Aisleah and Elisa had decided, tonight was a night for celebrating. They had just had peak moments in their fields. Aisleah as a rebellious model and Elisa as a long-distance runner who just qualified for the Summer Olympics.

The two of them had been inseparable since Aisleah had wandered into an American Military Base in Germany. Little did Elisa’s father know, they were soul mates, with the attendant deep physical attraction for one another. He protested and tried to force them apart only to have both of them leave.

Hard lives even before being out on their own had set them up for success. Now they were in New York and traveled the world either competing or, as Elisa calls it, flaunting for strangers who are just barely more interested in the wrappings than the sweet candy underneath.

Celebrating had led them from club to club to club, dancing and singing as well as stealing more private moments in shady places. The risks had only lead to greater reward as they enjoyed the thrill of almost being caught and increased intoxication.

Finally, they settled down in a cozy and quiet bar where the city fades to trees and open land. The bartender wasn’t bad looking, just deplorably male. He had been trying to hit on both Elisa and Aisleah since they walked in and sat down at the bar. Not that such things didn’t happen all the time anyways but he quickly acted like he was desperate.

When he left them alone for a moment, they sighed a breath of relief in unison. Aisleah turned to her lover, “That man… is depressing as shit. Couldn’t he see he was striking out, and before he even got up to bat?”

It was clear from the sad sounds of pleading that his job, if not his soul, were being threatened. Neither of them could make out the words, however satisfying it would have been to have heard them.

Elisa rolled her eyes with the sports metaphor. Noting, and not for the first time, the fading Eastern European accent. “Yeah, well I can’t quite blame the oaf for not noticing that we are attached at multiple places. I mean, if he was drunk enough, I might pass as a really effeminate dude.”

Aisleah huffed in irritation. Elisa had a horrible habit of treating herself like she wasn’t gorgeous just because her boobs weren’t huge or she wasn’t “curvy” enough. “You know it really bugs me when you treat yourself like that. Porn and anime have given you a false impression as to what beauty is. It’s way more than a pair of big tits and a fat ass.”

Elisa narrowed her eyes and stuck out her tongue, teasingly. “Says Misses Big Tittys and Fat Ass, herself. That bartender was clearly drooling over you, not me. I know I need to work on the whole, woe is me, stuff. Let me be the down drunk though. After all, that will just make it easier for you to pick me up with your honeyed words and promises of forever.” Elisa smiled coyly.

The Bartender returned with a mollified look of regret tinged with horror. Rubbing his face with calloused hands, Aisleah and Elisa noticed this and thought it an odd detail, right before he spoke with all the elegance of the typical New England accent on his lips. “So, Ladies, I was a jackass and my boss had words for me. We, I mean I, will be paying for your drinks tonight. I apologize, and hope to God you won’t file for harassment or something like that.”

Elisa quirked a smile in response and mimicked his accent flawlessly, “I will consider the possibility of not filing a suite if yous tells me one thing. Who precisely were you hitting on? Me or Misses Tits right next to me? Answer honestly because I know a liar when I see one.”

There was no hesitation in the bartender, “I was hitting on both you ladies, wanted to shack up with both of you. What man won’t reach for the stars? Icarus may have burned, and maybe I did too, but hey, ain’t it worth the try anyways?”

Aisleah whistled and slapped the top of the bar. “You have guts kiddo, love it, but try again and I will peel the nuts out of your sack with a dull spoon. This sexy little kitty cat is mine. Now about those drinks, top shelf, and at least two at a time. Clear alcohol first, then the fun stuff. I assume we are clear about all of that.”

The night didn’t last long. After just a few shots, each, they were a slumping, giggling, flirtatious mess. The bartender had kept them supplied and even gave them a bottle for the road, Absinthe, the real deal, highly illegal in the U.S. but entirely worth it for the trip.

He was even considerate enough to call them a taxi. It was mere moments before one pulled up and they were gently ushered in by the kindly driver, a rarity in New York, and the bartender. Once in, they didn’t waste time in having generous gulps of Absinthe. As the driver got going, so did they, in an altogether different sense. Hands roamed freely, heedless of the driver.

