias said. “It’s a menace if left unchecked. We’ll have to make sure that none of its kin is nearby. What the hell are the people here doing!”

Drakon-Phrygios-Lone-Male-Unneeded

“Neat. We should start. It would be a good experience for you, Theo.”

Kat smirked. “We should keep him far from the battle. Judging from what we’ve seen, the beast might be dangerous for cute, little things.”

Nikias shook his head in exasperation. “Theo, just stay beside me.”

Be-Calm

Theo smiled nervously. “I’ll try.”

“You’ll need to do more than that.” Nikias nonchalantly said. “Either way, Adonis will cover us if things go wrong.”

The old man nodded. Katarina turned serious. “What’s our plan?”

“Eh, try to slay it?”

The other three stared judgingly at Nikias, who only smiled in response.

“Be a bit more serious, please.”

“Well, I am. Just a few slashes would suffice. And it’s more thrilling that way. I went on this trip for just that, didn’t I? If you want to spend time strategizing, you’re on your own.”

Theo gaped at Nikias. “You…do notice how big it is, right? And I’m quite certain its scales are tough.”

“Eh. How are you so certain?” He said, with a raised eyebrow. “I don’t think you’ve seen its kind before. My sword is good enough. It’s just an overgrown garden snake.”

Katarina had been setting up a trap. She sprinkled some kind of brown powder, place a few gemstones, and wrote some stuff down in possibly Greek. He could understand it, for some reason. The devs managed to make him understand a whole new language without effort. He didn’t even know if he should be surprised at this point. It was not the only thing he learned from this ‘game’.

Katarina said drily. “I’d rather not get wounded for entertainment. If you want, you two can be bait. I’ll prepare a trap, and see how things go. Might as well practice some magic.”

Practice??? Now? We are absolutely screwed.

“Do what you want, but be quick. It’s about to come over.”

“My glorious baits, distract it for me,” Katarina said with a smile. “Just for three minutes.”

“Come here, my fellow loyal servant. Take your horse and follow me. Side-by-side. I don’t want you to get eaten on my watch.”

The man went on his horse and started heading for their enemy. Theo followed closely. He was on autopilot, because the only thing that really registered in his mind, was the fact that they were doomed. Nikias might not be doomed, but he certainly was.

He jolted back to reality once they were dozens of meters away from the serpent. They started attacking, Nikias with his spears and Theo with his arrows. It tilted its head, avoiding both attacks with speed unbefitting of its size. Its tongue flicked about; its yellow eyes shone with… amusement? He felt his blood run cold.

A split second later, the beast was moving toward Theo and his companion. The two men hastily made their retreat, urging their mounts to move as quickly as possible. Even then, they could hear the sound of the scales scraping against the hard ground as it slithered with incredible speed. How a beast of such size moved so fast was truly astonishing, but Theo was not concerned about that right now.

The horse did most of the work for Theo, while he barely hung on screaming for his life. Otherwise, he might already be dead. He gradually got used to the speed and looked behind. A gaping jaw was right on his ass. Ginormous yellow eyes stared at him. Fuck fucK fuCK FUCK!

Nikias threw a spear. It was like a comet and smashed against the beast’s skull. Barely a scratch was left, however.

He drew his bow, thanking the gods for his God-given balance, before releasing an arrow. The serpent clamped its mouth shut before any serious damage could come, however.

As their horses galloped across the green meadow, he felt grateful. If this had happened at some other locations, perhaps they’d already be dead. Though, the snake probably wouldn’t be able to traverse other biomes as well. Theo glanced back at the moving mountain of meat that was the serpent, its scales glossy under the sun. With how tough its skin was, Theo decided that terrains weren’t a problem for it.

The chase continued; its cold hisses made him sweat profusely. The two of them attacked with projectiles, but the damage was hardly noticeable. Sure, they might get some scales to fall off, but apart from enraging it further, their actions did not help much.

Sure, he was not too stupid and had been aiming for the eyes. But it was fast, and also knew the value of its own eyes. It even started dodging halfway through, which only made things harder.

