Chapter 111. Half-Snake-Half-Dragon.
After a little over an hour, Severus left chimera territory. He passed the Illusion Forest, also circled in blue on the map, and finally reached the land of the half-snake, half-dragon creatures.
In the first half of the jungle, aside from the sheer number of snakes, everything looked almost ordinary. The air was damp, the trees familiar, but scales flashed everywhere under leaves and in shadows. Farther in, he began noticing more and more holes in the ground, of all sizes, as if something had drilled the earth from beneath. Closer to the center, small mounds appeared, each with several openings.
Severus did not want to draw attention, so he moved as quietly as he could. Still, he simply couldn't avoid being noticed. There were too many snakes, and some hid so well that even he struggled to spot them. A new snake found him every minute.
After almost two hours, he reached the forest's center. A huge mound rose there, like an anthill, riddled with dozens of holes ranging from a couple of centimeters to almost two meters across. Hundreds of snakes moved around it like guards, patrolling the area. Others peeked from the openings, watching from above, not to mention those that glided through the air on wings.
That did not surprise him. This was the forbidden jungle, a red-marked danger zone. Monsters having intelligence here was to be expected. The real question was how to get through all of this unnoticed. Beneath that mound he could sense a powerful magical presence, something alive, with far more power than the lion, almost ten times as much. So instead of pressing forward, Severus retreated a couple of kilometers and made a small shelter.
Inside the dugout shaped by magic, he set up a table, placed several jars of ingredients on it, and set a cauldron beside them.
"Severus... let's leave. There is something very dangerous underground. I feel the same suffocating pressure as that day we faced the Basilisk."
"This one will be worse." Severus looked into Nagini's worried eyes. "With your current strength, you feel the same oppression, but do not worry. I am not eager to gamble my life against that giant either. Even I am not certain I could win without going all out."
"Then there is no need! Let's go farther. I do not want you risking your life for my sake!"
"It is not just about you anymore. I need an answer to one of my questions." A flame flickered to life beneath the cauldron, and one of the ingredients floated above it. "Do not worry. If my plan fails, we leave. I am sure it will not."
Nagini let out a tired sigh. His answer calmed her a little, though not entirely.
Brewing took five hours. Another hour went to placing the mixtures around the lair. When he finished, Severus returned to the dugout, lifted his eyes to the sky now darkening above, clasped his hands together, and began whispering rapidly, words Nagini couldn't make out. A few seconds later he lowered his hands, and the corners of his mouth rose.
In the distance, an ordinary snake crawling along a tree caught a strange scent, and drowsiness washed over it. Its eyes began to close. It tried to resist, but the struggle lasted less than ten seconds. The reptile fell from the branch to the ground. Several more followed. None could stay upright, not even the largest. The strange effect crept toward the mound. Even the ones in the air noticed, but it did not save them. The force reached them too.
Half an hour later, not a single snake was still awake around the lair. Once he was sure the potion had worked on everyone, Severus headed for the nest.
Along the way, he examined the sleeping winged reptiles, and to his disappointment he realized he had been wrong. He had thought that serpent was truly going to become a dragon, but a transformation like that was impossible from blood alone, even real dragon blood. These snakes sprawled around him were proof.
Inside, the lair was a labyrinth, dozens of paths leading who knew where, with snakes sleeping in the tunnels. Time was limited, so he chose a simpler route. Using a basic earth spell, he began digging straight down, descending toward the strongest creature.
He had a full hour, but he hurried regardless. He did not know how long the mixture would hold against the monster he was approaching.
The deeper he went, the harder the earth became, and there were fewer tunnels. It took fifteen minutes to reach the bottom, where only ten meters separated him from the creature. Even behind his protection, Nagini still felt crushing pressure and animal fear, so he sent her back to the other beasts he had captured earlier.
Before crossing the remaining distance, Severus drank several potions to sharpen his reflexes, increase his magic, and boost his physical strength. He activated his armor and layered support charms that raised his defense and other attributes, ready in case of an ambush.
