A Snake in the Springs

After breakfast, Eyna had some free time. Lessons with Mother began within an hour, and she was free to explore until that time.

There were so many choices. But today she chose the sacred springs. Pepper and Saffron lingered behind her, still bickering occasionally. Pepper was mostly preoccupied with a cake he took to go, while Saffron busied herself observing the growth of flowers around the springs.

The sacred springs were at the very core of the Heartsprings. The mouth from which all water in the Heartsprings tumbled. And where they met in the center, the essence of Mother emanated. Her vast trunk and powerful roots coiled outwards in all directions from it.

Mother could move her mind through the tree. Sometimes she was in her core, sometimes not. On this particular day, she was elsewhere. Tending to the rest of the Heartsprings, no doubt.

There were seven primary pools at the sacred springs, deep and flooded with crystal waters. Their waters connected underground in a network that tunneled beneath the Heartsprings. 

At the head of each pool was a long obelisk of obsidian. Each was inscribed with the name of an ancient god. At least - that's what Eyna had been told.

Ira. Mirum. Beatitudo. Fastidium. Tristitia. Timor. Omnis.

Though Eyna had asked time and time again, Mother had never spoken of the reason for the pools. Father had always been evasive about it. And so it remained a mysterious thing. The pools, as far as Eyna knew, had always been there. 

Eyna took her time moving through the pools. The waters here were the purest, the most magically dense. And although Father and Mother always bid her to be careful, not to dive into them, she could never resist peering into them.

Every time she came to the sacred springs, she was drawn to a different pool.

Today, though, there was something odd. As Eyna approached the pool of Ira, she caught sight of something glinting in it. Shimmering like a silver star, it stood out within the waters. Eyna squinted, getting down onto her belly, eyes close to the water. She watched for a few moments until she discerned what it was.

There was a snake at the bottom of the pool.

Eyna could see it through the waters. The pool was deep enough, the shadows just so, that sometimes it escaped her view. But every time the surface settled, it was there. A snake with a long, sinuous neck, eyes closed. It was a pretty creature. A smooth, tapered head, with vibrant scales.

She watched, certain for a heart-stopping moment that the poor thing was dead. It lay still at the bottom, not so much as a bubble drifting up from it. She spent a good five minutes, just watching, scarcely breathing. Her fears only eased when, at last, she saw the snake shift. A slight thing, but her sharp eyes caught it all the same. It was alive.

But what was it? And why was it here? The snake had come from somewhere. But not the Heartsprings. The vast majority of its body was deep in underwater caverns that connected the springs.

“Pepper! Saffron!” Eyna hissed. “There’s a snake in the pools!”

It took her friends a few moments to catch up to her. Saffron landed daintily beside her, whereas Pepper hopped on all fours, huffing behind them.

Eyna leaned forward, urging them to take a look. “Look! By the entrance. There!”

Pepper tilted his head, glancing down. “Mmph? Just looks like water and stones to me.”

Eyna rolled her eyes. “Yeah, well you have terrible eyesight. Saffron - you see it, right?”

Saffron frowned. She stepped onto the waters. The tips of her toes made tiny ripples, but she walked across it just fine. “... I see something.” Saffron folded her arms, sharp elven ears twitching slightly. She maintained her atmosphere of dignity, but a slight nervousness entered her voice as she spoke. “Are… Are you certain that’s a snake, Eyna?”

Eyna peered down at the creature. “No, not really. It’s a lot bigger than any snake I’ve ever seen. But what else could it be?”

Saffron hesitated, eyes darting to the side. “Well there’s always a possibility that it could be many things.”

Eyna caught the strange wordplay right away. The surest sign of deception from a fae. Saffron was hiding something. “Saff-”

“-in any case!” Saffron interrupted, straightening her spine, little wings fluttering. Her eyes were already focusing on Mother’s core. “It’s far too dangerous. I say we tell Mother and Father. Straight away.”

Eyna folded her arms. “You know what they’d say. They’d tell us not to go near the snake and kick us out. We’d never see it again, either.”

“Yes and they’d be right to, Eyna,” Saffron retorted. “Honestly! You’re far too old to be this disobedient.”

Pepper glanced from side to side, watching their back and forth. “You said it was a snake, Eyna? What if it’s… Venomous? Or something?” He shuddered.

Saffron frowned. She couldn’t seem to resist the opportunity to call Pepper out. “A snake would be poisonous, not venomous.”

Pepper scratched at his ears. “Uhhh. You sure about that, Saffron? ‘Cause I’m pretty sure snakes usually have venom, not poison.”

“No, you’re wrong Pepper. I know better, it’s-”

Eyna ignored the bickering of her friends. Her focus was on the snake. Watching. It began to move as she did. Little rhythmic motions that grew stronger. Wilder. And as Eyna watched the snake stir, it rolled onto it’s side.

Eyna gasped.

The snake was badly injured. It seemed to have opened a wound - or else acquired one in the time since she’d last been watching it. Plumes of blood clouded the clear water. The mouth parted, as if caught in a silent scream. The snake began to thrash. It was more than obvious that something was hurting it. It tried to rise, but seemed trapped. Or caught.

Eyna decided, right then and there, that she was going to help it somehow. She stood abruptly, startling both of her friends.

Saffron read the determination on her face. “Eyna no! You have no idea what that thing is!”

Eyna stood to her full height. Unimpressive as a human, but certainly a lot compared to a little flower fae. “I know it’s injured. And I know that I’m going to help it.”

Eyna ignored Saffron’s warnings. In a panic, the little flower fae tugged and pulled viciously at her hair. But Eyna was determined. She slid into the cool water of the Ira spring, disobeying the rules Mother and Father had set.

One was never supposed to enter the springs. To touch or look was acceptable. But never to submerge. Eyna pushed the warnings from her thoughts. The soft faesilk of her dress melded to her body as she bobbed on the surface.

She took a deep breath, filling her lungs. Saffron’s cries were the last thing she heard tangibly before she dove down.

The world went quiet.

Eyna could only hear her own heart pounding in her ears. The water glided through her dark hair, across her skin. She kept her eyes open. The spring waters didn't sting or hurt them.  Her legs kicked up behind her, surging deeper and deeper. She could see the snake more clearly now, though the water was quickly turning dark with it’s injury. The long neck, the arrowhead shaped head tucked into itself.

Eyna reached out, hands brushing against cold, sleek scales. 

And as she did, the snake opened it’s eyes. Beautiful, unending eyes, liquid and dilating, the color of blood. Eyna’s heart picked up at the sight of it. Something about those eyes stirred a strange sensation in her heart. Not dread, perhaps. But a sense like she was looking into something… Momentous. Something of consequence. The blood red eyes that changed her fate.

The snake regarded her, and she it. Columns of air bubbled from her lips as she and the snake gazed at one another. Light sparkled from the sun above, casting both of them in tones of crystal.

She wondered at it. The moment of meeting, suspended in time. Quiet and set apart from all the rest of the world.

She would remember this moment forever.

The snake struck.