The Great Serpent: Part 4

If you have not read part 1, part 2, or part 3, do so before reading part 4.

“Stand back! Queen Wanahanakukouha has arrived!” a knight announced. The new Queen entered the room wearing a long red silk dress and a unicorn-horn covered crown. She wore an expression of smug contentment.

There had been a great deal of excitement and controversy over what had been considered an inter-species marriage between Queen Wanahanakukouha and The Great Serpent King. Some thought that it would ease the tensions between humans and serpents and perhaps alleviate what could be a coming war. Others were simply disgusted that a serpent would resort to taking a human queen. Still others were horrified that a human woman would betray her own species. Unfortunately, The Great Serpent was now fatter and more evil than ever, and he ruled with an iron fist, continuing the human oppression – exempting only his human wife.

The new queen walked through the center of the room towards her husband, the Great Serpent King, sitting on his throne. He took her hand and stood up, following her out the door onto the balcony. They looked over the edge of their new castle, surveying the kingdom. A cloud of dust hovered over everything in sight, from the extensive mining being done by human servants. They watched as a group of about a hundred serpents walked down towards the mine with empty wheelbarrows. This was a regular procedure where the serpents gathered the unicorn horns that had been dug up in the mines and brought them back to the castle. The queen had developed a fondness for watching this process, though her husband was less receptive due to his limited visibility through the serpent skin disguise.

A thunderous boom shook the entire castle. Everyone was terrified – serpents were not used to earthquakes. But this was no earthquake. The Great Serpent King was the first to spot it. Barely visible through the cloud of dust, movement was seen. An enormous white column burst out of the ground, followed by another. The columns rotated as they continued moving out of the earth, and another, larger white mass was seen holding them together at the ends. The larger white mass started twisting, and the columns bent in the middle. The white object then began to move organically.

By now everyone was watching over the balcony. As they watched in horror, The Great Serpent and his wife had no idea what to make of what was happening. As it continued to rise into view, its shape became apparent – it was humanoid in structure – two arms and two legs, but it was all white and lacked any distinguishing features. It had hands with long, slender fingers with at least 5 joints each. It was at least 500 feet tall.

“Look!” Wanahanakukouha shouted as she pointed at its shoulder. Everyone squinted and a small figure was spotted. It was a person. The figure was making grand gestures, and a massive horde of people came swarming out of the mine towards the incoming serpents. The white monstrosity turned towards the serpents as well. What followed was less a battle than it was a massacre.

“No wonder we’ve been facing a horn shortage!” Wanahanakukouha said. “They’ve been collecting them and gluing them together to make a giant monster, and they used their magic spells to bring it to life!”

The revolt had begun.

- Kent Wicklander