“Master…Thalorin…”

The weak voice that whispered a taboo caused Kael to vigorously snap his head in the direction of the voice, snapping out of his thoughts as well. The snake that hung on its neck was strangled by the sudden action, and was uncoiling itself.

Kael looked to see a young man staggering along the corridor, face aghast. He had the face full of youth, but the expression of an old man. His body was well-built and muscular, and a crossbow was slung behind his back.

“Riven.” Kael said thoughtfully. Another one of Thalorin’s protégés. His expression said all he needed to know.

Riven looked up at Kael. His pale green eyes were glistening, wet with tears that refused to come out before the door was closed. His face portrayed an expression of despair, and his normally dishevelled brown hair was slicked back, wet by the storm. The corridor smelt like rain, a smell which he liked, that always put a smile on his face. And yet, here he stood.

It was obvious that Lord Felt had broken the news to them.

“Sir Kael…” Riven looked at him dead in the eye. “At daybreak, we went to bed because Lord Felt said that everyone was fine. Sir Kael…did he lie?”

The innocent, hurt words that came out of the boy’s voice stabbed Kael straight in the heart.

“Riven…” Kael began, but had no idea what to say. He had no idea how to comfort people. What if he sounded like he did not care for Thalorin? What if he sounded like he did not put in enough effort?

“Sir Kael…he said you went to look for his body. Did you even find a trace? A finger? A sleeve? A lock of hair? A bit of blood?” Riven’s voice cracked with every question.

Kael felt a lump in his throat, but felt that it would be too embarrassing to swallow it and let the young boy know that he had failed through his Adam's apple.

“The rain washed away every choice. I shall head out again this evening once more.”

At this, Riven’s expression changed sharply. “Sir Kael…did you even leave the mountain?” He said, the spite evident in his voice.

Kael internally sighed, he knew that this would happen. Why did he have to phrase things so nonchalantly?

“Of course I did. I understand that you are in grief, but this is no excuse to talk to your elders disrespectfully. Go back to your room, there are no duties for the next few days.”

Kael did not look at Riven’s face as he walked past him. However, he felt something tugging at his neck. It was the snake, trying to look back at the young boy, strangling Kael in the process.

“Nice snake. At least you brought something back.” Riven sad, the anger evident in his voice. It was followed by the sound of a door slamming shut.

He should not have been so harsh. He was Thalorin’s student, after all.

It was not too late for an apology, but Kael just walked faster, closed his eyes and let the winds take him.

When he got back to his residence, he closed the door as quietly as possible.

“Nice snake. At least you brought something back.” the words rung in his ears on replay.

He put the snake and the reading materials on the table. The snake stayed still, staring back at him with the azure eyes.

“Fuck it all.” He sighed.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

At that, the snake snapped its head towards Kael, as if he had just said something unbelievable.

“I’d rather come empty handed than with a pitiful excuse.” He spat like poison. At this the snake coiled, as if hurt. However, Kael paid no attention to it and continued.

“I should have gone down the mountain instead.” He said, gazing out of the window.

“...Do you think he’s dead?” Kael turned to face the snake. The snake, in turn, just turned its head away from Kael, mad at him for insulting it. Kael, however, just thought it was unintelligence.

“...what the fuck am I doing, asking a bloody snack?”

The snake blinked twice, as if in disbelief. It then opened its mouth slightly, as if it were letting out a sigh, and slithered towards Kael. The standing human saw this and asked, “what in the Underworld are you doing?”

The snake’s azure eyes moved circularly. Was it rolling its eyes? It climbed up Kael’s leg and coiled itself around his shoulders, brushing its head against his neck. Was it…trying to give him a hug?

Kael did not know what came over him, but he sank to the floor, his back on the wall behind him. There was a strange desire- like an itch that could not be scratched in public- to scream. Kael had been suppressing this urge since he heard the signal bell for the demons, but it had suddenly become unbearable.

“THAT DEADASS SPELLMASTER! WHAT UNRULY COLLUDING DID HE DO?” Kael was a considerate man, even in despair. More so to himself, but he set a sound-proofing barrier around himself and the snake. It was pitiful, basic spell, but it helped him save face. It was then that he remembered something.

“FUCK! EVEN THIS GODDAMN BARRIER WAS TAUGHT TO ME BY HIM! WHAT WAS HE THINKING? WHAT THE HELL IS HE? THAT PIECE OF DONKEY SHIT BETTER COME BACK ALIVE ON HIS OWN ACCORD BEFORE I-”

The words “before I kill him” were at the tip of his tongue, but he held them back in respect of the dead.

