The Child of Silver

12

As the day passed and the Serpentine continued their search for the Fangblades, the suffering of both the ninja and the kidnapped children were only growing. The ninja were terrified that something would happen to Anirei and Lloyd while in the hands of the Serpentine, and wanted to save them as soon as possible. 

Meanwhile, Lloyd was on edge and nearly panicking whenever Anirei coughed violently, afraid that she would cough too hard and bring something else up with her. Her forehead was so hot that he could barely touch it without shrieking in pain from the heat she was emitting. It reminded of the time she was sick for five days. He could hardly sleep in those five days, constantly trying everything he could think of to make her better.

He couldn't lose his first and only friend.

"Get up everyone!" Pythor shouted, rising Lloyd from his semi-sleepy state, "We've got a long way to go to reach the third Fangblade."

Lloyd looked around and saw the other Serpentine gathering their supplies before a few of them slithered over to the cages holding the children. They picked up the cage and began walking, Pythor slithering nearby and smiling at the two.

"I hope you like warm places, because we're heading to a volcano to find the Fangblade." He explained. Lloyd's eyes widened and he brought Anirei closer to him, burning up from her already hot temperature.

"You can't take us there!" Lloyd shouted, "Rei's already burning up!"

"And what should I do about it?!" Pythor shouted in pure anger, "That child is the Child of the Lotus. The horrid offspring of traitors! For all I care, she can burn up as punishment for what her family had done to the Serpentine."

Lloyd was thoroughly confused, not understanding anything the snake was saying. But before he could ask anything about what Pythor was talking about, a small weak voice cut through the air.

"I... am no.... child of traitors." Lloyd and Pythor looked down at the once sleeping girl that rested on Lloyd's lap. Anirei's eyes were barely open and their once beautiful shade of sapphire blue had dulled to a pale stormy gray. Pair that with her drenched brow and clothes, it was as if she had just come back from the brink of death.

"Rei!" Lloyd shouted in concern. Anirei looked up at the boy and smiled, as if silently telling him that she was all right when she clearly wasn't. Using Lloyd as a crutch, Anirei hoisted herself up into a seated position, still leaning against Lloyd for support.

"Rei, you shouldn't be moving." Lloyd warned, but Anirei didn't listen. She continued to sit up and look directly at Pythor. The purple snake flinched at the look in her eyes. A look he hadn't seen since.... that day.

It chilled every scale on his body, leaving him frozen in terror from the inside-out.

"My parents.... never betrayed anyone.... you've learned wrong..." Anirei whispered. 

Pythor scoffed at the girl and slithered away in a huff, thinking that this girl was something he should steer clear of. She was dangerous to him after all. Anirei slumped against Lloyd, who was more in a panic than he would've wanted to be. 

"Rei, are you okay?" He asked, pulling her even closer to his side, "What was Pythor talking about? How did he know that about you?"

Anirei didn't answer, she simply stared off into the distance as the cage moved across the valley. She didn't want anyone to know about her parents, and that was a secret she would carry until the time was right. Not until he was revealed. And even after that, she couldn't tell them everything. 

"I.... can't say..." Anirei whispered, her eyes closing and her consciousness fading away.

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