Changelings... Chapt 1. Pt 4

He sped towards his prey, they were close enough to taste. He closed his eye momentarily and reminisced about the feeling of the warm bodies crushed within his coils, the feeling of fur and sinew sliding down his gullet. He almost could feel it. He opened his eyes once more and began to slow as he could now see the living spaces of his prey, simplistic mounds and burrows in the ground. Perfect hunting grounds for a snake.

He circled the nest, looking for young or old animals, near the edges of the nest, where they were weakest, most vulnerable…

There was one… A youngster, gamboling about on the side of the nest, unprotected by the it, and better yet, hidden from sight by the highly raised furrows in the earth.

He slithered closer, quiet as could be, tongue flickering softly, his senses tingling with the anticipated flavor of the rodents.

He struck quickly, biting onto the creatures head, muffling any noise it might make. He quickly looped himself about it several times, and slowly began to squeeze, crushing the life from him, savoring the feeling of the heartbeat speeding up and suddenly stopping from sheer terror, feeling the life slowly ebb from the now broken body.

He unhinged his jaw, working his jaw muscles about the fur and bones. He began to salivate, lubricating the body, allowing it easier entry into his gullet.

The animal was not very large, but it satisfied his raging hunger a small amount, $enough to allow him to think more clearly, to plan his next route of attack. He examined his immediate area. This seemed much like a good place to stay. He was right on the line between the nest and the forest, and he was well hidden from sight by the nest itself. And, by the scent of it, many creatures wandered down here. Best of all, off to his side a little length, there was an abandoned burrow… He slithered towards it.

THUD THUD THUD!

The earth began to tremble as massive footsteps thundered towards him. A monstrous creature was charging towards the nest. All the little creatures began to squeal in terror and flee, diving into burrows and crevices, behind trees and fleeing off into the forest.

The creature was huge, the biggest thing he had ever seen. He turned and sped towards the now not so empty burrow. It had been an escape for several rodents, and there was no entry. He turned about in cold defiance, looking at his death.

As the monster charged, it reached down and raked its claws along the earth, snaring small squealing rodents, impaling them on its claws, shoving them into its mouth, gnashing furiously, small chunks of meat flying everywhere through the air. It spotted him and changed direction ever so slowly and continued its charge. “Well, this might hurt…” He was going to die. He slowly closed his eyes.

She charged after her prey, feet thudding against the ground.

She heard something in the distance that caused her to pause. It was a crashing and thrashing some ways behind her and off away to the side, in the trees. She slowed to a stop and glanced off to her side through the trees to see what it could possibly be. She caught a glimpse of something massive, dashing through the trees, even larger than herself by a couple arm lengths. It had a massive crest on it’s head, and was dead set on the nest her murderer was headed towards. She snapped her attention back to where he had last been and barely glimpsed him snagging a young rodent. “He’s going to die…” That creature was going to get her kill. But she didn’t dare challenge it. Last time she had done something so foolish she had ended up dead. Or would she…?

“I have to save him. I love him…” She took off running.

Eyes still closed he awaited death, finding peace in the darkness behind his lids. Closer, closer, he could hear it’s harsh snarls, taste it’s fetid breath washing over him, feel the vibration of the claws running over the ground and gravel. There was a sudden pain in his midriff, a tearing noise, a bright blue light… and then… nothing. He was floating in a wash of soft blue light.

She darted closer to the nest, watching her friend stop and face his death with solemn reserve. He turned about and stared at the monster for a moment, then closed his eyes, awaiting his doom. She watched in horror as razor sharp claws raced along the ground towards him and he still not twitch…  The claws caught him. He was laying rather lazily, his body curved, and the claws caught him in his middle, lifting him in the air, bringing him closer to gaping maw. The monstrosity jerked it’s head and there was a tearing noise, a spatter of crimson…

With a thud, her friends foremost half hit the ground.

Blood pooled on the ground as the monster crashed back off the jungle chomping noisily.

She ran towards the shredded body of her traveling companion. She stare down at the little creature which so few moments before she had wanted to do this too, but now all she felt was an immense sadness, and gave a low croon in her throat as she nudged his limp form. She felt a soft thud and noticed blood spurt out from his ripped body, and one eye cracked open.. He was still alive! She reached down and looked him in the eye. It was a startling shade of blue, almost luminescent. She nudged him again with her snout, and again, and this time felt a sharp tingle in her nose, a small shock. She yelped jumping back and did not notice the green glow that suffused the body of her companion.

He was floating in a sea of blue light, softly waxing and waning, advancing and receding. He was not dead, he could still vaguely sense his body. It was a dull pain, simple shallow breaths, his body struggling to stay functioning, but his mind was already no longer there. He felt a bump. Some part of him registered looking into a bright green eye. He was floating towards something, the source of the light he supposed, as it was growing stronger, almost to the radiance of the day orb. Unlike the day orb though, this light provided him with no soothing warmth, but it was comforting all the same.

He approached the center of the light, and began to notice two shapes moving towards him. He flickered his tongue. One smelled like death, a rotting corpse, this was the larger of the two. The smaller one smelled… Like himself. It did not smell like a snake, but nonetheless, it smelled exactly like himself. The larger one moved into view, and it was a slobbering monstrosity, covered in decaying flesh and rotting fur, oozing scales and from it’s mouth issued a sulpherous drool and a wondrous noise. It was beautiful, and put all his soul to rest. He no longer cared for the fact that it looked and smelled like death embodied, the beautiful tune soothed his whole being. The smaller one stepped out from behind the strange creature, and bent to pick him up. It had longer fur upon it’s head, golden brown in color. It looked him in the eyes and opened it’s mouth. From within issued a very familiar sound ”Time to go little one. All is well..” And he knew that all was well. He closed his eyes and slipped into blissful oblivion.