Part 1

Looks of confusion darted between the four of us, ceasing the stream of killing intent that ran through our gazes. Yet none lowered their weapons. With a shake of the head to the side, I gestured for Lucas to move toward the wall. He did so, slowly, keeping the pointy end of his sword towards the blonde's throat. The bearded man did the same, almost pulling his companion by the neck.

I pushed my back onto Lucas' and, defending both sides, we walked out of the circular room. A gasp escaped my lips as I followed with my sight an enormous shadow slithering through the white columns. Reacting to my surprise, Lucas peeked from behind my shoulder and followed suit in my reaction.

"What is it? Is the thing that screeched down there?" My eyes snapped back to the entrance just in time to notice the hesitant looks of curiosity and wariness on the faces of the other temple visitors. The bearded man was the first to speak.

"Seems so-" I said, weighting my words carefully as I crouched behind the low stone wall going around the entire second floor "- Though there's not much to see, from this height at least"

The two approached our position, crouched as well, while still keeping their weapons at the ready and cautiously standing at a safe distance. Their eyes widened in horror as the shape of whatever creature was below us moved its silhouette with otherworldly swiftness.

"Lucas-" I whispered, fearing our voices would attract the beast's attention "- Do you recall anything like that in Constantine's lessons?"

"I rarely listened to professor Gildoor's lessons-" Admitted Lucas biting his lower lip "- And even if I had, I can't recognize anything from this far"

"Professor Gildoor?-" Asked the blonde man surprised "- As in Constantine Gildoor, the ruby-tier adventurer? You've been to Alamara academy! That means you-"

"My lord!-" Suddenly interrupted the bearded man "- This is not time to question them. We must focus on that-" He continued pointing at the shadow below us, then turned his focus towards me "-... Sorry for the sudden attack, we'll properly apologize later. For the time being, would you care for a truce?"

"...-" Meaningfully looking back at Lucas I probed for his approval which came in the form of a slight nod "- A truce is much needed"

"...Pardon our rudeness but may we know your names?" Asked the blonde now that the mood had been reset.

"The man beside me is Lucas while I'm Raphael-" I answered plainly "- This much should be enough. Yours?"

"I'm...Just Dino, for you-" Replied the blonde man, matching my tone and style "- Dominik here is my aide"

[So he's either rich or a noble...nothing good will come out of sticking with him...tough a couple more hands wouldn't hurt down here]

"You've been in the temple-" I probed "- Is there a way out, a passage or something that doesn't lead to that thing?"

"We've been here for three days now-" Replied Dominik "- but only the second floor, where you met us, was accessible. The first floor seems to be blocked by something, magical in nature, while the third floor...well you can see for yourselves that it has no means to be reached"

"So swords it is, uh?" Pointed out Lucas, already warming up his wrists.

"Can you even fight?" Asked Dino pointing his piercing gaze towards me, scanning my entire form and appearance.

"Ask your aide-" I replied with a scoff as I began to move towards the stairs, searching for an unnoticeable path down "- he seemed to be very adamant in not fighting us!"

"My lord he-" Replied Dominik after being questioned by Dino as I suggested "- is a mage. And a good one I suspect"

"Able to feel mana?" Asked Lucas curiously, catching my attention too.

"In a sense...but it doesn't matter right now. We'll have time to speak later, IF we can get out of this alive" Replied matter-of-factly Dominik as he distanced himself from the group and copied me in my search for an unnoticed path.

Interminable minutes passed as all of us descended the stairs, slowly, conscious of every little noise. None spoke except for the rare cases when someone thought the monster had noticed us. When we reached the last step, all hope of finding a way out without needing to fight was lost.

It was a strange sensation. None had yet to see the enemy other than its silhouette and just that was enough to let fear, hopelessness and wariness tamper with our hearts. I hated feeling so helpless. So lacking in mana. The emptiness left by it gave me a sensation of discomfort as I ruled out most of my created spells. To make that discomfort even worse, the claw marks on my side were sending daggers of pain with each movement.

Suddenly the collar of my shirt got grabbed and rudely dragged behind the collapsed remains of a column. Lucas was the one to drag me while Dominik and Dino had also hid behind another column not far from ours. In the next breath, the creature appeared. It did so from behind a tall cliff, hundreds of meters away from us but now, it's features were as clear as day.

