A snake.

A giant one. Probably even bigger than the elder. It was still swallowing mother and sister, and…

I shivered as I noticed the obvious bulges in its throat.

They were moving. Trying to free themselves. Trying to save themselves.

Yet they were obviously not succeeding. Their legs disappeared as the snakes giant jaws actually seemed to separate, and move around. As if it had multiple jaws, not just one. Maybe all snakes were like that, and I just never noticed because of their size…

The thing was white. Every scale was very visible, thanks to black lines around every scales edges, but the rest of the thing was blindingly white. Like the mountainside after a fresh snowstorm.

Odds are that was where this thing was from. Hunting in the snow would have been perfect for this thing. As if it had been born for it.

Yet… even though there was no snow here, it hadn’t mattered.

We hadn’t heard it approach. Hadn’t seen it.

Granted, we’d been a little distracted, but…

I gulped as I stood up straighter, and realized this was likely the source of all the chaos.

My uncle’s death. Glennessa’s odd, festering, wound. Maybe even grandfather’s too.

Why hadn’t anyone said anything? If they had been fighting such a creature all this time…

Sizing up the creature, I tried to look for any… noticeable wounds.

You’d think they’d be easy to see, what with it being so bright and white, but…

The more I looked, the more I doubted my assumption.

The thing didn’t look hurt at all!

No… there was something that was red.

Its eyes.

Stepping back as the creature shifted its huge head; I wondered if even elder could fight this thing. It really was big. At least twice as big as elder, now that I got a better look at it.

No wonder it was eating us. It must need massive amounts of food all the time…

Then it noticed me.

My heart thumped in my ears, and all the pain and discomfort throughout my body vanished as if none of it had ever existed.

Half expected the thing to shoot out and gobble me up too; I felt my tail twitch and coil as it tilted its head at me.

“You…”

My whole body began to tremble as its deep, heavy, voice vibrated in my ears. In the very air.

Every hair on my body stood up and I stepped back a step. Every drop of blood was telling me to run. To flee… but…

Where…? How…?

“Thin… blooded… are… you…?” it asked slowly.

My mouth went dry. Painfully dry.

It spoke somewhat like the elder had. Yet it was obviously better at it. I understood its words clearly, even if they were very deep and heavy. Loud.

“I… I…!” I didn’t know what to say back.

A strange clicking sound filled the air as it raised its massive head. Its jaw hadn’t moved at all, yet… the sound had obviously come from it. Was… was that a laugh, maybe? A chuckle…? Or something else?

Did snakes make such noises…? None that I knew of.

“Peculiar,” the snake said as it turned its mighty head, as if to look around.

Yes. You are.

But not so peculiar I wanted to die just to see you.

I stepped to the right, and was about to run, but it refocused on me. It snapped its head at me the same way a deer did upon hearing a cracked branch.

“You’ve been the one hunting us,” I spoke up quickly, hoping maybe a little bit of conversation would keep it from simply swallowing me whole as it had just done to my family.

The thing made the clicking sound again, but this time only a couple times.

“So far… three…” it said, sounding amused.

Three…? Mother and sister… then…

Maybe it had found Glennessa’s body. Or it had gotten someone else. Father… or my other brother…?

“You wouldn’t happen to be full yet, would you?” I asked it.

It suddenly went still.

So still it almost made me fall over. It was as startling as it moving swiftly without warning.

Then its mighty red eyes disappeared into white as it blinked… and then it clicked again. This time louder than ever.

Yes. Definitely some kind of laugh.

“Amusing,” was all it said.

No it wasn’t. Not at all.

Jeez what was I doing? What could I do?

I’d thought before on how easily it’d be for the elder to kill me. How fruitless it’d be to even try to fight such a great creature… yet…

Now that the very obvious reality of having to do so was standing right before me, I realized I had severely understated the impossibility of it.

There was no fighting this.

There was no winning.

Only death.

