THE LILILITHS AND THE SAND SERPENTS
Naraie's initial fear was soothed by Rinna's revelations.
"Yes, my Mistress Incarnate", Naraie replied to Rinna recognizing her as her former mistresses' incarnate.
I was surprised that Rinna's soul realm could harbor serpents. This ability was like the puppet soul realm that I lost after it was taken over by the Dark Angel or Eirot's soul which could accommodate demons.
"You and your two wives alone can bring armies of hell, malevolent and serpents with you wherever you go. That is so convenient to conquer the world", Ratatouille commented to me.
"They don't call us the Unholy Trinity or the End of the World for no reason. We are the armies that could defeat the Angels", I replied to him, bragging.
Like how Eirot imprinted her demons with her soul mark, Rinna marked Naraie and her children Shai-hulus. Once marked with her soul, these serpents could enter her soul realm and find refuge there.
"My children will not be afraid of the predators in the Sacred Grove of Dragons if we return to the mother's garden", Naraie told us.
"What kind of predators are you afraid of in this Sacred Grove of Dragons?" Rinna asked her.
"The Little Liliths or Lililiths. They are the serpents who betrayed the mother", Naraie told us.
"There is another story about Revelations to tell. If only Meera is here, she will have a story or two to tell", I said to them reminded of the times we had with Meera and her stories.
"The Serpent Lilith, the twin sister of Mother Nahase, was the main culprit who betrayed her. She was one of the reasons the Trinity fell", Naraie told us about Lilith.
"Each of the Trinity were betrayed by their own, the Trinity of Traitors", Ratatouille told us and lamented.
"Really? Why didn't you tell us before?", I asked the greedy rat.
"You never asked me about it", he replied.
"Just bloody tell us", Sara asked him.
"The Dark Angel's Incarnate, the one we call the Warlock was the first traitor. Lilith, Mother Narase's twin sister was the second traitor", Ratatouille told us.
"Who is the third traitor?" Sara asked him.
"The third traitor betrayed the Savior, she is the False Savior", he replied.
"Let me guess, all these three have a part to play in the Revelations again?" I asked.
"I don't know. You'll have to ask Meera about that", he replied to me.
"Who then are the bloody Lililiths?" Sara asked.
"They are Lilith's minions. They prey on us Shai-hulus, if they could find us in the desert. Our sandstorm is cast to mainly hide from them", Naraie told us.
Naraie brought us through the desert of Elis. We weren't going to leave the desert but were moving deeper into it. Eventually, we reached a rocky oasis.
"We are here. I cannot bring you any further. My sandstorm will reveal my presence to the Lililiths", Naraie told us.
"Alright, return to my garden," Rinna told Naraie and soon she disappeared.
Before us was the Sacred Grove of Dragons. Our appearance also caught the attention of the locals who came out to welcome us.
------
Twisted, grotesque creatures slithered toward us, their lower bodies like that of serpents, their torsos those of women, but their faces were nightmarish, demonic masks of malice.
Each of these monstrosities had six limbs sprouting from their backs, each one wielding a gleaming, curved golden blade that promised death with a single strike.
They moved swiftly across the rocky plains of the oasis, their scaled forms gliding over the sands of the golden desert.
The air itself seemed to tremble as the sands rose in violent swirls, stirred by their presence. As they advanced, the sand conjured monstrous serpentine hoods, heralding their approach with a terrifying display.
We were besieged by these snake-women from all sides, and as they closed in, the sand conjurations above us surged with movement—serpent-like creatures formed from the very desert itself, descending upon us with relentless fury.
These were the Lililiths, cursed descendants of Lilith, the fallen Serpent.
-----
"These serpent women are not easy to deal with, we should run when we have the chance", Ratatouille said to us as he transformed into an eagle before perching on my back.
Ratatouille's eagle form would make it easier for him to fly away from the onslaught of the serpent women, Lililiths.
"There is no escaping these snake demons in this desert", Rinna told us.
Suddenly, powerful pillars conjured from swirling wind, rushing toward the serpent conjurations in the air, trying to stop them from advancing toward us.
"Condensation Pillar"
The pillars of wind were cast by Sara and was among her strongest magic, but the pillars couldn't stop the serpent conjurations for long.
"Damnit, these bloody serpent heads don't break up even with my condensed pillar piercing them", Sara complained to us.
"The serpent conjurations are made up from the golden sand, nothing could break sand formations, at most you make a hole through them", Rinna told Sara.
By this time, the snake women reached us wielding their golden curved blades. The snake women quickly struck us with their powerful strikes.
However, to the surprise of the snake women, they were thrown away from us. My chaos magic forced the snake women back.
"Greater Upheaval"
"Who are you people?" the snake women shouted toward us as they swirled around us uncontrollably.
"We look for the Sacred Grove of the Dragons", Rinna told the Lililiths.
"Nobody disturbs our mistress in her slumber. We will kill all of you", a serpent woman shouted to us in reply.
"You women snakes are being controlled or uncontrolled by us. What makes you think you can still kill us?" Ratatouille asked the snake women.
"Have you forgotten about those above you", the snake women replied.
Although the snake women were controlled and restrained by my chaos magic, their serpent conjurations in the air were not.
"Throw those sand serpents like you throw those bloody snakes", Sara asked me.
I tried to break up the sand conjurations with my chaos magic, but it didn't happen as I hoped. I couldn't break the conjured sand serpents.