An oddity struck their minds as they pawed each other’s clothes off. The driver never asked where they were going and he never glanced back at them even once. He never said a word. Fear and anxiety began to burn through the alcohol but not the sedatives laced in the Absinthe. Unconsciousness took them like another lover.

SOME TIME LATER

Aisleah’s head was pounding like a hammer on an anvil. The last thing she remembered was being at the bar with her beloved Elisa and toying with that bartender, then leaving in a taxi. She desperately wanted to believe they had got home. Her mind was desperately rationalizing that this was all a dream. Aisleah felt the truth though as hairs danced on her arms and skin.

Aisleah’s head began to clear and she opened her eyes at last, the sight that greeted her was shocking. She was outside, the earth was dark and rich, there were even trees everywhere, big, small, and massive. Her mouth hung open; she may have been a city girl since coming to America but she had never seen things like this. The heat and humidity finally registered as well, she was somehow in the heart of a jungle.

A voice rang out, clearly coming from a speaker system. “Ah, look who finally decided to join the world of the wakeful. You are the First, so you get a prize. Your adorable friend is here too by the way. Now, I know you don’t remember much, I’m the one who told the bartender to give you the absinthe laced heavily with ketamine. Oh, and I called you that fake taxi to bring you here. They all work for me, and I have preferences which both of you fit perfectly, the Shapely Beauty and the Athlete. I bet your lies are to die for. You are both, you took gold at the last Olympics for some martial art and now you are the rebellious model who refuses to give into the industry’s demands. Elisa took gold the same year in the 400M, and word is she wants to do long distance next. I have been beside myself with the thought of you two here, as luck would have it, you never are apart unless absolutely necessary. It was an easy thing for the dolt of a human to pass along that you dropped into MY bar of all places. He knew exactly how to play you and get you here. This is My Playground, a massive building with the inside meant to replicate what home was once like for me. There are no windows, no doors, just a square mile of jungle hidden right outside New York City. Everything is recorded here for those who worship Me to enjoy. Welcome to the Jungle, I’ve always wanted to say that, just for the irony, but it feels hollow. In any case, you girls won’t be around to appreciate it for long.”

All Aisleah could do is lay there with an icy ball of fear growing in the pit of her stomach. The fear wasn’t for herself but for Elisa. She was the kind of person who acted cold and distant but that was because she was a sensitive soul who couldn’t bear the hurt of others well. The bitch’s words worried her. Who the hell is she? Where was Elisa?

Aisleah got to her feet, unsteady for a brief moment, while brushing dirt and debris away. That’s when she noticed someone had changed her clothes. “Great, now I look like Jane the Jungle Slut. Fuck You Assholes and you, you Fucking Bitch!” Aisleah presented her middle fingers to the world with all the venom and scorn in her possession as she stalked away deeper and deeper into the nightmare.

The daylight began to fade, and fear ate its way further into Aisleah’s heart as she wondered how she was going to get herself and Elisa out of this.

Elisa woke up gagging and choking. It was dark out, and she wondered why Aisleah wasn’t near as she looked around her environment. Rolling onto her hands and knees, she vomited while her head throbbed. Elisa realized she was outside and that it was very hot and humid. Her close-cropped black hair clung to her head and forehead; her ice blue eyes looked out into the dark around her.

The world was dimly lighted as if by moonlight yet there was no moon. The ground around her was shrouded in thick mist, trees standing like ominous shadows of giants’ legs.

The world seemed to be holdings its breath. The stillness and silence felt invasive and wrong, Elisa’s hair wanted to stand on end, wet or not. Elisa noticed a small pond nearby and worked her way crawling to it while her stomach threatened its earlier vehemence in protest of the movement.

Upon reaching it, she saw it was clear, the water was cool in her hands as she drank to soothe her nausea.

She wondered, where Aisleah was, they had been together since high school so why was she gone? Elisa remembered little beyond getting to the bar and something about a taxi. She heard a splash come from the water and her animal instincts went wild. Her heart raced as she scrambled to the shelter of a rather large tree as fast as she could manage.

