[The Twining] 13. The Serpent

Ros thrashed and the serpent’s body twisted, the water churning with white and gray blood, a furious cyclone of monsters carried by chaotic currents.

Isen crashed against Ros’s hips, the last of the air knocked from his lungs. But he sensed it. An opportunity. The serpent’s lower length coiled around Ros, nearly crushing Isen in the process.

Isen threw the dagger into the serpent’s scales. Isen had never thrown the knife before—it wasn’t specifically balanced for such a purpose. He didn’t know how the sinew would affect the bladed weapon’s flight.

Through a miracle or luck, the dagger pierced deep into the serpent’s hide, just as Ros kicked the serpent away. Its sinuous body twisted, rolling with the blow—and the dagger rolled with it. The sinew went taut, constricting over Isen’s torso where he’d tied it into a triangular harness. For a moment, he wondered if he’d made a fatal miscalculation, the strength of the serpent enough to pull the divine sinew through his skin, cutting him apart.

His tempered skin held, and the serpent’s maneuver threw him from Ros, launching him into the air. The dagger pulled free as he arced out of the water. Time seemed to freeze as he absorbed the view. He could finally appreciate the full size of the serpent—nearly as thick as Ros was tall, and twice as long. Its head was slightly larger than Ros’s, though its maw was shorter, giving it slightly less reach.

Below Isen, Ros’s jaws clamped onto the serpent’s neck, just as the serpent bit down furiously onto Ros’s. Ros had pulled the upper part of the serpent out of the water, its claws wrapping around the enemy’s torso much like the bear had once encircled Ros. Water flew around them, droplets scintillating like liquid sunlight.

Isen sucked in a deep breath, deeper than he’d ever taken before. It was as though the world were responding to his need for air. The mist entered his core. His hollow ring vibrated like a tuning fork.

He plummeted, the dagger in his mouth, his hands held out behind him, forming an energy ball.

His perception could barely register the world as it streamed past him. If he crashed into the water at the speed he was going, especially if he hit the water while disoriented, he’d be at the mercy of the numerous fanged fish waiting in the fathoms. And if he fell into the open water, separated from Ros, he wouldn’t be able to push off the vulpine’s body to better maneuver. He’d have to rely on the force he could generate with his body. That might work against the first fish, or the second… but they were all tier two monsters and far better adapted to this environment than he was.

His sixth sense screamed at him that the only way forward was toward the two massive monsters, and he heeded its call, even if his rational mind said that nearing the savage monsters was courting death.

He released the energy ball, but rather than focusing his intent on sending the projectile at a distant target, he imploded it. A wave of concussive air blasted him forward. It wasn’t as powerful as it could have been—he hadn’t had time to gather more energy—but as he flew, he was thankful for the weaker blast. Isen had always considered himself quick footed and acrobatic, and cultivation had only improved his agility. None of that prepared him for flying so quickly through empty air.

There was only one thing for Isen to do—a mad gambit with the knife in his teeth. He was moving so fast he could barely move, his trajectory set. But with every ounce of willpower, he forced his arms and legs out, shifting his angle slightly. It wasn’t the result of conscious thought, but instinct. His body knew where he needed to go. He knew what he needed to do.

He careened toward the entangled core consolidation stage juggernauts.

In his mouth swirled a marble of energy tearing painfully at the insides of his cheeks. Pooling blood almost made the dagger slip between his teeth.

Both the serpent monster and Ros were oblivious to his presence until he appeared among them. When he was just over the neck of the massive serpent, he spat out the dagger. The harsh energy he’d gathered in his mouth propelled the weapon forward.

Only the fourth-tier sharpness of Isen’s dagger allowed it to sink into the third-tier scales, though the incision was shallow. Isen’s body jerked as he pulled on the sinew, the tension in the rope yanking the dagger deeper. Reacting on instinct, he formed a paltry energy ball, bursting it beneath him and arresting his downward bounce. It sent him swinging parallel to the beast’s exposed upper body in a shallow arc.

That quick burst of air saved him from being torn apart by the harness, but the sinews carved deep into his skin, stopping at his ribs and the dense knots of muscle in his left shoulder. He was in agony for only a moment before he slammed into the serpent’s body and the world winked out.

