Blue Ophidian

The chiming sound of the bells on her anklets echoed around her as she followed behind the two priests down the expansive corridor.

This was her final task...her final test.

She had to pray to her god and if after three days and nights he spoke to her than she would ascend to the position of high priestess.

He just had to speak to her once.

When the two priests opened the door, she was hesitant to enter the large circular room but one of them spoke.

"There is no turning back from this point child. Either he chooses you or not. You will not be harmed either way. If you are not chosen...there are many other hopefuls to test."

"A-and if he does choose me?"

"Then you will live a blessed and joyous life."

The other priest slips the cloak from her shoulders, leaving her in a thin see-through shift.

"Be unafraid. He is a merciful god as well as kind. He will not harm you. Now go. We will return with for you in four days."

She bows slightly, not speaking anymore as she steps through the doorway and jumps when they close both doors behind her.

Ah'nili slowly moves forward, the braziers of fire the only light as she explores the room. There are pillars surrounding the inner circle, where there are a few couches and a low table next to a large collection of furs and pillows. Fragrant smoke billows languidly up from the censers placed by every other pillar.

But at one side there is a large statue of the temple's patron...Darys, the god of healing. No one has seen his face but they have only seen serpents and heard a hissing voice speak to them, so the statue is of a giant serpent, hewn from alabaster. The snake had two tails, raised in supplication and it held a small scepter in its mouth.

It was beautiful.

"Who are you?"

She jumped, yelping in surprise before falling to her knees immediately.

"Who are you? Why are you here?"

"Ah'nili, my lord. I am here for the final test."

"Another hopeful? There is no need to call me, 'my lord', not in here. In here, I am Darys."

"I-I do not thi-"

"It is my request that you call me by that name here. Out there you may call me what they want you to but in here, my only name is Darys, sweet girl."

"Alright....Darys."

"Good. Did the priests tell you what being my high priestess all entails?"

Ah'nili shook her head and he frowned from where he sat perched behind his statue.

"Of course not. They never do explain it in full detail...the fools."

"Explain what?"

"I am considered a god of healing but it is...different from others."

"What is so different about it? You heal ailments of the body and mind. You bring them back to themselves."

He chuckled low and she blushed.

"That is what I do but the way in which I do it is vastly different. What the priests failed to mention is that I use my essence to heal...I use the basest urges and needs to repair the body and mind. The need to connect with another physically...sexually. I heal through copulation."

She looked at him confused until he explained further. "Sex, Ah'nili. I heal through sexual energy. Well, within reason...I will not use those methods when healing children. I will only give them the feeling of a mother's or father's familial affection instead."

Her eyes widened and she quickly looked down at her feet.

He shifted where he sat as he watched her reaction, quite pleased that she hadn't run yet.

"Are you well? You look rather red in the face and your heart is beating faster. Did my words upset you? Or did they embarrass you?"

"N-No, I...I am not...I mean...I haven't..."

'Ah, so that is why.'

He grinned, "you are a virgin?"

Her head ducked down more and he chuckled.

"Do not be embarrassed by that, dear Ah'nili. It is a precious, sacred part of you and should be treated as such. I am glad you are still pure. It shows that you have respect for your body and for your mind. For that alone I would choose you."

Her head snapped up, a smile playing at her lips.

"Really? I would be honored, Darys! That is if you do choose me."

"We still have two more nights left. We are done for today. Go. Bathe, eat and sleep. We will talk more tomorrow, dear Ah'nili."

"But-"

"I insist. Please?"

That took her by surprise...a god saying please. Darys was unlike any other gods but then again she hadn't met any other gods or goddesses. He had put her at ease in such a short time and she was thankful to him for that.

"Until tomorrow then, Darys."

"Through the dark red curtains, you will find a bathing pool. Take a bath, relax."

"Thank you Darys."

/ - / - / - /

The bathing pool was just that...a pool and as she slipped into the water, she found it warm and she sighed, sinking into it happily.

It was lovely and the water was fragrant as well, smelling of lavender and honeysuckle. It was soothing.

She ducked her head under and sighed again as she could feel the effects of the lavender relaxing her further.

