Jamal POV
I could not believe I was about to do this now. I was about to wrestle this large snake. I could feel my hands sweat as I made my way to the edge of the island. I stopped just beyond the water and took a deep look into the water. From here, I could see its massive outline looming deep beneath the blue, casting a dark shadow in the sea. If that thing truly did swallow the key, then it must have digested already. Either way, today was the day I made my biggest hunting kill. The only problem is unlike other animals I have hunted, this one seemed to have some sense of reasoning. So maybe I could use that against him. I usually did not like to strike first in a fight so maybe I could make this snake strike first. I’d egg him on.
“HEY!” I shouted from the edge of the island. “I am ready! Let’s go! Let’s fight!”
The beast circled around the water, creating little waves that emerged on the top of the ocean and splashed on the island. I was beginning to question the sanity behind this plan of mine. But I was already too committed to back down now from the fight. I was going to continue with the plan.
I shouted back at the snake. “One splash?! Just one splash?! Is that all you’ve got?”
The snake circled again in the water and the wave that came up was greater than the last one. This snake was really hearing me and that was what was surprising me. where did it even come from and who had trained it to guard this piece of abandoned island? How had it also stayed out of the humans’ sight for so long? I know that if they were to discover its existence, there would be multiple articles about it and this place would be swarmed by their military. It was the nature of humans. Always curious and messing with the dangerous things that they knew very well were going to kill them. It was not something new that I had not seen before. Humans were always like that.
After standing for some time at the edge of the water, I decided to shout down at the snake one more time. I took in a deep breath then boomed into the water as loud as I could. “FOOL! YOU A WORTHLESS SLITHERING PEST. I’VE HAD BETTER FIGHTS THAN THIS. EVEN THE DARK WITCH BOWED TO ME!” this one was very personal. I screamed it so loud I heard it echo back to me despite the open plane and vegetation around me. I stood silent for a minute, trying to contemplate what would happen next. But what happened next was not what I had anticipated.
The large beast dove deeper and disappeared beneath it beyond my point of reach. Silence followed. This was not the type of silence I loved. This was the type that got me on edge. This was not one of peace. I waited almost endlessly for the silence to be over and indeed it was over in less than a second with a loud rumble from beneath the ocean.
A ripple appeared on the top of the sea, going in endless circles until it disappeared wide. Next was another ripple, until the ripples turned to waves, and the waves to giant waves, and the giant wave to a what I could rightfully call a tsunami. It was such that the wave that came was greater than all that had come before it and as quick as it rose into the air, flowing regally over the island and receding the shore line to its barest, that was just as quickly as it came pouring down, washing the entire island and taking me along with it.
I was flushed into the water in a heartbeat. I began to wish I had reconsidered my plan. I entered a swirling current and through my distorted vision, I saw the beast swim past me as quick as I have ever seen anything swim. I tried to regain my composure. I tried to keep my cool.
I closed my eyes. If this snake was going to attack me, I would hear it and most importantly, I would feel it. That was the advantage of the in the water. I did not need to waste my effort on sight. I had all the other senses. Besides, my eyes hurt badly from all the water flowing freely through it.
I heard the muffled swoosh from behind and the current that came along and I gracefully dodged as the snake swept past. I swam to the top and dashed out of the water. For a split second I was in the air, levitating, taking in as much air as I could and in the moment in the air, I morphed into my wolf and fell back into the water.
Now in my wolf form, I could almost match his speed. And thus we battled it. Occasionally during the fight, I was able to get a good bite on his neck, spilling blood into the ocean but this thing was bigger and stronger than I was so in a matter of minutes, I was worn out and I needed to catch my breath. I crawled over to sure and once I made contact with the sand, I pang of relief flew through my body but I heard the sound of the beast just behind me and as I turned, I saw it open its large mouth to consume me.
Out of nowhere, a spear flew right through the snake's throat and it falls back into the ocean.
“I knew it! I fucking knew it!” a voice came from afar. “They thought I was mad, didn’t they?”
I turned to see an elderly woman on a boat. She must be a fisher telling from the net and buckets littered in her boat.
“Don’t worry, wolf. I’ll get you back to your zoo. This damn creature won’t get in our way.”
I was truly confused but I went along with her. I jumped back into the water and every time I took a bite or scratch from the beast, I swam ashore so once it resurfaced, the woman shot it down swiftly. This continued until the beast fell on the shore and never went back into the ocean.
I ran as fast I could to the beast’s belly and tore it open, retrieved the key and ran back into the forest with the woman calling after me. Once under the safety of the trees, I transformed back and with the key, opened the seal and took out the staff.