Chapter Twelve: The Black Serpent

The war between Dextran and Astaire created more monsters than just Syn, one that went by the name of Zyra, The Black Serpent. Zyra, however, was an adopted name, one that he crafted for himself, for he had been born under the name of Gerard. A spy for the war machine that is Dextran, he was at the battle of Dubane, the first major battle where Dextran suffered defeat, the first battle in which the cursed Crimson Dragons were used, to great effect.

This would be the death of Gerard, but also the birth, or rebirth, of Zyra. A twisted, egoistical killer, he is very skilled. His upbringing in a poor family would have normally doomed him to poverty, but he was naturally agile and acrobatic; a traveling circus notices his skills, and asks him to join them as an acrobat.

Eager to help his poor family, he agrees to leave with them, but only after a tearful farewell to his mother. The pay is good enough for him to keep his mother happy, with more food than she could eat, and he routinely sends her a letter, about how he is doing, though he never receives letters, due to the fact the circus is never in one place for long.

Eventually, the country the traveling circus had decided to stay in, Dextran, declares war on Astaire, a smaller neighboring country. The military is heavily recruiting, and Gerard, a useful actor and acrobat from his days in the circus, is conscripted.

However, he doesn’t care, because the pay was even better than when he had been an acrobat, thus he was able to send his mother even more money, as a soldier has little to no need for money. Because of his circus life, he was very talented with a whip, using it as his personal weapon, though it was usually concealed on his being.

When Dextran learns of a secret elite unit in the army of Astaire, Gerard, one of their better spies, was sent into the camp of the army of Astaire, some twenty miles away from the city of Dubane, where an army from Dextran waits for information. He slipped into the base of the Astaire army easily enough, where he met the Crimson Dragons.

He was amazed; they are perhaps the greatest warriors that he had ever seen in his life, capable of turning the tides of this war. He reported on the deadly ability of these few warriors to his superiors, who are shocked by their efficiency and skill. The only option they can think of is to attack with their full force, and eliminate this threat before it can be used to great effect. However, in their haste to destroy these elite warriors, they neglect to give Gerard orders to evacuate the camp.

The Crimson Dragons, who already had suspicion about this nobody who desired to learn so much about them, learn the truth of Gerard’s loyalty. On the eve of the day the battle should have taken place, he was captured and taken prisoner by Syn Sanada; he revealed to him that Dextran knows about the existence of the Crimson Dragons, and the commanding officer of Astaire, fearing attack, decides to launch a preemptive attack on Dextran before they have to time to prepare their troops.

This attack, which takes place at the city of Dubane, is successful. The army of Astaire crushes the army of Dextran, but in the confusion of the battle, Gerard was able to escape the confines of Astaire. Wounded from his escape, he made it back to Dextran, where he was taken prisoner for betraying the secrets of the surprise attack to Astaire.

In jail, he was tortured, the price for treason. While under the control of Dextran, he suffered greatly, the torture extreme and brutal. I dare not go into details, for those who are faint of heart, but know that he suffered a fate whose death, an expression that used now is not for show, but rather an accurate description of what he went through. Actually, for those who believe in Hell, they would say that such torture matched that found in Hell.

Dextran is not kind to traitors, or their families, treating them much worse than prisoners of war. Gerard soon learns that the act of betrayal will have effects on his beloved mother, as his torturer happily revealed the fact that his mother has been executed, to set an example to all who would think to betray Dextran. Both his mind and body devastated, he snapped.

Rage is a good emotion to act on; it allows one to past their limits, both physical and mental ones. Gerard, filled with rage and hatred, the emotions that make a man a monster, made his move, killing everyone in the jail with him.

The walls of the prison were painted a crimson, from the blood of those that had hurt him, from the blood of those hadn’t hurt him, from everyone. It was a macabre painting, the work of an amateur in killing. Those that went to Hell that day would forever remember the insane, blood covered grin of Gerard as he went about his business, laughing all the while. That day, the air was rank with the smell of blood and death.