Darys knew he shouldn't be here...watching her from his perch high above but he was utterly entranced by her as she swam in circles. She was slight, small and quite beautiful. Just the sight of her bare shoulder was enough to make him groan in pleasure.

He was shocked at how quickly he already wanted her. He was drawn to her like a moth to flame. She was innocent, pure...beautiful.

But if he revealed himself to her?

Would she still want him after seeing his true form?

After all he may be a god but he was still considered a beast.

He punched the wall beside him and the room echoed with the crack of stone as he left a fist-sized hole behind.

After all, who could ever love a beast?

/ - / - / - /

She sighed, drying her hair as she walked back into the main room and she was shocked to find a small plate of fruit and a few blankets on top of the furs.

He set out blankets for her so she wouldn't get cold and food so she wouldn't go to sleep hungry.

She smiled. He was really quite thoughtful.

Looking up at the statue she breathed a small reply. "Thank you Darys. Good night."

He held his breath, touched by her words. Sure he had heard prayers of thanks from his followers before but this time...from her lips...it actually sounded genuine. Whoever this Ah'nili was...she was pure and kind, gentle and giving. She was unlike anyone else.

And he liked that.

/ - / - / - /

When her breathing changed, he moved down from his perch above, snapping his fingers to lower the firelight to a dim flicker and he watched the light dance across her pale skin. She was even more beautiful up close like this.

He brushed a small lock of her golden hair from her brow and leaned over, pressing a small kiss to her forehead.

"Thank you, Ah'nili. For being a kind, gentle soul."

She mumbled in her sleep and turned, causing him to freeze until she shivered and he smiled softly, pulling the blanket up over her shoulder.

"Sleep, little one. Dream pleasantly here."

He waved his hand and the fire flared to life as he climbed back up the statue, returning to his perch to curl up, just watching her sleep for the rest of the night, keeping vigil over her until at last he slipped into slumber himself.

And what does this god dream of in his self-imposed exile? He dreamt of piercing grey eyes, of a voice that made his chest ache and a smile that sent his heart racing.

For the first time he dreamt of loving a woman he knew he couldn't have.

/ - / - / - /

When she woke up, she found another plate of food and smiled again.

"Thank you Darys."

"You are welcome. I'm not going to let you starve while you are here, Ah'nili. You need to keep your body healthy and you cannot do that while starving."

"You are exactly as the priests said you would be...kind and caring."

"I'm glad the priests said something good. I feared they would try to turn others away."

"They are devoted priests to you. Why would you think that?"

"I am not like other gods. I am...different."

"Is it so bad to stand out from others? You are a god of healing. Just because you use...sexual energy to heal doesn't make it bad."

"Where are you from, Ah'nili?"

"What?"

"Where are you from? It is rare that I can get away from the temple due to my...condition so I do not have a good picture in my mind of the outside world."

She popped a grape into her mouth and chewed thoughtfully, and he watched, suddenly aroused as she licked the juice from her lips before answering.

"How long has it been since you left the temple?"

"Two thousand years."

"Two thousand years?! You've been here that long?"

"Yes."

"You must have felt so alone. Well alone and bored."

He snorted, "I found a way to occupy my time. I draw and I..."

He stopped speaking, grinning to himself. Why not show her. He waved his hand and another doorway appeared.

"Do you see the doorway with the green curtain over there?"

Her eyes scanned the room and noticed the dark green fabric with golden vines stitched on it. "Yes. I...that wasn't there before."

"No, it wasn't. There are many rooms to this temple and I can make the doors appear and disappear when I feel like it. Please, go in. I have a feeling you'll like what's in there."

She picked up another grape and chewed it before she moved towards the doorway. He followed her from above as she slipped under the curtain and smiled wide as she gaped opened mouth when she stepped out into an bright, airy open courtyard.

It was filled with flowers of all sizes, shapes and colors. The air was heavy with the different scents and she could hear bees buzzing, bird song joining in with the tinkling sound of rushing water to create a symphony of life surrounding her.

She could feel tears pricking at her eyes and she sniffled.

He watched her from his shadowy perch and when tears began to fall from her eyes, he moved forward, reaching a hand out to her but he stopped as soon as the sunlight hit his skin and he recoiled back.

