THE SERPENT RISES

Obsidian shard in Luca's hand pulsed with a gentle, evil heat, its vast blackness an ugly opposite to the chaos of color creeping past his manor walls in the Nigerian night. The snake wrapped around the flower that had bloomed in the accompanying note was a cold grip of the symbolism they'd been experiencing, a foretelling of a new generation rather than one, so much as a sly hint. The "awakening" had begun, and the garden, their universe, was remembering its once-toxic past. There was tense urgency in the search as Luca told Bianca, Isabella, and Dante of the ominous discovery. The ancient fear of the return of the Serpent hung over them once more, but this time with the disturbing awareness that their understanding of the ancient power was woefully inadequate. "A new symbol," Isabella breathed, her face screwed up as she deciphered the message. "The flower… it speaks of growth, creeping spread." Bianca traced the lovely script with a hesitant finger. "The words… it's formal, almost archaic. Whoever wrote this is steeped in the lore." Dante glanced at the piece of obsidian Luca held. "Another piece. Where did it come from? How many more are there?" Luca felt the far-off hum within him respond to the shard, a pull towards its dark power. His fist closed around the ancient temptation. "They're out there. Others who carry the blood, others who may have accepted the power." The magnetic leader who had drawn followers in the distant land now represented something different. He was no longer a stubborn player in the underworld; he could be an omen, the first flower of the newly born Serpent. "We need to find him," Luca said to them, his voice resolute. "Before he draws more followers, before this new incarnation of the Syndicate takes hold.". Their journey to the far-off land was rapid and covert. They came incognito as dignified businessmen, nostrils flaring, seeking the first rumor of the rising power. The land itself was a cauldron of tradition-beaten tribes and independent power bases, fertile ground in which a dynamic leader could fan smoldering resentments. As they moved deeper into the continent, rumors started – whispers of a man named "Caspian" only, with an unnatural ability to influence men, to bend corrupted factions to his command. His cultists talked of his cunning, of his vision for a new world order, of his almost-hypnotic charm. "It's a fit," Isabella gasped, having spoken to some of her sources here and there. "He's rounding up the disenfranchised, the ambitious, giving them a niche in his 'new garden'." They finally located Caspian's operation – a distant compound in the hills, with a bad odor of fanatical zeal. His followers crept with suppressed fervor, their eyes aglow with devout passion on the brink of fanaticism. We must go in," Luca ordered, his eyes pinned on the compound walls. "See what kind of authority he holds." Breaking into the inside wasn't accomplished without trouble. Caspian loyalists were manning the security, their loyalty not for sale. Bianca, whose unparalleled talent allowed access through the outer perimeter fence, returned with news. What she returned with was disturbing. Caspian did not command his adepts by charm, but by something more tangible. She had seen rituals, whispers of black energy at work, and the existence of other pieces of obsidian shards, radiating the same dark beauty of the shard Luca wore. "He's manipulating the shards," Bianca whispered in fear. "Creating his power base, creating a coalition of faithful adepts." The young snake was tapping into the same raw energy, but he was tapping into it in a different way, more insidiously. He was not exerting force; he was cultivating an influence garden, poisoning minds silently. As they marched and argued about what to do next, a coded message arrived for Dante, on an encrypted line. It was from one of his agents who was deep undercover in his organization: a mole who had insinuated himself into Caspian's innermost circle. Not much in the way of what he wanted to say, precisely – but very intimidatorily ominous: "Eye to root, the garden recalls. Speak of the secret heir. He beholds. Luca's ascent.". Luca's chest was left with a feeling of uncertainty. Caspian was not generating his own power for the sake of power; he was generating it in the form of having some kind of particular scheme in mind for Luca himself. Was he some kind of rival, seeking to kill him? Or did he have some other kind of malevolent trick hidden up his sleeve? They went directly to Caspian, to find out why he had been looking for Luca, and how much authority he possessed. Wearing clothing that would look like friendly visitors, they approached the compound, guns hidden, but senses on high alert. Caspian welcomed them with a too-enthusiastic grin, the edges of his mouth flashing with an irresistible ferocity. An aura of definite stillness clung to him, words chosen with a practiced restraint, a subtle persuasiveness insinuating its way into the peripheries of their awareness. "Luca Vincenzo," Caspian said on a sigh to them, his voice even, hypnotic. "I had expected you. The garden is familiar." Air vibrated thickly with an unspoken tension, the vibrational hum of the obsidian shards in the compound heavy with power. Luca's frequency pulsed through him once more, this time more strongly, a low, guttural sense of something very old and powerful. "What do you want, Caspian?" Luca snarled, his voice struggling to stay tightly in check, even as the insistent pull of his power. Caspian's smile grew wider. "I want to pick up where we left off, Luca. To reunite the line, to allow for the awakening. Most of the legacy is in you. We can seed a new garden, one that will conceal the demons of the past." The pieces all fit into place with a chilling certainty. Caspian was not an adversary; he had seen Luca as a key, a valuable piece to his scheme for a new world of the Serpent's rule. "I have no use for your 'new order'," Luca spat. Caspian's face darkened, a glimmer of disappointment across it. "A shame, Luca. You are rising up against destiny. But the garden will bloom, with or without you." As he spoke, Caspian held up his hand, and another fragment of the Serpent's Eye appeared, larger and brighter than any of those they'd found. Black energy it emitted was nearly intolerable, and the pull within Luca grew stronger, a steady, almost suffocating pull. "The awakening has commenced," Caspian once again stated, but his voice was cold now. "And the true heir. will be known." Suddenly the ground began to rumble. There was a snarl and a growl that sounded below them, and it permeated the air. The friends of Caspian stayed there with their eyes filled with horror and shock. From the center of the complex, a horror formed, its scales glinting in the fading light, its eyes blazing with a foul, ancient fire. It was something out of nightmares, a behemoth serpent-headed creature, worse and larger than anything they could have imagined. Caspian's face was lit with a madman's glow as he smiled. "The garden remembers its beginning, Luca. And the Serpent… stirs."