The Curse of Ophidia (The Serpent's Crown Book 1) by Victoria Black

Author:Victoria Black [Black, Victoria]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Victoria Black Books
Published: 2024-05-24T00:00:00+00:00

A circle of hooded figures surrounded a trembling boy, watching as his knife slid shakily across the throat of a young girl. Her screams turned into contorted gurgles until she was silent. Her body fell to the ground as the knife dropped from the boy’s trembling hands. A raven-haired woman knelt calmly over the dead girl. Light from the massive bonfire flickered off a silver chain dangling from the woman’s throat. She stood, holding a bowl, and handed the knife back to the boy. He was barely a teenager, only a few years older than me.

I took a half step back, gripping my mother’s tunic, hoping the shadows cast by the flickering fire would shield me from view. She laid a comforting hand on my shoulder and squeezed. I tried to relax.

Dark hair fell over the boy’s face. His hands trembled as he stretched out his forearm. The dark-haired woman held his arm gently and nodded, then he gulped and brought the knife to his own arm. I gasped as dark liquid oozed out of him and into the woman’s bowl.

Another woman approached the boy, this one clad in fighting leathers, carrying a satchel. My heart raced.

The warrior reached into her satchel and pulled out a writhing form. The boy’s eyes grew wide, and he stumbled back. I squinted into the flames, but I couldn’t make out what she was holding. She took another step toward him, holding out her arm. The creature was coiled tightly, its sharp hiss finally reaching my ears. The warrior kept one hand on its neck, carefully avoiding its fangs. The raven-haired woman stepped up and began to uncoil the serpent. As she stretched it out, I could see the reflection of the flames on the creature’s scales. Its hiss, frantic now, echoed through the clearing as it thrashed in the women’s grip.

“Is that a viper?” I whispered, looking up at my mother with wide eyes.

She chuckled softly. “There is only one here who carries viper blood in their veins. That is merely a regular python.”

My eyes were as large as the plates we had used for dinner this evening. I turned them back to the boy. He reached out with the knife and sliced it down the python’s body. The raven-haired woman reached with the bowl to catch the blood. As the droplets fell, she sprinkled something else into the bowl, chanting an incantation I couldn’t quite hear. A knot formed in my stomach at what my mother had implied would happen to the blood.

The massive bonfire crackled and the logs within started to shift. The woman did not flinch as the flames next to her stretched to the sky, and it seemed like the logs were following. I couldn’t take my eyes off the crackling fire. As it waned, I realized it wasn’t logs at all, but a man. A man who was completely on fire. He had been seated before, giving the illusion of a bonfire, but now that he stood, I could see that he was the fire.

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