"I'm sorry, Ah'nili. I didn't mean to make you cry. I...I just thought you would like it."

Ah'nili wiped the tears from her cheeks and smiled brightly.

"I do like it. I love it! Its so beautiful here. Did you do all this?"

"Yes. I treasure all life so I wanted to have a place that represented that. And well, I don't feel so alone with the birds and animals that wander in from time to time."

"Well, why do you stay in here? Why not go out and travel? Meet and help people?"

"I can't."

"Why?"

"I just can't!"

His shout surprised even him and he deflated, chest aching painfully as he retreats further into the shadows. She didn't know...so he had no reason to yell at her.

She sniffled again. "I shouldn't have pushed the issue. Please forgive me. It was not my place."

"You have nothing to be sorry for. I should not have raised my voice to you. You do not understand. No one outside this temple would understand. Enjoy your time in here, Ah'nili. I will return soon and we will speak more."

She nodded, turning to the fountain and she sits, splashing in the water, still sniffling.

He curses himself. She did not deserve that. He had to make it up to her and he had the perfect idea.

He had such a short time with her and he would make the most of it because once she left, she would probably never come back.

/ - / - / - /

When he returned to the garden, his chest felt light, made lighter when he noticed she was petting a doe that had wandered in. She was humming a soft tune and he smiled at her carefree ways. He was finding it harder and harder to stay away from her.

Everything that she did was like a siren song to him but his fear held him back from approaching her. It would destroy him if he saw those grey eyes of hers fill with terror instead of the joy they now held. He didn't want to hurt her.

"Ah'nili?"

She jumped sending the deer running into the trees. "Oh, sorry little deer! I didn't mean to scare you off!"

"I should not have startled you, then the deer would not have run."

"Its alright, Darys. I wasn't paying attention."

"Don't keep doing that. Apologizing for something that was clearly my fault."

"You are unlike any other gods I have heard about."

"Oh? And what have you heard of the others?"

"I do not wish to say. I do not want to be punished for another's words."

"You are not the one who said them originally so you will be safe."

She sighs, "It is said the other gods are selfish and cruel. They take and take but do not give in return."

He frowned, "You are correct. Many of my brethren are cruel, yes, but they will learn in time what I have learned."

"What is that?"

"That all humans are needed. You supply us with your prayers, your offerings...your love. And we must repay it in kind or face destruction by our own design."

"I don't think you'll have any problem with that. So many are devoted to you. They pray daily to you for help and guidance."

"Is that why you are here? Why you wish to become a high priestess?"

She nodded, "Yes and no. You see, when I was younger...I had a baby brother. He got very sick...the plague. We all prayed day and night. My mother and father prayed for him to get better but we all knew he wasn't going to. So one night I snuck out to your temple in my village and I offered my favorite doll."

He held his breath as he remembered the little doll and the small voice praying for her brother.

"You prayed for him to pass in peace. You prayed for your mother and father to find peace in his passing."

"Yes. Y-you remember it?"

"Of course I do. I remember all the prayers made to me. You were so at peace with your brother's passing that I, myself sought him out and eased his pain. He was only a child so I just took the agony away from his limbs, replacing it with happiness and joy...allowing him to feel his mother's love as she rocked him back and forth in those last few moments."

She fell to her knees, sobbing openly and he felt her pain...her happiness that he had remembered her.

"Thank you, Darys. Thank you for that."

"Thank you for trusting me to help him. Now, dry your tears. I have a surprise for you."

"A surprise."

"Yes. Go back into the main room. You have food waiting for you as well as a gift."

She was intrigued now and her stomach growled loudly causing him to laugh.

"I think your stomach likes the idea of food. Go."

She giggled and ran out of the courtyard, into the other room and he rushed through the opening above and when she gasped, he grinned.

"I told you that I draw too. I drew that last night as we spoke."

It was a drawing of her, sitting on the cushioned chair that it now sat on and she couldn't believe the detail. It was as if she could walk right off the parchment.

"Its amazing! Darys...this is...thank you."

He sighed, hand pressed against his chest, trying to calm the rapid fluttering of his heart and he froze as a thought held fast in his mind.

For gods, it was quick and consuming when they fell and fall he did in that moment. Her eyes shing with unshed tears and laughing joyfully, clutching the drawing to her chest.

