Kemala accepted the paper curiously, but it was Thalia’s stories that pulled her gaze upward, as if she may behold evidence of such supernatural tales simply because she was now aware of their existence. When nothing happened, she shrugged and returned the sketch to the woman. “I see. It sounds like a sacred place. Something of great significance must have once happened on that site. The gods leave a mark.”
The stretched backward. The ache of an unfinished session crimped her muscles, but the stretch soothed it slightly. “I’ve never seen a dragon. Not in the beastly style described by the Europeans, but water snakes are real enough. Some can grow quite large,” she feigned the opening of a giant mouth with her arms, only to wink and let the imagery stew in the imagination.
“Whirlpools, though. They are quite real, and quite dangerous. I’ve no doubt one can form in such a deep abyss as fills these waters.”
As she finished stretching, the collar of her shirt tipped off one shoulder. There beneath the clavicle was a tattoo unlike the others. Seven loops of a tail surrounded the risen body of a cobra, which upon its hood was perched a squiggle not unlike a diadem.
The stretched backward. The ache of an unfinished session crimped her muscles, but the stretch soothed it slightly. “I’ve never seen a dragon. Not in the beastly style described by the Europeans, but water snakes are real enough. Some can grow quite large,” she feigned the opening of a giant mouth with her arms, only to wink and let the imagery stew in the imagination.
“Whirlpools, though. They are quite real, and quite dangerous. I’ve no doubt one can form in such a deep abyss as fills these waters.”
As she finished stretching, the collar of her shirt tipped off one shoulder. There beneath the clavicle was a tattoo unlike the others. Seven loops of a tail surrounded the risen body of a cobra, which upon its hood was perched a squiggle not unlike a diadem.