Elisa’s heart was racing faster than when she was competing. She sat herself against the tree trunk and watched the water like a hawk. After a minor eternity of vigilant watching, she closed her eyes in prayerful plea that Aisleah hadn’t abandoned her. She felt tears forming and falling heedless of her desire to be strong, she despised her weakness, sniffling a little she fought the tears back.

Aisleah would never abandon her, their love was much more than skin deep attraction. They had suffered much together, cried and bled together. Aisleah would save her just as she had many times before. Memory kindled behind closed eyes like a vision.

She was a freshman in high school, her father was stationed in Germany so she attended school on post. Walking home one day, she saw Aisleah for the very first time. She was battered and bleeding.

Elisa would soon learn that Aisleah had fled Chechnya and slavery after killing her father who had raised her to be a mercenary like himself. They had bonded immediately and Elisa had run to her, discovering the swiftness of her feet, and took Aisleah into her arms as she collapsed.

They hadn’t been apart since. She had convinced her father to adopt Aisleah and give her a good home, mother had backed her all the way. They had known love for each other from the very moment their eyes met and living in the same home had only deepened it.

Shorty after Elisa’s mother passed away her father had discovered their love and disowned them, trying to separate them. Instead they left and set out on their own, thriving despite the adversity.

Elisa broke down into bitter tears as she felt everything she loved being taken away. Her heartbreak was as crushing as Jupiter’s depths and her tears flowed like silent waterfalls.

A voice called out from the tree branches. “Poor child, feeling so abandoned and alone, betrayed. Do not cry, We can comfort you in this time of sadness.” The voice was comforting in tone but felt like a viscose oil seeping along auditory nerves.

Elisa’s eyes snapped open and her head turned up with a haste born of surprise. She saw what looked to be a human figure in the branches crouched and watching, then she noticed the movement all around the figure. Her face displayed first sadness then surprise and lastly, utter horror. There was a snake, a fucking huge snake. Its body disappeared into the mist shrouded branches above, even as it’s broad head crept near. Fear dried her mouth and shut her throat as if she had been wandering the Sahara without water. It seemed to smile at her as its tongue flickered in and out of its mouth like a red pennant waving in the breeze. Elisa hiccupped a frightened sob as it drifted slowly closer. She was absolutely terrified of snakes even little tiny ones.

Adding to the horror the voice spoke again. “Do not fear me or my friend, we are harmless. We wouldn’t hurt you, only take away your pain my sweet thing.” Its voice sounded a mix of amusement and scolding.

For the briefest of moments Elisa locked gazes with the serpent and sheer terror flailed at her like a cracking whip.

Elisa burst into motion, she had years of experience and training in order to hone her body and perfect her art, and that art was running. Elisa heard laughter chase her on the wind as she ran. Trees flew past as if running their own race. The jungle grew more and more dense as she ran, soon she was dodging trees as she ran and slowed her pace to a jog to keep herself from mishap. She had never run so fast in her entire life. Light was beginning to brighten the sky giving the mist a silvery glow.

A small stream ran nearby babbling over rocks, separating the jungle from a clearing with waist high grass. Elisa altered course to get more fresh water. Mist still shrouded everything in its unnerving quiet silver glow, and was getting more dense despite the rising sun. The water was clear and cool as she drank deeply, kneeling next to the stream.

Elisa finally realized she had different clothes on and examined her reflection in the stream. The material was modern fabric but made to look like something out of the original Planet of the Apes or some Jungle movie. In a moment of hysteria she laughed as she envisioned how Aisleah would react. Her Aisleah would throw a fit if she was in this kind of outfit, she was oddly shy for all her physical endowments and damn near perfect figure. Elisa felt a sad smile upon her lips as she wondered where Aisleah was.

Elisa shook her head as if to dislodge the negative thoughts and fears, and admired her reflection in the stream. Damp hair, slick with sweat and water gave her features a wild cast, completing the cavewoman or Planet of the Apes vibe.

