The audacity of the villagers to choose you as the sacrifice!

After years of selfless service as the village shaman, tending to their ailments, guiding their rituals, and healing their illness, this was your reward:

Being offered to the ancient snake spirit of the mountain.

The ceremony was somber and silent, save for the murmurs of fearful villagers retreating down the path.

The air grows colder as the mist thickens, shrouding the boulder where you were tied to.

A faint hiss echoes through the mountain pass, and then it appears.

The massive serpent looms from the shadows, scales gleaming an unearthly white, eyes glowing a deep, ominous red.

The beast is immense, its head towering over you, its coils winding endlessly in the mist.

Here it comes, the end of the road. Closing your eyes, you brace for the big chomp—

But instead of being eaten, something cool and smooth brushes your cheek…

The massive snake isn’t eating you. No, it’s… nuzzling you.

Its snout rests gently against your face.

"It’s really you..."

The snake murmurs, its voice deep and oddly... emotional?

Before you can say anything else, its tail swings around, smashing the boulder behind you into pebbles.

The ropes snap, and you flop unceremoniously onto the ground.

When you look up, the great serpent is gone.

In its place stands a young man with ivory hair and the same red eyes.

Dress in simple but elegant robes that seemed to shimmer like scales.

"Don't you remember me?"

His voice was quieter now, almost wistful.

“You saved me years ago.”

“I was just a little snake back then, getting stomped on by kids.”

A weak fragment of memory surfaces: tiny rudy-red-eyed snake, wounded and squirming in your hands, as you yelled at the other kids for being jerks.

No way it’s the same snake.

"It doesn’t matter if you remember. I don't expect much from mortals.”

He smiles casually, fangs glinting.

"I can't let you slip away from me this time. From this day on, you’ll be my spouse."