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The

Jewelled Serpent

The jewelled serpents are closely related to the dragon but through the centuries, evolution has taken its toll and the serpents have lost the ability to fly as their dragon cousins do. They rarely took to the skies, choosing to stay land bound to search for jewels and other items of value and beauty and as a result their wings grew stunted and finally disappeared altogether. They regularly traded with other dragons or serpents and occasionally humans as the need arose. It has been well documented in histories and stories that dragons of any type are attracted to jewelled objects and often will do anything to possess them. All items of great beauty or well cut gems are worth pursuing and generally a dragon after obtaining an item of value will return to its lair where it will add them to its hoard, remembering each item as it is added. It is a fool who thinks he can remove a single gem from a dragon’s hoard without retribution. In this respect the Jewelled serpent is no different to the dragon; however the jewelled serpent is different in one respect. The skin of this serpent has an unusual top layer; it is made up of a similar substance to epoxy resin. It is incredibly sticky but once dry nothing can be removed from it, it forms a flexible, transparent skin over anything which the serpent desires to be added to its person. The Jewelled serpent finds gemstones it desires and then rolls in them; discharging its sticky substance the jewels adhere to the skin forming an impervious coating. As the serpent grows so it needs to collect more gems to cover its entire length. Jewelled serpents are beautiful creatures in ordinary circumstances but when viewed in bright sunlight they are transformed into dazzling creatures of rainbow light.

Many men have tried to track down and steal from these serpents either wanting to steal their hoards or wanting the gems which cover their body. Assuming that the weight and hardness of the gems and the sticky layer would slow the serpents down and make them stiff and inflexible, many had gone creeping up to a serpent thinking to sneak up on their blind side and stab or behead the serpent leaving them free to prise the gems from the serpents body and making them incredibly rich. However jewelled serpents although heavy with the weight of gems are not slow nor are they inflexible. Only very young serpents that had not got used to the extra weight of the heavy layer of gems were the slightest bit vulnerable and they soon became accustomed to carrying such weight. Older serpents were pure muscle and moved with remarkable speed, the top layer although very hard was flexible enough that the serpents could almost tie themselves in knots should they have wanted to. Some of the humans who tried and failed to steal from the serpents left their bones as evidence of their failure; other luckier ones only lost limbs and had a story to tell to their friends and families about the ferocious serpent which had attacked them for no reason. Hence these serpents had a fearsome and undeserved reputation.

Haylitt was a serpent elder and had lived for a very long time; he was over one hundred and eighty years old and had over the years collected many fine gems which he adorned himself with. If it were not for the hardness of the gems covering his entire body he would have had many scars. Throughout the years many men had tried to steal his hoard or had risked all to obtain the many gems he had collected since his birth. Some were as big as duck eggs and were rare and precious, obtained from deep mines where human miners could not go. This made Haylitt a target for those hoard hunters who thought they would become very rich by killing him and taking his gems. However one of those who had come to kill Haylitt some twenty years ago is now a regular visitor and friend and could even be considered family of a sort.

Orna came looking for a fortune and found a friend. He had spent months tracking down Haylitt’s lair, planning how he would go about killing him and thinking about how he would spend the fortune he would then be in possession of. Orna had watched the serpents’ movements over the months noting when and how long he was away. He knew that a direct approach would only end in his death so planned a way to sneak into Haylitt’s lair whilst he was absent and hide himself amongst the serpents hoard until Haylitt slept. He would then rise silently and using a weighted net would entangle Haylitt and when his writhing and thrashing had him firmly caught in the net then Orna would make the killing blow. Once this had been achieved he could take his time collecting gems and planned to bury what he could not take with him and return later, making many trips to bring home all of the treasure. He would then live the rest of his life in luxury, wanting for nothing. He sat outside the cave hidden in the undergrowth for three days waiting for the serpent to leave. Finally he left and once the coast was clear Orna crept inside and carefully hid amongst the treasures piled high and settled to wait for the serpent’s return. He had food and water enough to last a further two days but hoped he would not have to wait that long; from his observations he knew the serpent was only ever gone for a day or so he did not think Haylitt would leave his hoard unattended for any longer. What Orna didn’t know was that Haylitt had gone to visit another jewelled serpent who had offered to trade some unique gems in return for an artefact which Haylitt had acquired. He would be gone for six days. Orna waited and waited, rationing his food and drink and watched his supplies dwindle as the days went by. He slept a great deal of the time trying to conserve energy and other more urgent matters he dealt with by digging a hole at the very back of the cave and ensuring nothing remained to show he had been there.