Elisa knew she was running from the sadness, fear, and madness of all that was occurring. She knew she must have been drugged, snakes definitely don’t get that big. Elisa wanted to collapse on the inside and cry once more, and she hated herself for it.

She could not afford to be weak, especially now. she grew determined that no matter what was going on she would find a way to get the hell out of here and find Aisleah. Finally, she wondered what the hell was going on, Aisleah may enjoy the occasional prank but this wasn’t her, nor did Aisleah drug her without consent. This was something far more sinister. Aisleah must be trapped here with her somewhere, probably looking for her. It reminded her of the insane training both of them had endured at her fathers demand, Survive Evade Resist Escape. Who knew it would actually be pertinent and not a psychotic waste of time and child abuse to boot.

Elisa had a fraction of a second to register the movement behind her in the reflection of the stream. Her well trained body reacted without conscious command, leaping into motion, attempting to flee once more. It was too late however as something hard slapped around her waist at the hips, looping around her back gripping her tightly. Being jerked to a stop midmotion made her head swim dangerously.

It took her a moment to reorient and realize she was being dragged deeper into the jungle and upward into the branches. Looking at the offending restraint she saw a thick coil of a snake with scales of mottled brown, green and gold, with the odd streaks of black. The back of her mind that wasn’t instantly horrified noted that it looked a bit like some military style camouflage.

Panic rose ever higher and Elisa balled her fists and began to beat at the coil viciously, to no avail. It felt like she was trying to hit teflon coated steel. Screaming with unadulterated rage she tried to physically shove the coil off and squirm free uncaring of the fall if she succeeded.

In response the coil squeezed with paralyzing force causing Elisa to cry out in agonized torment. Elisa continued once the pressure let off, only to have the crushing intensity resume just as quickly. Elisa refused to be cowed and continued her attempts to flail and shove. Her world began to revolve slowly as the snake began to wrap downwards to still her flailing legs, wrapping her tightly. Elisa kicked and struck with intensified rage that covered a deeper fear.

No matter the valiance and rage of her resistance her body from the waist down was soon entrapped in unrelenting coils thicker than her legs. Only her bare feet remained free, in any sense of the term, still kicking in futile attempts at getting free. Tears threatened to fall free of Elisa’s control.

It seemed as if these events had taken the slow march of days rather than the reality of a few fleet moments. The fire of her rage dimmed as she began to feel drowned in helplessness. She screamed out once more, fueling it with her fear and rage. It echoed oddly in the mist, the trees seemed to shiver and carry her call forth.

Aisleah prowled the silent jungle, knowing full well that the only things here other than herself and Elisa would be here for the kill. A deep current of wind embraced her, she didn’t know how but she knew, her Elisa was out there. The wind and trees were guiding her. She snorted and spoke aloud, “If this is real and now the fucking trees and wind are talking to me, I’m quitting and becoming a fucking hippie. Trees, wind, if you’re wrong I’m burning you all to the ground.” Aisleah began a hard sprint in the deepening jungle.

Determination arose like a fortress in Elisa’s mind, If Aisleah could come she would. Elisa prayed she hadn’t encountered another creature such as this. Elisa passed branches and the mist thinned to a lesser degree. She suddenly felt as if she had entered into another world. Suddenly she was face to face with her captor, she bared her teeth in silent savagery.

The snake seemed on the edge of laughter. Amused no doubt by her fighting, the voice left no need for interpretation, it dripped with raw amusement. “You are fierce and fast, and you are entirely delightful, running from my offer of assistance. To be honest most creatures I deal with are fools. Humans are supposed to be creatures of thought and reason, so why behave so wild? Almost as much an animal as any I have seen.”

Elisa refused to respond and locked hate filled eyes that resembled frozen lakes of merciless sky, on the snake’s own vertical pupiled golden eyes. It gave a subtle but unmistakable shiver. She didn’t know if it was fear or thrill that inspired it, but it was clear it was anticipating something. Breaking her gaze with the serpent she looked for the source of the voice only to see a figure in the shadows.

