The snake and the mongoose
Sticks, stones, fire, sword, and ultimately blood.
These are the things that are the beginning of the end, but whose? Emersyn is not the first to act upon the snake, but neither she the last. She is mystified by the island, by the great serpentress it has become. Emersyn cannot discern whether she is the foe or if it is the snake. The soldier must decide how deep her need is for the Relic which lies in the sand. How much does Emersyn need the Relic?
Truthfully, none of them need it. Not right now. There are so many others in this new world that need it. Yet, none of those horses can be here. They are busy suffering a cruel immortality unlike the everlasting life of the Gods, Solterra's new statuary collection is quite impressive. Several of her group descend onto the great beast, she is reminded of a hard won battle in her past. Each one of these horses are soldiers like her. The sweltering sun is replaced by a wet, cold day. She can hear men shouting to each other on the field, her men, and this is what is left of them, of those who can still stand to fight. Some of them shout at Emersyn to get out of the way, to snap out of it. But all Emersyn can do is slow the scene down in her head and rearrange the pieces until it makes sense.
As it unfolds around her, frame for frame, the woman steps out of herself and plays with the idea that she will dart those yawning lips, avoid being tasted by the forked tongue, and be quick to put her hooves through one of those large, all-seeing eyes (eyes which look too long at her, eyes that deteriorate her vision of battle and bring her home - home to here). Now.
When she does so, she stares into the eyes of the snake herself and sees her own reflection in it. Every muscle gathers its energy, they swell with adrenaline as blood spins faster and faster in her veins, her heart beats steady - it has to - how else will she survive this? If she does not survive this, then she must die in a very honorable and dignified death. Hold steady, Emersyn tells herself. She'll strike for the eyes if the serpent surges forward, the soldier has visualized her tactful plan - if she can avoid the bite (a bite wider than the horizon). Emersyn's eyes may be trained on the snake, but in her own reflection, the relic glitters like a promise, and a distraction.
A forelimb tenses in the sand, and for a moment, Emersyn becomes the mongoose.
