BOOK1, CHAPTER 6 – Not Alone

Artien took a quick breath, coming quickly awake. His body tightened with pain and he gasped. No where on him was quiet with ease. All of him screamed from hurt. After the pain slightly faded and his mind began to slowly clear did he think, I’m still alive?

Without moving, he stretched his awareness slowly through his body. He felt a stiffness in his chest and face. His muscles burned and ached from the excessive running. Worse, his left knee… it felt like his arm did back when he first used force. When fighting the mercenary, he unknowingly ravaged it.

He tried taking a deep breath, readying to move a limb, when pain surged and he gritted his teeth. The stiffness on his chest – it must be swollen. When did he get hit there? Regardless, he’d better heal some first.

With his eyes closed, he slowed his breathing. He concentrated through the pain, breathing three seconds in, then three out. Soon he entered the breathing technique that brought him easily into meditation. With his mind’s eye, he went inside himself. He left his body behind and searched for the source of his mana.

When he found the flame, only an ember remained. He mentally frowned. A passage from a magic introduction book came to mind. “If the source of mana in a person is used up and extinguished, then one must trade their own life force to use mana. Exhausting mana and using life force can cripple the unfortunate individual. Perhaps even killing them.”

So close! He’d almost died! That coupled with force, the mercenary, and the giant beasts, he had almost died four times over. What kind of luck was this…

He began the long process of healing. He meditated, staving off hunger, pain, and sleep. As he drew mana in naturally, the little mana ember would flicker with light as it condensed more mana. This went on for a long while before a sound jerked him out of meditation.

Something dragged across the ground, grinding and scratching. His heart bumped into his throat, and he held his breath. He strained his ears, picking up the sound again. The ground trembled lightly under him during each sound. Something was moving, and it was huge.

The sound came closer until he felt it only a short distance from him. His heart sped up and he tried pushing himself to sit. Pain lanced through him and he jerked back down. He lay still until the pain dimmed. He couldn’t help thinking back to the two giant beasts he had seen battling.

From the sound, it was the snake. Why it hadn’t eaten him?

“Ssst.”

His ears picked up a smaller sound. A small snake? WAS HE BABY FOOD?!

“Hah.” He held deathly still as something touched his right leg.

The something slithered over his leg straight towards his chest. It avoided his bad knee and sore spot on his chest. It came to his neck and stopped. Here it came, it was going to eat him. All it needed was a well-placed bite-

“Gagh!” He coughed, a cool liquid pouring down on his face. Some of it entered his mouth. He spat out congealed blood and the pain from his chest lanced again.

The baby snake slithered away, leaving the way it came. It carefully avoided the worst of his wounds. With a few slither sounds, it was gone. A cloud of confusion hung over Artien’s mind. He couldn’t figure out what was going on when he heard the return of the baby snake.

It came over to his face and again poured a cool liquid. This time he could taste both blood and a bit of water. As the snake left, he began to realize it was feeding him. It was trying to help him? This time, when it returned, he readily drank as much of the water as he could.

He felt the coolness hit his belly and give slight relief. The snake hissed and he felt a touch on his face. Then it left and returned again with water. He drank, licking his lips. Thirst not yet quenched, he whispered, “More.”

The snake fed him water several times before he sighed and his body pulled him into an unavoidable sleep. He slept deep, dreaming of nothing. A soft darkness enveloped his mind. When next he woke, he felt better. His muscle still screamed and his knee, chest, and face hurt. It wasn’t as bad as when he first woke.

The snake was waiting for him. As soon as he woke, it came and delivered water. It made it’s half-dozen trips or so and licked his face. As it aided him, he felt a strange sense of appreciation towards the snake. His heart, once afraid, instead became relieved. As he thought that, he discovered another immediate problem.

His stomach growled, long and loud.

The snake slithered over and stopped next to his body. Then it began to hiss in different pitches and lengths. It stopped shortly after, and was responded to in kind by a loud, rumbling hiss of deeper tone. Artien’s body again froze in fear, knowing the giant snake was there.

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His heart pounded as the snakes hissed at each other a few more times before the little one slithered away. The slithering noise was softened as it left the audible surroundings. This time the little one was away for what seemed like hours. While it was gone, he managed to calm himself enough to meditate.

His mana ember flickered into the tiniest flame. He felt uplifted as he made some progress. He quickly used the little flame and directed it to his chest and lungs. The presence of mana attracted more as he meditated and gathered faster. He was careful. As soon as he felt the little flame became unstable, he returned the mana.

He repeated this process until he became tired. He fell asleep, uneasy. He kept his ears on alert for as long as it took him to fall asleep. He slept deeply, only waiting to the sent of fresh blood. As he woke, he felt the weight of the small snake on his chest.

The snake came close, pressing against his mouth. He hesitated, then opened. The snake dropped something inside. He gagged in disgust as a small piece of fresh meat met his tongue. It was bloody and raw.

