“Which one, which one?” a voice said. This voice echoed and resonated within itself like a cave or tunnel all around me, thankfully not through me. “To be wise is a great gift, for what is life in ignorance?”

The light of the trees blinded me, even to the daylight beyond. I caught flashes of scales and huge coils that rose above the lowest branches. Something enormous scooted along the ground with a soft grating noise. “What do you want?” I asked, not liking how trapped I was feeling.

“Only to see what mortal would take his place among the gods. I would witness that warrior who challenged the highest God and conquered.”

I saw two giant eyes flash like mirrors in the shadows. “Are you the serpent, Lucifer?” I asked.

“No,” the voice said followed by repeated booms and creaks that I interpreted as laughter. “Though, I did give him use of my tongue once upon a time. I am Tiamat, cursed of the wyrms, mother of dragons, devourer of men, queen and empress of all Eden.”

I saw a glint of horns and the red flash of a long forked tongue, then the head rose on a tower of adamant scales until it towered over the treetops. I cowered in the blaring light of the trees and noticed that she stayed clear of the revealing circle around them. When it was clear that she was going to merely watch, I reached up and touched a silver fruit.

“The fruit of knowledge,” the great wyrm hissed. “You have already tasted that. Its juice runs through your blood.”

I brought my hand back then reached for the gold.

“Ah, the fruit of life,” Tiamat rumbled. “Immortality. With never ending life and the ability to learn and grow what can stand in your way? What can separate you from God himself?”

“I don’t want to be a god,” I said.

“But you do,” Tamat laughed softly with a rumble I could feel in the ground. She leaned in closer and I could see the glint of fangs like spears in her jaws. “Tell me, do you fear death?”

I swallowed but, unwilling to let my fear conquer me, I answered in kind. “Are you?”

“Yes,” she answered immediately and retreated a bit into the black. “Death was not my choice, but that of humans.” She spat the last word like it tasted bad.

“Then, you eat it.” I pulled a golden fruit and held it out to her. It was warm in my hand and the light shone red through my flesh. The light was pure and enticing but I felt that somehow I had to obtain it somewhere else. This was too easy. It was wrong.

“You know not what you say, boy!” Tiamat roared. “That doom has been gifted to none but man.”

We stared at each other for a long while. I didn’t dare to move and she was content to wait on my decision. Slowly, I held the fruit out to drop it then hesitated and put it in my pocket.

“You should have eaten it, boy,” the mother of dragons warned. “It is all that can save you now.” With that she lunged into the light and I saw her in her glory. She was scaled as if with jet, emerald, and amethyst. Her eyes were the deepest pools of green and gold. She could consume Eden itself. In one moment I saw her gleaming yellow teeth and red tongue flash like flame, the next all was dark. Her jaws constricted and her tongue threatened to pulverize me, but her mouth was drier than I expected. How long would it take to make it all the way to the other end of her digestive tract? That was, if I didn’t die from the stench first. I cried out in terror and felt a resonance between my own voice and Tiamat. She convulsed slightly and I realized I had very little air. I would only get one chance at this. In that slight hesitation I cried out again and matched the resonance that I had found. The longer I held the note the stronger it became until I could see her teeth vibrating. Light and air flooded in and I took a breath then increased my volume until she spat me back out into the light.

Tiamat lowered her head and screamed at me in rage but there was fear also. I didn’t stay to ponder. I ran into the gloom only to find the coils of her body wrapped around the entirety of the hill. I vaulted and scrambled up her scaly side feeling her pulse and writhe beneath me. Then with a final leap I sprang away, darted across the clearing, and returned to the shadows of the forest. I don’t think she pursued, but I never stopped to look back. I ran until my lungs were ready to collapse on themselves. I ran until my legs burned and were numb. I ran until my head throbbed in oblivion.

I awoke hours later cold and damp. I ached everywhere. A deep gash ran from my right shoulder down my arm and another from my ankle up my leg. My shirt and pants looked as if they had been cut by a blade and my flesh fared no better. The wounds were deep but as I had slept they had mostly stopped bleeding. I found a stream where I washed and tore my clothing into strips to bind the wounds. I could walk through the pain but it was what my life became for the following days. The fruit in my pocket was crushed but I thought that if I made it out it still might be usable. As I walked on it felt as if I was being burned alternately with fire and frost. Through sweat and vomit I continued on.