I say kill, but in reality, it is more like slaughter, massacre; he left no survivors, none to tell of the death and suffering that prison held, though Gerard would carry it in his heart, transforming him into Zyra, The Black Serpent. From surviving this experience, a twisted, sick, evil ideology is formed, a perversion of the laws of nature; rather than having the strong live and the weak die, he seeks to create chaos, one that will allow the only the pure, good people to live, regardless of their strength.

And now, a monster such as this, is seeking his revenge for what happened at the hands of the Crimson Dragons, arguably the cause of his misery and suffering. Nothing, not even death, will stand in his quest for revenge. Syn is going to pay, in more ways than one.

Keiko carefully took aim, her keen eyes never once leaving her target, as she released the arrow. With naught a sound, the arrow took flight, piercing through the center of the bulls eye on the tree. A smile was slowly growing on her face, she was getting better everyday.

Even Arashi had noticed it, making the offhand comment that soon she would be an even better shot than he was. Never before had she been so proud of herself, never before had she ever felt like she would ever truly be useful. Hearing a great rumble, she looked up, staring at great, shapeless clouds that were as dark as smoke.

Keiko absolutely hated the dreaded rain, for it always seemed to drag up memories of old, memories of times when she had no one but a father that hated her, memories of when the first person to love her died, when she truly saw Syn as a demon. All of her hated moments seemed to happen while it was raining; seems like the rain just didn’t like her.

Turning abruptly, the young girl couldn’t help but glance up once more, before starting to walk faster. She just wanted to make it back to Arashi’s house before it started to rain; just staring at the clouds was depressing enough. As she hurried back to Arashi’s house, her thoughts began to drift, ranging from how Arashi had turned out to be a good person, to how Syn was doing now.

Was he getting stronger, like he had promised? An image of Syn smiling popped up in her head, her subconscious supplying her with the answer, not that it could really know, rather, it supplied what she wanted to know.

However hard she was working, there was absolutely no doubt in her mind that Syn was working just as hard, if not harder. "Nice shot, little girl." A cold, dead voice rang out in the forest, ringing off the trees and seeming to come from everywhere. Keiko was instantly on alert, her eyes scanning the small clearing she was standing in, checking up in the trees.

The young archer could see nothing in the varying shades of green and brown, her eyes working over time to find this potential threat. "What’s the matter?" The voice was mocking in tone, but gleeful at the same time. "Can’t find me?"

"Only a coward hides," Keiko retorts, her voice fill of sting and confidence; she is not afraid. Fear does not touch her; she has been in life-or-death situations before, and now Keiko will finally be able to test out her skill.

"Ah, but who said I’m hiding? To hide means one should be afraid of what he is hiding from; I do not fear you in the least, little kitty cat." Calm, Keiko is completely calm, expertly keeping her cool. "If not hiding, then what are you doing?" The wind carries her voice away, though she knows he can hear it. "Oh, look at those teeth; that hurts, you know? Even killers have feelings." She knows he is making light of this, that she is no threat; he will be proven wrong when an arrow pierces his throat.

To miss is to die, so she can not miss, nor does she plan on doing so. "Killer, you say? Is that what cowards are called now?" To insult him will make him angry, which in turn will make him stupid, forcing him into a mistake. Syn taught her that well; she has seen him use it to great effect, against her father. Don’t fix what’s not broken.

"You amuse me, greatly so. You may have heard of me. My name is Zyra, and they call me The Black Serpent." Fear threatens to grip her, to rule her, to overcome her, but her willpower will not allow it. To do so would spell her death, and Syn’s tears.

Keiko makes the first move, sprinting forward, a single arrow on the wind. Zyra pays it no heed; the aim is horribly off, leading him to believe she is either a bad shot, despite her bulls eye, or she has yet to discover his location. He is wrong in both; a second arrow, shot without his knowledge, flies towards his head.