The giant snake then turned its mighty head, and looked at the house. It actually had to lower its head, quite a distance, to be able to peer into the building and not over the roof.

Watching its huge eyes as it studied and scanned the building… I wondered if it was amused at the handiwork… or looking for more meals to devour.

“Very… amusing…” it then said.

As it continued studying the house… I tried to find the bumps in its throat, or other parts of its body. The obvious lumps that my mother and sister had made earlier were now gone.

Swallowed whole…

I’d weep for them if not for the fact I’d likely be joining them any moment.

Hopefully it was a quick death. Suffocation maybe…? Or did it crunch and bite as it ate…? I hadn’t heard any such sounds, but I’d also been shocked and…

Then I was its focus once more.

Standing up straighter, I grabbed at my shirt and pants. As if the little, thin, torn and frayed cloth and leather could do anything to help me.

“You… smell of him,” it said.

A shiver ran down my neck, all the way down my back, and up my tail.

Him. Smell.

It was very clear what the snake was speaking of.

“I um…” I stuttered, and tried to imagine what I could say. To stave off death even for a few moments more.

“Others… didn’t,” it said as it tilted its huge head, as if to ponder what it was saying.

It spoke slowly… and broken… but I knew better than to think it was stupid. It had obviously just proved how smart it was a moment ago, by laughing at my words. Over a joke, to it.

“You’re talking about the elder,” I said quickly.

“Mhm,” it made a very deep noise as it hummed.

Was that a yes or a no…?

“I don’t know where he is,” I admitted.

Actually… he had just been here. Not long before Glennessa had shown up.

I wonder if this snake was why.

Uncle had told me to run. I should have listened.

With slow and steady movements… the snake drew closer.

My eyes blurred as they filled with tears as its whole body coiled and slithered… yet its head didn’t move a hair. It hung there above me, ahead of me, without moving at all even as its whole body drew closer.

This was likely what my grandmother’s stories had been about.

A great god. That we used to serve. Like slaves.

We used to hunt for them, she had said. We used to be their children.

Ridiculous. We weren’t children. We weren’t even tools.

We were food. Nothing more.

A huge red tongue then slid out of its mouth. It flapped around in the air slowly, and I felt weak as I realized the tongue was even bigger than me. Maybe not in width, but definitely in length.

“I’m… hungry…” it said.

I’m sure you are.

“For… power…” it then added.

For…

Power?

Confused, I shifted as I watched the huge snake tilt its head again. One of its huge eyes stayed upon me, focused on me, while the other turned away as its head angled away from me. “To face… the one… who slays us…” it said, as if I had any idea what it was talking about at all.

Then it drew closer. A single blink of an eye was all it took for its massive head to lower down to the ground and come to a stop right in front of me.

My heart missed a beat as I stared right into its huge eye. It was almost as big as my head. I could even see my reflection within it.

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“Will… he come… if I… make you… hurt?” it asked.

With it being so close now, the things voice really did make the air vibrate. My ears and tail fluttered and twitched, thanks to all the hairs upon them feeling terribly strange as the very air shook.

“I don’t know,” I said honestly.

The eye’s huge pupil narrowed at me… and I was a little surprised to see that it was…

Very similar to ours.

I’d never really looked at a snake’s eye before. Yet other than its very red color…

Then, before it or I could do or say anything more… it lifted its head.

The huge snake turned away, to look over its body and across the way. Past the house, and into the forest.

I couldn’t resist or stop the huge sigh of relief as the snake lost interest in me, and even started slithering away.

It must have heard or seen something. I couldn’t see past its huge body, especially not from this angle… but…

Watching it go, I followed its long tail as it slithered continuously after itself. It took many long moments for the tip of the tail to slither away, even though it had moved at a fast pace.

Staying on my feet, somehow, I watched the snake as it rose upward into the air again. Once more its head was up over the roof of the house, and it was looking down at…

“Brave… but foolish…” the snake’s deep voice boomed as it looked down at my father and grandfather.

