id: 414
name: WIP/InCom: Scorned Snake
author: Cas
date: 9th June 2021
text len: 9689
views: 147

Foreword; This story is, as the title may imply, incomplete. The Author promises to finish it some day, but for the sake of both archival and accessibility the portion they are comfortable releasing as of September 9th, year of our lord two-thousand and twenty, is to be posted here. I do not take credit for this story. Migrated from Pastebin.   -Cas

1

>I look around the chaos around me, coiled in the corner of the room
>the bastards attacked in the twilight, to purge our village
>it didn’t matter to them, who they slaughtered, human and chimera alike
>it’s the war all over again
>never would I have thought I’d have to see the slaughter again
>how did they get past the walls
>the kids
>and where is my husband
>...
>I can’t accept the thought
>I can barely except that which has already happened
>I
>I can’t think of what to do now
>nothing is left
>the door crashes down
>in it’s place are two figures, clad in plate
>"So this is it, huh?”
>I decide that I will face my end here
>"I- no, we should have seen it coming, you crusaders don’t care about right or wrongs...”
>they begin to approach, weapons drawn
>"...you just see us as monsters to be exterminated”
>"SILENCE WENCH”
>I feel the pain and following numbness as the lead one cleaves a portion of my tail
>I repress the urge to yelp in pain to continue to voice my anger
>if only as a token effort of resistance to the brutes

>"Are we so hateful to you? Our children listened to stories about glorious knights saving princesses, never would they think they were the monsters to be slain-”
>I stop as I see the face of the second man
>no
>"-no it can’t be-”
>"I SAID SILENCE BEAST”
>the lead knight plants his boot into my chest
>I feel the cold steel plunge through my heart
>I turn towards the man who I love
>"And you my beloved, did I perhaps break your heart for you to slay mine?”
>he is facing away from me
>he doesn’t even acknowledge me
>"Know that I never lied to you, not once, I sincerely wanted to live with you, be happy with you, grow old with you...”
>why is he walking to the cupboards
>”...but now ...all is lost”
>nothing
>why?
>I feel one last thrashing of the blade in my chest before the lead knight withdraws it and leaves
>my “lover” finishes ransacking 
>"One... last thing... darling...”
>he finally looks over
>”...are you happy?”
>he stares at me for a minute, coldness in his eyes making the warmth fade from my body all the more faster
>"Yes. Be a dear and die.”
>he walks off into the darkening world
>truly, all is lost then
>”You want me to die then.... fine.... if it makes you happy....”

2

>"It was all a lie”
>"He was lying this whole time”
>"Lying to just get in”
>"He took everything from you”
>"But you will make him pay ten-thousand-fold”
>"You will not rest till it is done”
>"Not even the in death”
>"RISE!”
>I awaken with a deep breath to screaming pain
>how
>why
>I am not as cold
>I gaze up at the pale morning sky
>sun
>"where am I?”
>this isn’t my home
>this isn’t even the town
>wait how am I even alive
>I look to find that my wounds have been dressed
>apparently a sword to the chest was not fatal
>I uncoil to see where my tail had been cut
>recoil at the sight of one quarter of it gone, ending in a bloody-bandaged stump
>coil myself back up to get warm, my head also throbbing in pain from the sudden exertion
>you fool you still lost blood and were left out in the night, I think to myself

>feebly moving my head around, I gaze at the surroundings
>this is the woods by the town
>the one where mushrooms grow
>...
>too many memories
>once happy, now sad, now tainte-
>"HEY, THIS ONE’S ALIVE”
>I jump, then attempt to turn around into a defensive coiling
>then the blood-loss makes me fall into myself again
>"WOAH-HEY CALM DOWN-”
>"Jonah stop yelling at them, poor fellas have survived the razing of their town; they don’t need your dumbass scaring them some more”
>"O-oh, fuck, shit, you’re right Tom”
>my vision clears to a human wearing weird clothes and pouches with a “rifle”
>oh
>these people
>the “New-Humans”
>I guess there was a camp nearby
>I still coil myself tight
>"Hey easy, we’re here to help”
>"help”
>"yeah help, we bandaged your wounds right? And dug you out of the ruins?”
>...
>"I suppose. And I suppose you also have helped yourself to what is left.”
>"well I mean-”

