The forest had fallen quiet again, though its silence no longer carried the same suffocating weight as before. Time passed in uneasy stillness. Noah's visage was blocked by the confines of his home, while deep within its cavern, the drake had retreated to slumber without being annoyed by the unwelcome noise of its neighbor. Only the slow, echoing rumble of its breathing showed that the cave was inhabited.
Above the den, high in the trees, a presence too large to ignore slithered among the branches. The serpent had returned. Its massive body rested across the trees, its upper body was rooted on Noah's home. Its body was tired, though shrouded by the forest's darkness, it was clear that anyone could see that something was missing from its head.