Lazily, he flicks his wrist, sending the arrow careening to the floor, where it landed haphazardly.

"You’ll have to try much harder than that," His words accompanied by a hail of arrows, around seven, an impressive number for a novice such as her.

Soon, though, she will learn that impressive means nothing to Zyra, who simply bends his body at the waist, allowing all arrows to pass by harmlessly. "Not bad, truly it’s not. Is it good either? No, not by a long shot. I will kill you, don’t you understand? This is how you defend your life? Come, try harder! Fight like you mean it!"

She can’t afford to keep missing; an archers life lie in their arrows, and she only had fifteen left. She can’t keep this up, the only option left is to run. She is pumped up, her body doesn’t feel anything besides a tension, energy humming right below the skin. A thud rings out, and for the first time, her opponent is out in the open, prey for her accuracy. His appearance, however, shocks her for a second.

Zyra stood around four heads taller than her, much taller than Syn as well. His hair is long, reaching past his shoulders, as dark as the night sky with no stars. His face is very rigid, and angular, giving him a fox like quality, though his eyes appear more like a snakes. His sadistic grin shows off his sharp, jumbled teeth, with a scar running down from his eye to his chin, enhancing the insane grin.

Covering his body from toe to shoulder is black scale armor, covered in ornate serpents and insignias, the armor is especially thick around his hands and forearms, where it looks like a pitch black snake is coiled. However, it is not any of this that shocked Keiko; it is the fact that his arms are incredibly long, not naturally so, reaching to his knees, a truly unatural length.

With adrenaline pulsing, her determination burning, nothing could stand in her way, not even this giant of a man. Snatching an arrow out of the quiver, she let loose the arrow that would end this, if all went well.

With an unhuman reaction time, Zyra ripped the arrow out of the air, crushing it beneath his fingers. With a blood chilling laugh, he dropped the pieces to the floor, laughing at the pathetic attempt on his life. "Is this the best you can do? Syn would be disappointed, if I say so myself. For once, though, I really couldn’t blame him. His sins must taint you, too." Anger. Rage. Fury. How dare he say that! He acts as if he knows Syn, as if he knows him.

"I will kill you." Her voice is cold in her fury, and all thoughts of mere survival disappear. No, she knows what she wants. To kill the man before her, no matter the cost. The human will, when put to achieving a goal, can be a wondrous thing. It will do regardless of what may happen to the body, the mind, or the soul. It’s unstoppable, though the long term damage and risk may prove to not be worth it. Leaping back, she set three arrows to her bow, before letting go of the string, hoping to kill Zyra.

Mere flashes of light, that’s all Keiko saw, before her arrows fell to the floor, completely worthless. "How?" It hadn’t even looked like he moved at all, yet the arrows were still on the floor. "I’m sorry, I just outclass you in every way possible. Get over it! As if you could have surpassed me in three months time; that’s a dream for the foolish! You’re a hundred years too early to even hurt me. You’ll be great bait for Syn, I won’t even have to go through the trouble of hunting him down; he’ll come to me instead. I must thank you, Keiko. You will be the downfall of Syn. I hope it makes you happy."

Thunder roared, lightening stroke, blue illuminated the whole of the forest for a spilt second. Keiko stared up, drops of rain beginning to fall, lightly falling on her face. "You won’t kill Syn. He is the strongest person I know, much stronger than I am." All Keiko saw was a flash of silver and then darkness was her world.

Zyra gracefully walked over to Keiko’s unconscious body, before easily scooping her light body up with one hand. "Syn strong? There never was any doubt of that. The real question is, whose stronger? Me or him?" He whispered into her ear, before lightly cutting her arm, leaving a long, thin red line across the pale skin of her arm. He’d need some blood for his message to Syn.

Zyra strode over to the giant, towering tree where Keiko had been practicing her archery, wiping blood on the tree above the bull eyes. The message signed in crimson blood read ‘I have her. Come to Dubane, where you stole everything from me, Syn.’