A dance of power.

There I stood, on the precipice, gazing at the mound at the centre of the marshy waters. A scene waiting to unfold,  not knowing what would happen, as soon as I were to approach the obsidian stone at the centre of the open clearing, devoid of life other than the blades of oily leaves that emerged here and there from the shallow waters. The sky was dark, but the ground was lit by the immensity of the moon which loomed over the twisting trees at the very edge of the stones clearing, casting but one shadow, that of the stone in the middle. The world had gone silent, even my own breaths where barely audible, a foreboding silence which told me the plants and the waters around me knew what conflict was about to commence, but withheld their knowledge from my troubled mind.

I knew what I had to do, the obstacle was great, but when all options are spent and only one remains, no matter how daunting it is that final path is no longer so formidable since it is inevitable. Human’s only true fear is the unknown. My body stood calm, the beauty of the scene before me was enough to settle that. But this serenity did not stop that small foreboding feeling that clawed at my gut, doubt, uncertainty, fear. Perfection however cannot always be achieved, so with peace and fear tearing at me I knew I’d have to do this.

I stepped forward, bathing myself in the moonlight, now two shadows stood in the clearing, mine and the stone in the middle. My small steps had broke the aura of silence, the gentle split splat of my feet on the marshy waters would have past unnoticed in any other place, but the silence made them deafening. Small ripples slithered across the clear surface of the murky waters, marking my movement, telling their unknown master the intruder’s location and size. The block of black stone grew larger as I trudged towards it almost touching the moon in the sky; the water was almost at my knees but still grew deeper, I began to consider that it would cover me entirely if I continued further.  Finally I stopped, a good distance from the rocks base so that the moon balanced perfectly on the tip of the dark stone, and so I waited. Staring at the pinnacle of the obsidian spire I noticed my heart had picked up pace and my breath alongside it, my hands grew clammy; I felt anxiety try to claw itself in. A deep breath, yet the thought that would create more noise brought more fear then calm, still I looked inwards. You must try, you must focus; I hope you can do this.

Just when I assumed silence would resume its reign an echoing voice emanated from the dark stone as if the stone itself had grown lips.

“You disturb me. I wonder, has the little creature concerned themselves with the consequences of doing so?”

I spoke out to the rock, “I was told to come here.”

The rock and the area around it shimmered unnaturally. Was the strange light playing tricks with me?

“Hmmm, has the little creature any other reason than blindly following this order? Has it not occurred to the little creatures little mind that they have been led to slaughter?”

The rock and the air around shimmered again. Was magic at play here?

Addressing the strange stone again in a loud tone to match the stones size, “I have been told you have something of value.” Proud that my voice still remained unbroken by any signs of fear, not yet at least.

“Ahhh! So tell me how do you hope to acquire this something of value? Does the little creature even know what it hopes to acquire?”

No words came to my mouth.

“Hmhmhm” the slow thunderous laugh flew across the rippling waters.

“So the little creature disturbs me without even knowing what it wants. I must know, does your small skull restrain your brain from thinking? Or perhaps your braveness and bravado have clouded your intellect?”

A shimmer again and not only that, even the water around the pillar swirled and sprayed in all directions. The sound of distinct ins and outs of breathing suddenly came to my attention. Was the rock breathing? Or perhaps it hid the being I had been conversing with inside?

“Now how does it hope to acquire this object? It has lost the element of surprise so cannot steal it. It has nothing of value on its possession so cannot barter for it. It is small and its breath is beginning to tremble so cannot fight for it. Why does the little creature waste my time! Why does the little creature offer its life to me with not a clear reason on its lips?”

The breathing grew louder, deeper, as if coming from a gaping maw. I grew paranoid and looked around, but still only my shadow and the stone’s stood in the clearing. But with paranoia, against all reason, came bravery.

“I was told to come here to find something that will help me. That something will apparently help me find something out about myself. I guess bravery or the likes of it? Or maybe that the mighty breathing rock can scare the crap out of me. “

The rock and the air shimmered again simultaneously with the same thunderous laugh.

“Ahaha!  The little creature know how to amuse but that won’t save you from your arrogance and your ignorance, pray tell me little creature why I should not hold back my wrath, give me reason not to crush your puny form, strip your flesh from your bones, burn your frail soul!”

My mouth opened, but no words came out, which only gave more fury to the entity.

“What? Still does your frail mind burden itself? You are living on burrowed time little creature you have not given reason for intruding.”

Nothing.

“Arrogant, cowardly, foolish never have I met a being so pitiful!”

Fear and anxiety had taken their toll, my body was tensed ready to react, flight or fight, my mind made its choice.  Flexing my muscles I summoned a scrap of courage, “Just tell me why I was sent here!” An obvious mistake.

