Mara's Life 12, Target

Ral slithered silently into the Queen's temple, his scales ever so softly grinding against the stone floors. He ignored the hallway that led to Mara, Vitra, and Raba's rooms. He went directly into the hallway to the other hall, towards the false dead end. He had always hated how Vitra monopolized the humans in the jungle, using his people as security and escorts when they could be eating the people instead. He totally ignored the illusion of the boulders, slithering right through it. Inside, he found that the human stock was as large as ever. The snake smiled. Clearly he could have his army.

The hunters and gatherers were gone, and with them the snakes that still served Raba. One, however, had stayed behind. Ramayan was laying on the area that his group slept on, unconscious. Since he was a new addition to the group, he had not been given a snake guard yet to escort him from the temple. Ral recognized the man and went directly to him. He moved his head directly over the sleeping man, then hissed softly.

Ramayan's eyes opened slowly. They were still glazed over slightly, but his trance was clearly less powerful than before. Ral lifted his tail and held it beside his head.

"Sssorry." he said, slapping the side of Ramayan's face sharply. The Indian man blinked a few times, then sat up. He did not remember Ral, but anyone who would release him from his mental bondage was a friend.

"My name is Ramayan." he said.

"Ramayan, I am Ral. I am here to take you all away."

"Really?"

"Not for free. You are to fight with me againssst Vitra, the witch."

"...That works."

The two set to work getting the rest of the harem on Ral's side. The toy group was easy enough, their minds were so compliant to commands after years of serving Vitra that they could hardly distinguish who was giving them. When told to help Ral, they agreed without question. The older people were simple to get out of trance, just a quick slap and they would wake up. They joined the cause for the same reason as Ramayan, revenge. The children, however, proved to be difficult. Many of them didn't know how to stop serving Vitra. Ral quickly grew tired of reasoning with them, and let his eyes fill with color. The children stared into his eyes with smiles on their faces, falling into trance quickly. Once they were all under, they walked in single file to the rest of the group.

"You hypnotized them? Isn't that what we're fighting against?" Ramayan asked.

"We are fighting againssst Vitra, I never promisssed that I would stop usssing my powersss afterwordsss."

"So we're trading one tyrant for another?"

"You are removing one tyrant in exchange for freedom. I'll ssset them all free of my trance when thissss isss done, then you can all try to avoid being brought back into it."

"...I hope you understand how much I hate these terms."

"I do. Now, letsss go." Ral commanded, leading the crowd of slaves out of their prison. When they stepped out of the temple, many were shocked. Some were unused to sunlight, many of the children had never stepped on the grass before, and their soft bare soles were unprepared. Ramayan smiled as he hit the light again, the smell of jungle pleasing him.

The group set out for the cave.

Back at the cave, Vitra was still trying to remove all traces of Ral from her daughter's mind. Mara was laying flat on her back with her mother's feet on her face, her eyes closed as her cheeks were smushed between Vitra's toes. Vitra was channeling all of the power that she could into her feet, wanting her heir to be uncorrupted by the snake. The last thing that she needed was for the jungle princess to feel a need to eat people.

Raba watched from afar, watching the jungle treeline impatiently. He knew that Ral had to come back at some time, but unfortunately for him, he didn't know when. Or, that Ral had seen his mate die. Suddenly, Raba heard the cracking of sticks by the treeline. He watched as Ral slithered out from the trees on his own.

"Ssshow me Vitra!" Ral called. Raba readied his coils.

"Come and get her!" Raba replied. Back in the cave, Vitra heard the shouting between the two snakes. She trusted that Raba could handle his subordinate snake, so she continued working on Mara's mind.

Back at the treeline, Ral laughed. Raba's brow furrowed. From behind Ral, a line of people of all ages came out onto the clearing. They were carrying sticks, stones, vines, anything that they could have found on the way to use as a weapon. Raba turned to Vitra and called to her from the cave mouth, just loud enough for only her to hear.

"He took the harem, they want to hurt you." he said urgently. Vitra's ears perked up, and her feet stopped moving on Mara's face.

"How many does he have?" she asked.

"He even took the children, they are all here."

Vitra looked down at Mara and frowned. She did not speak for a moment, then she turned to Raba and whispered: "stall them." before placing her big toe into Mara's mouth. Her other foot rested on the princess' forehead, and her eyes closed. Raba knew what she was doing, and what he had to do for her. The deal had been made years ago, before they had even taken Mara as their own. Raba turned back to the crowd, which was slowly approaching the cave opening.

"Isss diplomacy not an option?" Raba asked. The crowd stopped, and Ral came closer.

"Not when you killed Vera." Ral answered. Raba cursed under his breath.

"...Where did you hide her daughter?" Raba asked, grasping at straws.

"What? Ssshe wasss in there!" Ral answered, confused.

"No ssshe wassn't! Vera mussst have eaten her!"

"Ssshe would never do that!"

"Yesss ssshe would have!"

"ENOUGH!" Vitra cried, walking past Raba and standing before the crowd of slaves. She nodded at her snake friend, how disappeared into the cave. The crowd of slaves began to shout and yell, wanting to tear her to pieces. Ral slithered up to the jungle queen.

"You have been dethroned." he hissed. Vitra remained silent. The crowd surrounded her in a tight circle. The screams and thrashing could be heard inside of the cave, where Mara and Raba were sitting closely together. Some time later, Raba came outside. Vitra was on the ground, still surrounded by her former slaves. The children had grown tired and were on the ground, asleep. The adults were finishing up, satisfied that their job was done. Ral had simply watched throughout the slaughter.

Ramayan stepped forward slowly, holding a large stick. He brought it up over his head, then sharply down on Vitra. There was a sudden whooshing sound, and even Ral paused in surprise. A rainbow glow of light emerged from where Vitra was laying, and it swirled around the air for a few moments before floating towards Raba. He opened his mouth, and the colors shot down his throat. Once it was all inside, he closed his mouth and looked at the people below him.

"Ssshe isss done. I have taken her power. I will not be merciful. You have five minutesss to run." he hissed, just loud enough to be heard. The adults grabbed a sleeping child from the ground and took off into the jungle, fearing the all-powerful snake king.

Ral looked into the cave for Mara, but could not find her. He then slithered up into the treetops and away, scared and confused. He knew that Vitra would never eat Mara. Something didn't add up. He changed course in the trees, hoping to find answers by spying on Raba.

Raba did not chase the humans into the jungle. He went immediately back to the temple, and then into his personal room. Time was of the essence. He opened his mouth as wide as possible, then began to contract his stomach. Ral watched from the shadows as a pair of silken pink feet came out of his maw, then knees, then a firm butt, then the shoulders, and finally the head. Mara lay on a bed of Raba's coils, unconscious and covered in saliva, but alive. Ral's jaw dropped to the floor. The jungle princess had escaped, and with more power than ever before.

He could still see a bit of rainbow light swirling around Mara's toes.