The Son Of Snakes

1 - Of Mother And Son

She trekked through the woods, a robe covering her body. It hid her from view, camouflaging her against the surrounding green and brown. Underneath her face was hidden, which may have been partly why she was stumbling everywhere.

She leaned against a tree, before slowly sliding down to a sit. She pressed her hand agaisnt her stomach, pulling it back to reveal crimson liquid splattered across her hand. Blood.

They had gotten a good stab in. But she'd survive, easily. They hadn't done enough damage before they became another victim to her gaze. She hadn't even wanted to hurt them. But she wasn't going to let them kill her.

Or maybe she should've. This life was miserable. Constantly feared. Constantly moving. Cursed by a god for an action that was forced upon her. Despicable. Her hate for those selfish gods was all that kept her going.

But it wasn't like she could even do anything. She was just trying to survive, but her drive was dying every day. What good was the hate when she couldn't get rid of it? It was consuming herself inside out, it was burning her out.

A sudden sound jolted her to her feet. Had she missed someone? Had someone come after her?
And then she focused on that sound. The sound of crying. A baby's crying.

A baby?

She followed the wailing sounds of a crying child, reaching a river in the forest. Floating across the river was a basket filled with blankets and from it the cries of a singular, human child.

She frowned at the sight. An abandoned baby. How horrible. To think someone would abandon their own offspring like that. She would've secretly given the baby to the village nearby if she hadn't just frozen them all to stone.

She sighed to herself. She'd have to place this baby out of it's misery. And anyone who would find the statue would only believe that she was a monster even more.

Well, they weren't wrong. She is a monster.

She headed to the edge of the river, reaching her hand out of her robe; her scaly, green hand, and grabbed the edge of the basket. She pulled the basket towards her, placing it into her lap.

She took a deep breath, preparing herself for what she was about to do. She pulled down her hair, revealing her scaly green face and her hair made out of snakes.

She gripped the blankets, before quickly throwing them to the side and staring straight at the baby. She put the blankets back over, not being able to look at what she had just done.

The first time she had frozen a baby. It was even worse than when she froze children.

Wait, but why did she still hear crying?

She pulled the blankets away, revealing that the baby was in fact still alive. She stared at it in astonishment, the snakes of her hair flicking their tongues at the baby in curiosity.

The baby was alive?

And that's when she noticed the scar across the baby's eyes. He couldn't see. He couldn't see her. She couldn't turn him into stone.

She traced her fingers across the baby's eyes, and his crying started to stop. He looked up in her direction, reaching his arms up towards her.