The snake contemplated how wonderful this female was, such sharp instincts and, while not the most difficult hunt, it was the most entertaining in a long while.

The snake’s head eased closer and Elisa fought the urge to tense up. She was honestly surprised she hadn’t pissed her little cave panties already. She didn’t have to fake the sob that escaped her lips as the snake’s coils began to flex and shift their way up her body, adding more coils to her imprisonment. She leaned forward and let her head get even closer to its head. She could feel its tongue flicker against her short hair and forehead. She prayed the feigned surrender act would work.

She had to keep her arms free at all costs, letting them dangle down limply as if beyond her control. A sigh of relief had its spotlight in her mind as no coil reached out to ensnare her arms. The moment passed as coils reached her short ribs. She was almost out of time; she knew she had to distract it.

“This is for your own safety, and his, he can still your mind and erase your worries and fears. Aren’t you tired? Of the fear, of the sadness, of your being not good enough for the love of your life? He can take those things from you. If you only look into his eyes, if only you submit yourself to me. We can heal you, you can have a home with us, both of you can. No more fear, no more anxiety, only a bright love and Us.” The words crept in, waiting for a chink or fault in the armor of Elisa’s mind.

Her heart was racing and fear wanted to grip her tighter than the coils already were. The snake’s coils stopped though and it shivered in obvious enjoyment.

She had seen the Jungle Book, its what birthed her fear of snakes. If it is at all accurate a sharp blow to the head would set her free. Right? Feeling like it was now or never, her limbs blurred as she sprang into action. Her right fist connected solidly with the snake’s bottom jaw; her left fist came in a fraction of a second behind the initial strike from the side.

The blow never landed, instead a coil snapped into place like a steel clamp. The snakes lilting hiss mirrored the mysterious voice’s and froze her blood. Elisa felt her racing heart skitter briefly to a halt. It had known all along. She couldn’t tear away from its gaze with her face shrouded in terror. With all her remaining strength and will she fought hard, flailing to free herself even as her gaze couldn’t be removed from the stare that threatened to separate her mind and body. She fought even as her whole world devolved tear clouded shimmers.

“I love the fight you have in you little human, all this without any gifts besides what you have physically developed. This has been an interesting diversion I must say.” The voice was deliberately mocking now.

The coils began to work their way upward once more as Elisa’s fighting grew less and less volatile. The coils writhed, tucking her arms down by her sides and cinching them tightly into place. Elisa’s breathing grew labored with the weight and pressure alone as the coils climbed up her body with relentless and irresistible slowness encasing more and more of her body.

The snake was practically gloating with elation. Arrogance wasn’t just his personality trait it was his name. He was identified in so many legends and stories by other names. Satan, jormungand, the names mattered not, he was all of them. One of the Great Serpents, now relegated to a sideshow. He couldn’t kill a nature, but he may just ruin its fun. He needed to find a way to make it happen. As fun as devouring the human would be, it would gain him nothing. Well not nothing, maybe a snack would help him think. No, let the human live and sow chaos. He would find his opportunity, for revenge and escape.

Elisa’s mind tried to rail and scream but soon all resistance faded. Coils tightened in rhythm with her breathing as, breath by breath, Elisa began to grow lightheaded and a euphoria began to creep in even as her vision dimmed. Soon her breathing came quick and shallow and her vision grew dim. Her vision of the world faded, replaced by an opening maw of white tinged pink.

Aisleah crept closer, coming around a rather large tree, toward the sound of voices. The sight that greeted her sent a poisonous mix of shock and fear pumping into her blood. Elisa was shrouded in the coils of the largest snake Aisleah had ever seen. Rage saturated her entire being and the rock she had forgot she was even holding flew out in tandem with a shriek like a wild cat defending its mate. The stone made contact with the snakes open maw.

