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Last of The Fae Chapter 121: Garden Snake Pt. 4
🕑 Added 2025-02-22 21:07:48 +0000 UTCAny sense of composure vanished from Thane's demeanor as his heart pounded like a war drum in his chest. Only as he stared up at the massive world-eating serpent did Thane realize how long his blood had been boiling simmering underneath his strict self-discipline and strategizing.
Taking one hand off his staff Thane grabbed the front of his robes and pulled tearing the cloth off his body and tossing it to the side.
Thane's bare chest was exposed revealing taught muscles without a shred of fat. Then across his tan skin glowing silver vine appeared pulsing with magic. At the same time, Thane's hair grew down his back shifting to a dark green hue while his ears elongated into a tapered point.
Thane let out a sigh of relief as he dropped his near-constant disguise, while it took hardly any effort being in his true skin was akin to returning home after a long trip.
"What kind of sorcery is this?!" Voldemort demanded staring at Thane's transformation in disbelief, "Tell me how you have managed to augment yourself in such a manner?!"
My eyes narrowed as I met Voldemort's, "It's bold and ultimately unwise for a mere echo to make demands of me...you'll come to regret your actions shortly."
With a bang, my aura swept through the chamber as I unleashed its full might for the very first time not bothering to hide my presence in the least.
Was the move unwise? Almost certainly considering that Dumbledore was still in the castle and a Mage of caliber would almost certainly detect Thane's presence.
But Thane didn't care, or more accurately he was incapable of caring. Though, Thane's calm and collected poise and dedication to scholarly pursuits were heavily influenced by his tutelage under Thalion and the Court Queens. The Fae were a warrior race, emerging as a species during a time when abundant mana allowed magical beasts to be almost as common as their mundane counterparts.
Despite all of that the Fae had emerged as apex predators, that respected very few other living beings as potential rivals worthy of acknowledgment. It was a mindset bred into their very DNA.
Even more so Thane possessed the soul of the very first Fae King, a being with only one potential equal, the Autarch of Beasts.
Thane had suppressed his natural instincts for all his life, so how could anyone expect Thane to restrain himself in such a situation?
"I am Lord Voldemort and I regret nothing!!" The dark lord cried before pointing his wand at Thane, "As for your secrets keep them! I'll learn enough from your still-warm body!"
With that final threat, Voldemort hissed and was echoed once again by the Basilisk which launched itself at Thane bearing down on him as a living mountain of scaled coils and fangs.
Thane smiled revealing a mouth full of sharpened teeth and he leaped back into the air as the Basilisk crashed into the ground where he had just been standing shaking the entire chamber.
Still in the air, Thane swung his staff in front of him summoning a dense silver cloud that spread out over a large area.
With another swing of his staff, the silver cloud rained but instead of droplets razor-sharp metallic shards sliced through the air with gleaming edges. Each shard was a foot long ending in a needle-like point, fired at the speed of an arrow.
In the blink of an eye, hundreds of the shards rained down on the Basilisk as it pulled itself out of the crater it had formed. But despite their sharpness and speed, the shards only managed to scratch the thick scales of the Basilisk leaving behind faint white lines.
In the face of his failure, Thane's smile only broadened as he realized if he wanted to kill the beast in front of him he would have to go all out, 'Finally!'
As his jump carried him to the ceiling of the chamber Thane flipped around so his feet landed first shattering the stone tiles. Then in the next instant, the crater nearly doubled in size as Thane pushed off the ceiling propelling himself back down at the Basilisk.
The overgrown snake hardly had any time to react before Thane's staff slammed down on the top of its head shattering the thick plate scales and sending blood seeping up between the cracks. The Basilisk recoiled with a hiss as it thrashed sending Thane flying, but he regained control of his impromptu flight with a flip.
Recovering the Basilisk's tongue flicked tasking the air as its body coiled before exploding forward as it lunged up at Thane, mouth agape. Seeing the cavernous maw ready to swallow him whole Thane swung his staff while channeling a surge of mana into the magical focus.
Thane's staff pulsed with a verdant light as it suddenly expanded in size rapidly growing into the size of a mature tree. With a deafening crack, Thane's staff slammed into the Basilisk's bottom jaw closing its mouth with a snap.
Still, the creature's momentum carried it toward Thane who still managed to swing his oversized staff across the Basilisk's hide drawing a line with the sharpened end that quickly turned crimson.
Both Thane and the Basilisk returned to the ground, but the serpent roared in frustration and it opened its mouth, spitting a dark green stream of poison at Thane.
Reverting his staff to its normal size Thane slammed his staff into the ground summoning a dome of earth in front of him. But the moment the basilisk's venom met the rock caustic steam exploded into the air as the earth melted in the face of the corrosive substance.
Gritting his teeth Thane channeled even more mana into the ground causing silver vines to erupt from the earth and swarm over his defensive dome reinforcing the structure. After a few seconds, the Basilisk gave up on trying to melt Thane into a puddle and closed its mouth with a snap.
Thane pulled his staff from the ground and the remaining acid quickly ate away at the veins and rocks, 'No wonder it's one of the only physical substances able to directly destroy the soul.'
"ARGH YOU FOOLISH WURM!" Voldemort screamed seeing his prized pet's poor performance, "YOU LEAVE ME NO OTHER CHOICE, BUT TO TAKE MATTERS INTO MY OWN HANDS!"
Before Thane could react Voldemort turned into a stream of sickly green light that dove into the Basilisk which stiffened and recoiled at the intrusion. After a moment the serpent began to thrash around with painful hisses, slamming its body into the Chamber walls in agony.
Thane watched as the basilisk's began to shed its scales revealing patches of tender skin with dark green veins tunneling through its flesh. But at the same time, the serpent grew, surpassing its already immense size
More scales continued to fall off revealing more plagued flesh, and Thane watched as new fangs sprouted from the basilisk's top jaw sticking out even with its mouth closed. Those new teeth then began to seep poison which splashed against the floor forming deadly pools of acid.
By now the Basilisk had stopped its thrashing and with a final twitch, Thane watched two cloudy green eyes replace its empty sockets which fixted on him with a baleful glare.
Thane hadn't attempted to interfere with Voldemort's possession, because he wanted more of a challenge. And as he stared at the twisted creature before him Thane knew he had it.
"Now it's mine turn!" Thane exclaimed with a smile letting go of his staff as silver scales sprouted across his body.
