Fate stepped back, bowing and gesturing to the giant snake. "You can have this one, m'lady," he said graciously. Cait rolled her eyes, stepping forward.
"How generous," she said, her voice oozing sarcasm.
"I am nothing if not generous," Fate responded, an amused smile hidden behind his mask.
The serpent watched all of this, reptilian eyes flashing with alien emotions. It hissed, rising to its full height once more as Cait stepped forward. Around the duo, the serpent's body flexed and coiled closer. Cait and the snake entered an impromptu staring contest, daring the other to make the first move.
The snake moved first, biting at Cait with speed even more exaggerated than a typical snake bite. Mere inches from Cait's person, it rebounded off of an invisible wall, thrown up by Cait's Divine Intent at the last moment. The haphazardly made barrier shattered on contact, Cait gripping her hands in the air and latching onto the snake's head with her Intent.
The snake shook vigorously, trying to break her hold, but the thrashing was slowing noticeably as Cait won out. The snake's head was locked in the air, looking hatefully down at the two humans. The snaked hissed wrathfully.
"How do you have such strong Divine Reach, little human?" it asked. "Only my master has ever reached the Divine Intent realm."
"I'm just talented," Cait said, a pulse of Divine Energy spreading out from her.
Another surge of energy, this one from the serpent, stopped in its tracks, along with the massive tail that was scant inches from Cait's back. The serpent hissed once more, coiling itself into a comfortable position.
"You don't want to kill us," Cait told the snake in a soothing voice. "You just want to sleep, to bask in the sun."
A snort came from the serpent as its eyelids lowered. "I want… to sleep…"
It closed its eyes, coiling itself tighter and tighter. Cait launched Fate over the snake's body with her Divine Intent, herself following shortly after. Behind her, the space of two hundred feet shrunk to four feet as the beast got comfortable. They landed, Cait on her feet, and Fate into a roll to a stand. The latter turned around, gazing at the massive beast.
"You know, I may be able to become practically invincible, but Manifest Powers like yours are utter bullshit," he said jealously.
"It only went smoothly because this thing was an Avatar. Seriously, this Yathmund guy never learns."
"Actually, his name is Ythmun. Not that it matters, seeing as he'll be dead soon. Should we kill this thing, before it wakes up? How long will this last for an Avatar, anyway?"
"Around four hours, considering it's a snake as well. I don't think reptiles feel desire the same way we do, so the ones I stuck in its head probably aren't ones that it can produce normally. That means it won't last as long. But I don't think we should kill it. It might be endangered or something, or forced to do this by 'Ythmun.'"
"It'll still try to kill us when it wakes up, though, won't it?"
"Maybe. But that just gives us the incentive to hurry this along."
"That's fair, I suppose."
They stood in silence for a while, observing the massive reptile. Coiled up as it was, having completely extricated itself from the ground, it was easy to realize just how truly gargantuan it was. Having wound itself, one layer on top of another, it rose to pass even the walls of the palace, a miniature mountain covered in the soil and plants of the garden.
In a way, it was a beautiful sight, how the few exposed scales glimmered in the sunlight, the flowers and vines and flytraps on its body in full bloom.
"You know, it's quite cute, in a weird, horrifying way," Cait said abruptly.
"We can't afford to feed this thing. Don't even think about trying to take it as a pet. It could probably eat an entire country every day and still feel hungry."
"But it's an Avatar," she retorted. "it's capable of living mostly off of Divine Energy, and I can feel that its store is huge. It could probably last for weeks between meals. Besides, normal snakes only need to eat twice a week, and something this big had to have evolved other ways of getting nutrition. Otherwise, it couldn't get this big."
"Alright, how about this? You tame it, you feed it, and it's yours. But first, we have a despot to kill, and a time limit before this thing wakes up."
"We can stand here talking for as long as we want, as long as I keep my ability focused on it."
"We still have a job to do, though, so let's get to it."
She sighed. "Alright, let's go."
They started for the door on their end of the garden when they heard a growl. Fate sighed, pivoting on his heel. He found the serpent's eyes open, staring at them with both caution and confusion.
"A petty parlor trick," it said. "But it's time for me to eat."
"What happened to having four hours?" Fate whispered to Cait.
"That was an estimate. I've never had to use my power on a fricking giant snake before," she whispered back.
"Well, then we have no choice but to kill it now because evidently, it won't stay asleep."
"Fine. You go high, I go low."
Fate pulled his sword out of his ring, kneeling into a sprinter's start position as Cait prepared herself mentally. They broke into a dash at the same time the snake struck, its head zooming through the air at speeds nearly rivaling the Black Blur they had fought earlier.
Fate jumped, soaring over the serpent's head and landing on its neck, where he proceeded to twist around and grab onto one of the beast's scales, pulling back his sword for a vicious thrust. Meanwhile, Cait kept dodging or blocking the snake's strikes, walking slowly back toward the wall.