Obsidian Scales

Chapter 5

A whole village, of Naga.

That's at least what Silas told her. All these years the people of Elveton have been living by a tribe, as he remarked, of Hassan-syn. So at some point in the past, one of the villagers had seen a Hassan-syn warrior and had told the people about it. Thus, began the story of the black-scaled beast. It all made sense as she worked it out in her head, sitting on a stool and milking one of her cows in the warm barn. She had a metal pail underneath her udders, and was trying to carefully get milk from her. Out of all four, now two cows, Toffee was like her golden goose. She never seemed to be out of milk, and was probably one of the most well behaved out of the group. Lily would be sad when the day finally came that she would be too old to give her the milk she needed. Toffee's attention was focused on Silas, who was near gleefully feeding her hay as Lily milked her. To her surprise once again, Toffee and Honey, the other cow, were very calm around Silas. He was stroking her muzzle and speaking softly to her, so Lily remarked, "I'm surprised they're so calm around you." 

Silas stopped speaking to the cow and looked to her with a raised brow. "Why, because I'm part snake?" he grinned, showing off his fangs. "My village has cows similar to these, we raise livestock of our own." he explained. "Though there are a few animals that are skittish around us. Particularly horses." he shrugged. "Never really knew why." Lily nodded to herself, making a note to not let Silas around the horses. It was already bad enough that she had lost two cows. She stood, careful not to knock the pail over and gently rubbing Toffee's back. She moved the stool away to a pillar next to the stall while picking up the pail of milk.

"Do you think there's any chance my runaway cows survived?" she asked. "I understand the dangers of wolves and...bandits," she added with wince. "But there could be just some chance, right?" Silas slithered alongside her as she spoke, obvious worry in her words. "Oh there are more dangerous things in that forest than wolves and bandits." he said. "Your escapees are as good as dead." Noting how she hung her head at the news, he quickly added: "But if you wish, I will go search the area for them." he said. Lily looked up at him and her green eyes seemed to sparkle with hope. He stared back at her, expressionless, and then moved forward, heading towards the forest. "I'll search for them now." He looked over his shoulder at her and he smirked. "Beats doing nothing around here." He laughed and then with impressive speed, went into the forest.

~/~

Once the milk was stored away properly, Lily took care of the goats and chickens before finally moving onto the horses. Once they were groomed and cleaned up, she let them out to roam around in the fenced-in fields. Her work with the animals was done for now, so now she was working on laundry inside, scrubbing her clothes on the washboard and into a wooden basin. She paused in her work as she heard someone approaching on horseback. She stood up and walked outside, wiping her hands on her apron, and found one of the men from the village riding up to her home with another horse in tow.

While he rode a black horse, the second horse which was a lovely red and white appaloosa, she recognized. She smiled as she greeted the man approaching her. He looked to be in his fifties, with some wrinkles on his face, and crow's feet around his eyes. "Miss Lily, I've come to return Sugar." he said, dismounting his horse and untying the lead from the saddle that was tied to Sugar's bridle. He took the leads and walked Sugar over to Lily, who took the leads and stroked Sugar's neck. "Was she able to help with work? How is Ranger, Mr. Murrow?" Lily asked. Mr. Murrow was a rancher who lived in some fields not too far from her. He took care of cattle and sheep mainly, and was the one who sold cows to Lily not long ago. However one of his horses had fallen and injured it's leg, so he had asked to borrow one of Lily's horses until the leg was repaired.

Lily raised horses for this purpose, or to sell to the other farmers or ranchers, or to really anyone who needed horses. Mr. Murrow smiled. "Much better, it wasn't too serious thank goodness. Sugar was a wonderful replacement for the time though." His gray eyes looked over to the fences where the cows stood. "Say...didn't I sell you four cows?" He asked, walking over to the fence. Lily flinched and began to walk Sugar to one of the gates to let her inside the fields with the horses. "Uh yes, well..." She began, trying to find some sort of excuse. "They're um..." she stuttered, putting Sugar away and walking up to him. He looked at her skeptically as she tried to make an excuse. She definitely did not want to tell him about how the two rascals got out while she was away. 

