Chapter 4 #2
What in the gods was happening to me? It was like my entire form was changing, shifting into a lithe being with no solid structure.
As my eyes became slits and the hues of the world were dulled and then heightened to the extreme, painful detail, two long fangs protruded out from my gums. With a scream, I shifted my head, or whatever it was now, and sliced into the guard’s one cock with my left fang.
“Barnacles!” he shrieked, yanking his appendage from my mouth as he tumbled away. “What in the holy… are you?”
The guard was larger than me, but at that moment I could barely see the top of his head as he stood up. His cocks were now limp, his navy-hued blood dripping down to the tip of the right one. What was I?
The guard fell to the floor with a shuddering cry of agony as his cock that was injured pulsed with crimson veins, the dark hue creeping up and over his hip. His eyes were so wide that I thought they were going to pop from his face.
“Help!” he screeched before he fell into wales of agony that sounded similar to some of the fish near my home village after they reached the surface, trying to escape. “It’s a monster! It’s not a snail!”
As the guard continued to scream for help, I slithered–slithered? Fuck, was I a snake? That couldn’t be right. Shifters with snake forms weren’t real. At least not anymore…
All three doors burst open, guards teaming in, but on instinct, my new body coiled up and shot through their legs, escaping into the grand halls. I tried not to think about how I left a line of blood behind, leading anyone right to me.
The guards shouted back and forth as I shimmied through a narrow crack underneath a wide door three long turns away from the room I’d been confined in.
Out of the cold hallway and into a warm, brightly decorated bedchamber.
Where was this? My eyes still couldn’t get used to the vibrant hues, my mind spinning.
I wavered, my slim body slowing as my vision dimmed.
“Oh my, what do we have here?”
My mind was a foggy mess as my energy became depleted and I could barely shimmy any further. The amount of effort it must have taken my body and mind to shift for the very first time, it finally caught up to me.
A warm, flesh-like hand scooped me up from the floor, the webbed fingers keeping me snug in the feminine voice’s grasp.
“A Monvie?” I was leveled with the face of a beauty that glimmered in the room’s lighting.
Her rich, dark hair flowed like waves around her thin cheeks.
Her icy eyes reminded me of the gems that glittered in Xexon’s cavern.
I swallowed the pained pulse in my chest if I even had one anymore.
“What a surprise. I thought Monvie had gone extinct, at least in the surrounding kingdoms.”
The woman’s voice was like a soft lullaby that soothed my injuries and lulled me into a relaxed state. I simply stared at her, taking her form in as I didn’t know if I could even speak in this form.
“Monvie, whatever has happened to you?” The woman’s voice now took a darker turn as she shifted one of her hands back and stared at the deep crimson hue of my blood that dotted her scaley flesh.
The vibration rattled me first. Even off the floor, I could feel the guards’ footsteps as they charged through the corridors. Then came their voices.
“Find the snail!”
“He’s not a snail! Barnacles!”
“When I find him, I’ll gut that Monvie from head to tail.”
The woman’s features shifted in an instant. The openness of her curiosity dimmed and a wave of anger stormed through her icy gaze. The air around her slashed across my scales. She was the beginning of a sea storm, I could feel the eeriness of it in my gut.
“I will not let them harm you any longer.” She set her now dark gaze on mine. “The cruelty of my brother’s reign must come to a stop.”
Without so much as a twitch from her, a side door popped open, and a young woman who seemed nothing but human, in a simple pale dress almost floated in. Her head was down and her hair was pulled from her face in a tight bun.
“Lenoray, gather my guards. I’m going to see my brother.” The woman, who could only possibly be the crowned princess, Evieza, gave the order to her servant and returned her attention back to me.
How cruel could this world be that I found myself in the grasp of the sister to the High King? The man that had used and broken me?
My throat squeezed shut, or maybe that was my imagination as I wasn’t sure that was possible as a snake.
“It must be terrifying for you, so small and in such a large place.” Evieza’s voice softened as she spoke to me, and I only wish I could respond.
I tilted my head, which was the best I could do when the entire structure around us shook.
Even Evieza grew scared at the action and the crippling wail that resounded through our very bones as an echo of the attack.
Xexon.
“Why has the Protector turned against us?” Evieza murmured it more for herself, but I couldn’t stay here any longer.
I spun into a circle, using the smooth scales of my body to allow me to slide across her hand and dive toward the ground.
I didn’t know if it would hurt me at all, but all I could think about was getting back to Xexon.
My mate. A heated need pulsed through my small body, followed by an ache within my chest that told me I wasn’t whole without him.
“Wait, Movie!” Evieza reached out to grab me once more and she gripped my tail, yanking me back up.
“No! Xexon!” the screech that escaped my small form was a shrill plea as I wriggled against her hold.
“Monvie, are you on good terms with the Protector?” The princess continued to grab a hold of me and the thought of biting her hand and escaping popped into my mind.
No, I couldn’t do that to her. She had only been kind to me. Unlike the others within Brasil. My mind raced and all I knew was that I had to escape. I needed to see Xexon. To know that it was all going to be alright.
But what if he didn’t want me anymore? I was broken, and damaged.
I was used up and worse yet, I was a Monvie.
One of the vile snake shifters of Issex’s history.
One of the first shifters that used their dark magic to enslave the humans and creatures of the mainland of Issex, until they were cursed and forced into captivity.
Though none know what happened after that, somehow I had become one of them. How was that possible?
It didn’t matter. I needed to get to Xexon. I’d worry about the rest later.
I titled my head in the affirmative for Evieza as I realized she was still waiting patiently for my response.
“Are you why he is attacking us?” There was no judgment or anger in her voice or her appearance. It was a simple question as she tried to understand.
I gave her the same answer. I was able to scream earlier, but I hadn’t gotten used to this form, so I wasn’t sure how to form the words again.
“Well, let’s go meet my brother. I am sure the Protector will be looking for him first.” A twisted smile curled her lips, and although it wasn’t directed at me, I still felt the painful shiver of fear at her expression.