Beneath Our Disguises

Deadly Expeditions(naga x reader)

(Naga x Reader)

"Wow, would you look at that." Whispers the main archaeologist, taking off his hate in amazement as he observes the latest discovery of ruins in Sri Lanka's rain forests. The canopy of trees can't help but part around the tall stone ruins, somehow hardly touched by nature's greed as it had devoured the landscapes around but left the temple hardly touched.

"I wonder why this is the only one for miles, perhaps a temple of some sort? Or tomb?" Asks Nathan, he was your friend and one of the reasons you were there. He had gotten the two of you jobs helping the archaeologist with the newest dig. "The closest ruins discovered to this one are nearly 10 miles away and not even close to the river that flows beneath this one" He states, somehow having memorized every other excavation in his photographic like memory that made him extremely smart but also a difficult friend every now and then.

"It is odd, but look at the structure, it has to be a temple of some sort, I mean, this looks like an offering table and I doubt a tomb would have one" You reply, crouching before a large, heavily decorated stone slab a few feet from the bottom most steps of the structure. The stone tablet was inscribed with hieroglyphic like markings that resemble Sanskrit in a way or maybe early Arabic. You couldn't decide, but this was why you were here, you had studied long dead languages and it was the reason you had been brought along in the first place. 

You can't help it as you extract your notebook from your satchel and do a quick rubbing of one of the characters to study later before closing it and stuffing it back in your bag. Looking farther down away from the characters to the artistic carvings below you can't help the slight frown that crosses your face, all of the depictions seem to be of serpents. While serpents weren't unusual to worship in ancient times, especially in that area, they were the sole depictions on that slab. Tracing the markings with a finger you realize that it is only two serpents, twined around each other in some form of eternal dance, crawling onto the top of the stone where their mouths opened, fangs bared as if to attempt and eat whatever was set upon it. 

Shaking your head slightly to clear the unease that you felt at such unusual carvings, you look up to see where the others had gotten to during your examination. They had already made their way up the steps towards the large statue that was most likely the deity worshiped at that particular temple. It was odd, though guards were not unusual at such temples as these, the stone ones here were too life like for your taste, large cobras with open mouths and frills, bearing down on whoever dared to enter the temple.

Moving swiftly past them, wary of their watchful gaze, you practically run up the steps to meet the others as they explore the rest of the temple. Nathan was standing at the feet of the deity, or at least, where the feet would have been if it had any. Instead, the muscular male statue's torso melted seamlessly into that of a large snake, his own tail coiled around to support the statue as a throne might. Sprouting from his head were sharp horns that curled slightly forwards and up, framing the face as most statues had close coiled hair or headdresses doing. Instead the hair was long and shaggy, decorated with a few small braids and stone beadings were draped over the horns as decoration, necklaces  layered thickly upon a strong neck as well. 

"Wow" is the only word that could escape your mouth in amazement at how well preserved the monument had been. Only slight erosion had taken away the finest details, not even moss or algae dared to mar the handsome visage of the half-serpent man on his coiled pedestal.

"I know right, who ever this deity was, he was clearly well liked, or at least, well feared." Said Nathan, smirking slightly as he motioned to the crumbling columns that had been a forest of stone at one point, made for worshipers to bow in an orderly fashion. 

"Hey, what's this?" You ask, noticing that in the very center of the temple is an open space, with another carving of a snake head engraved upon it, though this one had its mouth closed. The image was frightening though, even in such large portions it looked life-like with gold and emerald inlay creating eyes that shone in the steadily fading light of day, long fangs outlined with thin golden lines gave you shudders at what snake it had been modeled after, or the imagination of its creator.