Thirty-four
The consorts had returned to the castle. They sat glumly in shame and in fright, for the forces of nature who were their allies had abandoned them. They had lost the fight after storm, thunder, lightning and wind had decided that they could no longer remain under the influence of The Serpent. What explanation would they give, they wondered.
‘The Master’s music has great power,’ Storm had told them, ‘for it has instructed a little girl not to fear, fear.’
‘We are,’ Thunder had said, ‘the forces of nature and not of evil. It is wrong that we ever came under the spell of The Serpent.’
Wind had said that she had only wanted to move freely through the trees and the meadows, and that is what she had enjoyed that day. Lightning had said that the trees had looked much better alive than charred. ‘Can still do my dance,’ she had said, ‘but with a little side step.’
‘It was the music,’ they had all said, ‘that spoke to our soul and to our inner mind. We danced in our discovery!’
The four of them had vanished into the air. ‘Tell The Serpent,’ they had said, ‘that we are no longer available.’
They had come back a little later and Storm had added, ‘Thought I might as well let you know. Had a little chat with my boys and girls. All seem to be of the view that if you touch the girl or her friends, you mess with us too!’ Then they had all disappeared.
Once they left, there had been confusion among the consorts. Not just confusion, but also a deep and dark fear.
‘Could it be that she is after all The Awaited One?’ asked one of the twins.
‘We need to break her spirit. But how do we do that?’ asked another nervously.
‘And what if we cannot?’ whimpered a third.
‘We can, and we must,’ said yet another. ‘She will break. They all do. It is a matter of time.’
‘But she hung on!’ said the other twin.
‘The flute player’s magic is strong.’
You could sense fear, for if the little girl were indeed The Awaited One, it would mean their end as well.
Just at that time, the windows flew open and, in the eerie gloom, the flickering light of the glow-worms caught the bracelet of sacred beads, and then the glittering slit eyes. The Serpent slithered up the wall, his fangs ominously salivating.
‘Could it be,’ he hissed, ‘that you are of little faith, and that you do not remember your song of allegiance?’
His consorts shuddered in the dark.
‘We do, Excellency,’ whimpered one of them.
‘Have patience, my dears, for you will see my power as I crush the girl child and her friends. No one has yet learnt to let go of the ones they loved! You might well see her as my consort!’ The Serpent smiled.
‘A battle is only a test. It demonstrates strength, but it also demonstrates weakness. I now know them both. Watch her become mine!’ In an eerie second, The Serpent slithered to each of his consorts, his tongues flickering, his double head looking this way and that. ‘Any doubts?’ he asked, looking around at all of them.
The consorts tittered and clapped. They had no idea what their master was saying.
The Serpent’s shadow yawned.
Oh, he wondered in disgust, to be stuck with such naivety! When would these foolish consorts learn? He yawned as he slithered up a wall to rest, content till his master beckoned him. Smacking his slimy lips, the shadow whispered silently, ‘Little Girl, we will destroy you by winning you over! Soon, you will be one of us!’