Serpent's Blood

The Underg

n on going anywh

t seen a monster evaporate in front of him, hadn't met a man with metal

choices. And whatever he had insid

ted as

s skin, under his ribs, deep in his bones. It tugged at him-d

was impossib

he was

re. He let his fee

d: most of the city

e weird enough, pe

man dressed like a Victorian chimney sweep argu

old shipping yard overrun by street vendors, gang turf, and half-legal trade. The kind of

have been c

it

ound himself in front of a corrugated metal door covered in strange symbols.

throbbed i

reache

r hisse

o handle.

well. Leading dow

idea," he muttered.

the warmer it got. The air smelled of incense and m

stairs ended in a

he same serpent s

d. Wa

before he

out-amber, fli

that should not have e

creatures. Candles burned in floating sconces, and at the far end, a throne

le turned to

normal. Ot

s that moved. One man had horns curling back from his tem

l maybe a year older tha

ed in layered cloth and leather. No weapons v

late," s

nked. "Ex

nights ago. We expected

d. "You kne

You think you'

his eyes. "W

world buried the bloodlines, when the hunters erased t

t, and touched his chest-right

serpent h

back. "What d

circle, watching silently. Some with curiosity.

she said. "And

ven know y

. That's all yo

didn't

her. He didn't t

o couldn't

er was changing inside him. These people-these others

her deeper into

carved wi

hat pulsed wit

ors that whisp

of Greywood, a man in a hooded coat

ched.

something in

ng confirmed. Extraction

ame a mom

et him see what he is. Le

ed, teeth sh

ring h