Hannke needed a break.
He had been swimming. Swimming for long hours and there was seemingly no end to the swimming. He was tired, broken, out of breath. He doubted that any other king cobra had ever swam so far and so long with only an obnoxious egret for company and no stopping.
The river was not just a river. It led deep down to an underground canal. The entire tunnel was filled with water, so there was no space to breathe.
Up ahead, Wren motioned with her wings, making an arc over her head. A cave! Hannke thought excitedly. Finally he could rest!
He followed Wren through the narrow tunnel, dodging to avoid outcrops and jagged stones. He was extremely excited to be able to rest after all this hard work. His bones ached from swimming so long, and his stomach growled.
Soon, on the side of the tunnel, there was a small gap. Hannke went through first to check for safety, while Wren waited outside.
He looked around. It was a small cave, small enough to fit twelve cobras comfortably, with a thin inch of water damping the floor. A pool that looked scarily deep had fish swimming around in it, which would make a good meal.
Nothing seemed dangerous, so he swam back out to Wren, and motioned for her to follow him inside. She was hard to fit through the gap, but made it out just fine. Inside, Wren immediately started gasping with relief.
“That was so tiring!” She sighed, collapsing on the damp floor. “Finally, finally, precious air!”
“I’m relieved, too,” Hannke said. “I just don’t flop all over the floor for it.”
Wren giggled. She had always been upbeat and excitable. Watching her, so happy, in the middle of all this tragedy, made his heart want to explode with warmth.
“Why don’t we take a look around?” Hannke asked, brushing his tail over the cold, hard stone. It splattered water over Wren, who let out a squeak and then burst out laughing. While she snorted away, Hannke slithered over to the pool, peering into the depths. Wren came over, her tail feathers dragging on the damp ground.
“Woah,” She said, looking a wee bit too curious. “That’s a really deep pool.” She reached out a talon to touch the water, and drew back immediately. “It’s cold.” She yelped, shaking droplets off of her claws. She turned to look at him with questioning eyes. “So what do we do now?” She asked. “If we went back, Venomkeeper probably would have given up. Right?”
“No.” Hannke shook his head. “I know Venomkeeper. She won’t stop until she’s gotten what she’s wanted. She probably followed us.”
“Followed us?” Wren echoed, letting out a squawk of surprise. “We need to get out of here now!” She burst instinctively for the canal, but Hannke wrapped his tail around her leg and pulled her back.
“No, wait,” He told her, smoothing her ruffled feathers. “Thing is, Venomkeeper can’t swim. She would have gotten in the water and stayed there until she realized that she wasn’t going to reach us.” He looked into her blue eyes, his gaze intense. Blue reflected green for a moment that felt like forever, until Wren finally responded.
“You’re sure.” She didn’t break her gaze. “That sounds kind of dumb.”
“Very sure.” Hannke stroked her back with his tail-tip. “Trust me, we’ll be okay.”
Wren didn’t look completely reassured, but she shrugged and walked back to the pool. Hannke slithered after her. “Do you think we can catch one of those fish?” she asked hopefully.
“Not without getting in.” Hannke shuddered, imagining the icy grip of the water. “Frankly, I’m not interested.” He slithered away, hoping she would follow, but her gaze remained intent on the fish pool. “Don’t you dare.” Hannke warned, beckoning with his tail for her to join him. She didn’t budge. Hannke sighed. “I’m going to explore.”
Wren didn’t say anything to acknowledge this, but Hannke shrugged it off and slithered deeper into the cave. The passage grew narrower as he continued on. Soon he had to duck his head to continue slithering.
Just as he was thinking that he should turn around and go back, he smelled fresh air and broke into a large cave with sunlight streaming in through a small hole in the ceiling. A river rushed through, its mighty current coursing over the rock and into a tunnel.
Hannke looked around. Water. Sunshine. Fish. This would be a great place to hang out! He turned to go tell Wren the good news, when he heard a hiss.
He turned around. A scrawny male mongoose had appeared from behind the rocks and was snarling at him.
“Hi!” Hannke said immediately. “I’m sorry if I'm in-”
Suddenly, the mongoose let out a shriek. About twenty more mongoose emerged from behind crags and stalagmites. They were glaring at Hannke like he was an enemy.
A female mongoose stepped forwards. “Get. Out.” She growled, hissing.
