The White Snake and the Scarred Delta

Chapter 13

Garridan

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“We’ll never know if we don’t go through it, Garridan,” Tezy pointed out.

Before we could argue more, Dušan ran towards the portal. I heard Tezy gasp and quickly followed the young ex-sorceress. Not a second later, they were both gone from my vision. I had no choice but to go through the ice-cold magical gateway. We then found ourselves in a dark dungeon. However, I could still see the place like it was before dusk. On our right were three cells with silver bars.

Just great. If Tezy had her power malfunction, we would surely be trapped and might join the prisoners here.

We looked around the cold and damp dungeon. A sliver of light came from our left.

“That must be the exit,” I commented, speaking with Tezy in her head. Although she blocked her thoughts and I could not read it, we could still make conversations like this.

“Zorica? Are you here?” Dušan whispered. Her hands groped the silver bars. Without her powers, she could not see well in the dark like a normal person.

Some prisoners stirred from their sleep or deep thoughts. I growled when the dungeon lit up like day.

“Now this seems more like it, Dušan,” Tezy said.

“Are you stupid? The guards will notice the light!” I scolded the snake-shifter goddess.

“Thank you!” Teary-eyed Dušan murmured and went on to check the cells, searching for her younger sister.

The first cell had at least three male prisoners, who studied us with curiosity and amazement, especially when they saw Tezy in her almost non-existing clothing. Something primal rose from my chest, akin to possessiveness. I did not want others to ogle her in this state.

I snarled at the male prisoners, giving them a warning glare. They must have feared my bared teeth, as they cringed in a corner, far enough from touching the silver bars. Their heads were bowed, listening and observing what was about to happen.

“Zorica!” Dušan exclaimed.

“Who’s there?” A werewolf finally came in, seeing us, while Tezy used her powers to open the cell door for little Zorica.

My attention was transferred to the guard. I pounced on him before he could shift, hitting his chest with my paws. His body connected to the floor, and so did his head, that blood trickled from the back of it, staining the dungeon’s dirty floor.

The two sisters were reunited, hugging each other. I could see the tears racing down the young girl’s dirty face. I could swear Ultima Danijel did not care for his hostage at all. She was merely a means to an end.

“Garridan, what are we going to do with the other prisoners?” Tezy asked me.

“Intruders!” The guard managed to whisper to inform his pack before I could answer her.

The goddess did not wait for my answer, however. She opened all the cell doors instead, to my horror. An oath escaped from my thoughts, ensuring that she heard it.

“What? They must be Sivvuk Pack’s enemies, aren’t they?” she explained before I could say anything, like how stupid she was for doing it.

“So what if they are? They’re not our friends either,” I pointed out to her.

I growled when one of the prisoners tried to touch her. None of them went to the exit, knowing the gray wolves must be coming soon. Well, just a quarter of a minute, the exit passage was filled with yapping enemies. Three of them jumped into the air, and the fracas began.

The werewolf prisoners that Tezy set free shifted. Snarling, they signaled for us to leave first. Now, I did not expect it. They were ready to die for their rescuer; it was clear to me.

The gray wolves attacked the prisoners, while Tezy secured the two sisters. She summoned the triangular portal to open.

“Go!” she ordered Dušan and Zorica, who were both trembling out of fear.

As soon as the two were out of sight, she pushed the rest of the prisoners towards the portal, to my surprise. All seven prisoners, three injured, fled through the portal and disappeared. Where they went, I had no idea.

I was left to deal with five gray wolves on my own. Three of them were already ganging up on me. The first bit my left hind leg; the second hit me in the face with his paw; and the third tried to bite off my right ear. Searing pain registered in my wolfy brain. Nonetheless, I fought hard, as two more sprang up to pounce on me, ready for the kill.

It was as if time stopped suddenly, when Tezy moved her hand in front of her, palm facing the enemies. The five gigantic wolves all flew out of the exit, destroying the metal door. She transformed into her white snake form and wrapped her body around mine. I was immobile for a second or so, and I could feel myself being hurled towards the portal, in the opposite direction. Nonetheless, the portal closed. Because of that, Tezy and I hit the thick hard wall, breaking its pieces.

“What just happened?” I asked her, groaning. She was still entwined with my body. Her white snake form was smaller than I could remember.

“I must have held out the portal longer than necessary, and it’s draining my powers faster than I thought!” she answered, hissing while untangling herself from me. “If only my thousands of worshippers gave me their good energies right now, I’d have been fine before you knew it.”

Tezy slithered away from me, as the gray wolves were back. They snarled at us tauntingly.

“So, how can you get your powers back now?” I asked, springing into the air to evade their attacks. One hit the cell, which made him whimper as it burned his body. And I pushed the two others with my body. I bit the fourth one in the neck and hurled him towards his pack. It created a huge thud and some whimpers, as they all ended up in a heap.

“With Dušan’s powers inside me, maybe an hour or so,” she estimated. “I just hate your dimension. It somehow eats up my power fast whenever I use it. If I was in Hebbiza, it would not have mattered much.”

I looked at her with concern. I was worried she and I would perish before I could put Ultima Danijel down once and for all.

“Hey, I’m not that powerless, even in this smaller form. Don’t you underestimate me, Garridan. I’m a goddess, and I’m immortal!” she bragged. “Besides, vulnerability is my motivation to win this fight. I still have lots of things to do, remember? I know you know what I mean.” With it, she demonstrated her prowess. Her small form glided on the damp floor, and she pounced on the oncoming wolf, whose murderous eyes were fixed on me. She wrapped her long body around the wolf and bit his stomach. Blood dripped from the fang punctures.

I wondered if she had venom that could actually kill our enemies. Before I could even ask her out of curiosity, the gray wolf went limp. From his gaping mouth, a greenish white ball the size of a chestnut came out. It hovered above Tezy’s white snake head before it entered there, as though it was sucked. The greenish aura ran from the crown of her head towards her gold-band tail, which twinkled for a second that I thought I might have just imagined it.

The gray wolves looked at the white snake shedding skin in a blink of an eye. Tezy grew an inch larger, diameter speaking. She also grew longer. Now, that was something.

Did the wolf’s life force give her more powers?

The enemies stepped back slowly upon seeing what she had done, as well as her transformation. They howled and growled. For sure, they were now starting to get terrified by the white snake that could suck their life force with a mere bite.

But what could this mean to Tezy? I felt that her aura changed for some reason.