.....a thousand years ago.....
Mastipal was so angry she could spit. She wanted to be the harpy, screeching and flying on wings of vengeance over to that dirty wretch Tenebrion, whereupon she would rend him apart with her claws. Unfortunately, she could not. Despite the horrendous injustice that had been brought down upon her personage for Hell’s latest coup, she would not be allowed to reclaim her honor by staining her hands with the blood of her brother.
"Thy loyalty is true, and thy heart great; but for now, it is thy fate to return to Assiah with thy brother."
What Mastipal did do was walk slow, deliberate steps across the barren plains. Where she laid her bare feet, a swift death befell the plantlife, leaving a trail of ash in her wake. Up on the hill, she could see him, the sun shimmering over his slick-scaled hide.
“Tenebrion,” She called, and the great serpent’s head turned to acknowledge her. The slitted look she received was almost lazy, as if the former Guard to the Queen was actually daring to enjoy himself after what he had... after what he had dared to do. Mastipal could not stop herself from beginning to shake with fury. The snake said nothing, but began to coil in upon itself at her approach. It looked like an awkward motion. Not so used to that body, then! Ha!
“I know thou can speak to me, Tenebrion.” She growled, her pace increasing up the slope as she gathered her skirt into her hand, the motion violent all on its own. Only because there was a slope, mind you. She was going about this cooly.
“No, I can’t.” The snake objected imperiously, then, “I mean. Ssssss.”
That was it. She was going to kill him.
Mastipal jaunted up the final distance between them, her hands seeking to grab the smooth neck so she could squeeze until the squirming stopped. She would burn him from the inside out! Unfortunately, or fortunately, Tenebrion was quick and had calculated her anger beforehand. He threw himself to the ground and darted out of the way, squirming limbless on his belly to get out of her way. It was a bare miss, though.
“Mastipal! Calm down! You can’t--”
The demoness screamed her fury, trying to strike out with a foot first in hopes of stomping on him. He did not manage to dodge this one, and the pain that rippled up his spine was excruciating and exquisite. As he cried out, though, she was gathering his tail in her hands, yanking him toward her.
“Listen to me! Listen!” And his voice was definitely a bit more stricken than he would have liked. Miraculously, he got his tail wrapped around her wrists enough that she could not so easily continue, squeezing them together with the powerful muscle to stifle her movements. She looked about ready to use her teeth if she had to.
“Thou hast lost all thine testimony, traitor! Untangle me and die like the wrym thou art! Had I seen thou for such a fool, I would have taken a leaf from Cain’s book!”
“You don’t mean that,” But he knew Mastipal did not choose her words carelessly. In her rage, she was right. However, he wasn’t about to let her kill him. When she tried to pull away, he tugged her closer. He reared up and began to wrap around the rest of her arms as well as he could, though the constant change of view from coiling around her was unusual and disorientating for him. He breathed thickly through his nostrils as he fought her writhing. Truly, this would be a curse. “Please, Mastipal. You know I never meant to hurt you.”
In this, he was sincere. It was never his intention to poison his sister, as terse as their ties had always seemed to be.
“Thou thinks this makes thou just?” Mastipal snarled. She was sick of him, but she could not struggle free. She would have to think of something else, and for this reason only, she stilled. Her glare was icy upon the other’s flat head, and if looks alone from her could kill...
“No.” Tenebrion said, and for once, he did not have anything prepared for her. He did, but all of it seemed to fall flat now that he was facing her. She truly did wish to kill him. “Look, what I did was stupid, alright? I know it was. I never meant to get you involved, but did you ever stop to think for a moment why I wasn’t killed? Why you’re here?”
“Thou hast dishonoured us,” Mastipal would retort, acid lacing her words as her stare grew impossibly heavier upon the serpent. “Thou must serve thy exhile until the time has come you meet thine proper end.”
“Wrong. This is my chance for redemption. For this, I need you, Mastipal. That is why our Lord sent you here.”
“Lies. Thine tongue is forked for wayward phrase. I’ll not believe thou ever again. Turn me loose!”
“You cannot shirk my words so easily, sister. A punishment like this falls far short of that torment I would face in the Fire, does it not? Tell me, has our Lord ever been the one to pay charity without a gain?” He tried not to sound desperate, but there was a fire in his veins, a trickle of horrible fear not that he would die, but suffer at the hands of Mastipal when he had the chance to go on, to make up for his folly. He knew he spoke the truth. So did she.
Finally, Mastipal fell silent, her body as still and hard as if it had been carved from ivory. She stared at Tenebrion, as if it could strip away his very flesh and bone to the truth within.
“My Lord has commanded that thou shalt not die by my hand. For the moment, imagine that I believe thou. What then?”
“I don’t know.” He replied honestly, but quickly continued as he saw her gaze harden, “But we have been put into Assiah, and surely this is no coincidence. Together, we must travel this land and search for what Shaitan covets. When that is done, perhaps he will accept us back. At the least, you will regain your position. You’ve done no wrong.”
Mastipal calculated his words for herself. Her brother had always been quite the liar, but he did have an infallible point. Something which, she thought darkly, made him such a wonderful deceiver in the first place. What could she lose, though? She was already here, and true, she was not allowed to kill him. She had a duty. Finally, she sighed.
“Alright, Tenebrion. Thou doth win, my assistance for the moment and no longer.”
“Good.” Tenebrion managed to keep himself from sighing with relief. Mastipal saw in him for the first time a semblance of her brother and knew exactly what expression he would be wearing if he had had his true body. That smug little curl of lips he did when he was smug. It looked so natural upon a serpent.
Tenebrion continued up her arms until he was wrapping around her shoulders, his great coils falling in loops around her frame and keeping loose to one of her arms. She endured it, though she watched him. If he planned to constrict the life out of her, she would kill him without a second thought. He did not attempt anything, just set his head on her shoulder.
“I assume thou art comfortable?” She inquired sardonically, though her gaze was a little less venomous. Foolishly, she was already nursing the idea of being a champion for Shaitan, bringing him more than just the Cup to ease his pains.
“You really need to get more with the times, sis. That kind of talk in this world is not gonna do,” Tenebrion told her in turn, to which she snorted. There was a stretch of silence between them, in which Mastipal thought he was gathering one of his oh-so-brilliant plans.
“There’s a city not far from here, you know. Perhaps they would have a clue as to what exactly we’re looking for.” The serpent mused. He shifted his head then, daring to nudge at one of her cheeks.
“Carry me?” He beseeched her, oh-so piteously.
There was a loud thump as she simply shrugged him off to land hard on the unforgiving ground of the hill. It looked like a long way of crawling on his belly was ahead.