He was surprised he had not dropped his bow already. You know, out of fear. He was shaking pretty hard, almost like he was having seizures.

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The minutes felt like an eternity. Theo had already burnt through half his quiver, and the rest would soon follow. Nikias bellowed. “YOU DONE YET? OR SHOULD I GET DOWN DIRECTLY?”

“I’M READY. COME!”

They changed course, heading for their remaining companions. Theo let out a sigh of relief. Just as he did that, the beast opened its mouth. A sweet, intoxicating aroma spread out, one that made his head go blank. He came back to his senses quickly enough, but at that point, he realized his horse, as well as Nikias’, was slowly moving toward the serpent, attracted by that wondrous smell. Both of them hastily scrambled off of the horses. The beast knocked the two mounts aside – two harsh crunches followed - before continuing its pursuit of the two men. A cruel hiss came out of its throat.

Without his horse, Theo was quite screwed. He and the serpent were only meters apart, and the distance was closing. And it was closing fast.

He scrambled, crawled, and ran as fast as he could.

Just then, Nikias grabbed Theo. He threw the younger man far away. He covered himself in golden armour, while his steel sword was suddenly coated with a layer of gold. In his other hand, a golden shield had formed. He quickly held his shield in front of himself. The next second, he was hit by the serpent at full force.

Theo could only gasp as Nikias flew through the air, his shield falling out of his grasp. No time to check if he was alive. The serpent was nearing. Their group was only a few meters away from the beast. It rose up. Its beautiful golden eyes glinted. Its tongue wriggled about like a tiny serpent.

The monster lunged at the old man and the young woman, both of whom looked positively tiny.

Its attack was met with Katarina’s summoned wall. The wall shattered right away, but that was enough to slow it. She then shouted in some archaic form of Greek, “Yea, summon Earth, who brings all things to life.”

The next thing the beast knew was that it had fallen inside a massive pit.

Theo slowly crept toward the trap. At the bottom, the snake looked up with malice and anger. It hissed at them. Theo drew his bow in response. The arrow lodged inside the beast’s left eye. There was no room for it to dodge. It shrieked.

The serpent thrashed around, smashing its body against the earth. The top was crumbling.

Katarina continued her eyes were now a dark shade of brown. “And rears and takes again into her womb.”

Lumps of earth and rock quickly trickled into the pit, filling it up in a matter of seconds.

Theo looked at the snow-covered hole in wonder. He walked toward it, blankly poking the ground.

“Wow…”

Katarina said. “Yes, I know it’s amazing. Though, I –“

She fainted. Theo blinked. He stared at her unconscious body.

“She’s fine. Should just be a bit exhausted. The magic done was quite impressive, after all.”

“So that’s the case.” He then looked at the speaker. “Oh, thank the gods! I thought you’d be injured.” He immediately regretted saying that.

The golden armour held a multitude of cracks, and bruises, as well as blood, covered his body from head to toe. However, Nikias simply smiled and said, “I’m fine, it’s nothing to worry about. We should start-”

The snake burst out of the ground. Its body was bloody and its scales were torn. Its rage-filled eye looked at the humans below. It hissed in both pain and anger and then hurled its body at the whole group.

Theo screamed, closing his eyes, the last thing he saw was the pair of white fangs.

His death never came.

Chthonia

Theo heard a sickening sound of tearing flesh. He slowly opened his eyes. In front of him was the massive body of the serpent. There was something different, however. There was now a pillar of stone and metal going straight through it.

Its remaining eye stared at them lifelessly. The beast was dead.

Nikias came out of his shock fast and quickly said. “Thanks, old man. That was a little dangerous.” He took another look and smiled wryly. “I was indeed over my head when I wanted to fight it head-on.”

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“That’s not on you, we did not even know about that. That reminds me, the damn horses.”

Just as they said that a horse came back. It was Theo’s. He could tell that much since the blue mane was rather distinct. It looked at the corpse, before neighing and prancing around. It held its head high before the serpent. It even spat on the corpse.

“Where’s the other one?”

The horse gestured toward the snake.