My journey out of the garden is a dim memory at best. I thought the trees would never end and there were times I welcomed the blissful void of death. I heard screaming but couldn’t tell if it was some creature hunting me or if it was me. Delirium took hold and seven days later I didn’t even realize it when I stumbled out of the garden the same way I had gone in.

Eve and Seth were still there. I fought them, weak and feeble as I was, afraid they would finish what they had started. My attempts did little and when you are on death’s door you would take help from the fallen one himself. I did briefly consider that I held shreds of immortality in my pocket, but couldn’t get my mind and body to work together long enough to do anything with it.

When I opened my eyes again I was in Seth’s tent and felt remarkably better. I tried to piece together where I was and how I had got there but for a while all I could do was feel relief that the pain was gone. In fact I felt good, better than good. What had they done to me? I was alone, luckily, which gave me time to decide what to do about Eve and Seth. It was obvious that they had cared for me and healed me from my illness. So they didn’t want me dead unless… Unless what? Could I trust them?

I decided running again was probably not the best course, but if I had to I would be prepared this time. Upon searching the rags I had been wearing all I could find was a single seed. I dressed in fresh, clean clothes that felt wonderful after my flight through the wilderness and readied my saddle. I made sure to pack food and water. Then I crept to the flap of the tent and listened. Daylight was fading fast and I could see the flicker of firelight as Seth and Eve spoke.

“Are you sure this was the right thing to do?” Seth asked.

“It was your idea,” Eve answered. “But yes, you were right. An act of evil to achieve something good is still an act of evil.”

“But it wouldn’t have been us that killed him if we had kept it to save father,” Seth said.

“If you had let him die, son, when you had the power to save him, would there have been a difference?”

“We don’t even know if he will live now,” Seth sighed.

“Well, if he doesn’t then it would not have helped your father in any case. He will though. Not even the venom of Tiamat can overcome the fruit of life.”

I felt my shoulder and arm and only found smooth skin. Not even a scar remained. Why? Why had they chosen me over Adam? I thought of Fauron and knew that if I could have given the fruit to him I would have even if it caused the death of another.

“I am sorry son,” Eve said softly. “I forgot that it is just as important that the future is worth saving as that it be saved.”

“Aye,” Seth agreed. “No good could come of a future bought with murder.”

“There is still hope,” Eve reassured. “And I think that boy in there will have something to do with it.”

I didn’t know what to think. They sounded so reasonable and they had saved my life, but they had tried to offer me as a sacrifice in the first place. I didn’t want to have to face them. I took the knife from my bag and went to the back of the tent. I cut a slit in the tent wall and slipped my saddle through but before I could go as well I heard Seth speak behind me.

“So, you are leaving then. I don’t blame you.”

I stood in the dark frozen by indecision. I was angry, but I couldn’t blame him either.

“You are a tough kid,” Seth said.

I bristled at the patronization.

“How did you live through an encounter with Tiamat?” He asked.

“I wouldn’t have if it hadn’t been for you,” I said. “So, thanks for not killing me after all.”

Seth flinched at my words. Remorse was such a strange emotion coming from someone so old. The next moment Eve stepped in and I abandoned all thought of escape. Things were going to be alright. I told them the events in the garden and Eve said that In Zion I might be able to get answers about what had happened with Tiamat. And so I stayed.

In the morning we broke down camp though we wouldn’t be able to carry much with us. Eve was the only one of us that had used a transporter before. In fact they were so expensive that it was cheaper to travel for months so not many Atlanteans had even used them. Eve said that all we could take with us was what was on our persons. Even a pack would be too big to make the cut. The tent, gear, and saddles would have to remain behind and the transporter was not big enough to manage the horses. We all said goodbye to our faithful steeds with regret. Hopefully Shadefall and Snowmane would lead my poor Moonfreckle back home but even if all went well it would be many months before we saw them again. The imminent death of Adam would have to be enough to justify leaving the horses for the long journey home.

We huddled together, each making sure to be touching the others, and Eve activated the transporter. A sudden rush ripped through me like a wave and I was overwhelmed. It was like being crushed by a mountain when a simple boulder would have killed you just as effectively. There was a searing, screeching, grinding earthquake that burned through me and left me in a lump of pure pain. Then I lost consciousness.