A Goddess is Born
The mature woman Vantaiga sat forlornly on Syffox’s horse, clenched to his back. Her thoughts were serenaded to by the buzzing of bugs and clopping of hooves on hard stones. The horse’s steps plodded forward along a small mountain path, further from her home and from where she wanted to stay—wanted to stay. Leaving wasn’t supposed to be this hard. It was supposed to be the conclusion to a nice, passionate break from her isolated life—not a tormenting reminder of how lonely she had become.
She’d expected that at the end of a week with a man invading her home and cherished privacy she would be more than ready to see him leave. But this strange man was not anything she had expected. He was calm and soft-spoken, polite and considerate, and even helpful around the house. He not only helped her with her daily chores about the farm, but she was able to put him to work digging holes for a new row of palm trees to shade her cabbages.
Despite her heartache, she found herself suppressing a giggle at the thought of someone doing work for her for once. The glee from the thought of having her own man-slave quickly faded as she pressed into Syffox’s back and the hard leather armour he now wore. With his armour and short swords strapped to his sides, she felt oddly out of place clinging to his back. How could she convince this adventurer dressed for battle to stay with a slave girl dressed in a peasant’s cloak and grass hat?
She sighed and held him tighter in a foolish effort to try and convince herself she could keep him. But she knew she couldn’t. When the mountain pass ended, so would their time together. Her cabbages may be happy after this, but she wouldn’t be. The damned rogue had stolen her heart after all.
Vantaiga’s lonesome musing was interrupted when Syffox brought the horse to a stop and nudged her. Vantaiga looked at him curiously.
Syffox pulled his bow from his back and gestured down the road. “There’s a snake ahead.”
Vantaiga squinted to see a dark line wavering in the heat on the path before them. “He’s just sunning himself. Go around. He won’t bother you.”
Syffox pulled an arrow from his quiver. “Go around a snake on a rocky narrow path? I guess you haven’t heard many stories about horses and snakes?”
“Why? Are they afraid of snakes?”
Syffox laughed. “They’re afraid of everything and, yes, particularly of snakes.”
“Well, don’t kill it.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll just scare it off the road.” He nocked the arrow and loosely fired. The arrow flew in a gentle arc to land and skid through the stones a few feet beside the snake. The snake withdrew into a coil and hissed at the arrow but did not leave the path.
Syffox fired another arrow. This one tumbled on the other side of the snake. The snake twisted and hissed at the second arrow. Then it noticed the horse and its two riders. The snake rose up on its coils and, with a final hiss, spread its symbolic hood to warn the intruders it was not to be disturbed.
Syffox shook his head as he watched the snake lift itself up, its spreading hood making an irresistible target. He muttered, “If you insist,” as he pulled a third arrow from his quiver and fired. This time it was a forceful pull that sent the arrow streaking toward the snake. The arrow stuck the snake in the throat and knocked it to the ground in a writhing mass that wrapped itself around the shaft as it expired.
Vantaiga hit him on the shoulder. “What did you do that for?”
“It wouldn’t move. I’m not going to risk getting thrown or twisting the horse’s leg for a snake.”
“You shouldn’t have done that. The Snake King won’t take kindly to us killing his children.”
Syffox scanned around the surrounding rocks and mountains. “Well, he’s not here now.”
Vantaiga frowned. “We should move quickly in any case.”
Syffox trotted his horse over to the snake’s twisted body and dismounted to retrieve his arrows.
Vantaiga winced at him pulling the arrow from the snake’s carcass. “I can’t believe you actually hit it from a distance like that.”
Syffox grinned as he retrieved the two other arrows. “Thanks. It’s a pretty good bow.”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Vantaiga struggled to stay angry at him when he smiled at her like that. A sudden pang in her chest reminded her of how soon they were to part. Still, she couldn’t let him off so quickly. “Well, don’t show off for my sake, especially when it comes to killing things.”
Syffox’s shoulders dropped, and a twist of emotions crossed his face before he finally relented. “I’m sorry. I should have found a way around the snake.”
Vantaiga was stymied. She wasn’t prepared for him to not argue, let alone apologise. She didn’t have time to dwell on it though as uneasiness came over her.
Syffox mounted the horse awkwardly with Vantaiga already atop it. “If we go quickly, I think we can make it most of the way through the mountains by tonight.”
Vantaiga grabbed his shoulder. “Shush! Something’s wrong.”
Her tone made Syffox’s hairs bristle. “What’s going on?”
Vantaiga looked around. “There’s no sound. The cicadas are quiet.”
Syffox began to notice the silence as well. “That is strange.”
