Tale of the Serpent

Anastasia, do you know the tale of the Serpent Queen?

She sealed her mouth around her tail, swallowed herself whole.



In the dark, below the embrace of the Sun

Her breath ruled stones, silence and her children the ground folk feared.

The Sun, whom she admired pressed his light against her scales and kissed her cheeks lightly. Her crown fell with her head, the sounds of trumpets and drums split the sky. Ground-folk announced in triumph: she is dead!

Her children burrowed deeper into the Earth, blind and loyal searching for a heartbeat that will never return.

How quickly, a queen without witnesses is torn apart by eager hands. The Earth remembers her but she is lost to the noise.