The snake was just…there. It did not move nor blink, as if processing an astounding revelation. It planned to remain in that position for a long while, until the thick air had thinned out.

Unfortunately for the snake, Kael was one with a significantly short temper. Under the cover of the pitiful sound barrier, he grabbed an antique bowl- the only decoration in the house- and hurled it at the ground. The shards scattered on the polished wooden floor with a clang. It harmed nobody, but the pitiful snake recoiled.

Moments passed in utter silence. Kael had obviously not calmed down, but he himself had found his actions a bit excessive, and he felt bad for the little reptile that had gotten caught up in his mess. “...Forgive me, I lost my temper for a moment there.” There was a hint of frustration in his voice.

In response, the snake slapped its tail against Kael’s back, the lingering sting fading away with the anger.

Just then, a knock sounded on the door. “Kael, I heard something. Are you alright?”

At this, Kael stiffened up. Even though he cast a soundproofing barrier, Kael was terrible at casting even basic spells, so even the barrier could only muffle sounds. He could already imagine the Spellmaster’s smug face in the Spirit Realm, laughing over his incompetence.

The snake looked at Kael with a condescending look, as if he was the worst abomination to ever be born. But Kael was too busy to notice as he got onto his feet and quickly sweeped the broken shards of glass under the rug. It hurt him to be so disorganised, but he was just that desperate.

He half-opened the door, in an attempt for the visitor to not notice the unusual lumps in the carpet. “Lord Felt, what brings you here?”

At that, the man at the other side of the door looked taken aback. “What do you mean by that, Kael? We decided to set out to go find…his…uh…traces.” Lord Felt swallowed awkwardly, his Adam’s apple bobbing. Kael knew that there was a lump in his throat that big.

Distracted by everything else, especially that goddamn snake, Kael had forgotten that he and the Lord had decided to search for any signs of Thalorin…alive or dead once more, now that the storm had cleared.

Lord Felt seemed to notice something and added, “Kael, you must have been quite occupied to have forgotten…does it have to do with that snake?”

At this, Kael finally turned to look at the snake. But for once, its azure eyes did not immediately meet his. They were fixed on the Lord, an unknown emotion glistening in them. Noticing this, Kael’s instinct told him that there was something extremely off about the reptile- just the thought of it being a demonic manifestation sent shivers down his spine. But alas, the matter had to wait. He had a probably dead man to find.

“Yes, my lord. It was an unfamiliar species and I thought that it should be investigated as soon as possible.” Kael blinked three times, seemingly natural. However, if one knew him well enough, they would know that he rarely blinked- as if he feared an attack in the seemingly insignificant amount of time it took for once to close and reopen their eyes. For Kael to noticeably blink thrice in a row, even with an appropriate gap, was obviously code.

“It’s related to an external enemy” was what three blinks meant. In this context, the Lord got the message, “the snake might be related to the demons”. Lord Felt betrayed no sign of his realisation of the information and merely nodded. “It is best to keep it under surveillance then- I suggest we place it under the tamers’ care while we’re out.”

“The tamers are all out surveying the state of the creatures on the mountain, my lord.”

“Then just leave it in the care of a student. Some of them might prefer to be kept busy in this situation.” He sighed. “That boy that Thalorin liked, what was his name? River? Let the snake be under his care.” He then began massaging his nose bridge, obviously exhausted.

Kael was about to blindly agree to whatever the lord asked him to do when he paused. Riven…didn’t he just deal with his outburst? There was no way that he could just shamelessly prostrate before his doorstep and ask him to take this goddamned snake under his tutelage, could he?

He would much rather have switched places with that damned spellmaster. Life requires too much life to keep living.

“Let the goddamn spellmaster deal with all the shit! Let me finally take a break in the spirit realm!” He thought. However Kael’s face, stoic as ever, never betrayed anything of the thousand complaints running through his mind.

However, Kael was a good follower. He had never refused anything that the lord said, be it suggestion nor order. To live up to the title of a wonderful servant, Kael merely said. “Yes, my Lord.” To which he replied. “I’ll see you by the foot of the mountain.”

As the door shut close, Kael wanted to strangle the snake, cut it into pieces and make a new Yerr Clan delicacy out of it. Roasted Reptile has a nice ring, doesn’t it?

Kael yanked the snake off his shoulders. The snake flinched, and it felt wind brush against its scales as it plummeted into darkness- it was placed in a box. The last rays of heavenly light shone above it before it was slammed shut by the lid of despair.

“Goodbye, bitch.” Was the last thing that it heard.