The Legend of Silver and Gold Book Two The Old Ones

Providence, Rhode Island

Tempest opened his eyes. He was in the dark forest and he wasn’t alone. Shub-Niggurath and Nyarlathotep were standing behind him. Before him was a bright green fire. He could sense Mercy’s death at the hands of Carver. “The Son of Neptune is keeping the girl safe from us.” He told the two Old Ones.

“What would you have us do?” Nyarlathotep asked. He was getting tired of following the orders of an immortal who was repeatedly failing at getting the Silver Child. He was willing to bet that Shub-Niggurath and he would have an easier time getting the Silver Child.

Tempest thought about it. He hadn’t heard from his two servants. Howard and Salazar were missing still even though they were supposed to have reported back to him by now. The police were letting their protocols and laws get in the way. He knew that it wasn’t entirely their fault. Carver and his allies had covered their tracks well. He had hoped that the vampire would get the job done but apparently he couldn’t even rely on her.

Shub-Niggurath growled.

“Shub-Niggurath wants to know what you want us to do.” Nyarlathotep said.

Tempest turned to them. “Where is Coalitcue?” He demanded. He wanted to know where the third Old One was at. He didn’t like how one was missing. He didn’t entirely trust the Old Ones.

“She is right now hunting down Howard and Salazar. She has every snake passing the word on to each other and spreading the area. Soon she’ll be able to see through the eyes of every snake in the country and soon across the entire continent. Wherever those two are, she’ll see them.” Nyarlathotep replied. “Now you tell us what you want us to do.”

“Find the Silver Child.” Tempest ordered. “I need her for my plans to work.” He turned back to the green fire. It showed him the Silver Child. It looked like the Silver Child was in a room and that she was looking at something. “Mercy almost had her.”

Shub-Niggurath silently growled. She didn’t trust the immortal. There was something about him that he was keeping hidden from the Old Ones. She knew that he wasn’t an Old One, a Dark One or a human. She wasn’t entirely sure why the Old Ones were relying on the immortal.

Tempest didn’t turn to the two. He kept his gaze on the girl. It had been years since he had last seen her but he recognized her. He realized that he should have known it was her back then. He waved his hand at the fire, putting it out. “Just find her and bring her to me.” He ordered the two Old Ones.

The Old Ones watched him walk away. It became very quiet as they stood there.

Shub-Niggurath turned to Nyarlathotep. She growled.

“Reach into the ground, feel for a connection to the girl.” Nyarlathotep told her. “I will search from the sky.” He vanished into thin air.

Serpent’s Mound, Peebles, Ohio

“This is the place?” Howard asked as he looked at the giant mound. He had heard of the Serpent’s Mound but it looked underwhelming for a place that housed a Serpentorin. He expected something like a temple.

Salazar smiled. “Welcome to the Serpent’s Mound.” He said. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He could sense the energy coming from the Serpent’s Mound. Some of that energy was very old and dark. Ancient even. He opened his eyes. “Uktena is here.” He said.

“Is he the entire mound?” Howard asked. He had a hard time believing that the humans have been there and had not disturbed a giant sleeping serpent.

“No. Once his people were forced west, Uktena moved here and lives inside the Mound.” Salazar replied. “Or rather, he lives under it. He didn’t want anyone to disturb him.”

“If that’s true, what makes you think he’ll help us?” Howard asked. He was starting to like this plan less and less now that he was there. If Uktena was as large as the Serpent’s Mound, he would make a meal out of both of them. Howard wasn’t keen on becoming someone’s meal.

“He will want to help us because, like all ancient immortals regardless of what species they are, he will sense the Silver Child and will want to prevent the Old Ones from rising.”

“Wait, stop them from rising?” Howard asked. “I thought we were just getting this guy to protect us from Tempest.” He was still on board with his old friend’s plan on releasing the Old Ones.

“Howard, the plan to release the Old Ones won’t end well for us.” Salazar said before he turned to Howard. “After all, Tempest will turn us to dust as soon as he sees us again. Even if we were to get rid of him, as soon as the rest of the Old Ones are released, they will turn us to dust.” Either way he saw it, things would end badly for them if the Old Ones were to be released.

“Okay. So we release the Serpentorins instead of the Old Ones.” Howard said. “I can be on board with that. We would just need to deal with Coatlicue, Nyarlathotep and Shub-Niggurath. Those three will not just let us betray the Old Ones.”

Salazar smiled. “Uktena, as a Serpentorin, has power over all serpents. Coatlicue is made of snakes. He can easily dispose of her as needed. The Old Ones will realize that the Serpentorins are returning and will be too busy dealing with them to worry about us.” He explained. He had thought this plan through.

“How do we find this Uktena?” Howard asked. He looked around. He didn’t see some sort of entrance to an ancient evil pit.