Then, as if by some divine miracle, there was some movement by the forest. There came the two cows, one with a white pelt and the other a white and brown piebald. Lily had to lean against the side of the fence, feeling as though she was going to fall. "There they are now." She said, hurriedly walking to them and opening the fence so they could get in. They looked fine, remarkably, though they could use a bath. However, Silas was nowhere in sight. She glanced around, until she saw a glimmer of black scales moving underneath the underbrush. He had more than likely saw Mr. Murrow and was now hiding. Good, she thought. At least the sight of him won't induce a panic. She turned back to Mr. Murrow. "These two had escaped last night but it seems they returned home from their little adventure." she told him. Mr. Murrow chuckled. "Very lucky they are, that beast could have gotten them." he chuckled. "'Course, I heard there's other terrible things in there too. It's strange though," he continued. "Have you ever seen the beast or any other terrible creature from that forest around here?" he asked. Lily shook her head. "No, I haven't."

"Ah ha! Now see, that's interesting isn't it?"

"Interesting? How so?"

"The fact that none of these beasts have been coming to us."

Lily was speechless, and she simply nodded back as he chuckled while mounting his horse again. "Well, just the thoughts of an old man. Have a good day Miss Lily." he said, kicking his horse into a trot and riding off. He had a point. If there were so many terrible beasts in the forest; then why didn't any of them, besides Silas, come to the village? A soft hiss broke through her thoughts, as Silas had positioned himself around her. He stood in front of her while his tail circled around her back, the tip moving closer to her face. He had her trapped, moving in such a way that no matter which direction she turned he would catch her in his coils. Lifting her gaze to meet his, she would find his crimson gaze looking down at her. "Who was that, lovely Lily?" he hissed, drawing out his 's' again with his voice dripping with hostility. She swallowed, feeling like she had a rock stuck in her throat. "Just a friend, returning a horse." she said softly. "I didn't say anything about you..." she said. Between his light-hearted banter and witty remarks, she had forgotten just what exactly was living in her house. He may have acted human, but a monster was still a monster. He was a predator, and she was the prey. 

However, her answer seemed to calm him down. His expression softened, the hostility in his eyes melting into a smile. He moved away, his coils moving at the same and giving her room to move. He spoke, "I don't think I need to tell you what would happen if you spoke about me to your townsfolk, do I?" He asked, his voice dripping with honey. "And of course, I'm not threatening you my dear. Just...be wary." Her whole body shook and he laughed. "Oh I would never lay a finger on you, sweet Lily. But you'll come to see;" he moved closer. "Humans are more monstrous than me." With that he slithered off and into the house, leaving her alone with her thoughts.

~/~

He had felt the horses approach through the vibrations of the ground, and promptly had gone behind the barn after delivering the cows safely back to their pen, tucking his tail in as he did so he stayed silent and hidden. He eavesdropped on their conversation. The thought of Lily sounding friendly to another male, albeit an older one, made his blood boil. He carefully waited, for her sake, since the last thing he wanted to do was to scare both of them and then start a village raid.

It was very tempting though. He listened to this Mr. Murrow ramble on about the cows and the horses. Though when he mentioned that none of the more dangerous forest creatures dared to attack Elveton, he couldn't help but smirk in pride. That was all thanks to his tribe of course. They hunted the worst of the creatures during the night, and kept the town of humans safe and none the wiser. Though it wasn't intentional. It was mainly to keep his own tribe alive.

He felt relieved when that man finally left, and he saw his lovely Lily alone. He couldn't help it. He moved forward and curled around her once again. Her body, her frame, was perfect to be wrapped in his coils. He wanted to keep her wrapped up all day. But, after looking at her expression, it became very clear she was still terrified of him.

So he let her go, to allow her to continue her work for the rest of the day. He didn't mind, because soon, his wish would come true. He had all the patience in the world to wait for that day..