When lunchtime came, The snakes were halfway done in constructing a temporary shelter made from twigs, creating a cozy grotto where Aiden could crouch down and find refuge when night comes.
While Aiden and Mr. Busty had their lunch, the three wisps took their time to explore that part of the woods. They flew to different directions, leaving Aiden and Mr. Busty surrounded by hundreds of snakes just lurking in the background. Lucius made it clear that he already told them to stand guard, and not get tempted to eat their mortal. Aiden could only pray they stick to whatever promise they made with Lucius.
He took out the roasted chicken from his backpack, earning a few angry hisses from the grasses.
"Oops," he murmured to himself. "I guess I'm not having chicken for lunch."
Apples and slices of bread satiated his hunger for today's lunch. The roasted chicken would have made the snakes more hungry, and more tempted, he wanted to avoid that. So, he made do with what he had, even sharing his bread with Mr. Busty who was surrounded by a feast of fruits and nuts.
With nothing else to do, he took out the book he snatched from Oily, or whatever that boy's name was. He skimmed through the pages and even practiced some of the lines. As expected, nothing happened. He fixed his gaze on his fingertips, trying to relive the tingling sensation. There was a part of him that recognized that feeling, and he'd been racking his brain trying to remember a blurry part of his memory to no avail.
He closed the book and tucked it inside his backpack, earning no recollection but a headache. He wanted to take a nap, but that was a terrible idea while literally surrounded by blood thirsty, slimy carnivores.
A cold breeze flew past Aiden as the trees rustled. Hundreds of birds flew away, and the surroundings became restless. In a short notice, the snakes began to hiss, louder and louder. Aiden thought they'd gotten impatient by now.
All of a sudden, the snakes all slithered toward Aiden, a hundred snakes jumped onto him, subduing him to the ground.
"Ahh!" he let out a yelp as the snakes pinned his limbs to the ground, "Lucius, you're done for!"
Cursing their immortal must have been a bad move, cause then, a snake slithered its way around his mouth to gag him. With a hundred snakes all lumped into him, darkness was the only thing that surrounded him, and the slimy feeling of their skin slithering tighter on his body. He struggled for a good minute to no avail. They were too slippery. Even when he rolled his body to the side, they'd also slither toward him, completely trapping him in their herd.
That was the end of him, he thought. A boring death for a boring life.
A few seconds later, a few howls resounded in the forest. He froze. The wolves have arrived, and the sound of hisses became louder. He snakes wound around him tighter, like the cocoon of a butterfly.
That was when he realized, these snakes weren't going to kill him. They were protecting him from a pack of wolves.
The words he reserved to curse Lucius were replaced by words of praises. He swore to praise the snakes and their immortal if he gets out of this alive.Gradually, the sound of hisses died down, and the sound of howls sounded from farther away. The wolves were gone. Even their alpha should know not to mess with hundreds of snakes. Slowly, the snakes loosened their grip on Aiden, completely letting him loose before slithering back to their grasses.
Aiden sat up, immediately checking in on Mr. Busty who was also on the ground. He guessed the donkey also had the treatment as him.
"You alright, Mr. Busty?" he asked the hinny.
When he got no response, not even a neigh, he approached Mr. Busty. The donkey's eyes were closed, and Aiden began to panic. "Mr. Busty! Wake up!" He shook Mr. Busty's torso to no avail, he went closer and placed his head on the hinny's chest and breathed a sigh of relief.
"What happened here?" Riven flew back towards them. "The wolves came from this direction, didn't they? Are you alright?"
Aiden shook his head. "I'm good."
"And Mr. Busty?"
"He fell asleep."
The two wisps followed, and Caelum's color died down as if expressing his disappointment.
"Hah!" Lucius beamed bright. "That's a win for me!"
Caelum groaned. "Fine, fine. You win."
With Aiden's eyebrows furrowed, Riven enlightened him. "Don't mind them. They just made a bet if you're still alive when we return or not."
Aiden's eyes went saucers. "Don't mind them? For betting on our lives?"
Riven disregarded his reaction, he twirled around the boy, trying to picture what happened from the state of the surroundings. "So, what happened here?"
Aiden began to tell the story of how the snakes began to slither toward him, the wolves howling, and how he panicked thinking Mr. Busty was dead.
"I bet he thought he was dying," Caelum said while hovering around Mr. Busty. "Look at that smile on his face. I've never seen that before."
Lucius was busy praising his team of snakes, his light beaming brighter than ever. He flew towards the three in a condescendingly blinding light. "I believe I owe you something."
Aiden wanted to take the praises he prepared in his mind back but he decided to just go with it. He owed it to Lucius for keeping them safe.
"Thanks to you and your... clansmen?" Aiden said. "Mr. Busty and I were saved."
Lucius nodded. "You're welcome, but they're actually my third cousins. I mean fourth. No, fifth. Yeah, fifth cousins. We're not that closely related."
"So much for being a snake," Caelum commented.
"You saying something?" Lucius flew toward him. "Oh! You're saying your thanks because I saved your ass's ass? Well, you're very welcome!"
Caelum murmured a few curses to himself while Lucius irritated him with his condescending glow. Riven on the other hand, felt thankful Lucius didn't bother to bother him.
While the two wisps bantered, Riven asked Aiden to fill his jug with water before announcing their departure.
"What?" Lucius asked. "We're leaving right away? My snakes just finished setting up Bastardssons's shelter for tonight!"
Riven took a glance at the sturdy grotto they made for Aiden, nodded his head in acknowledgement, before turning back to the three.
"You're right. It looks sturdy," he said. "But no one said we'll be staying for the night. You shouldn't have bothered at all."