Servant of the Serpent

Snake in the Grass

"Adder! I said stop!"

As the words leave Eben's mouth, a surge of burning energy courses through his body, like a bright light exploding from within. The shout seems to ricochet violently against the walls of the cave, causing a strange shimmer in the darkness.

Adder pauses at the sound, only to start listing to the side.

"Adder!" Eben yelps.

The half-elf catches his friend as he falls to the ground, unconscious. Eben presses his hand to the gorgon's neck, desperately searching for a pulse. The steady beat of Adder's heart melts his fear away as he studies the monster. The gorgon is still, breathing deeply as if in sleep. Did Eben do this? Did he...did he somehow use the magic he's never been able to access before?

Whatever the cause, Eben isn't about to lose this opportunity. Setting Adder's head gently on the ground, he races outside as he whistles sharply for Fairy. His faithful steed comes running even in the dead of night, and Eben mounts her quickly before they race off together into the dark.

He arrives shortly in the deserted village, searching for the threat with only the hazy light of the moon to guide him towards his target. As his eyes search the darkened streets, a terrified scream cuts through the night.

Eben spurs Fairy into action, galloping towards the shrill sound. As he gets closer, he spots the perpetrators with a gasp. A party of four armored people is accosting villagers, illuminated in the glow of a burning cottage.

Villagers are scattering, running blindly away from their attackers. To his dismay, Eben notices one of the men has caught Fern in their grasp. The woman is sobbing as the man yanks off her habit, yanking her head back by the hair as he presses a dagger to her throat.

Most shocking, however, is that Eben recognizes the dark hair and cherubic face of one of the aggressors. The half-elf dismounts, running toward the group. The party of interlopers tense and draw their blades at his approach, but the woman steps forward, raising her hand to signal them to stand down.

"Eben!" she gasps, "I thought you were dead!"

The redhead grits his teeth, brow furrowing. "Claudia! What are you doing? Why are you here?"

Claudia smiles, armor clanking as she puts her hands on her hips. "What's with the sour face? Your rescue party is here! You might want to hide if you don't want to fight, by the way. That monster should be here soon."

Eben tenses. "Surely you don't mean to challenge the gorgon? You need to leave, now."

Claudia slings an arm over Eben's shoulders, grinning smugly. "What's the matter, Ebby? You scared? Don't worry these guys are professionals—they're from the monster hunting guild. Apparently, this entire town is infested. We're going to make a fortune, the scales on their pet alone are worth triple their weight in gold!"

Eben takes the proximity of Claudia as an opportunity to rip one of her curved blades from her hip, stepping back to point the weapon threateningly at his former companion.

"I said you need to leave! Now!"

A look of shocked dismay crosses Claudia's face as the half-elf challenges her. "We aren't leaving until we get what we came for, Eben. What's gotten into you?"

Eben's knuckles go white from gripping the sword. Was she really asking why he was upset? "Regardless of what you think of monsters, you can't possibly think it's right to set a town ablaze for a payday, can you?"

Claudia rolls her eyes. "You never cared who got hurt before. I can't go back to my village and you can't stop being a half-breed. So this is what we have to do to survive, Eben."