Records of Rebirth

As it turned out, at that very moment Morgana was having the time of her life. She had already hatched an evil plan to destroy a system and now she was waiting for it to run its full course. She and her team were settled up on the branch of a large tree, watching the entrance of a cave below.

It was the home of a large number of reptile creatures she had discovered while scouting. They were grey in colour and stood on two legs with noticeably smaller arms. Their backs had rows of spikes and their bodies were covered with vivid green and yellow streaks.

They were clearly dangerous with their large numbers and each reptile had a mouth filled with rows of serrated fangs that oozed with poison while their spiked thick tails swung around dangerously as they roared in anger. 

But Morgana was unperturbed as she watched, because her team was not their target.

Across from this pack of reptiles, stood another pack of reptiles that looked exactly the same, apart from some minor differences. They were also grey in colour and stood on two legs with similarly smaller arms, but their backs bore a plume of black feathers instead of spikes, their small arms ended in long feathers and their bodies were covered with black and white streaks.

Resting on top of the tree branch, Morgana watched the forest floor teeming with life as the members of two separate colonies came together to vie for supremacy. The two reptiles could be said to be the same creature – once plucked of all their decorations, of course. Yet they were so openly at odds with each other and this was not due to any fault on their part.

The team of snakes who stood back to watch the ensuing feud were the true cause.

Some hours earlier, Morgana's hunt had failed on two separate occasions. First her poisoned prey had been stolen by the group of reptiles with black feathers, and the second time a four legged majestic, winged beast she had been wanting to capture had been cruelly ripped apart by the hunting group of the spiked reptiles.

Unwilling to accept the loss anyway, Morgana decided to get back at them, once and for all. 

She dispatched her team to stalk both reptiles to find their respective caves and once located, she visited them herself. At the feathered reptile's cave, she'd picked up a scent and traced the location to an empty field. There she instructed her team to dig below the ground and to her surprise they found a cache of buried eggs.

And soon the evil plan was conceived.

She instructed her team to move all of the feathered reptile's eggs, making sure to break a few to make them extra angry. Then she visited the spiked reptile's cave to do the same.

With her leaving a trail of broken eggs, going from one reptile's cave to another's, it wasn't a surprise each reptile thought the other was responsible. Although they didn't destroy all their eggs, they had buried them elsewhere to make it seem like they did. And now Morgana's despicable plan was playing out right before their eyes.

Each side had stormed off to attack the other, furious over the loss of their eggs and now it had devolved into a confrontation of reptile against reptile, fighting each other with poison.

Morgana watched the battle from up in the tree. Her team was tense, but she was not. She kept thinking it shouldn't be this fun to spread disharmony, but as more and more of the reptiles succumbed to blows, an exhilarating feeling spread throughout her body.

Who would have thought it would be this easy? And this exciting.

Morgana relaxed and spread herself languidly on the tree branch. Three members of her team were watching the battle progress with the same fascination as her, but she glossed over them. Her eyes settled on the last member of her team that was looking away disappointedly. She observed this snake with interest.

When she instructed everyone to dig, she had been the only one to disagree, but eventually she had succumbed to the pressure she exerted as Captain.

[You wouldn't feel bad if you tried one of their eggs. They are quite tasty.] Morgana pondered in a low playful voice. Something about this snake defying her thrilled her and she felt the urge to tease her a little.

Their eyes met, but the snake looked away almost immediately, making Morgana sigh. [You feel sad. That's reasonable.]

The snake peered over at her, seeming to tremble a little. [I-I don't feel anything…]

Morgana's face lit up with a smile as the trembling snake came closer to her, it was like she was trying to prove she wasn't afraid. And together they looked down at the battle raging below.

[Isn't it interesting how, to one half a bite is harmless but to the other half it is fatal.] Morgana mused. [And yet they both look the same. It must make you wonder if the same thing applies to us.]

[What do you mean?]