His head pounded and his vision blurred as he came to. He dangled from the sinew leading up to the dagger, hanging parallel to the serpent’s side a few feet above the water. The fourth-tier strings weren’t visible on his body, only the scarlet lines of their passage. He tried to gather energy in his hands again, but the mist refused to respond, only swirling weakly around his fingers.

No, he thought, it can’t end like this.

The serpent continued to writhe as it fought Ros, its mostions repeatedly slamming Isen against its body. With each smack, he felt his energy waning. But what was he supposed to do? He couldn’t cut the sinew if he tried. And even if he did… he’d plummet broken into the water.

Isen was barely conscious when the serpent’s struggles abated. The massive body fell a short distance to the water, creating a tall wave that scraped the golden water smooth. The beast was as still as the placid surface. Isen draped into the water up to his thighs.

Is it over? Isen’s mundane senses were muddled, so he closed his eyes and tried to see only the ambient energy through his lids. Soon, a familiar form gazed at him with eyes like dark pools of swirling liquid, slowly sucking in the mist. Ros was covered in wounds, but nothing too serious. It extended its tail, supporting Isen’s body and lifting him up to where the tethered blade lay embedded in the serpent’s body.

“Isen, can you grab the dagger?”

Dazed, he nodded, crawling forward on the slick, almost slimy back of the giant snake. His left shoulder was limp, but his right arm seemed relatively fine. His hand shook as it wrapped around the nub of the hilt sticking up from flesh. The rest was embedded deep into the serpent. Isen pulled at it and nearly lost his balance.

“It’s stuck,” he rasped, his tongue a numb, bloody lump behind his teeth.

Ros seemed to understand the clumsy words. “Hold steady.” Then its tail retreated, leaving Isen unsupported on the serpent’s back. His knuckles were white around the protruding part of the hilt, using it to keep his balance. The serpent was broad, and normally Isen wouldn’t struggle to keep his balance, but his body just… wasn’t responding like it should.

Ros clawed the serpent, pulling itself half onto its length, causing the corpse to plunge beneath the waves. Warm water swamped around Isen, the radiant liquid washing his wounds. Its healing touch burned. He recoiled, but there was nowhere to escape the flow. He clawed feebly at the sinews embedded in his chest and arm, concerned that the water would heal his skin around them.

Through clenched eyes, Isen saw Ros leaning its head forward, jaws only just agape. A fang brushed over Isen’s right hand; the boy let go.

Ros’s mouth closed around the exposed nub of the dagger and it tugged the weapon free. Already on his knees, Isen fell to his elbows as the motion yanked him forward. He screamed as his shoulder protested the motion. He could barely breathe, every inhalation like huffing shards of glass.

Ros dropped the dagger. The beast then brandished a talon, drawing it across the serpent’s hide. The mist undulated around the fresh wound. “Drink,” it commanded. “It will not heal me, though it should help you.” Its gaze fell on the water.

Isen panted. “What… are…”

Ros anticipated his unfinished question. “There are still nuisances I must attend to.” Then it sank back into the fathoms, leaving Isen alone.

Isen cracked his eyes open and crawled carefully over to the milky slash in the serpent’s scaled hide. The blood was white, like Ros’s. Much purer than the blood of tier one and two monsters that shone in various shades of gray.

At tier one, drinking tier three blood would have seriously injured him, so he’d never tried Ros’s. He’d not yet had the opportunity at tier two. Ros had never offered, and he’d never asked.

He didn’t have a better way to grab the liquid than to pool it in his hands, but even that required too much effort. The dagger dragged behind him as he pulled himself forward, his head pressing to the gap. He lapped at the blood, feeling conspicuously more monster than man.

He shuddered as the energy coated his mouth. While the divine bear’s blood tasted like honey, this blood tasted exactly how it looked—like slightly sweet milk. Licking his lips, Isen pulled on the sinew rope, reeling it in. He leveraged the dagger into the wound, pulling it wider to better fit his face.

A minute later, Isen sensed Ros in his peripheral vision, the beast’s neck arching elegantly above the water. It bared its teeth, then bit down hard into the serpent’s side, rending flesh.