From the angle and distance I couldn’t make much out, but I blamed my blurry vision. I felt lightheaded.

“Now!” I heard grandfather shout, and then suddenly the snake shot forward.

A loud slam sound shook the world as the snake actually rammed its head into the ground. It had hit with such force entire trees nearby shook violently, dropping leaves and even entire branches. Some dust and dirt had been kicked up, but what little had gone into the air quickly settled back down. Likely thanks to the soaked forest floor from the days and weeks of rain.

At first I thought it was already over. I didn’t see father or grandfather… but then the snake shot upward, writhing wildly… because something was clinging to the top of its head.

Unable to move out of pure fascination, I watched as my father clung to the snake’s face… and looked to be stabbing downward upon it. From here I couldn’t see if he was attacking with just nails and fist, or with an actual weapon… but I also couldn’t see any blood either.

Yet the snake was undoubtedly not just distressed over the fact he was on its face. It hissed wildly as it began to swing its huge head all around. It even went so far as to slam its head up against a tree, as if to dislodge father.

Although I was no fan of my father, or really my grandfather… I didn’t hesitate to root for them.

If anything to hopefully kill the snake, and dig out mother and sister. If they were even still alive, at least.

“You idiot girl! Get over there and help!”

I startled, and realized there was a third person here.

Grandmother. Not far from the snake and all the chaos it wrought. She was pointing and shouting at me… telling me to…

Wait…

She expected me to fight that thing? Alongside father and grandfather?

She was kidding right?

I stepped aside, half ready to run away. For good. Forever. As far as I could… but I barely made it half a dozen steps before grandmother noticed.

“Don’t you dare!” she shouted.

She stepped towards me, and my stomach churned as I realized she was actually going to come over to me. Was she actually going to try and use force? To stop me from running? To force me to fight alongside them?

Ridiculous.

“You ungrateful!” she shrieked at me, yet hadn’t been able to finish her statement.

A massive white tail slammed down right upon her.

Going still, I stood up straighter as I watched the huge tail roll and slither. The rest of the snake body followed suit, coiling and rolling around itself as it hissed and roared. Still fighting father and grandfather.

As the tail moved… I had to look away at the sight of a huge splotch of black and red.

Heaving a dry stomach, I groaned at the realization of what had just happened.

Had the snake done that on purpose? Or had it been a complete accident? Mere happenstance that she had been standing right there at that moment…?

Disgusted, at the snake and her death… I realized I really needed to run now.

If it was so strong that a simple smack of the tail pulverized someone to a bloody pulp, then…

“Shit!” a loud shout drew my eyes from the ground. They looked upward, following the huge lithe body until I found the snakes head again.

It was half hidden by the rest of its body… and it had its jaw wide open. It spun the head around, and I realized why it looked so oddly misshapen and open.

Father was inside it. Yet he wasn’t going down easy. The snake’s mouth was trying to close around him. It was moving strangely, as if without bones, all around him. As if flowing like water, it rippled along the lips. Doing its best to move and push father down its throat.

Yet father wouldn’t budge. He had a firm grip on a fang, and was yelling wordlessly.

He was hanging on for dear life it looked like. The snake roared as it slapped its head against its own body, with such force that its lower jaw even shifted and bent… as if broken.

When that didn’t work it continued to shake its head and violently slam it against things. The ground. A tree. A side of the house, which broke off an entire section of the roof.

Though no matter how violently it shook or how hard it slammed its head, father didn’t move. Neither did he go deeper down the snake’s throat, nor was he tossed out of the mouth either.

Was… was he going to win…? No matter how big or strong a creature was… if you broke its jaw, or did enough damage to its throat then… surely…?

Then something snapped. A loud, wild crack. Like a huge, wet, tree snapping in two.

At first I thought it had simply broken another bone. Another piece of its jaw… but then I saw it slam its mouth shut.