“We should get out of here.”
Syffox was about to acknowledge his agreement when they were both startled by a small stone tumbling down the mountainside. Tracing back from where the stone had come, they could see a snake slither down the hill towards them. Then, a second snake slithered down.
As their eyes became accustomed to the motion, they soon made out more snakes. Syffox looked to the other side of the path, and snakes were moving in from there as well. They were everywhere—far more than Syffox had arrows for. Syffox cursed and Vantaiga jarred him to action. “Go!”
Syffox kicked his horse into motion with a cry. The horse, frightened by the snakes, hesitated for a moment before breaking into a gallop.
Vantaiga scolded as she clung to him. “I told you not to harm them.”
“I’m sorry. But now is not the time.”
The snakes seemed to come from everywhere along the mountain, encroaching upon their path. Syffox clamped his knees against the sides of the horse and called back to Vantaiga, “Hold tight and don’t move.” He began firing his arrows.
Vantaiga cried out, “Don’t kill them!”
“You’re joking, right?”
Firing from horseback at a gallop was far more difficult than standing still. Not every arrow hit its target, and there were too many to strike down in any event. The horse began to veer from the path onto the rougher stones of the mountainside. This slowed them down, and the snakes closed in even more. Some were now close enough to lash out at the horse.
The horse darted away from the striking snakes as they hissed and coiled away from the spraying stones kicked up by stamping hooves. Silently, Vantaiga commanded the grasses and scrubs to entangle the snakes closest to them. Not realising the source, Syffox marvelled as the dusty plants seemed to come alive and trap the snakes. He didn’t stop to question their fortune, though, and guided his horse through the safer ground.
Still, the snakes continued to press on them, and the already sparse vegetation was thinning. Vantaiga could no longer command enough plants to hold them back. She would need a different approach. She pooled up the magic stored within her and released it as a burst into the rocks on the roadside. The blast cast out vibrations and pebbles that startled nearby snakes.
Syffox pulled his horse to a halt. “What the hell was that?”
Vantaiga slapped his back. “It was me. Keep going.”
Syffox shook his head in disbelief before his old adventuring instincts kicked in and he spurred his horse on.
Vantaiga continued to blast the rocks as they raced down the path. The confused snakes cleared away from them enough to allow the horse to run by without being bitten. Each blast was a drain on her magic, though. Vantaiga could not keep it up for long.
As they ran down the trail, the slopes of the mountains grew steeper with the venomous snakes growing too thick. Their way was cut off, and they were being turned down ever smaller side paths. The mountains rose overhead and blocked the sun, casting them in chilling shadows. While they tried to speed through the gathering snakes, the horse’s hooves echoed off the narrowing cliffs around them, signalling to Syffox they were being led to a trap.
Before he could think of a different course, a massive rock blast boomed over their heads and shook the mountainside. It startled them to a skidding stop as an avalanche of debris spilled out over their path which had become little more than a narrow canyon. Their way was now completely blocked.
Syffox called back to Vantaiga in shock, “What did you do that for?” He reined his horse in a tight circle, looking for an escape.
Vantaiga was just as confused. “That wasn’t me.”
With the horse staying in place, the snakes gathered to the path. But instead of moving in to strike, they slithered in a circle about them. They were not being attacked but both Vantaiga and Syffox’s dread deepened. Syffox kept an arrow drawn in his bow. Vantaiga scanned the ground and sky for plants and birds she could call upon. The canyon did not offer anything for her aid.
A loud hiss echoed off the stone slopes. The snakes stopped their circling and slithered off the trail to disappear beneath the rocks.
A harsh voice containing a serpent’s hiss resounded off the canyon walls. “Why have you invaded my land?” The couple tried to find its source, but it seemed to come from all around them.
The voice echoed out again. “Why have you killed my children?”
Vantaiga tugged on Syffox’s shoulder. “We need to get out of here.”
Syffox turned the horse to bolt as a figure emerged from around the bend of their only escape route out of the canyon.
“Why have you disturbed my realm?”
The dark, mottled skin of the creature blended in so well with the surrounding rocks, it took the two a moment to discern what it was that addressed them. And even when Syffox could make out the creature, it still took him a few moments more to comprehend it.
At first, it seemed like a man with broad shoulders who stood so tall he was level with the couple even though they were atop a horse. As the creature moved towards them, it appeared not to step but to weave from side to side on the long thick body of a snake. Its face and head were also that of a snake. Below its thick neck, shoulders and arms protruded from a leathery, wing-like hood. In one hand, it held a jagged, curved sword. On the other wrist were tied several medallions.