The two enemies maneuvered around the open courtyard, striking and falling back without ever quite delivering a fatal blow to the other. After half an hour of parrying, the snake made a lunge and wrapped its body around that of the scorpion in such a way that the scorpion’s tail couldn’t reach it to sting.
The two creatures writhed and squirmed on the ground for some time until it again looked as though the Akar/cobra would defeat the Aeshma/scorpion. Then, at the point of defeat, the scorpion began to shift its shape again, becoming a vulture of curved beak and rapacious eyes. Its new, smaller shape was harder for the serpent to hold, and it wriggled free of the cobra’s grasp and flew up into the skies.
Not to be outdone, Akar again summoned the power of the spells he’d brought with him