It hadn’t snapped its jaw, or its own bone.

It had snapped my father.

Very quickly the snake went to chewing and moving its mouth… and I didn’t wait at all to see father get swallowed like the others.

I spun on a heel and went to run.

I ran around the house at first. Not just to put distance between us… but to hopefully hide behind the house. Plus, I was running southward.

Near the lakes was a place I could hide. A burrow. One not used by any animals anymore, since we so often fished near the lake it was at.

It was deep enough I could hide there. Yet small enough, both at the entrance and the whole tunnel, which the huge snake wouldn’t be able to enter. At least not without moving and digging up a lot of earth. Particularly very stony and root infested earth too.

Running was the answer… but I knew better than to think I could outrun such a beast. So I’d run far enough, then hide… and then just…

Wait there. Until it left.

Hopefully…

Rounding the house, I huffed as quietly as I could. I wanted to breathe heavily, since I felt out of breath, but I did my best to not make much noise. I even went a little out of my way to round a small patch of loose rocks. I ran through the grass instead, just to keep my footsteps that much quieter and…

“Ah. The… thin… blooded… one…”

Tripping, I fell and rolled.

As I spun, I noticed the white. It was glaringly obvious amongst the deep greens of the forest, and the dull browns of the house and earth around it.

Coming to a stop, I went still as I stared up at the massive snake.

Not only had it noticed I had ran, but it had both caught up to me… and done so without a sound.

Terrifying.

“Um…” I panicked as I did everything I could to swallow back down the heart that was now thumping in my throat.

“Don’t… blame for… running… but… foolish,” the snake said to me.

Right…

I sniffed as I slowly got to my knees. I had rolled quite a distance. I was almost at the patch of loose rocks I had just run around.

“Surely you’re full by now…?” I asked it.

Tilting its mighty head, the snake made that clicking sound again. “Yesss…”

Although it had answered in such a way, I still didn’t feel relieved. Not at all.

“Anyway I can… earn my life…?” I asked it.

Uncle and father had once acted like such a thing was possible with the elder, at one time. Uncle had reasoned with him. Or at least, made some kind of deal.

It was a long shot but…

One of its red eyes blinked… and as it did, I realized something interesting.

Its left eye was no longer very visible. What had been a mighty red orb, with a huge pupil… was now strangely dark and small.

As if…

It turned its head, and the reason became clear. There was now a trail of blood flowing from the eyeball, running down the side of its face and into its mouth.

The thing’s eye was crushed. Likely by either father or grandfather in the earlier scuffle.

“You… wish to… bargain?” it asked me as it turned its head again, and drew even closer.

It seemed to sway its head back and forth as it moved slowly… I wonder if it was on purpose, or just a habit. It was now facing me with its good eye, and was much closer.

“If I can…?” I admitted.

It clicked with its laugh, and for a tiny moment… I swore I could see a smile on its face. A part of its mouth curved upward near the end.

“Very… amusing…” it said.

That wasn’t much of an answer…

It blinked, and then turned its head again. It was now even closer, but now was looking at me with its crushed eye.

And crushed it was. Now closer, I could clearly make out the huge… seeping hole. A fist sized hole was dead center in the eye, where its pupil should have been.

Yet it was still using it to look at me. As if it wasn’t crushed at all.

It slithered closer again, and I bit back a whine that wanted cry out.

I was dead. Done.

I’d be nothing but a bite. A single, solitary bite…

I wonder if I’d be able to hurt or annoy it as much as father had… should I even try…?

Was there even a point?

Then it turned its head again. It went from slithering to the left, to slithering right.

Once again I was being stared at with its good eye.

Its pupil was thin. Elongated. Sharp. Yet it wasn’t just looking at me. It also kept darting around. Up. To the left. Past me. Everywhere.

It was on edge. On guard… but it was reasonable for it to be so. I knew it wasn’t on guard because of me… but instead others. Like my father. Like the elder.

