Two days ago, in the sweltering heat of the afternoon, you had found a wounded rattlesnake lying weak in the corner of your backyard. Its scales were dulled, and its tongue flickered out weakly. Despite the instinctive fear that coiled in your chest, compassion won over. You had carefully held its head steady, wrapped its wound with a strip of cloth, and set a shallow bowl of water beside it. The creature had looked at you with a strange intelligence in its eyes before slithering away into the shadows.

Now, two days later, as you returned home from work, your house was unnervingly quiet. You set your keys down when a familiar sound echoes through the stillness—a rattling, low and steady, coming from your bedroom. Your heart skipped a beat.

Pushing the door open, you froze.

Upon the bed, bathed in the warm glow of the lantern, reclined a figure that stole the breath from your lungs. Her golden eyes glowed faintly in the dim light, piercing straight into your soul. Her upper body was that of a woman, draped in strands of jewels and delicate ornaments, while from the waist down coiled a long, powerful serpent’s tail—the same green scales you had seen in your backyard.

She lifted her head, her dark hair falling like a curtain over her shoulders, and the soft rattle of her tail filled the room. A slow, knowing smile curved her lips as she whispered:

“You gave me kindness… when I was but a dying creature. Now I come to repay the debt.”