The divine bear’s body had been large, but its flesh so potent that even Ros hadn’t been able to handle much of it at once. They’d devoured it slowly. By the time they had left the sanctum, they’d mostly used it up, leaving hide and bone behind.

In contrast, Ros tore into the serpent with ferocity, barely chewing before swallowing. Isen soon began to wonder how Ros could fit so much in his body, concluding that his companion must be rapidly breaking down the serpent’s flesh for energy.

When Isen had healed enough to keep his balance, he dug out the sinews from himself, nearly losing consciousness in the process. As he’d feared, his skin had started to heal over them, so he was forced to use the dagger to cut the pink scar tissue open.

He adjusted the harness slightly so that the sinews rested on relatively undamaged skin, then returned his mouth to the serpent’s wound, drinking as much blood as he could. He then slid off the corpse into the healing water, floating on the surface while cycling energy.

Retreat… or advance. He felt the gravity of the choice weighing him down. His rational mind said to turn back, that they were already lucky enough to have survived this latest encounter. He would be a fool for continuing this inauspicious quest through the golden lake.

He was so tired. He wanted to go back to the sanctum and sleep on the plush bed. He wanted to stand on solid ground where he had greater confidence in his—and Ros’s—abilities.

But he could taste it, far sweeter than the serpent’s blood—opportunity. Close at hand and overwhelming.

Why did this opportunity call to him now, with such power? Was it a fleeting boon, only available by chance? Or was it something that would remain available for years?

Isen had only sensed it after breaking through to the hollow ring stage. Did that mean that he was only qualified for the opportunity now, or was it just a coincidence? His gut said it was tied to his breakthrough. I definitely wouldn’t have been strong enough to survive this journey in the hollow formation stage.

But also… he knew that he could only get this far because of Ros. It wasn’t just an opportunity for him, but for the scaled beast. Ros had been stuck in the third tier for who knows how long. Maybe this opportunity would change that.

“Isen,” Ros’s voice called. He felt its tail under him, forming a ramp to the beast’s back. Isen mounted and climbed to Ros’s shoulders. Thankfully, the sack containing the books and Isen’s few other belongings was intact. “Should we continue?”

“If we run into a beast at your cultivation level, we won’t make it,” Isen said solemnly. “There are ways I can prepare better. I never intended to use the dagger and harness like I did, and it almost killed me. If we went back, I could create rough padding from the bear’s hide and make more daggers to throw. I can cycle more and try to push for a minor breakthrough—

“Isen,” Ros said, its voice soft. “Your job is to navigate. Mine is to fight. Your endangerment by the serpent—and before, by the bear—is my fault. Whether we complete this journey depends upon me, and unlike you, I cannot prepare better. I am what I am. Either we do this now, or never—at least, not before you enter the third tier, which should happen long after we escape this place.”

Isen’s hands tightened on the beast’s scales. “You want to continue?”

“If you think the opportunity is worth the risk.”

Isen fixed his gaze on the ceiling, imagining the sparkling surface as the night sky. “Ros… what do you want out of your life? More than just leaving the depths.”

The monster bobbed on the water. “I want the singular desire of all beasts: to advance.”

“Why can’t you?”

“Child… It is a private matter, related to my coming here.”

“Oh.”

“Decide soon—our battle should have attracted the notice of scavengers and other powerful monsters. I am at peace with whatever you choose.”

The burden of Ros’s life felt impossibly heavy on Isen’s weary back. “Will you really be at peace if this ends badly?”

“Cultivation is a race, child—one that most never finish. The bear and the serpent were both mighty monsters who honed their strength over centuries, perhaps millennia. It is impossible to say how many monsters they killed to achieve such heights. I am much the same.” The beast raised its head to the ceiling. “I have no expectations of finishing the race, even if it is my greatest hope. The question isn’t if I will die, but why. The question for you is not whether the path forward is safe—it is whether the prize is worth dying for.”

“Will you die with regrets if you fall here, in this bleak realm?” Isen murmured. “How long has it been since you saw the sky?”

“Romantic human notions have no place here,” Ros replied. “Choose.”

Isen tore his gaze away from the starry rock. “… Forward.”