House of Scales

Chapter 18: Progeny of darkness

Her fingernails gave a good account of the wet soil in front of her body. The ground began to give way, with bits of grass and leaf litter flying everywhere. Soon she was able to get her body through the hole she had just dug. The sharp edges of the rocks that remained on the road tried to scratch her skin, but they couldn't keep up with her. After stretching her body to fit the terrain, she left the narrow passage she had opened and dropped into the void. It wasn't long before she noticed a rocky floor that she remembered well.

"Finally..." she sighed after the dirt and grime have been removed.

She didn't need to carry any light to see in the complete darkness around her. She didn't need to, not only because she had taken that path on other occasions, but because her eyes had become quickly accustomed to the change in lighting. In the darkness of the tunnel, with the cold caressing her skin, she felt at home. A damp, spacious place with no surveillance at all, what more could she ask for? That was her domain.

"Where'd they go?" she asked herself aloud as she moved through the darkness and into the tunnels.

She didn't walk alone for long, for soon hisses began to be heard surrounding her position with alacrity. They approached cautiously, emitting warning whistles. They knew each other in power difference, that much was evident to their reptilian minds. They might be unaware of many things, but like all preyed upon in nature, they were used to knowing their place. They were young, however, and some of them soon took up the challenge and approached her feet.

Her answer? A short grunt and a firm stomp. None approached, and the monsters that had come to see who the intruder was, retreated, aware that the sensation they were feeling for the first time was fear. And it was that instinct that told them that the creature that had entered their territory carried a familiar scent, a tint of strangeness that they couldn't understand, but their parents had known well.

"Oh, come, my loved ones, don't be afraid," she said with tenderness, sitting on the cave floor.

Thus, with her knees bent and leaning on her heels, she received the bravest of the small pairs of yellow eyes that shone in the cave. The creature approached the feet and raised its head so that one of the hands could caress it tenderly. The skin was cold and scaly, but the sensation was pleasant. The creature allowed itself to be caressed as others approached to investigate the intruding shadow that had entered its territory.

They hadn't come close enough when the fingers that seemed to be giving the reptile affection moved faster than expected. A quick gesture and, as if with a pair of pliers, the nails clipped the creature's neck. Another movement, this time fiercer, and a loud crunch sounded throughout the cave.

"So...easy..."

The fingers left the prey, and the little monster fell lifeless to the ground. The intruder didn't need anything more than that for them, amidst whistles and threatening hisses learnt not to approach her. The familiar air no longer seemed safe to them, even if they were departing from a world where their very birth already implied imminent danger. Having learned the terror of the figure in the darkness that had so quickly made one of their own disappear, they would never approach it again unless an obvious opportunity to strike down their enemy presented itself.

"Now step aside!" she shouted forward as the monsters moved fearfully aside to make way.

The winding shadow continued to advance through the maze, knowing its way and feeling powerful for having shown who was in charge in the darkness of that place. It couldn't be any other way; such was her character, and such was how she knew to behave. Otherwise, she could only end up seeing her body devoured. It was to kill or be killed. That's how hard life was in the scaly darkness.

"Where are my little ones?" she asked, advancing more in-depth into the dark.

She followed in the footsteps of the monsters that waited at a prudent distance. She remembered what her feet had walked and came to the hall where gleaming jewels waited. They came to see her, and even in the half-light, she could distinguish the colour of the irises from those beasts. A pair of dark aquamarines beside two glittering jades approached with curiosity. They already knew the hand that had been extended to caress them. They let their long bodies touch human skin and familiarly caressed the coldness of the skin with their scales. Seeking the warmth that the flesh radiated, they took refuge in the lap of the figure, even if they were triple her size. Her arms went around the necks of the gargantuan varanus and embraced them as if they were old acquaintances. Deep down, the two beasts had cared for one another, even though the eyes of one of the three had round pupils that streaked strangely, unlike the others.

"You've done a great job, my beautiful one," she said, hugging one while the other monster claimed her attention. "And so have you, my dear, of course."

The family affection that both of them nourished was palpable in the cave and inherent in the supportive looks and caresses that all three bodies sought. Although not visible to an untrained human eye, there in the darkness flowed the love of a family, only a very different one.

"Thank you very much for not telling Dad anything," she congratulated the two creatures by stroking their lower jaws. "With this, we will enjoy a new life, all together, you will be the cure we need."

The monsters roared at her side, docile and trained by the cold hand that knew well how to master them. They were both aware of what they were and of the sacrifice they would have to make when the time came. Yet none of that mattered now that the reason for their existence remained at their side, offering them a warm welcome and the strengthening of bonds that could never be burned.

"It will all be over soon," whispered the voice as she said goodbye to the colossal figures. "And then Mom... yes... then everything will be like it was before."