Suddenly it seemed as if the whole tree collapsed, instead it was only just the snake. It was bigger by far than even what Aisleah had thought. It hadn’t loosed its grip on Elisa one bit, she was dying. Aisleah began a dead sprint for her lover, heedless and wild. Movement from the edge of her vision triggered her reflexes and she caught it mid stride, pulling it along with her in her in her headlong rush. The thing in her clutches squirmed and locked itself around her wrist and jerked her to a stop. All Aisleah could think was that she wanted to claw out this thing’s heart out with her bare hands and teeth. Looking at the offending impediment to that task Aisleah wished dearly to complete, it was the snake’s tail. She peeled it off and flung it away with contemptuous ease. Turning back to her intended victim she instead found herself instead face to face with it, its eyes having a strange quality to them. Vengeful fury burned like the heart of a newborn star and it could not be denied.

Using all her might and speed Aisleah drove a back handed fist against the side of its head, she felt it spasm and watched it go limp with the grace of a drunk elephant. Aisleah crossed the distance to Elisa faster than the space between heartbeats. She went to her knees beside her love and was instantly tearing at coils.

Fear ate at her soul, her love was cool to the touch, her full lips and pale skin tinged a slight blue. Prying the coil loose from Elisa’s neck, Aisleah took her pulse and nearly wept with relief upon discovering one. Her heart couldn’t bear the idea if she had been too late.

Color and warmth returned to Elisa’s face as Aisleah worked to loosen the coils and remove them. Elisa’s eyes fluttered open revealing tearful eyes filled with relief and hope. Elisa tried to speak, faltering at first but gaining strength even if her voice stayed rasping and weak. “I knew you would come for me love. All the voice would do is lie. It is evil and its words are poison. Just get me out of here before I cry, or piss myself, or both.”

That was her Elisa, bravery masking fear, yet still honest about it. Aisleah couldn’t help the smile that crept across her lips as she endeavored to remove the snake’s coils. The coils were resisting, even in their unconscious state, reluctant to relinquish their prize. The first coil was almost pried over Elisa’s head when the nightmare resumed at fevered pitch, yet witnessed by Aisleah with the slow crystal clarity of adrenaline powered focus.

The snake’s coils ripped free of Aisleah’s grip with ridiculous ease and clamped itself in place over Elisa’s mouth muffling the horrified screams that were just beginning. Elisa’s face had gone stark white with terror and tears flowed freely. Aisleah was struggling to reach Elisa, panic forcing all rationality aside, the air felt like tree sap, slowing her movement to a pathetically slow rate. A thick coil slid around Aisleah’s neck with blinding speed and began crushing with merciless force. Her air was instantly cut off and her vision swam, still she struggled to reach Elisa, everything else was secondary. Darkness and dancing stars began to fill her sight making it seem as if Elisa was being devoured by it.

Unadulterated rage cleared her vision briefly and Aisleah redoubled her effort to reach Elisa, just barely managing to brush some of her fingers across sweat matted hair on Elisa’s forehead and lay a hand upon the coils over Elisa’s mouth. Aisleah was jerked back by her neck causing blinding pain while a new coil was thrown around her just below her heaving ribcage, trapping her arms at her side. Aisleah expected crushing pressure to follow but it never came. Instead she was forced to sit on the heels of her bare feet. She felt as if she were deep in the ocean as and immense pressure held her in place, she couldn’t even struggle to get free.

The coil around Aisleah’s neck loosened slightly and her vision regain some level of normalcy. Immediately she tried to twist her head to locate the head of the snake but was essentially immobilized by the restricting coil, it was worse than when she had to use a c-collar. As if responding to a que the snake’s head dropped from above to peer with golden yellow eyes staring at her in frank approval, even mild surprise, and oddly enough, respect. Aisleah stared back with emerald eyes flaked with pearlescent silver. Her gaze was unwavering, calm, and cool despite the consuming fury and putrid fear.

“You, human, are worthy. I knew you were from the moment I laid eyes upon you. My worshippers scour this world for those like you. Your scent invokes some of my more ancient memories in this form. It was only them at first, people like your father. They seeded this world with life and his brother and sisters were born slightly after…” The voice spoke with such joy, such adulation that is was unnerving.

For a moment Aisleah assumed somehow the snake was the one talking. She quickly realized the voice was still somewhere in the trees.