By the third day Orna had run out of food and had only a little water left, he felt confident that the serpent would return at any moment and settled himself more comfortably to wait. But the day dragged on and then day turned into night. By the fourth day Orna had nothing left, no food, no water but still he waited feeling hungry, thirsty and tired. During the morning of the sixth day Orna decided that if the serpent did not return by sundown he would abandon his quest and return home. Perhaps he could try again in a month or two, he may have to give up on this occasion but he was determined that he would have the serpents treasure. He settled down again to wait and soon drifted off to sleep. Late in the afternoon Orna, feeling very unwell decided he had had enough and started to creep from his hiding place; just as his head emerged from between two piles of treasure he heard a noise at the entrance to the cave and gliding swiftly across the cave came the serpent. Close to it was much larger that he had imagined but determined to succeed Orna fumbled for his net and weapons and tried to stand but hunger and thirst had make him weak and dizzy and he fell forward. As he did so the piles of treasure he had hidden under tumbled about him with an awful crash. Haylitt’s head whipped around at the sound and he sped across the cave floor to where Orna now lay. Orna rolled onto his back as Haylitt raised his head high ready to strike but as he did so Orna closed his eyes tightly and a single tear dripped from his eye. As he waited for the end he whispered a good bye to his wife and asked that the serpent make his end a quick one. Haylitt was intrigued by this behaviour, usually when he caught a human stealing from his hoard they immediately ran at him brandishing weapons, yelling and screaming, and in defending themselves the humans usually died. But this one was lying quite still asking for the end. Haylitt lowered his head and sat back to watch what the human would do next. Orna did nothing just lay there quietly with his eyes screwed tightly shut. Haylitt lowered his head even further, prodding the human with his snout giving him a gentle shove. Orna opened one eye and stared at the serpent now almost eye to eye with him. In his sorry state he knew he could not put up much of a fight so shouted as best he could at the serpent to get on with it. Haylitt was so surprised by this outburst that he slid backwards away from Orna curling himself around and around until he was sat quite still just across the cave. Orna, realising he was not about to meet certain doom just yet, slowly pulled himself out of the pile of treasure and sat leaning against the wall. The two stared at each other for some while in total silence. Then Orna asked

“Why don’t you just get on with it? Come on finish it,” He didn’t really expect an answer as he was unaware that serpents could speak. Haylitt put his head on one side and to Orna it looked like he was considering his answer. Finally he said,

“Because you intrigue me human. You do not yell or brandish weapons; you calmly wait for death, I have never had a thief like you before me.”

Orna started as Haylitt began to speak, staring wide eyed at the serpent, seeing the look on his face Haylitt chuckled making Orna jump even more.

“Ah so you did not know that serpents could talk; we are just stupid creatures to you are we? Well now you know differently. What say you human?” When Orna didn’t answer straight away Haylitt tried again,

“What is the saying that your race has – cat got your tongue?” Orna moved to a more comfortable position against the wall and said,

“I thought…” he paused, not knowing how to tell the serpent in front of him that he had thought he was a dumb animal. He tried again.

“I didn’t realise…I thought…well I mean…” Orna stammered and stuttered and could not find the right words, Haylitt took pity on him and filled in the gaps.

“You didn’t realise that serpents were intelligent creatures with the ability to speak. You thought that we were just gaudy snakes who you were far superior to and that you could come here and steal from me. Is that about it?”

Orna looked at the ground between them, not knowing what to say but finally told Haylitt,

“Yes that about sums it up.” Haylitt moved forward suddenly coming to within a foot or two of Orna who tried in vain to back up further, thinking his end was nigh. The serpent sniffed at him and then turned away and slid to the entrance of the cave, taking something in his jaws and turning back towards Orna. He slowly moved toward the human and placed something in front of him and then moved back. Orna looked at what was now in front of him; it was a canister with a wide neck, a stopper was pushed firmly into the top. Orna looked from the canister to Haylitt and back again.

“Go on,” said Haylitt, “I can smell you are very dehydrated, it is only water.” Orna carefully reached forward and took the canister, pulling out the stopper and drinking greedily. When he had drunk his fill he thanked Haylitt and placed it back on the ground between them. This small act of compassion was the start of a very strange but worthwhile friendship. The two sat and talked long into the night. Orna realising that the serpents were intelligent, caring creatures that had families and young just as humans did. Haylitt learned that not all humans were greedy, murdering beings and that most were happy to live the lives they had and did not steal and murder. The two shared a meal which Orna was very grateful for and finally as it was very late settled down to sleep. In the morning Haylitt bid Orna goodbye, ensuring he had supplies enough to see him home and asking that he return at some point so that they could continue their conversations. Orna did return many times, sometimes bringing his wife and eventually his children. The children were the only ones who were allowed free access to the serpents hoard, playing dress up with the crowns, tiaras and jewels which Haylitt had collected. The children grew up loving the huge serpent that was such fun to be with as Haylitt grew to love his human family.

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