The Great Snake had grown weary from his travels. It was both exciting and tiring to be out in the world again, free from that liquid prison at the bottom of the cave. Free to roam the land and take what he needed, whenever he needed it. It had been so long since he had that kind of freedom.
After first leaving the cave, the beast had floated down the Arkansas River. The river current had gently carried him along. Little effort was required, and it was familiar territory. He had roamed this region freely. Long ago, he could drift downstream until the Arkansas River met the Mississippi River, which, of course, flowed directly to the ocean.
When he had left the cave, he immediately felt a strong pull in two opposite directions. The strongest pull had been from the south, so that’s where the creature had gone first. The beast was sure that’s where the diamond could be found.
The serpent’s attraction to the diamond was a longing for his past glory. That gem had once lived in his forehead, and the clear stone was indeed a living thing. It throbbed with a life force. And it had shone brightly when it was in its place. It gave him incredible power over all living things.
In those days, the beast’s only friend was a leader of the two-legged ones. He was known as the Dark Priest. His powers came from the Underworld, the same place that the Uktena had come from. The Dark Priest had power over other humans. He formed the Serpent Cult, and they all worshipped the beast.
But the one called the Falcon Priest had defeated the Dark Priest. It had been a bloody battle that the humans remembered for a long time. The Falcon Priest had powers of his own. He used those powers to defeat his enemy and to learn the dark secret: the secret of subduing the serpent by hypnotizing it. The Dark Priest revealed this secret just before he was executed.
And the Falcon Priest used this secret to conquer the serpent. That’s when the beast was imprisoned in the cave.
But, like all humans, the Falcon Priest also died. That was so long ago. The beast had no real way of measuring time. And the diamond had been buried with that human in those mounds. That’s what had attracted the beast to that place.
The serpent arrived at the Spiral Mounds in the dark of night. But his eyes were used to the dark. And he knew he had come to the right place. He felt the diamond. It throbbed from underground. Like a lighthouse, the diamond sent out its invisible beacon into the night.
The beast began happily digging up that gem. But he had to stop when a two-legged one showed up. In the old days, when the diamond lived in his forehead, its light would have blinded the man. Paralyzed him. But this man carried his own light. When the light from his hand shined on the serpent’s scales, it bounced back. Its reflection blinded the man because the beast’s scales contained a little of the diamond’s power. But the blinding would only be temporary.
Then a loud noise had burst forth from all around the mound area. Wailing screeched across the darkness and a barrage of lights lit up the night. The beast was not familiar with modern-day sirens and emergency lights.
Startled by the sound and the brightness, the beast was forced to flee the mounds without his prize. He headed quickly back to the safety of the river. Underwater was where he actually belonged, where his ancestors had come from. So that’s where he hid until he felt safe again.
That’s when the ghost of the Dark Priest again made contact with the serpent after all that lost time. The beast had been in a deep sleep, unable to see, hear, or feel anything or anyone. So the Dark Priest had not been able to speak to him.
But now the Dark One had finally found a way to contact the physical world. From his mind to the beast’s mind, the priest spoke the ancient words. But he could only do so from mind to mind. The Dark Priest was unable to speak the words aloud.
The mental words had only a small effect. He could not fully reunite with the Uktena. So the ghost had to be content with guiding the snake in his search for the diamond and the purple gem. He was able to help the snake be more sensitive to the signals coming from these stones. He could also watch and wait. Maybe, when the beast found the stones, the Dark Priest’s powers would also be strengthened.
A few days later, the serpent returned to the mound. But the diamond was gone. It had been taken. Again it had been snatched from him by two-leggeds. The beast had felt it move away from that place. Northward.
The whole time the beast was in the south searching for the diamond, the dark crystal also called to him. It was already in the north. The young two-legged one took it from the cave. The beast knew it was a young one who had the stone because the Dark Priest had used his supernatural force to create a visible connection between it and the beast. The serpent could see through the eyes of anyone who held his precious crystal. And the beast could see who held it as well. It was definitely a young two-legged one. And he saw other older two-legged ones who came. They had come to take that crystal from him.
The young one would not give up the stone without a fight. But finally the boy had been surrounded by four of the two-leggeds with their own weak powers. The four of them together were powerful enough to steal it away.
The number four. It was indeed a sad day all those centuries ago when the two-legged ones learned the power of four. The number four stood for the Four Great Forces that flowed through the physical world. It had been hidden from the weak humans in the early days. But as the knowledge of the two-leggeds had increased, so had their ability to trap the beast.
But at last the time had come. Now both the diamond and the dark crystal were near each other. Closer to each other than they’d been in ages. So the serpent had begun his northward journey, swimming upstream, fighting the river current to attain his goal. Soon he would rejoin the diamond to his forehead and reattach the purple stone to his tail. Then he would be complete again. Whole.
Of course, he had to keep up his strength during the journey. That’s why he would leave the safety of the river from time to time, slithering across the land. A small creature now and then would become a meal. But only the flesh and muscles and tissues. Never the bones. His system couldn’t digest the bones so those were left behind.
And then it was time to move on. Ever onward toward the goal, toward the final reunion with his precious possessions and his power.
And the unseen ghost of the Dark Priest was there every moment of the journey.