The water began to swirl violently; the air stopped shimmering but instead shook. It was in a moment that I suddenly realised what it all meant, a moment before whom I had been talking to properly revealed itself. The Air gradually stopped shaking, and in its place the air condensed into sold form, a mass of shimmering scales appeared, wrapped around coils of serpentine muscle. Elegant fins, that which you would see on the most regal of fish lined the top of the coils of muscle and scale that wrapped around the obsidian rock, the rock had become barely visible in an instant. The end of what appeared to be its tail materialised disturbingly close to my feet, thin like that of a snakes, yet large fluorescent fins glowed at the tails edge reminding me of those old illustrations of fish that lurked at the darkest depths of all the oceans or of a writer’s imagination.

The light falling on my face then started to darken and eventually disappear, for the rocks host had revealed its entirety, the mass of scales coiled around the pillar of black and rising above, blocking the moons light and casting a dark shadow which swallowed both me and my own shadow was its head. Its back to the light of the moon, its face was made more dark and oppressing. A large snout bared rows of curved teeth, each seemed to glow with an otherworldly light. Strange tendrils protruded from the sides of its snout, writhing and wriggling slowly to their own accord. Despite its many serpentine features the host bore a mane of glorious silver hair made all the more brilliant as it catched the edges of the white moonlight, water dripped from its bulbous tufts of hair, yet the hair itself did not seem soaked but completely dry, the water simply washed of it like it had of the hosts slippery scales. From dark pits two burning beads glared at me, a dark purple, beautiful, petrifying. The beast looking at me, through me, a lesser being. Its jaw dropped further releasing a long forked tongue, slithering out as serpentine as its owner. A menacing growl emanated from the beast as its head hovered there, blocking the moon’s light and stealing my courage.

“You stand as a child before a god!” the beast snapped. “What gives you right to demand from the greater? Little creature you have come here through your own will, blindly led by a fool perhaps, but now you are within my domain, my power within reach of my teeth and my mighty form! So ask not why you have come here but ask why I should let you not suffer for your ignorance, beg little creature, plea for redemption, I eagerly await.” A sinister grin spread across the beasts face, a smile of bladed teeth.

What courage I had turned to fear, then fear to despair. I was certain my life was to end, what was I to say to the massive serpent, the mass of scales and bladed teeth? For it was right, I had come here out of ignorance, I had walked to my death because I assumed this path was the only path I must take, yet hadn’t a dam clue why I was taking this path and why I had been sent unarmed to talk to a narcissistic dragon god! But the funny thing about despair, despair is devoid of fear so my thinking had become unclouded and not a single one of my frail limbs trembled before the serpents imposing coils of raw power.

No fear I thought, nothing to lose, nothing to fear, this is the path I must take. My eyes rose to meet the beasts. I had no weapons, no physical power to use against the beast; I had no way to barter with the beast, no possession to make a trade for my life and no cunning tragedy or sneaky plot to steal myself away. But with a mind devoid of fear one option did come to me. Reason and logic. The beast has been understood.

The silence had pricked the beast’s nerves, the duration had bored it and just as it raised its head to attack, I attacked first.

“But why kill me?”

A slight dim in the fire in the beast eyes, the snake in the snakes mouth was silenced, its grin replaced by a quizzical look.

“You continue to question, you act without consideration for your station place little creature!”

“But why would you kill me if I am not threat?”

“Why? Why should there be a reason, your life is of little importance so why should I not take it?”

“But you are much mightier than me in every aspect, why then waste your time stepping so low as to kill someone so beneath you?

“Because I can, because, you waste my time and ruin my rest!”

“But you have been listening to me for a while now when you could have killed me in an instant and have gone back to your rest much quicker.”

The beast’s mouth twitched in pent up rage, it was working. “Because I deemed it worthy that you live, so I could see what you wanted, I… show hospitality in the rare case you were not to be the arrogant creature that you are!”

“Hospitality!” I spat out, surprised that I did so half laughing, “Within a few seconds of talking you threatened my life, That! Is not hospitality from where I come from.”

The beast let out a bellowing roar and lunged forward, but did not strike me, it could not strike me. The large serpentine mass circled round me, creating waves in the once peaceful waters, its head rose above me as its body encircled me, its burning gaze closer than ever. Its tail flicked violently at the water whipping the surface of glistening liquid.

“Ignorant child! You seek not only to take something from me, but you also attempt to mock me?”

“Then strike me down you are more than capable are you not?”

The beast failed its attempt of intimidation and could no longer use its physical strength, the corners of its mouth twitched again, for it knew as well as I that it could not strike me. To kill me would show weakness, to kill me would mean the beast had wasted its own time and that I was worth the effort of being killed, the beast could not show weakness, the beast could not lose. The muscles in its face continued to twitch in frustration, then all of sudden stopped, a sinister grin was forced across the beast’s face replacing its angry grimace, but not hiding it’s rage.

“Very well little creature, you have postponed my wrath, what does your little mind hope for?” Spitting out the word little with extra malice and irritation.