The snake sensed his intentions and quickly slithered over his face and squeezed, keeping his mouth shut. He was forced to quickly chew and swallow the raw food. The snake released his head and licked his face. Afterwards, it slithered away.

Artien’s mouth grimaced, never having eaten raw meat before. With both food and water provided, his body began the long process of healing. His muscles calmed first, allowing a small bit of tiny movement.

The baby snake returned with more water, beginning a new cycle. The snake would feed him a small bit of meat when his stomach rumbled. Then it would make a water run just before he fell asleep again. Once he woke, he would meditate until the snake fed him.

Gradually his body healed. When he gained a good amount of mana, he cycled it down to his knee. This was his first priority to heal. It would be unthinkable if his knee didn’t fully heal and made him lame. He paid it special attention.

Eventually his muscles no longer hurt. He could move his limbs with just a wince. He carefully leaned up. He felt his knee. Definitely swollen still. He moved to his chest – a little raised skin proved it was still swollen, though not as bad as his knee.

Lastly, he checked his face. The area around his nose and eyes was heavily disfigured. When he pressed his nose, it felt like it shifted and pain screamed through his head. “Aaah!” Broken.

He tried opening his eyes. The left eye refused to move, swollen shut. The right eye cracked slightly open. The dim light in the area lit up enough of the surrounding for him to see. It blinded him at first. He waited enough time to adjust and looked around.

He lay on stone, the ground beneath him covered with twigs and leaves. The snake had gone to such trouble to take care of him. Once again, he felt appreciation and even some gratitude. If it wasn’t for the little snake, he’d long be dead.

Behind him was a stone wall, rough and uneven. It extended high-beyond his vision. The source of light came from the walls. There were glowing stones glittering everywhere. He reached to the wall next to him and touched a glowing stone.

Surprisingly, it was warm to the touch. It emitted warmth and mana. “This heats the cave?” He said to himself. Right on queue, a slithering sound brought his eyes to a small green figure.

A small, light green snake, about a meter long, curled and looked at him from three feet away. Behind it was a moss-covered and jagged cave wall that lacked the glowing stones. It watched him, tasting the air a few times. They looked at each other in silence. This was the one that saved him.

He reached out a hand, palm up. “Here.”

The little snake slithered forward, climbing his arm and encircling it a few times before raising it’s head and licking his cheek. He smiled softly.

“Thank you for helping me.”

The little snake hissed and bobbed it’s head, licking his cheek again.

“I thought I was dead. You’re not going to eat me later, are you?”

The little snake shook it’s head.

“You can understand me?”

Vigorous bobbing ensued.

“Thank you, again.” He said sincerely.

The little snake tilted it’s head and watched him, then turned to look behind it at the mossy wall and hiss. It left his arm and went to the wall and began hiss-talking. The wall shook and a deep-toned hiss replied. Artien’s face went white when the whole mossy wall shifted.

The little snake hisses while bobbing it’s head and moving back. The wall moved to the right and warped as the moss became green and jagged scales. The flat wall retreats and a huge boulder moved into the nearby space. The vastness of the room became smaller as it was occupied by a large snake’s head.

Only half it’s head could fit, and so it settled on looking at him side-ways. Artien’s mouth gaped and his heart pounded with sudden fear. The little snake came to him and climbed up, licking his face. He closed his mouth and swallowed.

“The big one’s not going to eat me, right?”

The little snake shook it’s head, hissing in short bursts. He looked down at it. “Are you laughing at me?” He looked back at the giant snake, unable to keep his eyes off of it for long.

“It must’ve been you that took me here.”

The snake merely blinked it’s eye at him.

“I guess that mercenary got eaten by that ape.” He remembered how the village had turned on him. “All because of that elf. I won’t forget this.”

The little snake licked him, as if reassuring him.

“Still, I’m not strong enough to fight him. I need to fully heal and get stronger.”

He reached towards the little snake’s head, stroking it. She hissed and closed her eyes.

“It will take a while before my knee is healed and my mana restored. I suppose you’ll help me until then?”

The little snake bobbed it’s head, tasting his palm. It bumped his hand, telling him to continue. He pondered, looking at the big snake. It blinked at him.

“You understand my words, right? Since the little one does?”

It blinked at him, not moving.

“First things first. Thank you for saving me.” He bowed his head slightly. “Since you didn’t eat me, what’s the reason you kept me here?”

The little snake started hissing excitedly. It left his hand and curled up next to him, facing the big snake. The big snake tilted it’s head to look down at the little snake and they started chatting.

Artien watched in amazement as a whole conversation lasting a few minutes went on. The hissing ended as the little snake curled up in his lap and watched the big snake. Artien watched it, waiting for more hissing. Suddenly, a pleasant-sounding woman’s voice reached his ears.

“There is indeed a reason I saved you.”

Artien’s eyes widened. The big snake looked at him steadily and blinked as he asked stupidly, “You can talk!?”

The little snake started hissing in short bursts.