Mysteries

For Axel, with time, he had nearly realized all his goals, but still, it felt like he would fail in front of Lia—that all of his planning would go down the drain in front of her.

Axel had a strong premonition that something would go wrong if he faced the mysterious snake.

'Axel, did you notice how the snake has been more concerned with that man's safety rather than killing you? It seems to be a very smart beast. I can see that in its eyes and the way it carries itself. But despite your constant provocation, it is still more concerned about the boy. Don't you think we can use that?' The voice of Kael echoed in Axel's mind.

Hearing Kael, even Axel realized the nature of Lia's and Liam's relationship. He was not sure why, but whatever Kael said seemed to be true.

Next came the part where he had to somehow use Liam against Lia. Axel did not like the idea one bit, but this was a life-and-death scenario—you had to use whatever was at your disposal—and Axel knew this too.

Axel was now also fearing the fact that soon, the poison would take Liam's life, and he would be facing Lia, whom he had been dreading facing until now.

Axel was surprised that the poison was taking so long to take effect. He had tweaked its concentration for a slow effect, but by now, Liam should have been dead.

Lia's concerns were completely different. She could not understand why Liam was taking so long to gather some of the essence, as she herself was helping him absorb it by guiding his energy, but nothing seemed to be working.

Suddenly, Lia felt a danger to her life from Liam. She looked at him with a concerned gaze, but by now, he was having trouble breathing and gasping for air.

Axel saw this and understood that it was now or never.

"Your friend has poison running in his veins. Unless you extract it, he might soon die." Axel was pretty confident that, however strong or mysterious Lia might be, it was impossible to extract the poison at this point.

Hearing Axel talk about poison, Lia was perplexed. She could not remember any wound inflicted on Liam during this whole exchange. Lia closed her eyes and observed Liam for a while.

She could not see any open wounds on his body, but as Axel had said, his life force was depleted, and he would soon die if nothing was done. But another phenomenon occurring within Liam's body concerned Lia.

Due to Liam's life force being exhausted, Lia's own life force was being consumed via the mysterious connection that they had—one that Lia herself had forced upon Liam.

Lia was fuming, seeing that the chess piece she had placed so diligently, risking her own life, was now threatening her. Lia had only made the blood pact with Liam because of his bloodline.

There was something in his bloodline that Lia desired so much that she had risked forming a blood pact with him. She did not think that there was anything in this lower world that could threaten her, so she had taken a risky step, thinking the same.

But during her very first real confrontation, her life was now being threatened. She, a majestic being born with a mysterious fruit as its protector, had dreamt of ruling, growing, and prospering, yet was left in such a state by a non-elemental brat—and that, too, due to her own greed.

The irony of the situation was that Axel, even now, was unaware of the blood pact between the snake and the man in front of him. And how would he be? It was an ancient ritual, forgotten in the annals of time, lost to the ruthless part of history that the world was desperately trying to forget. Yet, somehow, Lia was born with the knowledge of it, but was now regretting ever knowing it.

Lia, furious at the turn of events, tried remembering anything in her preserved memories that would help save Liam—and thus herself—but all was in vain.

Seeing her efforts futile, she was angered once again at the situation and the boy who was the cause of it all. She was thinking along similar lines as Lilith now. 'If I cannot be saved, then I will take this boy along with me—this insignificant brat who is the cause of my despair.'

Lia faced Axel with primal fury in her eyes. She had now given up on life itself, so now, she had no reason to be wary of beings from the upper realm.

All the elemental energy started converging toward Lia. Her once-shiny scales started growing heavy and enlarging.

A low, subsonic thrum vibrated through the ground as Lia's spine elongated, vertebrae cracking and reknitting in rapid succession. Her scales rippled, each one splitting and reforming, edges glinting like polished obsidian. Her eyes—once mere slits—now glowed with an inner fire, pupils dilating into bottomless voids.

Her body bulged, flesh expanding as if inflated by some unseen force. The sound was grotesque—wet, fibrous snaps of sinew stretching, tendons reforging themselves mid-motion. The ground beneath her fractured as her girth widened, crushing stone and earth beneath the new, monstrous weight.

Her head, now the size of a horse, lifted on a neck thicker than an oak trunk. Her tail lashed, sending debris flying as it gained length, coiling into impossible loops. The scales, once smooth, now bristled with jagged ridges, each one gleaming like a dagger freshly whetted.

Within moments, what was once a mere serpent was now a leviathan. In front of Axel now lay a mythical monstrosity in the making—and the scary fact remained that it only hungered for his blood.

(Note: Why did Lia choose Liam, and what is so special about Lia? How is Lia connected to the fruit? And what is that fruit?)