The eye focused on me again, and I shivered as I realized I could see my reflection in it again. It was that close once more. It was very strange that such a huge creature could be so near, yet not give off any heat. Usually larger animals were warmer…

But then the snake went still.

I tightened up, and clenched everything. Fingers dug into wet grass, with some rocks mixed in. Toes curled. My tail squirmed beneath me… I was sitting on it.

And then it blinked.

“You… are you… really thin-blooded?” it then asked.

I gasped a breath, and wondered what it meant.

Thin blooded…? Sure. That made sense. It was why my family had always hated me. If I didn’t look it, I probably smelled it.

This creature. This massive snake had realized the same thing almost instantly.

But…

Why was it suddenly doubting it? Its own conclusion? Its own assumption…?

“W…what?” I asked.

The huge eye narrowed some more… and the impossibly thin pupil became even skinnier. Although massive, the black pupil became so tiny I doubted a single finger of mine could fit within it.

“You…” it said softly… for it. It was still a loud voice. Still a loud word… but…

Holding its gaze, I realized I had stopped breathing. The world got fuzzy again… and I gasped a breath. Though honestly I might regret it. Passing out right now might have saved me a lot of suffering.

But before I, or it, could say more… a loud roar startled us both.

I flinched downward, covering my head and ears, as the whole world erupted in noise and movement. The very earth began to shake. I felt the many little pebbles and stones beneath me jump and dance, as the whole world shook.

The loud hiss amongst the roars made it clear what had happened.

The elder had arrived.

Staying as low to the ground as possible, I squeezed my eyes and waited for it. The squish. The slam. The stomp. To be crushed beneath either a snake or a cat. It didn’t matter. The result would be the same.

Squished or eaten. At least one might be fast.

Something massive and heavy landed right next to me. Although curled up on the ground, I actually felt the ground fall from under me. I went up, then came back down right after. The jump alone had been shocking enough, but upon landing I actually rolled a little. I landed on my side, and suddenly I wasn’t looking down at the grass anymore. Now I saw the sky.

Above me were dark clouds. Some branches and leaves in one corner… and…

A white blur passed ahead, then a black one. A huge roar was followed by a strange guttural hiss… and I realized I needed to get up and run.

I didn’t want to. I was more than scared. I was terrified.

I knew if I tried to stand I’d likely stumble. I knew even if I got over the stumbling, I’d likely trip and fall. I’d likely not run as fast as I should, nor as straight.

But…

Rolling over to my knees, I quickly got up as I glanced upward. Right as the snake’s massive head was slammed against the ground. Right in front of me.

The elder had its paw against the snakes head. Pushing it deeper into the earth. The snake let out a deep hiss as it tried to pull its head free. Yet all it accomplished was allowing the elder’s paw to push more on top of the head instead of the side.

A huge fang dug into the earth, scraping along the ground as the elder pushed even harder. Huge white claws dug into the white scales, ripping and tearing them. Some were bloody, others weren’t. I couldn’t see the snake’s eyes thanks to the angle, or even the elder, but I did get to see the way the snakes head finally slipped free from under the paw.

But not before the huge fang that had been stuck in the ground snapped.

The tooth shot forward towards me. I panicked and jumped to my feet, and barely stepped aside before the thing flew past. It whirled in the air past me, and did so with such force I nearly spun and fell back to the ground because of the air pressure alone.

That tooth had been bigger than me.

Instead of waiting to see anymore, I found a spot I could run at. One without any of the white snake’s tail, or the elder’s body. A free path to the forest nearby.

I darted forward, towards the nearest batch of trees.

And only made it a few steps… before the whole world flashed white, and then went black.

I felt the thing hit me in the side. I felt bones break. I felt the rush of air… and realized I should have stayed down. On the ground. Curled up.

Then, right as I felt myself get thrown into the house, maybe even onto the roof, I passed out.