An Arrangement was Made

Chapter 15: Found but not Caught

It was a misty, pleasant night in Eden. Just like it was every night. Adam was snuggled up to Eve when something woke him out of his sleep. Something was rustling through the grass. Adam snapped awake and listened carefully for the animal's movements. It didn't sound like the steps of any animal he knew. It wasn't the padding of paws or the pitter of claws. It wasn't a bird, it wasn't hooved. It was a strange swishing noise, almost like a tail with nothing else attached to it.

Adam got up to go investigate. He crawled close to the ground. Whatever it was, it sounded small. Small things spook easy and run fast. If he wanted to catch it, he needed to sneak up on it. Adam only moved when he heard it move. A few cubits closer. Stop. Closer. Stop. Closer. Slower.

"Gotcha!" He grabbed the small animal and held it in the moonlight where he could see it better. It looked very much like a lizard but smoother and sleeker. It was long too. Adam had never seen a creature this long compared to its head size before. It had a white back, a striped underbelly, and one red spot on either side of its head. It had four pathetic little legs that didn't seem capable of actually picking up its body. The claws looked like they were used for digging. Adam thought it was cute.

Until it whipped its head around and bit him.

"OW!" He dropped the offensive creature. The animal hissed at him and slithered off. Eve was roused by Adam's yelp. She came over to him rubbing sleep from her eyes.

"What's going on?" She yawned.

"It bit me! I found a new animal and it bit me!" He pointed at the area that the animal used to be. It was long gone now.

"That's not possible Adam. You bite plants, not living things."

"Exactly! Animals that eat other animals belong outside the garden. I hope that Angel comes back soon so we can tell her that one of them got in." The tone in which she talked to Adam bothered him. She didn't always do it, but sometimes she spoke to him as if he were stupid. Maybe she was just tired?

"Maybe it thought that you were an animal that eats other animals."

"Animals that eat plants don't have teeth that sharp. Look!" He showed her his thumb. The wound was now bleeding.

"Ew gross. Why are you full of red water?"

"Everyone's full of red water. I call it blood."

"Are you sure it's not just you that's full of blood?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure. Lillith was full of it too."

"Hm." Time to change the subject. "So, what are you going to call it?"

"A serpent."

"That sounds like a good name."

The two humans went back to sleep. They discovered a new sapling growing in the center of the garden a few days later.

-

'9 feet tall. Curved horns. Gold wings. 9 feet tall. Curved horns. Gold wings.'

Satan was flying far above the clouds. The dragon's orange skin camouflaged him against the sky, but it wasn't perfect invisibility. If you could figure out the general area of where he was, you could find him easily. He also cast a shadow which could draw someone's attention to the sky. The best solution was to fly as far up as possible so that he was barely a spec and so light could fill in underneath him.

Being up high also gave him a great vantage point from whence to search for this winged man. Charlie had described him as being fairly large which would make him much easier to spot even from this high up. There wasn't a ton of cover out here for someone so big to hide in, so there was little need to search the rocks or grasses from a closer distance.