“But I’m-”
“We know who you are.” The female, who appeared to be their leader, spoke. “You’re one of those evil cobras who has terrorized my kind for long before either of us were born—or hatched, you would say. Now, scram!” Her pale yellow eyes were narrowed.
“I still think-” Hannke looked around desperately.
“TAKE HIM!!!” The leader screeched, and she, with many more behind her, charged at him at once. Hannke looked around, panicked. Mongoose darted at him and snapped, their teeth and claws glinting in the light. The scrawny male he had seen earlier reared up and scratched him dangerously close to his eye. Hannke shrunk back and cowered against a rock as the mongoose advanced. I’m a coward! Hannke thought angrily. Fight! Hiss! Spread your hood! Something! But he would not move. He knew about the natural tension between cobras and mongoose, but he had never thought deeply about it before, because his adopted mother was a mongoose. He would never dream of harming them. But it made sense. He was a cobra. They were mongoose. Of course they’d be scared and want to hurt him! He just wished that things could be better.
Get to the tunnel!
A tiny voice screamed inside of him.
What? Hannke thought back.
The mongoose can’t follow you there!
Of course! It was obvious! Hannke shimmied along the wall while the mongoose scratched and growled at him. He sped up as he saw the leader approaching him slowly, her teeth bared. This was no dream. He slithered desperately for the hole, and--
Teeth sank into his tail, and Hannke let out a hiss of pain before tumbling into the darkness of the tunnel.
. . .
Hannke slithered back out of the tunnel and into the main cave, covered in scratches. Wren looked up and let out a screech of distress.
“What happened?!?” She exclaimed, rushing over to him.
“Mongoose happened.” Hannke felt too exhausted to explain.
“And you just let them? Without putting up a fight? They must think that you're weak!”
“They probably do.” Hannke groaned, lying down. “What could I possibly have done?!?”
“Hannke, you have no common sense!” Wren sighed.
“Slithering away seemed like common sense to me.”
“Well then, you have no pride, or honor!” Wren continued. “You didn’t have to fight them, but you could have at least looked frightening!”
“How?” Hannke asked warily. He was beginning to grow sleepy.
“Spread your hood! Rear up to your full height! Hiss! Bare your fangs! Put off a show!”
“I wouldn’t hurt them!” Hannke cried, snapping fully awake.
“You wouldn’t have to hurt them!” Wren screamed. Then she slumped, suddenly looking as exhausted as he felt. “I’m glad that you’re okay.” She admitted. She walked back to the fish pond.
Hannke didn’t bother to call her over. He was already asleep.
. . .
War waged around Hannke, blood splattering, and horrors happening. Thick, cold, slushy snow surged around the battlefield, covering the animals in a powdery white dust. Mongoose and egret fought cobra, claws and talons against teeth and fangs. Above it all loomed King, The dark cobra’s red eyes glinting through the flurry. Hannke watched in horror as his adopted mongoose mother; Guardian, fought Serpinite; the mysterious pale white cobra who was King’s mate and second-in-command. Chief Cat’s Eye staggered beneath many cobras attacking him at once. The cold made Hannke’s scales sting.
Wait! He thought, an idea alarming him. This is a dream! When the snowflakes hit him, he felt no real pain from the cold and icy grip. With the new thought bringing hope to him, he plunged into battle.
Wren’s parents, Bo and Moonray, fought back to back against the tide of striking cobras. Hannke rushed to help them. He waited for one of them to throw him a grateful glance, but neither seemed to notice him.
“I wish Hannke was here,” Bo sighed, kicking a cobra away.
But I am here! Hannke thought, alarmed. He tried to open his mouth to speak, but nothing happened.
“Yes,” Moonray agreed, nodding. “He could help Wren with her eggs.”
What? Hannke thought. Wren had eggs? Another thought struck him. This was happening in the future! Excitement bubbled up inside him.
“Can I see Wren?” Hannke mouthed, but no words came out. Further confused, Hannke spun around.
Suddenly, the dream changed. Hannke could hear echoes on stone, and scales sliding. It was dark.
Please don’t! A voice rang out. Wait--Hannke knew that voice! It was one of the voices from his memory.
No. I must. A cold voice followed. Hannke recognized that voice, too. The darkness stretched out in front of him-- and Hannke caught a glimpse of dark, brownish scales. Just as Hannke was about to recognize the snake, he heard a large--
SPLOOSH!
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