The Serpent's Embrace

"You are awake." The voice rumbled through the cave as he emerged from the shadows, a cruel smile curling his lips as he saw the shock and fear on my face. "This is good. I tired of carrying you."

I pushed myself to my feet backing away one shaky step at a time as the ... creature ... advanced. The flat black eyes were the same I remembered, but what came towards me now almost looked like a man. He was bald, his ears slightly pointed, his eyes inhumanly cold, but his body was as bronzed and broad-shouldered as any man from my village. His upper body at any rate; near his waist the comforting illusion ended and the scales began. Instead of legs he possessed the powerful lower body of a snake, muscles rippling along his sides as he glided forward.

"You should not try to run. I will only catch you, and then I shall be displeased." He extended a hand to me, beckoning me to come towards him. "You do not wish for me to be displeased with you, little one." There was a note of grim warning in his rumbling voice, one that made fear flutter in my stomach and my legs feel even weaker than they already did.

"What are you?" I was shocked by the trembling whisper, even more so when I realized that it was mine. "Who are you?" My voice strengthened, but I couldn't seem to mask the fear reflected in it.

"Do your people no longer know me, little one?" The snake-man's voice was low and dangerous, almost angry. "There was once a time when no human would date step into this valley. It belonged to my people; to me."

"I ... no ... the temple ..." Slowly, my wide-eyed gaze not leaving his form, I at first shook my head in denial before the memories fluttered through my shocked mind. The great temple -- overgrown and neglected now, harboring nothing more than shadows and cobwebs -- had carvings of beings such as the one confronting me; terrifying yet fanciful carvings, nearly worn away by time and the elements and forgotten by my people. "No one believes the old tales anymore. No one worships at the temple, the old gods are dead."

A fierce scowl etched the snake-man's brow as my words trailed off, a low hiss spilling from his lips. "Not dead little one, only ... sleeping. But now I am woken from my long slumber. Soon my people shall also wake and you will all bow down to us again. Now come!" The command was sharp and imperious as he once more held out his hand to me.

I shook my head again; my heart feeling as though it would burst through my chest so great was my fear. The deep ache of my body reminded me with each step back of the brutal way the not-man had taken me at the pool. I didn't want him to touch me again. I didn't want to feel those slick scales against my skin. Somehow his half-human half-snake form made him seem even more bestial and cruel to my eyes. With a gasp I spun on my heel and started to run towards the cave's mouth, the pale evening light still visible through the overhanging vines and obscuring brush.

There was only the rustle of scales sliding swiftly over the sand and rocks, the sharp angry snarl behind me as warning before the creature's thick tail knocked my feet from beneath me and laid me out on the ground again. The air rushed from my lungs, the world fading from before my eyes for a moment as my chin struck the cool stone floor. I was too stunned to struggle as the snake-man reached down and grasped my arm in his hand and pulled me to my feet again, shaking me until I cried out in pain. "I warned you, little one, that it would displease me if you tried to run." He jerked my arm, pulling me off balance and against his broad muscular chest. "I am displeased. Do not now make me angry."

Giving me a shove forceful enough to send me sprawling on the ground again he, for the third time, extended a hand to me. "Come. Now." His deep voice was menacing, the hard flat gaze of his black eyes watching me for the slightest hint of continued disobedience. With a small sob catching in the back of my throat I reached up and laid my hand in his, letting him pull me to my feet and then guide me further back into the deep black darkness of the cavern. Away from my life that was, and towards I knew not what.

We traveled for what seemed hours, but I know could not have been all that long. The darkness was impenetrable; my only guide the touch of the man-snake's hand against my back and my fingers trailing over the rocky wall. Occasionally I heard the rush of water as it passed through the cavern's unknown depths. Sometimes the moan of the wind or the rustle of animals somewhere in the lightless deeps we passed through. Finally he indicated that I should stop and as I stood still in the blackness I heard the scrape of his scales, the grinding of rocks, and then a crack of light as the wall before us parted.

"Where are we?" My murmur was somewhere between fright and awe as the rock slid back and revealed a trail leading down a small incline towards another, smaller, valley. Stone buildings -- built much like the great temple near my village -- rose through the trees and brush, the colors of the flowers and leaves seeming incredibly vibrant after the long walk through the darkness of the cavern. "What is this place?"

"This is my home little one, one of the hidden places known only to my people and those who serve us." The man-snake slid through the doorway, causing it to grind closed behind us with a touch of his hand to the warm stone. "You are but one of the first of our new servants. You should feel honored to have been so chosen."

The arrogance of his statement pricked me, making me straighten my back as a retort came to my lips -- perhaps unwisely considering the circumstances. But before I could utter the biting words my captor's attention was drawn to the rustle of something large moving through the lush foliage overgrowing the narrow trail. A low rumbling hiss erupted from his chest as two more giant serpents emerged from the trees and brush, their tongues flickering and tasting the breeze as their flat black eyes were unerringly drawn to us; to me. The snake-man's tail lashed aggressively as he stared down at the pair, the muscles across his shoulders and back rippling as he spoke sharply in a strange, sibilant language.

I caught my breath as one of the enormous snakes replied, its head weaving with unconcealed defiance as the other slunk closer, its gaze upon me unwavering. Somehow I knew that my fate rested on the outcome of this exchange between my captor and the two serpents confronting him and it frightened me. Frightened me even more than the brutal coupling I'd been subjected to by my captor.

Finally after what seemed an eternity the pair gave nearly identical hisses of frustration and slithered off into the underbrush, with the hard black gaze of the snake-man following them until even the sway of branches denoting their passage disappeared. "Come now, before any others scent you." He turned his head, the line of his jaw unyielding as he reached out and grasped my arm. "You are mine, and none of the others shall take you from me."

Cruelly his fingers tightened on my arm until a gasp was forced from my lips, my eyes wide with pain and fear. "And do not think again of trying to escape. You will not like what will happen to you if the other males catch you, child." The tone of his voice was ominous and not for a moment did I think him lying, not after seeing the mindless cruelty and lust reflected in the snakes glittering gazes.

He stared into my eyes a moment longer until I nodded, a small smile curving his sensuous lips at my compliance. "I am not so terrible a Master girl," His eyes racked down my nude form meaningfully, his smile broadening a touch. "so long as my ... appetites are satisfied." With that he pulled me down the path towards the city concealed in the jungle growth below.