Aisleah cut off the voice mid-sentence, her voice strong as if to spite the coil about her neck. “Like my Baby said, you are full of lies and fucking shit. You know nothing of me. My mother died on the battlefield; I was raised by a mercenary who trained me to kill from the moment I could walk. The man I call father trained me in ancient ways of fighting because of a book obsession. I made my first kill when I was six and if I was free now, you would die. I would tear you apart for harming Elisa. I won’t be stopping there either, I will burn your cult to the ground, and sow the earth with their blood and salt.”

In response the snake tightened its coils, producing intensified muffled screams from Elisa and a faint choking from Aisleah. The snake could feel Aisleah tensing her neck to stave off the embrace of its coils. The snake noted her scent, it really was of the Ancient Blood, like its own. He had been some of the first sentient life on this world. He had seen dinosaurs rise and vanish, as well as what would become humanity taking their place.

The voice continued, only minorly irritated with the interruption. “Your ignorance is adorable but ultimately irrelevant. You know precisely nothing. You children are in over your heads and one weak as you could do nothing to such as I.” The voice gloated.

The snake remembered a unique trait of his genetics, he could store live prey for hours before risking damage to them. That had served him as useful in transporting his meals to isolated areas for later consumption. An idea spawned in the snake’s mind, either he would get the opportunity or he would get a meal. Either way he won.

“For your assault on my pet, you will be punished. He will devour your love, your everything, and you will watch.” The voice chuckled in vicious glee. Eager to watch the show.

Aisleah was shocked to stillness, she could feel the snake’s coils shift and flex tightening its grip, as if preparing to fight her off. Aisleah watched as her Elisa began to hyperventilate from the intense fear. Shock faded and emotion surged up to fill the gap. The twin hands of anger and fear clasped around her throat tighter than any coil ever could. No words came forth, only a howling roar that seemed to make the trees quake and the earth shiver, even the mist grew more dense as if drawing in defensively.

Aisleah felt like the weight suddenly was as little a hindrance as the air she breathed. Strength arose inside her like a swelling tide and she flung herself into motion once more, shrugging off the coil around her body like a blanket discarded in haste when one discovers they are late for something.

The coil around her neck tried in vain to bring her under control, squeezing as futilely as a newborns grasp. Aisleah heard a distant voice screaming frantically saying something like, not yet.

Still, Aisleah would not be denied, not now, not ever. Coils descended upon her from the surrounding trees. Blind determination was her enemy in this moment, in her adrenaline infused haze of newfound strength she disregarded the coils around her and was once more ensnared. Heart borne agony filled her thoughts, the coils didn’t crush or squeeze, they merely restrained her. She was so close that, were she able, she could have reached out and touched her Elisa. Strength fled her body and Aisleah would have crumpled to the ground if not for the coils holding her up.

Elisa’s body was lifted up so her eyes would gaze directly into Aisleah’s shattering heart. Elisa’s eyes held a fading hope but soon enough even that dim light was extinguished and Elisa’s eyes took on an empty quality. Aisleah’s heart’s destruction was completed with that dead eyed stare. Tears she had sworn to never shed again flowed down her face.

The coil covering Elisa’s mouth shifted with slow deliberate grace down to her neck. Elisa’s head was forced back by the girth of the coil and her wet lips parted slightly as the coil began to tighten. Elisa’s mouth went wide in a silent gasp as the coil tightened suddenly and dramatically. Pale blue began to tint Elisa’s lips as her oxygen began to run out.

The snake gloated its victory. Not even the voice had noticed that he had used the time granted by the distraction to force a mental connection with the Elisa human and plant orders. The force of the attempt broke the human’s mind but not permanently. She would carry out the instructions and fall asleep. He had been right, this Aisleah human was of Atlantean Blood. For a brief moment he thought this Elisa may have been as well with that ridiculous shriek of hers. It had made his head ache. He lowered his head to look the Aisleah in her eyes. His flickering tongue drinking in her despair like honeyed wine. He flicked his tongue across her cheek tasting the saltine sadness. His wide yawn displayed his meaning and Elisa’s intended destination.