A creature shaped like a snake 20 meters in length from head to tail. A set of six snow-white fangs protruded dangerously from it's mouth. The vermilion mane of a lion covered most of the snake's neck and part of its head from which a pure-white horn coursed by onyx veins stuck out. It's full body was covered in jet-black scales that were, in turn, covered by a thin layer of bone-like flexible armor. Only the monster's belly, where the scales turned grey, was devoid of armor. Intelligent purple eyes completed that horrifying painting, creating a monster straight out of a fairytale.

"What the *pant* hell is that?" Asked Dino, clearly struggling to maintain his composure.

I shook my head as soon as Dominik's questioning look struck me, turning my attention back to what I was doing. Using some spare bandages I was tying my dagger to my hand. Experiencing losing my sword more than once led me to look for more ingenious solutions, alas that was the best I could do with what little I had. The sound of rustling grass attracted my and everyone's attention altogether.

"I get to name it this time!" Said Lucas as he crouched and unsheathed his sword.

"What?" I replied in confusion.

"Come on, you named the Tunnel mantis, I get to name this big snake!" He rebuked with unneeded fierceness.

"...Your brain must be rotting-" I replied, forcing myself not to facepalm "-Whatever, name it as you want. Now get focused!"

In the very next second, a rustle of air and the whistle of wind reached my ears. The hair on my arms stood up as a shout erupted from my throat. Screaming "dodge" with all the strength I had, I warned the others, just in time for the snake's muscly tail to sweep through the columns in a wave of wind, dust and debris.

I rolled on the ground, missing the sweep by just a hair's breadth. The place where we previously hid was now completely empty. No columns, no debris and absolutely no grass. Just a sweep of it's tail and everything disappeared.

The monster retracted the end of its tail and sat its giant body on it, creating a spiral where only neck and head stuck out. Our eyes met, for but a brief moment, as the snake studied me and the other three. A chill ran down my spine as I realized the intent and intelligence of that monster. It didn't simply attack out of instincts like the fiend but instead used his smarts to create a favorable ground for itself.

"Fuck..." Escaped from my mouth as the grip on my dagger tightened, painting my knuckles with a worryingly white tone.

It didn't take long for the snake to make the next move. Feeling impatient by our lack of movement, it retracted its head, like a spring ready to jump, preparing its next attack. It was our cue. Like a well-oiled machine, we brothers began our attack in unison.

Mana coursed through my arm as my palm struck the ground below me while Lucas rushed to the snake's side, boosting his stride with sudden sprouts of mana. His sword dropped to a dozen centimeters from the ground, ready to be swung. With the right words, shouted with trembling adrenaline fueled by growing fear, the ground below the snake sunk making the monster slump just enough to lose its "footing". Dino and Dominik moved the same as Lucas on the snake's other side, with just a little delay.

Taking a few seconds to analyze the situation, the snake swept its tail as soon as he noticed me casting another spell. The bone-like armor struck the wall of earth in front of him creating a storm of dust and debris, sending all three who approached it on their backs and shielding the snake from my spell. It must've felt surprised as my "wind scythe" tore through the debris because the snake was forced to leave its now advantageous position to slither towards me.

It crept closer and closer to me. It's jaw wide open, showing a set of shining teeth all sharper than blades. I shot a fireball as I backstepped, then two, then five all inside the snake's open mouth. Yet none seemed to have any effect other than angering the monster.

"I'm right here, Horny boned snake bastard!" Shouted Lucas.

He was on the snake's back, right about it's half. He was furiously pushing his sword in and out of a crack in the snake's bone armor. By the time my brother's sword had sunk until the guard, the snake's jaw had almost reached me. I was already preparing a "stone pillar" to, quite violently, push myself away from harm when a hiss full of pain rose from the monster's throat. Both Dino and Dominik's swords were slashing away at the exposed scales on the snake's belly.

The snake wriggled around, trying to unseat Lucas from its back and crush the two swordsmen standing below it. With feline agility, Dino and Dominik dodged every move and countered back every single time, soon dirtying the ground in a purply-red puddle of what seemed like blood. Lucas in the meantime was enjoying himself on the snake's back, acting as if he was in a rodeo.

