Parish squinted his eyes trying to accommodate the sudden bright light. He could see blurry figures of two people looming over him. Who were these now? Was he in some kind of danger.
"Parish! We were worried about you. What happened?" That voice. How could he fail to recognize it.
"Zed!" He exclaimed almost jumping and jumping back to consciousness. He looked around both confused and surprised. Wait.. He was still here…the same place he had died. Was this some kind of a joke?
"Is everything alright?" Zed asked when he noticed the confused look on Parish's face.
"For a moment, I thought I had lost you buddy. Thank God you're alive," came another voice from behind.
"Mike and I were worried Parish. What happened?" Zed asked. But Parish was now more confused. He looked around as if his eyes were playing tricks on him. And it was indeed true. He was back, alive and kicking. But who… no, what was he now?
"Was I…dead?" Mike and Zed looked at each other confused. Why the hell would he ask such a question.
"For a moment we thought you were. You had lost so much blood and worse, you were not breathing."
Mike sighed. "But that's in the past now. We need to feed you Parish. You've lost a lot of blood."
"The humans did this to you, didn't they?" Zed asked. He was not the type to just sit and watch as his friends got massacred. In fact, he was framed as the bravest in the snakemen clan having killed two humans with his bare hands.
"Yes they did," Parish simply answered making Zed clench his fists damn hard that his knuckles turned white.
"Wooah wooah Zed. Take it easy. Don't do something stupid Zed. Your father won't let you go," Mike chimed in trying to calm the already flaring Zed.
Zed raked his fingers through his jet black hair. "Fine!" He gave in.
"Let's get out of this place first, it's not safe."
"Wait…" Parish creased his brows for the nth time. It was still in the morning! But how? He felt like he had spent a whole day away but this… His gaze fell on his lower body and wait…
"What is it Parish?" Mike asked, noticing the sudden change on Parish's expression. But to that, Parish said nothing. He just stared at his lower body in disbelief. Zed, who had been watching Parish's reactions silently followed his line of sight and hell wait…
"How's this possible?"
"What are you talking ab….?" Mike ended up swallowing the rest of the words, his face now the perfect definition of a doubting Thomas.
"Tell me I'm dreaming guys," Zed said.
Parish was the only one who looked calm at the whole situation. So it was indeed true… everything that had happened was true. He was now a god in training! Was he supposed to be happy?
"Explain this Parish," Mike demanded pointing at a graceful pair of human legs that had replaced Parish's tail.
"What the hell happened to you? You had a tail just a few minutes ago when we came," Zed said turning to Mike for acknowledgement.
"It's true Parish. You had a tail when we arrived. What the hell happened to you… and your body. You've changed."
"It's a long story guys. Let's get out of here, it's still not safe," Parish said trying to change the topic.
"Oh yeah..we almost forgot. I don't want to sniff some alluring gun powder. Do you Mike?"
"You're right. Let's get out of here," Mike nodded.
They both helped Parish to get up after some struggle. "Damn it!" Parish cursed. Why was he feeling so much pain yet he was a…god. Was it normal?
The three friends trecked and slithered away carrying a weak Parish with them. For some odd reason, he couldn't walk and felt weak in the knees whenever he tried to stand. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he had never walked on human legs before. Just like humans, he needed to train walking and adapt to the uncomfortable posture. How would everyone take it in the clan? He looked nothing closer to one of them. Even the golden scales on his skin had gradually disappeared. He could only expect for the worse.
It didn't take long before the trio arrived inside a dark cave. This was where snakemen uses to spend their day sharing food and comforting each other during the hard times. It was also a safe haven that humans had not found it's existence.
"Mum? We're back," Zed announced catching the attention of everyone else. Everyone was fond of Zed as he would always bring food to the clan whenever he went out. Mike would always be by his side and so would be Parish. But Parish rarely showed up here so his fellow clansmen thought he was a mean boy, unlike Mike and Zed. That was why Zed's father assumed the role of the clan elder.
"Look who's here?" A feminine voice echoed in the empty space and a few minutes later, Zed's mother came at the entrance, her face planted with a smile that faded the moment she laid her moonly eyes on Parish.
"Did the boys bring something to eat?" Zed's father asked from his lair. But no answer came. Zed's mother stared at Parish in both disbelief and bewilderment.
"How…how is this possible? " She asked inching closer towards Parish, cautiously, as if he was some kind of plague she should be wary of.
"What's not possible my dear?" Came Zed's father. Snakemen were gifted with a high sense of hearing so it was normal to eavesdrop on anyone's conversation.
"Did they come with a great catch? As expected of my son!" Zed's father boasted.
"I think you should take a look at this," Zed's mother said in almost a whisper.
"Is everything alright?" Came Zed's father question but no one replied. Curiosity got the better of him coupled with the silence that followed. He dropped his hammer and slithered to the direction of the entrance.