>he is cut off and shoved out of the way by an older, tired looking man with another rifle
>"and I suppose you’re the leader, tom?”
>Jonah piped up, “hey we don-”
>"go check on the others, this one is actually talking and I want to find out what happened”
>Jonah walks off as Tom sits cross-legged in front of me 
>he makes sure to put his rifle down away and behind him
>"Look, we’re... I guess you could say a company of mercenaries. We were hired to get a... ....relic... from a merchant in this town, of great value”
>"a relic? what relics do merchants sell”
>he made a small chuckle
>his calm demeanor made me feel less on edge; if they were planning anything they probably would’ve done it.
>"to be honest I have no clue myself, other than it was valuable. We made camp a ways outside of town, out of concern tha-”
>"the more unruly of your group would make asses of themselves and get thrown out. No offense but the reputation of you other-worlders is well known”
>he chuckled again
>"yeah that about sums it up. But of course what we thought would be the midpoint on our little quest was complicated by the damn town being razed to the ground.”
>he took out a paper “pipe” 

>"do you mind?”
>"no”
>he lit it and took a puff
>"look, I’m not going to lie and say that we wouldn’t have just taken the thing and left. But we don’t know anything about the relic other than it was in-”
>pausing, he took out a folded scrap of pale parchment “- an ornate, gold-plated red box with long handles, stored in a crate that is one cubic roman cubit”
>he shoved the paper away muttering “what the fuck is a cubit even”
>looking back at me “now we couldn’t find such a box anywhere, but we did find the merchant, dead. I’m experienced enough to know that whoever razed the town probably took it.”
>he stopped to take another few puffs 
>"so you want to know who they are and where to find them, to get it back from them”
>"yes, that’s about it”
>I pause for a second before telling him
>a thought intrudes into my mind
>or maybe a memory
>"But you will make him pay ten-thousand-fold”
>make him pay
>him
>"yes”
>Tom looks over, from his cigarette, unfazed
>"yes you will tell us?”
>"On a condition”
>"oh?”
>"You take me with you”

>"If you’re offering yourself as a guide, sure. Would make bumbling through this part of fantasyland easier”
>"Not just as a guide; I want to fight with you when you fight them”
>This seemed to take Tom by surprise
>he lowered his paper pipe from his mouth
>"when we fight them”
>"yes”
>he sighed for a second
>"I see.”
>Tom looked at me then over in the distance
>looking after him I saw that in the distance was what was left of my town
>all ashes
>he shook his head
>"I’m more than willing to take you on as a guide, and I understand where you’re coming from. Lord knows there’s nothing left here for you”
>looking back at me he continued “but I cannot guarantee we will fight the fuckers who burned your town down”
>"guarantee?”
>"Well yes; if the fucks are unwilling to give us back what is ours we’ll fucking take it. But-”
>he paused again to look at a collection of weird looking tents
>"Out of the 15 of us we’ve started with, we’ve already lost 5, and as impressive as our guns are to you lot, they need things to shoot, like arrows-”
>"I know how “guns” work”
>he smiled “well then, understand that if it’s between fighting an army or filching our shit back from them, I’d rather the latter.”
>he took another puff of his paper pipe
>"Understood?”
>I smile
>"Perfectly”

3

>Following this Tom called to bring food
>a tin tray with some pouches and a metal cup
 filled with a black drink
>coffee I think it’s called
>he offered it over to me
>"Here, have some food then; I imagine you need it” he said before leaving
>the pouches were warm and filled with mush, and the drink bitter
>not bad really
>though little could be considered bad when one has returned from the void of death, really
>the warmth was the most welcome feeling
>even the bitterness of the coffee was comforting
>the bite of the drink a reassurance that I was still alive
>that question again, how am I alive?
>I felt that sword go through my body
>the blood, the heat leaving my body as the world faded to black
>and yet
>I remember something more
>someone saying something, I think
>...
>faintly, I begin to recall
>"It was all a lie”
>that was some of it
>"He was lying this whole time”
>maybe it was just my thoughts?
>"He took everything from you”
>"But you will make him pay ten-thousand-fold” 
>maybe
>but there was more I thought
>...
>"so-”
>I jump out of my thoughts back into reality
>Tom had returned
>the man actually seemed a bit startled himself
>"Easy there, it’s just me”
>"Sorry, I was just in deep thought"
>"well I bet, after last night”
>he sat back down, now with his own tray
>"So who are these people and where do we find them”
>them
>"the crusaders, you mean”
>Tom made a bit of a face
>"What you mean like the ‘Deus Vult’ guys? I didn’t know they took their larping so seriously”
>"What? What do you mean?”
>"Well I mean I knew they were wearing plate armor but I thought they were using M60s or something-”
>"Oh not crusaders from your world, I mean from here”
>"Oh.”
>stupid
>they don’t know of these crusaders, of course just saying “crusaders” would just confuse them
>"I mean the Crusaders of the Lonely Mountain”
>Tom made a weird face