He knew then that he was in love.

He was utterly, irrevocably in love with Ah'nili.

And she didn't know.

She would never know.

He retreated into the shadow, tears flowing down his cheeks at the realization that she would never love him back.

He was a monster.

Women didn't love monsters like him.

/ - / - / - /

"Darys?"

There was no answer and she frowned.

"Darys, are you there?"

Still no answer and it struck her deep and she could feel tears springing once again to her eyes and she set the drawing on the table before collapsing onto the furs, sobbing as she felt something was wrong, gravely wrong.

/ - / - / - / - /

He could hear her sobbing and it tore at him. He needed to let her go...to save them both this pain but he didn't want her to leave.

When the crying stopped he looked down at her, noticing that she had cried herself to sleep and she was shivering.

Darys couldn't let her freeze so he made his way down to the ground silently, grabbing a blanket to drape it over her and she turned onto her back, her eyes fluttering open and he froze over her, blanket still clutched in his hands as she settled her gaze on him.

'Ah'nili.'

Golden eyes flashed in the dark and she froze as terror flooded her veins.

'What was this? Who was this?' Then it dropped what it was holding and moved back from her. She could faintly note a different shape from the top of the creature. This was only part human only confirmed when she heard a rattling from it. She moved then, screaming as she scrambled back away from it.

It moved forward a bit and the rattling grew more agitated.

"Easy! Ah'nili! I will not hurt you. Please!" That voice was familiar and it clicked then and she felt her terror leave her in a rush.

"Darys?" Her voice was but a whisper but he heard the tremor in it and his shoulders dropped.

"Yes. I'm...I'm sorry. You looked cold." And he turned from her, hands scrambling over the floor to help him quickly slither away but she noted the warmth covering her feet. He was placing a blanket over her and she spoke again, her voice stronger this time.

"Wait! Darys, please?!"

He stills, something smacking the floor quickly as he stops moving and she squints at him.

"Can you make it brighter in here?"

"Why? I do not wish to frighten you further, Ah'nili."

"Please?"

Darys sighs heavily before snapping his fingers and the braziers roared to life, flooding the room with strong, flickering light.

She gaped at him, struck by how different he looked compared to what she had thought of.

He was beautiful, half man with tanned lean muscle but his lower half, from the hips on down...was that of a serpent's tail, ending in a blunt tip. He had stripes of those same blue scales along his ribs and a smattering of them along either side of his jaw. They were the most beautiful color of blue she had ever seen with a slight metallic sheen to them as well. And his eyes were shining golden slits that were held wide in stunned silence.

Ah'nili now realized what he was...He was a Naga, like the ones from the stories her mother had told her when she was a little girl.

"Now you see me as I truly am, Ah'nili. As I've always been. A monster. This is the reason why I hide away here...why I have never left save once. I am sorry if I frightened you. You may go now if you wish it. I will not hurt you or chase you down for that matter. And you will not be accosted by the priests as well."

He was confused by her staring. Why did she not run from him in terror?

"I've never seen that color of blue before."

He looked at her sharply, "what?"

She smiled softly, motioning to his tail which softly scratched back and forth across the stone floor.

"I've studied a lot of serpents alongside the village healer when I was younger and I have never once seen that shade of blue...until now."

A twinge of something shoots through his chest at her words and he stills, muscles coiled at the ready as she slowly approaches him. She lifts a hand carefully, motioning again to the tail.

"Can I...if it's alright with you...can I touch your tail?"

He doesn't speak, only nods and slides it around, lifting the tip in the air for her to inspect. When she first touches the tail he inhales sharply and she is the one to still this time.

Darys swallows hard, "its...no one has ever touched my tail...or even asked to touch it for that matter. They usually run when they first see me. You are the first to not run. Why are you not running?"

Her heart breaks for him, for the lost tone in his voice and her gaze shifts to something tender as she lays her hand softly on the tail, sliding it down over the cerulean scales.

He shivers.

"I will not run from you, Darys. It is their loss if they do. I have come to know you these past few days and you are kind and thoughtful, merciful and gentle. You are no monster, Darys. You are a god and you are beautiful to me."