Sapienophobia

Chapter 25

I blinked under my sheets, and it was early morning. I wasn't expecting to fall asleep again.

I put on clothes especially slowly because I knew what was going to happen once I got to the lobby.

As guaranteed, there was nothing but back pats and "You okay, bud?"s as I dashed through.

The walk to the Murks seemed faster than usual. I picked at a nail that wouldn't be coming back on my severed finger.

I thought about "conquering" the forest snakes today. These snakes didn't have teeth and strangled their prey to consume them. It was a technique that was impossible for me to copy. I saw one earlier in the thickest when I was training with the ants, but I strayed far away to another hill lest I also be considered prey.

But today, I'd be the one preying on them. I had convinced myself that they were slow, and I could outrun them easily.

I trailed a rope vertically up my sleeve and around my collar so that if a snake tried to choke me out, I could hopefully pull it off.

I hadn't walked a meter before I stepped on one. It recoiled under my boot. I hopped back, accidentally feeling sorry about it. It snapped at my feet; I dodged a few charges, but the ones I didn't couldn't hurt me.
It was slower than me at covering distances, so I backed up to a place where it couldn't see me.

Do snakes have a good sense of smell? Or sight?

It squirmed some more as if I was still stepping on it before slithering around high bushes.

The mosquitoes on the tree I was leaning against nibbled on my arm, and I flicked them into oblivion.

I didn't let my guard down, I coached, readying the snake trap.

It was poorly made, held together by thin nets, and even more poorly placed between two low-hanging branches. I wasn't sure it would withstand the thrashing the snake would dish out.

Maybe I should try another glue.

I wished I had nabbed the carcass of the sparrow from before because now I had nothing to lure the reptile.

I needed to go hunt for prey for my prey.

No more birds or mice. What's the easy way? Do snakes eat lizards?
They're both reptiles.

I marched off to moth territory.

Be here when I get back, snake.

I felt my early onset arthritis that would make a hellish comeback in my later years take root when I was lunging around for snake lunches.

I knew that magic had its limits; after casted on me unwillingly, it couldn't completely heal all my wounds. It healed just enough so that I wouldn't bleed out, and my body was left to handle the rest. Hence, why it would hurt to do anything too strenuous. On the brighter side, the scar tissue that had blemished was now in its later stages. The pain that came with touching my wounds was only surface.

I huffed at the memory of the wolves and their attack.

I wanted to solve it by myself.

My frustration caught me a lizard. I tied its leg to my net so it could move enough to attract hungry eyes.
The lizard caught me a snake. I held it under its head as it wiggled like a noodle in my grasp.

It was easier than I expected, and I started to suspect I was doing something wrong.

Root would've done something braver. Not only that, he would've already got Sod and moved on to whatever's next.

I frowned, but I couldn't gather whether it was from a sense of inferiority to my dead brother or grief.

I'm not like them. I'm not an "all or nothing" person. I'd rather run away with a 1% chance of losing than trust in my ability and fight with a 99% chance of winning.
It's nonsensical, I know. But even killing Sod is the lesser of my fears.

Distracted by my self-actualizations, I only realized the snake was trying to wrap itself around my neck when I tickled me. I mistakenly dropped it as a reflex.

Now it was free to curl without restriction.

I pulled on my side cord but to no avail. I tried to unwind the wrap before it could continue endlessly; similar to earthworms, the runed scales upon Murks snakes allowed them to extend the length of their bodies. I shot my arm between its enclosing chokehold as a last-ditch.

It's tight. It's hard to breathe.

I fell to my knees, struggling for air. I reached for the snake's head with my bad hand. I could feel it underneath my four fingers, but my vision was blurry. I slammed its head against the ground.

Let go.

My good hand that was getting choked with my throat would sooner break than get me out of my situation. My nails were digging into its flesh, but it behaved as if it didn't feel it. At best, the arm would provide me a couple more seconds of oxygen.

I could feel what I hoped was the snake's blood on my bad hand. My bashes became more frantic when I could no longer swallow. I choked on my saliva before biting into the animal.

The sum of all my violence must have been too much for the glorified maggot. The chokehold hadn't loosened, but it wasn't getting any tighter. A couple more hits and the snake's body went limper. I angrily tossed it into a tree with a flick of my wrist, the way a child would toss a broken toy. I rubbed my sore throat as I stomped off.

I heard it slithering on the leaves to recover after I thought I had killed it.

I wasn't going to finish it. Its will to live was more frightening than respectable.

My anger, though directed at the snake, was for myself.

Nothing is going my way.
Weakling.

I coughed to rewet my trachea. I wheezed my inhales and heaved my exhales. I could hear my heart pumping. My larynx throbbed.

I chewed a relieving herb before moving on.