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Message: <blockquote data-quote="talien" data-source="post: 4501357" data-attributes="member: 3285">Soul of the Serpent: Part 3b – The ArenaThe sand-stained blood began to bubble slowly at first. Within a few seconds it was bubbling like the boiling mud near a volcano, creating fist-sized bubbles that spattered blood over the first rank of onlookers.  The yellow steam that rose from the boiling blood began to coalesce into a yellow form, taking shape over the heads of the congregation.  The ssanu in the arena from both sects prostrated themselves before what they believed to a manifestation of their ancestral god, Yig.But it was not Yig.A soundless flash of yellow strands blasted forth from the tatters of the King in Yellow. Guards that were cutting through the webs were plucked from where they stood, sucked into the yellow folds. “The King in Yellow,” Kham said wearily.  “Again.”“You fool!” shouted K’Stallo at Ffashethh. “You have doomed usss all!”Panic broke out; the ssanu choked the exits in their attempt to escape.  “Squeak!”Kham squinted.  He knew the source of that sound.  Somehow, it cut through the horrible din of hissing and screaming.The attacks continued, as the King in Yellow struck the struggling mass of ssanu again and again.  Many more were trampled underfoot in the rush to the exits.The King in Yellow loomed over a tiny figure.  That of a baby ssanu named Emric.“Emric, no!” shouted Kham.  There was no way he could save the little ssanu in time. Yellow tentacles undulated over the tiny ssanu.  The ground trembled. The tremble turned into a shuddering roar as an earthquake racked the temple.  Part of the arena wall fell in.  “Run!” shouted Sebastian.  In the midst of the dust and blood, a massive being rose up out of the baby ssanu’s place.  It had the head of a hooded snake, two legs, and in place of arms were two more snakes.  It hissed a challenge.  K’Stallo froze.  “Mother Yig!  Ssshe hasss taken mortal form!”  He bowed low.Kham blinked. “Wait…Emric was a she?”The King in Yellow, its tentacles whipping and snapping, turned to face the new threat.  It fired two strands at Yig.Yig’s snake arms shot forward, catching the two strands in their teeth.  Where they bit down, sizzling green acid dissolved the strands.  The King in Yellow arced backwards, as if straining.  Then a forest of tentacles burst from its torso, snaking towards Yig.But the avatar was not to be denied.  It opened its maw and spat a glistening gob of bright green fluid.  The tentacles melted away.“Where’s Ffashethh?”With another roar, Yig charged towards the King in Yellow.  Two snake arms clasped onto it, and then the hooded head reared back to deliver a fatal bite.Kham caught sight of a small snake slithering its way down the steps from the balcony.Down in the arena, yellow strands fired upwards, spearing the ceiling and the surrounding rock.  The cavern cracked and a huge chunk fell to the ground. The whole place was caving in.“Oh no you don’t!” Kham ran after it.  “I brought you into this world, and I’m going to take you out!”</blockquote>

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