“You will watch or I will let you live with your misery and failure.” The voice commanded. “Life without your love will be empty, and all you would have is me. Well that’s what will happen anyways, it’s a win-win, as you humans say.”

Fight had fled Aisleah as she watched helplessly. The snakes head moved lazily to Elisa’s feet eyeing her closely, wary of a renewed assault, as it’s jaws stretched open over an eternity and to a sickening degree.

Over the course of Ages the snakes head inched forward, jaws stretching impossibly wider as unresisting feet slid down it’s throat with ridiculous ease. Eons past to the sweet song of wailing, enraged roars, and struggling grunts as he worked his maw relentlessly up the slim one’s body. The female didn’t need a name anymore, she was his now.

Aisleah’s heart felt as empty as Elisa’s eyes. All of eternity marched in Aisleah’s mind until, with a contrasting swiftness, all that was left was Elisa’s sweet face, her once ruby lips tinged with the blue of oxygen deprivation. Elisa’s blank eyes screamed their accusation of failure as they sunk deeper and deeper into the snake’s throat. Then the cavernous maw snapped shut, it was the final moment that hope died in Aisleah’s heart. She could see the Elisa shaped bulge being forced deeper into the snake. Looking back into its eyes she could see a grin upon its scaly face.

The snake was content with the flow of events. He would stash his meal in the tallest tree. Given the opportunity. The last thing he wanted was to face one with ancient blood on a full stomach. That would be as close to suicide as he dared contemplate. It seemed however that his plan would indeed work.

The source of the voice descended the trees and came forward out of the mist, it appeared female yet not, in the pause between steps the skin writhed like a sack of angry serpents, even the bones seemed to do the same. The limbs rippled in more than nauseous ways it walked. The hair constantly shifted color as did the color of her skin, yet the eyes remained the same completely black save for jagged lines of white.

Those eyes stares into Aisleah’s as a hand with shifting bones that made sickening popping sounds stroked her cheek. “My name is Deceit, I am a nature of this world you cling to for dear life. Despair and drown weak mortal, or rise and show me more of that delightful strength. I knew you were of Atlantean blood. No modern human could have treated his strength so casually. The day they came to you is in your memory. Find that memory and you will likely find that strength as well as your true father. Your precious female is mine but alive, even now I feel her stirring. Ah, she speaks.” Deceit petted the spot in the serpent where the Elisa shaped bulge was currently sliding.

The snake’s maw opened wide. Allowing Aisleah to hear her beloved’s deadened voice of despair intermingled with sobs. “Aisleah? Where did you go? Why didn’t you save me? You were so close. All you had to do was reach out. Now I’ll die, now I am all alone.” The snake’s mouth closed and silence reigned as fragile hope bloomed, Elisa was still alive, it took every bit of self-control to lock it inside so it wouldn’t show on her face.

She would rip the smirk off Deceit and peel the hide off of that snake and anything else she needed to to free her Elisa. These things feared her, these things knew she could win. She could use that. She would bring this whole place down in the ashes of war and lightning.

Deceit resumed speaking after a moment. “I will render you unconscious for six hours. Then a new hunt will begin, if you satisfy me, I won’t hunt the rest of your family. Either way your flesh will sate his needs. Only you will decide if your family joins you or not. There is always room for more after all.”

Aisleah’s world went dark, dreams of vengeance and rescue already forming in her mind.

Deceit waited for Aisleah’s eyes to finish closing. It had been eons since she had a chance to toy with an Atlantean and watch them suffer. She turned to Arrogance, “Digest that human garbage, the information from your human thralls was false, she bares none of the Atlantean genes. She may as well have a use in feeding you. I will go and seek out Darkness, it will need this fledgling Atlantean halfbreed to sustain itself and grow. Keep her entertained won’t you. It’s not as if you can eat her, she would have to surrender her energy to you before you could do anything to harm her. When she wakes, she will remember and she will fight.” Deceit strode away laughing maniacally.