Book 2: Chapter 1: Serephius
Author's Note
Welcome to Book Two.
If you came here straight from Book One, thank you for trusting me enough to continue. If you are new, I am really glad you found your way here.
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Chapter 1: Serephius
The old man stumbles through the doorway, staff clattering against the floor, chest heaving. His face is pale, eyes wide with fear.
“My lords!” he gasps, voice cracking. “My lords, please—”
Serephius rises instantly, Jin close behind. “What is it?”
“The lake,” the old man chokes out. “There’s been a storm. A terrible storm. The fishermen, they saw a boat capsize. A woman—”
Serephius goes completely still. “Where?”
“Near the middle of the lake. They tried to reach her, but the waves—” The old man shakes his head frantically. “She went under. They couldn’t—”
Serephius doesn’t wait for him to finish.
…
Serephius stands at the river’s edge, boots planted on black earth. Nothing in the landscape appears amiss—the current glides, the breeze stirs the reeds, the world pretends to breathe normally—but the air is wrong.
Jin arrives seconds later, his boots splashing through the shallow shoreline. “Should I?” he asks.
Serephius gives one curt nod.
Jin lifts off the ground in a single effortless motion, soaring into the sky. The wind tears at his hair, whipping it across his face, but he does not flinch. His hand rises, palm open toward the heavens, and on one controlled breath he whispers:
“Enclose.”
The word exhales from him like a spell born from marrow, twisting into the air. A ripple surges outward, nearly invisible, then the world bends.
The entire length of the lake touching the shoreline shudders and seals itself inside a massive sphere. The surface of the barrier shimmers once, then snaps into stillness.
Time itself has paused.
Not truly. Time still flows for those within the barrier, for Serephius and Jin and whatever else dwells here. But for everything outside, for the mortals huddled in their homes and the fishermen working by the shore, the world has simply stopped noticing. The lake no longer exists in their perception. They will look this way and see only calm water under a clear sky. They will feel no unease, no wrongness.
Jin’s enchantment is flawless. But it will not last. “We need to be quick,” Jin says, echoing Serephiu’s thoughts. “I can maintain this for a short while. After that...” He does not finish.
Serephius moves. The ground cracks beneath his feet as he launches upward, propelling himself into the air with force enough to shatter stone. Jin is already descending to meet him, and together they soar toward the centre of the lake.
The sun has dipped below the horizon. Darkness spreads across the water like spilled ink, turning the surface into a mirror of void. Only the faint glow of Jin’s barrier provides light now, casting everything in pale, ghostly illumination.
They hover above the lake’s centre, where the water is deepest, and look down.
There is something moving, barely distinguishable from the darkness around it, but it grows, shifts, coiling and uncoiling with slow, deliberate motion.
Serephius’s eyes narrow. The shadow is massive. Larger than any creature should be. It winds through the depths like a river of its own, its form twisting and curling back on itself in endless loops. He can see the outline of scales now, huge and overlapping, each one the size of a man.
It moves beneath them, circling. Serephius summons his sword. It materializes in his hand with a sound like tearing fabric. The blade pulses faintly, glowing with deep crimson light that spreads from hilt to tip like blood flowing through veins.
The water surges. A wave rises without warning, towering above them, and then crashes back down. The surface churns violently, foam erupting in white bursts as something beneath thrashes.
The shadow is no longer circling. It is rising.
The water swells upward, bulging impossibly, and then splits apart. A massive shape erupts from the depths, water streaming from its scaled body in torrents. It climbs higher, higher, until it towers above them both, blotting out what little light remains.
The serpent. Dark green scales cover every inch of its form, layered and ridged, gleaming wetly under Jin’s barrier light. Jagged spines run down its back, sharp as blades. Its head is crowned with curved horns that sweep backward like broken crescents, and its eyes, its eyes are pits of molten gold, burning with intelligence and rage.
It opens its mouth.
Rows upon rows of teeth, white and serrated, glint in the dim light. Its tongue flickers out, tasting the air, their presence.
And then it roars.
The sound crashes over them, vibrating through water and air. The lake itself shudders, ripples spreading outward in concentric circles. Serephius feels it in his chest, a pressure that tries to force him back.
The movement is impossibly fast. One moment the creature is coiled in the air above the water. The next it is shooting forward, jaws gaping wide, passing Serephius by a hair’s breath, and lunging straight at Jin.
The attack is too fast to counter. Jin moves, but not fast enough. Fangs sink into his shoulder.
Blood bursts instantly, flooding his robe in crimson, dripping in fat beads from the serpent’s teeth. Jin’s breath stutters, body jerking from the sheer force of the strike.
The serpent rears back, body coiling, and roars again. The sound reverberates across the lake, across the hills, shaking the very earth. Its body ripples with power, scales glinting, and it rises higher still, so massive that it could swallow entire villages without effort.
Serephius surges forward, sword raised, and he closes the distance between himself and the serpent in a single breath. The blade sings through the air. He lands on the creature’s body, boots striking scales. And he runs, up its coiled length, over ridges and spines, blade held ready. The serpent writhes beneath him, trying to throw him off.
Serephius leaps higher and brings the sword down. The blade bites deep into the serpent’s flesh, cutting through scale and muscle brutally. He pulls it downward as he falls, carving a long, gushing wound that splits the creature’s side open. Blood pours out in a torrent, steaming as it hits the air.
The serpent screams in agony. The creature thrashes wildly, its massive body convulsing, coils snapping through the air like whips.
Serephius lands beside Jin, sword still dripping. They hover together, watching.
The serpent writhes before them, blood streaming from the wound. Its movements are frantic, pained. But even as they watch, the wound begins to close. Flesh knits together, scales reforming, until within moments there is no trace of injury.
It heals. The serpent lifts its head and screams again, louder, fury blazing in its golden eyes.
Serephius tightens his grip on the sword. His voice is low, cold. “I’m going to cut its head off.”