“He’s dead?” Nikias sighed. “That one was a good horse. Yours seem to be even better, however.”

The horse neighed, his head held even higher. God, this guy was full of himself. To be fair, the big guy deserved it after getting flung like a ragdoll.

“We’ll have to share. Hopefully, you can carry both of us. With both of our supplies.”

The neighing grew softer. The horse almost let out a whimper. They chuckled.

“Kidding, we’ll put my stuff on the other two. I’ll remove the unnecessary things. Anyway, we should start sorting things out.”

They then went to work. They first buried the other horse. After which, Nikias began to cut up the snake, with Theo helping. The younger man nearly puked during the task, to the amusement of the others. The beast’s strong skin meant hard work, but they managed.

Without the capacity to carry much, they only took the one good eye (Katarina complained about Theo shooting the other), the tongue, as much skin as they could possibly bring, some meat (Nikias and Kat argued about this) and the lungs. The most important was likely the lungs. Adonis wanted them for research. These things were capable of releasing the snake’s magical breath, an ability that intrigued the old man. From what he could infer, this species was quite rare. The fact that they encountered it here was a bit odd.

Either way, the scenario felt fun enough.

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“I’ve talked about this earlier, but with my horse dead, we’ll have to change some things around. I’m thinking I’ll ride with Theo, while the other horses carry the additional luggage.”

“Sure. It makes sense.” She shrugged. “Either way, dinner’s ready.”

Ah yes. The smell of roast meat. It’s as fragrant as always. Perhaps even more so than usual. Theo couldn’t help but look forward to this meal. After all, it was the fruit of their hard labour.

He wandered over to the campfire, where Adonis sat watching over the meat. He had been a bit taken aback by the old man’s skill at cooking. Perhaps it should not be so surprising, considering his advanced age. He should have had a lot of experience with making meals while travelling or with just cooking in general. Either way, his roast meat was always a delight.

The group of four gathered around the fire, each looking intently at the glistening meal. Adonis gestured for them to dig in. They did so with vigour, like a pack of stray dogs.

The meat was tender, but also crispy. It was hard to describe. Theo savoured its taste. He had another bite, and then another. He couldn’t stop eating, surprising himself. Even if he always welcomed good food, it was rare for him to do so.

“As I said,” Nikias smirked as they ate, “it’s worth taking the meat.”

Katarina said. “Yeah...”

“Ha! And you said you’d leave such a marvellous thing behind. Tsk. Truly ignorant.”

“An uncultured swine,” Theo muttered.

“Ha, that’s accurate. Very accurate. I’ll borrow that word in the future.”

“Don’t get too ahead of yourself.” Kat huffed. “I enjoy good food, but that won’t prevent me from bashing your head to the ground.”

He snickered. By the side, Adonis looked amused. Theo wasn’t so sure though. He could only see the eyes, not much else. His exposed mouth was too grotesque and injured to really discern anything.

Theo said. “Kat had a point though. I think those scales are more useful.”

“Ah yes. You see; good food only gets you so far. He’s a good example. Don’t learn after him.”

Nikias sighed. “The Fates truly despise me. They gave me a group of uncultured swine to deal with. Truly unfortunate.”

“Call me that again, and I’ll rip your head off. I already let you take some meat. Don’t make me take back that decision.”

Nikias raised his hands up. “Okay, okay. No need to be so aggressive, my friend.”

“Hmph. Speaking of name-calling,” she turned to Theo, “call me Kat again and you’ll know the consequences.”

“Ah. That was… a slip of tongue. I’ll remember not to do so again.”

“Thanks.”

Her sweet smile sent a chill down his back. Theo shivered.

Eventually, it was time for sleep. After five days, he’d gotten over his initial discomfort with the lodgings. The rough fur blanket he had for a bed had caused him trouble, but now he could sleep without a problem.

Today was a bit different, however. Mainly because it was the fifth day-the last. He’d come back, that was for sure, but still. Five days were compressed into a single night’s sleep. The wonders of science indeed!

Wonder how those guys faired. He smirked to himself. Slaying a giant serpent would be quite hard to top, right?