Soon, the snake snapped with fury and stopped its pursuit in blind rage, turning its head away from me and bearing its fangs at Lucas. Dino and Dominik heightened the speed of their strikes, attempting to attract it's attention while Lucas extracted the now-blooded sword and ran as fast as possible away from the snake's back.

With its attention unfocused on me, I knew it was my time to strike. I pushed mana into my legs. The sprint seemed to tear my tired and broken body apart but the adrenaline dampened the pain, turning it into slight annoyance. Once close enough, I summoned a stone pillar right under my feet and crushed it with the strength behind my boosted jump as soon as I reached the required height to strike at the snake's head.

It noticed my attack, but it was too late. With my dagger solidly tied to my clasped hand and a wind scythe forming in the other, I aimed for the only place I thought a truly weak spot: its eyes. My blue and it's purple met. Briefly. Just enough to understand how much I had underestimated my foe.

The next moment, a scorching pain exploded on my back and chest as I was pushed through one stone column by a wave of seemingly pure purplish energy. I hit the ground and rolled twice, finally stabilizing on my knees only to find myself puking blood together with other liquids. My vision was dizzy and my body barely keeping itself together with the aid of mana. The others weren't looking good either.

With absolute dominance, the snake rose its neck to look down on all of us. It held a questioning look, almost curious as it scanned each of us for interminable seconds whilst I struggled to keep my focus on mending my internal wounds. Then, a gurgling sound rose from the snake's throat. Too nervous and on edge to wait for the snake to make a move, I helped myself with the nearby chunks of stone and wobbingly rose on my legs. My dagger still pointed at the monster.

Unexpectedly, the snake froze. Just for a moment before it bowed its head to the side reminding me of a curious, yet deadly, puppy. With sinuous movements, the snake approached me and hissed when it reached a position it deemed close enough. Its tail moved making a rattling sound, then, a voice, deep and solemn with the gurgling tone of an untrained throat, spoke from where the snake stood.

"Ceassse thy sstruggle!-" Said the voice in a hiss of forked tongue and snapping jaw "- Thiss ssshalt beesst enow"

None spoke as the snake's words, carried by the absurdity of the situation, filled the glade's silence. With too much going on in my head and a sense of loss filling my every muscle, I let my arm limp by my side and with it the dagger.

"Thou art not here for the tessst. I sseeth it now"

"T-test?" I asked in a faint voice.

"Nay matter-" The snake said, coming close enough for me to be able to look at my own reflection in its purple irises "- The timeth iss not nigh. The lasst bassstion hasst been corrupted. Only thiss temple doesst not sstill batheth in madness...-" Then, while slowly slithering away from me with such elegance that felt incomparable to the ferociousness with which the snake fought us just a while ago, it turned back to look at me in the eye "- Do not waketh mine own ssslumber, young blood, until blood asskss thee sso"

Next, with the same suddenness the snake appeared, it also vanished with a spring-like jump back into the lake. The water surface rippled with waves for but a moment before turning into the crystalline mirror it once was. Then tiredness truly hit me as I fell flat on my ass on the warm ground, calming darkness drifting me away into deserved rest.

"It spoke, right? I didn't just imagine it" Asked Dominik pushing the embers of a fresh fire with a stick, which in turn loudly popped, waking me up.

"Seems like it-" I replied, bathing in the comfortable warmth of the campfire that eased the pain stabbing my bones and muscles "-... And before you ask, no. I have absolutely no idea what he was talking about when he mentioned a test or the "young blood" thing!"

"Yeah, the test I figured-" Replied, this time, Dino while throwing a water-skin my way "- But the young blood? When did you hear that?"

[What? Did they not hear what it was saying at the end?... It was looking at me but... was it really just meant for me? Shit! I better keep quiet about this, who knows what could go wrong!]

"Ugh! Probably just imagined it...I must've hit my head hard back then"

"Yeah, you dumb-face!-" Shouted Lucas appearing right beside me and covered almost from head to toe in bandages "- How're you holding up?"

"Better than you it seems-" I replied with a wide grin and a chuckle "- Though I have to ask, did you seriously just named that colossal, talking snake capable of beating the four of us without the hint of a sweat: Horny boned snake?!"

Pointing out the absurdity of the name must've pleasurably hit everyone's mood since a cheerful and earthly laugh began filling that little space carved around the campfire. All at the expense of Lucas' absolutely awful naming sense.