Scroll Of Wrath [BETA] COMPLETE

|Chapter 9.2| The Missing Prince

She was dragged through a labyrinth of corridors to a grand throne room. The throne room was filled with nagas, their black snake-like tails coiling and uncoiling as they argued amongst themselves ignoring her existence. Hadassah listened intently, her heart pounding. They were speaking in human tongue, a fact that both intrigued and terrified her. She had considered escaping but now she wanted to figure out what was happening, she put on a scared look as if she was unaware of their words as she listened intently.

"She smells like the King," one of them hissed, his eyes narrowing at her. "But she's a rabbit."

"She reeks of the King's essence," a second one muttered, confused. "But how can that be?"

"Let's just eat her and be done with it," a particularly large naga growled, baring his fangs. The others nodded in support and panic surged through Hadassah. She was not delicious enough to be eaten!

"I can help you find your King," she blurted out in human tongue, the slight suggestion of killing her was enough to douse her excitement.

The nagas fell silent, their eyes widening in shock. "You speak our tongue?" one of them asked, his voice a mix of suspicion and curiosity.

Hadassah nodded. "Yes. I can help you find your King."

The nagas exchanged uncertain glances. "Can you read the ancient texts?" one of them asked, suspicion heavy in his voice.

Hadassah met his gaze steadily hiding her excitement, she had no idea what was happening but the idea of reading through old human scrolls excited her. "Yes! I can!"

"Are you actually going to believe this girl?" The Naga holding on to her asked in disbelief, "she is just a rabbit, the fact that she knows the mother tongue is too suspicious!" The Nagas hissed, many nodding in agreement. "We should just eat her for nourishment, she is not a human so she cannot bear our children."

Hadassah didn't know how to react; this was possibly worse than the bloodhounds. If she had revealed herself as human, what would they have done to her? The Nagas talked quickly, raising voices, majority supported killing her. Hadassah took some time to think, right now she could escape, but if she wanted to read those scrolls, she needed to get them on her side.

She weighed the pros and cons of revealing her true race, she could be forced to breed snake children or if she manages to control them, wouldn't that be the best?

Humans were weak selfish creatures, and she was no different. The ferals were notorious for exalting human Queens and the Queen of the black wind tribe has been missing for a hundred years. Then, wasn't this her opportunity?

But if she failed... No! She could not afford to fail.

᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃

In a dimly lit interior of a small underground bar by the edge of the city, the air was thick with the scent of nectar, and the brawling laughter of beast men filled the room. A towering bear stood by the fireplace, his ears nearly grazing the low ceiling as he laughed heartily with a group of leopards, most beasts felt the most comfortable in their natural form despite it being mainly socially unacceptable. At a table near the corner, a group of feline beast men with sleek, spotted ears played a game of cards, their sharp eyes gleaming with cunning and mischief.

Behind the counter of the bar, bottles of colourful liquids lined the shelves, the bartender, a burly beast man with a long, braided beard, expertly mixed drinks, his hands a blur of motion.

Amidst the bustle, a figure sat alone at the counter, her presence inconspicuous. Her fiery locks spilled out from under a wide-brimmed straw cone hat that obscured her expression, her dress was flowy, she had one arm out of her sleeve and an iron chest plate securing her bust tightly to her ribcage. She sat with a straight back; her hand wrapped around a small cup of milky white nectar. With her other hand, resting on the hilt of a thin that was attached to her waist, sticking out into the space beyond the bar counter.