Morgana was thoughtful. She had been trying to figure out why she felt strange since leaving the cave. The substance their leader had fed them was not deadly, but it made her feel strangely excited. She wasn't sure what it was, but watching the reptiles battling below was beginning to give her an idea.

[I don't understand what you mean Morgana. We should return their eggs back. We shouldn't have taken their young.]

[Hmm...not yet. Haven't you ever wondered how it works?]

[How what works?]

[Our poison.]

[No, I – ]

[To me and you, it is harmless. But if you take another type of snake, perhaps it would be fatal – just look at them.]

The reptiles fighting below had reduced by half their initial number. The feathered reptiles who had been bitten by the spiked reptiles had succumbed to poison and now lay weakened on the ground. The same thing was also happening in reverse with both sides suffering casualties. The reptile colony that was once cooperative had now devolved into total anarchy. 

[This is wrong. We shouldn't have done this.]

[Why is it wrong?] Morgana asked. [Fighting your enemies is the best way to guarantee your survival, is it not? Do you really think you won't have to participate in it? Or do you see yourself completely above it all?]

[I-I...It's wrong! We shouldn't have done it!] The trembling snake was completely unravelling at her words. On one side, she wanted to maintain her principles and be against unnecessary violence, but on the other hand, Morgana's words were true. [We should have done this another way.]

[What other way?] Morgana's smile was cruel. [Appeal to them to leave our food alone. Say please?]

The trembling snake shook her head.

[We are all so lucky, we don't have other snakes living near us. Imagine having to squabble amongst ourselves over territory or something like food when every bite could kill.]

Morgana paused. [But I often wonder just how close we came to that reality in the beginning.]

[Are you saying we can't kill each other with our poison?]

Morgana peered over at the snake, observing her carefully as her head looked down at the battle below. She wasn't sure either, but if it was the same for the reptiles below, it was very likely. The creatures were still fighting but the majority were now weak and slow.

Morgana knew it was time to finish them off. But first, she had to be sure.

Before the snake beside her knew what was happening, she was tackled on the branch in a constriction hold. Wrapped up and bound tightly, the snake could barely struggle as Morgana brought her fangs to her neck.

[What are you doing!] The snake squealed.

The rest of the team who was watching the battle turned to look at them with wide eyes.

Morgana spoke in a low voice that was barely a whisper. [Why didn't 'her' poison affect you? You should want to kill them just as much as I do. Are you just playing pretend? Or are you really unaffected?]

The snake struggled to get free, desperately trying to get away from Morgana's savage eyes. But when she could not, her eyes flickered towards the rest of the team, pleading for them to help her. 

Unfortunately, the remaining three snakes were too afraid to move closer. Rather than challenge Morgana, they looked away like they didn't see anything.

Morgana sneered at her. [Don't pretend to be above us. It's ugly.]

[I'm not, I'm not pretending. Help me!] The snake shook her head and cried, but something sharp pierced her body and she immediately went limp. Afterwards her breathing came fast, her eyes glazed over and her screaming quickly became a whisper.

Morgana released her and the snake fell limply on the branch and began to pant for breath. [You bit me…how could you…do that.]

Morgana frowned. [I'm only testing our poison. Why did you scream like that?] she gave the trembling snake a once over. [You're not dead. Maybe it takes a different sort of poison to affect us?] 

[You!]

The trembling snake from before was now unrecognisable. She may have been able to suppress their leader's poison, but after Morgana's bite, the bloodlust surging inside of her from two poisons was too potent to resist. Her righteous facade was gone and the anger swelling inside of her made her even more insatiable than the others.

Morgana turned away and looked down at the weakened reptiles in satisfaction.

[Let's hunt until we are full. Kill them all and don't hold back.]

[Yes Captain!]

[Yes Captain!]

[Yes Captain!]

[Yes Captain!]

With a new set of orders, her team descended from the tree with killing intent, ready to go wild.