A Serpent's Tale
Chapter 212: Astraa

Chapter 212: Astraa

"This is Astra." Morrigan announced, observing my reaction.

I knew that name. That was the name of the Naga Goddess. My... Goddess...

"That’s right, this is your goddess, and she was a part of the Illuminati when she was a mortal." Morrigan smiled with pride. "Quite a few of the new gods were mortals actually, but I shan’t say more or I’ll be overstepping my bounds."

I was awestruck by what she had said. Astraa, my Goddess... A member of the Illuminati? A mortal? What did that even mean? Why was she even a part of it?

And since Morrigan seemed to be so willing to share, I decided to ask her, "What exactly did she do here? And, what do you mean by her being a mortal?"

The woman chuckled at my inquiries and explained, "Well, to answer the latter question first, she, along with most of the other new gods were all mortal creations back when the world was yet to be reformed. Or so I’m told, I wasn’t alive back then."

"Back then, a huge war erupted between the gods and the mortals, with some mortals siding with the gods and vice versa. When this war ended, all the new gods, which are considered the progenitors of their respective races, ascended into godhood, with some leaving behind a legacy in the new world, while some didn’t."

I was absolutely stunned... I never knew any of this. All I knew was that Astraa is the Goddess of all Naga’s and achieved recognition in a great divine war eons ago. But... But this... I just looked back at the portrait in awe and reverence.

"Hehe, I can understand your adoration, but there’s no need for that, she was a person just like the rest of us. Only she rose to a higher status than the rest of us, along with the others that were in the same boat as her."

I barely listened to the woman as I slithered up to the portrait.

"This is... My progenitor..." I was at a loss for words right now.

"You know... Now that I think about it, I think we have some records mentioned something about her legacy and how it would grant them her place in the Illuminati. I could be wrong though, we have so much information and knowledge here that it’s hard to tell if something is true or not." Morrigan commented with some apprehension as she rubbed her chin beneath her hood.

She hadn’t revealed her face to me at all, none of them had, they all just kept on wearing that hood which masked their faces behind inky black shadows that covered their skin completely.

I didn’t really listen to her all that much though as I just raised my left hand touched the painting. I honestly couldn’t believe it either. I’d never seen a portrait of Astraa, only statues that barely captured her visage, but the picture before me was just so immaculate, so beautiful and vivid.

I just couldn’t take my eyes off of it, trying to burn this image into my memory so that I would be able to remember in future whenever I may need it. I also didn’t want to forget someone important again... Like I did with mother...

I know that might seem rather weird, but I couldn’t remember what my mother looked like. And with Astraa being the progenitor of my entire race, she was sort of like a mother of some sorts to me, being that she did spawn my entire race, so I wanted to be able to remember her.

And as I was taking in every inch of this immaculate portrait and feeling the fine textures of the woven canvas with my hand, I felt a shift in my pendant. Almost like it moved because it was resonating with something? At least, that’s what it felt like when I focused on the pendant

So, I brought my hand off of the painting and lifted the frame of the pendants signature piece. A serpent coiling around itself...

Looking at this it’s a wonder it took me as long as it did to realise that this is the primordial form of all serpentine.

"Traytora? Is something the matter?" Morrigan asked seeing my currently befuddled state.

I was about to answer her when I felt the pendant suddenly tighten and constrict around my neck and begin choking me.

"ACK!" I chocked on the pendant as the main piece, that being the snake, suddenly come alive and bit me in the side of my neck.

"Traytora!" Morrigan yelled as she rushed to my side and tried to pry the pendant off just as I was, but it seemed to be useless as the snake kept its grip on my neck, both with its bite and with the chain.

I keeled over forwards, struggling to breath as I leaned my left hand back onto the portrait just so that I had something to support myself as I used all of my strength to try and pry this pendant off of me to no avail.

Thankfully, after a few more seconds, and just as my vision started to blur, the pendant seemed to loosen its grip, allowing me to breathe once more.

I leaned forth even more, my elbow now resting against the mural as I took in some deep breaths to recover the air that I had lost, and when my vision returned to me, I felt the pendant moving along my skin, coiling around my left arm and moving along it and up it. The entire chain of the pendant had also turned into a tail along with the rest of it also

I then felt it leave my arm and when I looked up, I saw it pierce portrait, specifically around the neck and reappear on the other side of the neck before it returned to its previous form as a necklace.

"No!" I heard Morrigan yell in panic as the depiction of Astraa was ruined by the pendant.

But then, the wall began to shake as a portion of the wall started to slide back with the sound of stone being ground against another stone. The pendant also seemed to have disconnected as it seemed to have slipped out of the portrait and back down onto the floor.

I caught the pendant before it could fall to the floor as it was the only thing I had left of my mother, and I didn’t want it to get damaged even though I knew it was incredibly durable, I still didn’t want to get any scratches on it.

When I lifted my head after checking that there were no marks left on my necklace and saw that the wall was actually some sort of secret door that led into an equally secret chamber of sorts.

And before I had time to think about any of this I heard an absolutely guttural and furious roar of indignation.

"WWWWWHHHHAAAAATTTTTTT!!!!!!!"