Silence reigned in the now busy cave as Zed's father stared at Parish in what could be termed as disbelief. But unlike his wife, he assumed a lesser surprised composure just as expected of the leader he was. His shocked expression was quick to be replaced by one of anger.
"Why did you bring him here?" He asked instead turning to Zed and Mike. Panic kicked in the forlorn hearts of the duo when they remembered how much Zed's father despised Parish. He always saw him as a threat to his current position and a person who didn't care about his fellow clansmen.
"I can explain father…" The elder raised his hand to hush Zed. He looked at Parish in the eye, no hint of emotion present on his wrinkled face.
"I don't want to hear what you have to say son. It doesn't matter because I will never let this…" He looked at Parish in disdain searching for a word befit to describe him.
"I can't let him stay here even for a second. Have you forgotten what his father did to us?" He asked letting his piercing gaze dance in between Zed and Mike.
"But Parish is different father. He's not like his father," Zed tried convincing the hard to convince father of his.
"Look at him.." He said letting his gaze travel Parish's length. "He looks nowhere close to one of us. I can't let a human in our territory. Who knows he's been sent to spy on us?"
The little word flight had caught the attention of people in the cave and they were now approaching the place, eyeing Parish like a plague.
"You are right My Lord. This boy looks nothing like us. He's human! We should kill him. Just how many lives their kinds had taken?" Everyone else roared in cheers.
"Kill the human!"
"Kill the human!"
"Kill the human!"
They began chanting, even some grabbing weapons and hissing at Parish. Mike and Zed were now confused. The situation was getting out of hand now and it would so be out of control. How the hell could they help? Convincing them that Parish was not human would not be a wise option. Hell they were not blind! Couldn't Parish turn himself into a snake or something. Yes! He should try shape shifting completely. Maybe that would help.
"Father? Parish is one of us. I can prove it…he can prove it ," Zed said, trying to save Parish some trouble.
"And how would he do that…prove? He's human and he'll die, just like how his kinds take the lives of our kinds." Everyone chimed in at that statement.
"Please just give him a chance. What if you guys are wrong? There is only one way to find out,..father…please?"
"Kill the human!" The others yelled but Zed's father gestured them to stop.
"Fine. Let him prove to us that he is indeed a snakeman."
"Thank you father!" Zed exclaimed, something that made his father angry.
"But under one condition," the elder added. "If he's not, you'll have to hand him over for execution!" The crowd chanted at this.
"Fine!" Zed gave in after a while.
"What do you have in mind?" Mike asked in a panic stricken voice.
"Parish?" Zed called placing his hands heavily on his shoulders. "You have to trust me on this."
"Just tell me what I have to do ," Parish cut him off, probably tired of the whole drama. Zed let out a sigh at this.
"I want you to take back your snake form, you can do that right?"
"Will it work? He's so weak already," Mike voiced out his concerns. Surely shape shifting would required Parish to be strong and energetic, something which Parish didn't have at current. Already to them the current situation of Parish was unknown to them, Mike didn't want him to take any risks.
"It has to work because he's one of us. It'll just take a toll on his already tired body. I'm afraid you might pass out…or worse, die." Zed said with a grin patting Parish's shoulder as if he was talking of a sheep or a goat.
" You know it's his life we are talking about here!" Mike glared angrily and was genuinely worried. What if it never happened as planned? What if Parish turned out....not to be one of them? But that's just impossible they're known Parish since breaking out of eggs... well not like literally breaking out of eggs but all the same they've known him like since forever and Parish was definitely of their Kin!
"You have to trust…him Mike," he said pointing at Parish. Hell no! Was he supposed to trust Parish or was Parish supposed to trust in himself. He raked his fingers through his already dishevelled hair as he paced restlessly around Parish and Mike.
"Play time is over kids. We need action now!" Zed's father called earning laughter from the crowd. He was certain Parish wouldn't make it. Oh how he wished to strangle the life out of the poor boy. The crown would shift to his family…forever! This was a golden opportunity he was not going to let it slip, easily.
"Trust me on this Parish. You can do this. You've always been the best among us in shape shifting between our full snake forms and half snake forms.Trust yourself, surely it's no different now!" Zed tapped Parish's shoulders before he left the stage for him. Mike just smiled wryly at Parish before he followed Zed closely behind. For some odd reason, he felt this wouldn't work. He was prepared for the worst.
Parish took in a couple of deep breaths letting his gaze dance between the crowd to Zed's father and back to his crazy friends. The idea alone was crazy but it was the only way to confirm he was indeed one of them, a snakeman which he never doubted himself. His legs wobbled creating a funny feeling in his knees. Standing alone proved to be a tough job yet…damn it!
But this was not the time to ponder on such things. Throwing the juggled thoughts at the back of his mind, he closed his eyes faintly trying to concentrate on his shape shifting task.
Shape shifting felt like a funny activity to every snakes man. One would experience a funny yet disturbing sensation flow through their body before they completely turn into that snake.
Parish searched for that thing that triggered the shifting in his mind but it was all foggy. Damn it! This was the easiest task in the world of demi-humans yet it was now proving to be tough.
"Enough!" The voice echoed in the cave, the resolution in it ringing warning bells.