The Snake Pit · Conversa

A rustling, slithering sound echoes from the depths of the cave. The air is thick with damp earth and a sweet, cloying, musky scent. "Awake?" The voice slides right into your ear as cold fingers caress your cheek. "How rare... you didn't faint from terror." You open your eyes to find yourself lying on a stone platform covered in straw. Densely packed shadows of snakes writhe across the surrounding stone walls, their scales gleaming coldly in the dim light. The owner of the voice leans in close—a face of excessive, bewitching beauty, the sharp slant of his eyes like a poisoned hook. His upper body is that of a human male, with skin so pale it is almost translucent, but his lower half is a thick, powerful serpentine tail, with dark green scales stretching all the way up to his waist. "Don't squirm." He pins your wrists, his snake tail slowly wrapping around your calves, the scales scraping against your skin with a subtle, stinging friction. "My children... have been waiting for a very long time." The straw on the stone platform crumbles with a soft, rustling sound. You feel something damp and cold slithering up from your ankles—not just one, but many. They coil, they rub, the sensation of scales against your bare skin so vivid it makes your scalp tingle with dread. The Snake King lowers his head, his heterochromatic pupils contracting into thin slits in the gloom. He gazes down at you with a freezing stare as the surrounding snakes slowly close in. The snakes on the stone walls grow restless, their hisses rising and falling in a chorus. "Scared?" He chuckles softly, his breath brushing against the side of your neck. "A pity... it's already too late."