ODE TO THE END: A BALLAD OF BROTHERS

CHAPTER 38

The serpent saw her weakened will and laughed. Alas, Naomi's knees shook but she did not fall back. Instead, she clenched her fist and hardened her heart before the demon. Its smile faded. "You are an audacious little whelp," said the Slithering Thing. "You have been before my ravenous brother and seen the ruin he wrought. He even broke your arm, so it is not that you are without knowledge...or fear."

"So what," said Naomi. "Just because I'm scared does not mean I am helpless!"

"What is your name, girl," said the Slithering Thing.

"Fuck you," said Naomi.

She was boldly defiant, but before Naomi could relish her obstinance, her throat was in the hands of that malevolent thing. Its grip was so strong that its fingers felt as though they buried beneath her skin and dug toward her esophagus. She was lifted by the serpent, hung by the hand, and left to choke via the creature's violent action. She coughed, hacking up air, until her lungs ran out. The princess would soon just gargle, drowning in the absence of oxygen as the thing that held her up smiled at the deathly display.

"I agree with your sentiment," said the Slithering Thing. "I can see it now. You, girl. You will prove to be a problem."

Naomi flailed her feet desperately, kicking her assailant's form for the smallest vulnerability. Her foot found the ribcage, but it proved far too dense to break. Still, she struggled, time working against her every effort now that the beast was satisfied in seeing her struggle. As her eyes tapered toward the ether, the overcast sky began to meld. The sounds of her own strangulation faded soon after that. Naomi continued to kick but she was falling into darkness. The world would soon go black.

She feared that she would fall away, but that did not mean she would submit to the feeling. Naomi began to scream, roaring a roar that rasped beneath the weight of her death. It was a pathetic sound she made, one of dying prey, but the integrity of the sound did not alter the integrity of the intent. The sun-kissed girl committed herself to fighting, to living, and so the tip of her toes kicked until they flung into the jugular of that darkly demon. She was dropped, rather slammed onto the floorboards. Though free, her daze did not depart quickly. Even so, Naomi was not alone in her wheezing. The serpent's pained breath began to fill her ears.

"You...you are quite interesting," said the Slithering Thing as it coughed. "It is almost a shame to kill you before you blossom. Alas..." The serpent spat black blood from under the hood. Naomi would then see the shadow continue its looming approach before her vision completely cleared.

A prompt escape sent her crawling backward, but that small space offered zero reprieve. The floorboards creeped as the serpent crept, its silhouette increasing in size with every heavy step. Naomi would be engulfed by the abomination, but, before it stole her soul, the serpent was yanked by some unseen restraint. It then spoke to someone, or so it seemed to the girl outside of its mind.

"Just because she is not your goal does not relinquish her influence." said the Slithering Thing. "Is she not the catalyst for your most recent frustrations?"

The creature went silent, its gaze darting as if listening to a voice Naomi could not hear. Soon, it spoke again. "...Your vision remains narrow. See most recent events as I see them," said the Slithering Thing. "Years of inaction, years of waiting for the perfect opportunity. Waiting is no small thing for your kind, and yet patience was demanded for your Justice to be seized at the perfect moment. A moment that began with this girl. One of rare strength and unruly will, both. Surely her emergence here, now, is not by base chance."

The serpent set its inky eyes upon Naomi, and yet the thing saw through her. "This was His work," said the Serpent. "That is why she must die here and now." The serpent again went silent. Its eyes narrowed with burning disgust "...So be it. I will honor your words, Young Lord."