Obsidian Scales

Chapter 4

 "Well you certainly have a set of lungs, don't you?" Silas remarked, rubbing his ears with his hands and staring at Lily with a slight frown. "I'm pretty sure my ears are bleeding." He huffed a little bit. Lily had jumped over the couch, tangling herself in her blankets in the process. After not-so-gracefully falling on the floor afterwards. Her face was read from embarrassment, and after picking herself up she looked at Silas with an accusatory glare. "Why the hell were you watching me sleep?!" she nearly screamed.

"You're adorable when you sleep. Also I didn't want to wake you."

"Too late for that!"

She took a deep breath, trying to calm down. She looked back at him, taking in his appearance. The tip of his tail thumped on the ground slightly, and he looked at her with a smug expression. It angered her slightly, and she huffed. "Well if you're going to stay here, we need to make some rules." She began, only to get cut off with him suddenly being by her side. "Oh really? Enlighten me." he purred in her ear. She sprung away from him. "First of all!" she nearly yelled. "Stop getting close to me like that, it's weird and it makes me uncomfortable." He frowned but nodded, staying away from her this time. She continued. "Secondly, if you're going to stay here, at least try to make yourself useful. This isn't an inn." she said, crossing her arms.

Silas looked at her while tilting his head, then began to make his way to a nearby window overlooking the fenced-in fields holding the cattle. "I've already gotten that taken care of, see for yourself." He said, nodding his head for her to look outside. Lily was confused, but she went to his side to look anyway, to which he promptly moved away so she could see. Outside, the fence that the cows had broken were completely fixed, almost brand new. She looked to him in surprise. "You fixed the fence?" 

"Well I figured that was one of the reasons why you were in the forest last night. Since you allowed me to stay in your home-"

"As part of a bargain."

"-It was only right for me to return your kindness."

"While you were out there, you didn't happen to see two cows outside of the fence did you?"

Silas shook his head. "No, just some tracks." Lily sighed, moving away from the window and then towards the kitchen, deciding to make breakfast for the two of them. "Well, after breakfast I can show you what to do on the farm, I wouldn't mind the extra help." She said, reaching into a cabinet above her and pulling out a box full of eggs. "How do you like your eggs? Scrambled-" she looked over her shoulder only to find an empty space and to find that he had moved to her side. Before she could react to his silent movement, he snatched up an egg in his hand; opened his mouth, and popped the whole thing into it before swallowing it whole. Her jaw dropped and she stared at him. Never before had she seen anyone eat an egg, shell and all, raw and without chewing. "Delicious." he said, ignoring her expression. Lily stuttered. "You-You just ate that egg whole!" Silas merely shrugged and slithered off, as if it was a totally normal thing to do. "Thank you for breakfast." he said, opening the front door and going outside. Lily just stood there, staring at the door in shock.

~/~

It took her a few moments, but after making some scrambled eggs she joined him outside. He was standing by the fence he repaired and looking it over as if to make sure he didn't miss anything. He looked up at her, sitting up straight as his red eyes glimmered with mischief. "You seem to have gone pale, early morning chill?" he teased. Lily shook her head, still trying to get the image of him eating the egg whole out of her mind. "I'm just still trying to wrap my head about having a snake-man living with me now." She said, while also trying not to feel like a small bird staring down a large serpent. She jumped in surprise when he laughed. "Snake-man? Well that's a crude way to put it." He circled around her, almost proudly displaying himself. "The correct term is Naga, though we're not all the same. Specifically I'm one of the Hassan-syn, or in your tongue, the 'Night Hunters,' we specialize hunting and fighting in the shadows." He clarified. The name sent shivers down her spine. "What kind of hunting?" she asked.

"Well we hunt animals like you do during the day, but we hunt them when they're the most vulnerable. And..."

"And?"

"We hunt humans."

She felt her blood run cold and her skin went pale as she fell silent. After saying that last statement he broke into a near monstrous grin, staring her down like the snake he was. Here she was, playing into his words, and now he had her wrapped in his coils, almost quite literally. The corner of his lip twitched and his face twisted into one of laughter again. "Oh the look on your face!" he laughed. "I thought you were going to drop dead right there!" he moved away from her, cackling as he did. Lily felt heat crawl into her cheeks and she stomped her foot as he slithered off. "I thought you were going to eat me!" she yelled at him. "Don't they teach you any manners in the Hassan-something?" she demanded. 

"Hassan-syn. Forgive me."

He had turned around and was now closer to her. "I have been in that cave for about five years now. I haven't had contact with my people or with any humans, so my manners are rusty at best." Lily was surprised at his confession. Alone for five years in that cave? What could he hope to accomplish by living in that cave alone for five years? That's when something stood out to her. "Wait, five years?" she asked. He tilted his head and nodded, seeming confused by her question. "Then that doesn't make any sense. If you were there for five years, why was I warned about you when I was a child?" she asked. 

He didn't answer her, and simply watched her as she began to think on it. If he was there for five years then he couldn't have been the one in the stories. While his scales were black like they warned, they didn't seem as massive as described. Then again stories are exaggerated, and on that note, Silas could be lying to her. He didn't seem like he was lying though, and all those bones in his cave... She shuddered at the image. They certainly seemed like they had been gathering there for five years. That meant there was only one possible solution. "Silas." she said, getting his attention. "There are more of your people in that forest, aren't there?"

Silas stared at her.

Then he smirked. "Well done."

~/~

How...fascinating. His red eyes never left her as she worked out in her mind how long his people have lived in that forest. Yes, a good choice he made indeed. After making her realization and her assumption, she looked to him. "Just...how many are there, in those woods?" she demanded, her eyes wide with alarm. "And how is it that no one ever knew of your existence?!"

A lovely sense of curiosity. He thought to himself. His lips twitched in amusement. "Well I don't have an exact number, but there are many of us in those woods. Perhaps just as many as the people who live in Elveton, if not a little less." he explained. "As for why no one knew we where there...well," he slowly moved up to her, noticing the way her shoulders raised ever-so-slightly in tension at the movement.

Oh how fun she was to tease.

"I wasn't entirely lying when I said we hunt humans. I just wasn't tell the entire truth." He moved around her, her tail coiling around her loosely, keeping her close. His eyes raked over her, examining her as his hand ran through her hair gently, pulling the tie loose so her hair would spill down her back. Much better. He thought. She was shaking a bit, but stayed silent, looking at him warily. He absentmindedly stroked his clawed hand through her hair. "We haven't done it in a while, but we used to be hired to kill humans. Ah yes, I believe the term for it was 'assassin.' But we were forgotten, I guess." He looked at her slyly, taking one clawed finger and placing it under her chin, turning her gently so she could meet his gaze. He could taste her fear and it was delicious, almost addicting. "We can move and hide in the most unlikeliest of places."

He could feel her shaking under the tip of his finger. "Don't worry my dear, the only humans I've killed are those disgusting bandits last night." After he had killed them he had gotten their grimy, disgusting blood over him. So to make sure not to kill her from a heart attack, he went to a nearby pool and cleaned up before returning to her. She seemed to let out a breath of relief, and relaxed slightly.

Good.

With that, he let her go. He then moved towards the barn and the stables. He might as well learn about his new home after all.