Finally, with one motion, he blew through the last wall and launched himself out, pushing off the air.
But the moment he landed and looked around the almost empty cavern, he froze. Aside from a glowing crystal suspended above a bloody pond at the center, there was only one other thing: a snake three times larger than the one he had caught earlier. It was not asleep. It lay there, eyes half-lidded, watching him serenely. Strangely, he felt no immediate danger from it, only curiosity.
His earlier choice not to kill or capture anyone along the way had been right, though it was strange the potion had not worked on this one. At first glance it looked like an ordinary snake, but on closer inspection he saw small horns on its head. A red stripe of hair ran along its back almost to the tail, and the muzzle was more dragonlike. It had gone much farther than the others on the path toward a true dragon, and that was strange indeed.
"Had enough of staring, human?" The creature's voice was calm, but in such a confined cave it sounded loud, heavy, almost threatening.
"More than enough. First time I've seen a dragon like you. The others were closer to wyverns, but you're the closest to a real one. Still only halfway there, though." The creature before him might have matched him in strength, but Severus did not show weakness. He answered in the same neutral tone.
"It sounds like you have seen real dragons."
"I have met one, once."
"And it sounded like there was more than just one."
"Who knows, perhaps not just one." Severus smiled faintly, staring into its eyes. He couldn't even read surface thoughts. He hoped this didn't turn into a fight.
"If we compared our strength, how much would I fall short of them?" it asked with interest. In the next moment, a terrifying aura burst from its body, flooding the cave. It slammed like waves against his barrier, which activated automatically under the pressure.
As if it had not noticed the test, Severus rubbed his chin thoughtfully and said, "Most likely you would not even leave a wet spot."
"Not surprising. Nothing less should be expected of an ancestor who once managed to become a true dragon." Pride and admiration colored the half-snake's voice. "But we have drifted from the subject. Why are you here, human?"
I want to examine that bloody pond, more precisely the skeleton resting at the bottom. Severus did not hide his goal. Even now he was only about fifty percent certain the blood belonged to a real dragon. The aura was there, but faint. He could not say for certain whether it matched what he remembered. A skeleton would settle it. In his past life he had seen one like it. "I need to confirm something."
The creature's expression darkened, and it raised its head slightly.
"You, human, want to touch our sacred place with your unworthy hands and look upon our ancestor's skeleton?!"
"Yes. And in exchange, I will return your son to you." Above Severus's hand, a transparent screen appeared, showing a serpent bound to a pillar.
"SO IT WAS YOU." A blood-red aura wrapped the creature, and the cavern shook under the pressure of its rage. Decades had passed, but it recognized its child instantly. It had thought the cub was eaten by some monster after it escaped.
"No. I found your child outside the barrier. My task was to kill it, because it had begun trying to seize the entire forest and wipe out magic's favorites. Instead, I saved it from a curse that would have killed it on the spot." Severus spoke calmly, expression unchanged, though he drew his sword and laid a hand on the blade.
The half-dragon looked more carefully. It saw not a single scratch on the serpent's body. Even wrapped in fury, it still thought clearly, and it forced the anger down.
"You want to use my child as payment for your request?" it growled, squinting.
"Yes."
"And you are not afraid that after you return my child, I will kill you?"
You might be the strongest creature in this place, but if we fight, my odds would be better. Severus's smile turned sharp, almost reckless. "And even if I cannot beat you, I will take everyone with me." The expression vanished as quickly as it came. "Either way, I do not do business without a contract."
Instead of answering, the creature laughed. The cave shook again.
"You think some contract can bind me?!"
"Mine can. And just in case, it is signed with your child too. If I die, your child follows." The laughter cut off at once. "I will cancel it after I leave. That can be written into the agreement."
"So you came prepared?"
"Actually, no. Your child is a lunatic, so I had to restrain it with a contract to stop it from attacking me and my people."
"Heh heh heh. I see. But..." Its eyes turned crimson. "Did you really think you could CONTROL me with that?!" In the next moment, a purple beam burst from its mouth, shooting straight at Severus.
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