See

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See

Chapter 1

Darkness

Light

Control the sight

Tails twine and break.

She could hear the sound of water trickling. Her breathing was quiet and slow as she strained to open her eyes to slits, feeling confused and unsteady.

Blue eyes blinked open as she lifted her head slowly. She inhaled quietly. A strange, large shape stood in front of her, dull colors of wood and stone glistening in the darkness. Water was spilled across the stone ground and all over her body, running down her face and throat. Something glitched in the corner of her vision. She whirled her head around, but nothing was there.

The sound of a splash from behind made her senses alert, and she turned back around, freezing.

A black, featureless creature with glowing white eyes stood a ways ahead of her. It stared at her, its expression shifting sadly. She watched it in confusion, dark water continuing to drip all around from seemingly nowhere. The night sky glitched black and white and then disappeared.

The black figure stayed silently where it was, its large white eyes unblinking.

“I’m sorry,” It whispered.

“What?” The character asked in dismay. Water trickled onto the top of her head and she ducked it in surprise. The sounds of water grew slowly, stronger and stronger, becoming loud as a waterfall and screeching in her head. The things around began to disform and glitch out of place, black and white and gray flickering as colors were sucked away.

She closed her eyes as the water began to pour over her, the liquid spattering on the ground as it came down hard.

And then the creature was suddenly there in front of her, placing its hand on her snout.

“Wake up.” It hissed loudly.

Peeri gasped, jumping into wakefulness. Her heartbeat slowed to normal as she looked around, back in the dusky light of the rounded cavern she was used to. Soft moss surrounded her, climbing on the stone floor and up the walls. Cold white rays of light filtered through the skyhole above.

The Basilisks' tongue flicked from her mouth tiredly. She pulled her head up and slipped over to the small stream closeby. Water dripped from the stalactite above it, pooling into little puddles that led to the small river of water that disappeared further down the cave. She watched the droplets hit the water, listening to the steady drip. Her eyes went blank as she stared for a long moment, before she shook her muzzle quickly, shaking away the last remnants of the dream. She bent her head to drink, lapping up the water slowly.

“Boo,” Someone said from her side.

She lifted her head, thwipping her tail playfully at Bister. The other Basilisk slithered close to her, his yellow eyes sparkling.

“Good morning to you, too,” she said wryly to him.

Bister smiled and yawned loudly, revealing several sharp white teeth. Peeri caught it and yawned as well, before she turned around and slipped back over to her sleeping spot, nudging away the stray pieces of moss with her snout. Bister blinked and followed close behind her, watching her silently.

“Are you planning on going hunting?” He asked in his scratchy voice.

Peeri nodded, curling her body around herself. “Probably. I think the last time I ate was more than two days ago.”

“I’m coming with you, then,” Bister insisted. His spiked tail tapped against the ground quietly.

“Alright.” Peeri unwound slowly and they went down the cave tunnel together. They stayed soundless for a while, scenting for anything they could catch.

Peeri lived in the twisting caverns under the island of Balheimr. She had met Bister when she was younger, another Basilisk on his own like her. He was impertinent and grumpy at times, but was surprisingly kind to her, and she almost liked his company. They were both seven now.

Bister slithered ahead of her for a moment, lifting his snout and tasting the air. Peeri inhaled tiredly, stopping for a moment as Bister went further ahead.

She moved her gaze to another part of the tunnel. Everything went oddly silent for a moment, her mind growing fuzzy. The shadows seemed to be staring into her as she looked down the dark cavern.

Drip.

Drip.

“I think there’s prey closeby,” Bister was saying from a ways away. “Maybe we’ll find some fish by the bigger part of the stream.”

Peeri didn’t hear him. She lowered her head and went down the tunnel, her scales sliding smoothly across the stone ground as she moved.

She slowed down quickly, her head going upright at the sight of a bright shaft of light coming from around the corner.

“Agh!” Peeri exclaimed in surprise as a tiny insect with pale green wings came into view and fluttered past her face. Her voice echoed down the cave quietly.

She looked back at the bug curiously as it flew into the tunnel she had come from, before hearing another noise. There was a sudden blur of light reddish-orange and her mouth opened to yell out again before it ran and crashed into her, screeching in its own surprise and flapping about with wings much larger than the insect’s were. Large yellow eyes blinked down as it pushed itself away from her.

They stared at each other.

“What are you?” Peeri asked after a moment.

It made a slightly thoughtful, confused face, looking her up and down. “Are you a Basilisk?”

“Yes,” She said.

“Wow. You look cool," it said.

She pulled herself back an inch. The creature was male, and he had slightly curved horns on his head, kind of like hers, only a bit sharper and different-looking. His scales were an orange color that almost had a red hue that got darker along his spine and snout.

“Sorry I ran into you.” He said, his voice young and embarrassed, much less scratchy than Bister’s. “And I’m a Wyvern. What’s your name?”

“Peeri.” She said.

He smiled at her reply, looking at her like she was the brightest beam of light he’d ever seen. “I’m Jether.”

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