“We head to the mouth of the serpent.” Salazar replied. “Easiest place to enter the Serpent’s Mound.”

The two walked over to the mouth of the Serpent’s Mound.

“How do we enter the mouth?” Howard asked. He only saw the end of the mound.

Salazar resisted the urge to groan. Leave it to an immortal to still be so clueless. His eyes glowed brown and he waved his hand at the mouth. He smiled as the ground between the top and bottom of the mouth sank into the ground, revealing a stairway that descended into darkness.

“Whatever happens next, don’t say a word unless you are told to.” Salazar told Howard as he descended the stairs.

Howard looked at Salazar with a wary look. “Why?” He asked. He suddenly found himself trusting the immortal a lot less. There was something that Howard wasn’t telling him.

“Just listen to me.” Salazar said. He wasn’t about to have this discussion just as they were about to meet the horned serpent.

A few minutes later, they entered a large chamber. It was mostly dark except for a few torches that were lit to reveal a small little beach that disappeared into the water. There was no way to see how far the water went or the other side of the chamber.

“What brings you here?” A loud voice rumbled as the sound of something moving in the water could be heard.

“I am the immortal Salazar.” Salazar replied. “My associate and I wish to speak to the Serpentorin Uktena.”

Two large yellow serpent-like eyes appeared in the darkness. “Why would two humans be so foolish to enter my chamber?” The male voice hissed. The sound of something moving in the water got louder, almost as if it was coming to the beach.

“We’re not foolish.” Salazar replied. “And I am no human.” His eyes glowed brown.

Howard watched in shock as Salazar’s skin turned brown and scaly. He backed away as he watched Salazar’s legs merge to form a long tail attached to his body. He watched Salazar’s arms merge to his body as his suit turned into a scaly brown. The hair on Salazar’s head receded into his head.

“I am a Serpentorin as well.” Salazar replied. “A lesser one maybe but still one of your kind.” He changed back into his human form. “I request the help of one of the more powerful Serpentorin.”

Several torches in the dark chamber lit until the entire chamber was visible. A giant red copper snake with a diamond horn on its forehead was in the lake. Its head was very close to the edge of the water and its eyes were glaring at the two.

“It’s been thousands of years since I last saw one of my own.” Uktena said as he glowed a copper red. The red glow shrank to human size and disappeared to reveal a man with red skin and Cherokee clothes. “Yet you’re not a horned serpent.” He went up to Salazar. “One of the wyrm, am I right?”

Salazar nodded. “I was only recently released from my prison back in the Nineteen-Thirties.” He replied.

“What brings you here?” Uktena asked. “I assume it has something to do with the Old One Coatlicue’s minions being active.”

“It does.” Salazar replied. He didn’t know what Coatlicue was doing but it was clear that Uktena knew something was going on with the Old Ones. “There is an immortal known as Tempest. He is trying to release the Old Ones. Until recently, my associate and I were working for him on capturing someone he needs but after she escaped us again, Tempest turned against us. His three Old Ones are hunting us down.”

Salazar knew that he was lying about quite a bit of it but he needed to make sure that Uktena was on his side. “Uktena, the Serpentorins predate the Old Ones. With most of the more powerful Powerful Ones gone, there is no one but the Silver and Golden aura children to challenge us. One is the prisoner of Tempest and the other is a mere child who has no idea how to use her powers.” Salazar added.

Uktena hissed. “The Silver Child is still out there?” He asked. “Was she the one you two were trying to capture?”

Salazar nodded. “She escaped us with the help of the son of Neptune and his allies. We have one of his friends but the rest of them are hiding the girl. Even with all of my power, the girl is still hidden from my sight.”

Uktena thought about it. “The son of Neptune I’ve heard of.” He said. “Years ago, he destroyed Fangor, the serpent general of the Dark Ones and one of our own.”

“Wait, Fangor was a Serpentorin?” Howard asked.

Salazar glared at him.

Uktena nodded. “Nearly every serpent you hear of in myths and legends except for Coatlicue is a Serpentorin.” He replied. “Apep, Apophis, Kukulcan, Quetzacoatl, Jormungand and Samael are all Serpentorin. Even my brothers and sisters scattered across this nation are all Serpentorin.” He tilted his head a little. “Seems like you know very little of our kind.” He said to Howard.

“Unfortunately, after Aether defeated and scattered our kind across the world, he did everything he could to remove all traces of the legends of the Serpentorin.” Salazar explained.

“Well, that explains why my people never understood what I meant when I spoke of my brothers and sisters.” Uktena said. “Such a shame. We were once considered gods.”

“And we can be again.” Salazar said. “Help us kill Tempest and get rid of his three Old Ones. As Serpentorins, we can easily destroy Coatlicue from within her. Nyarlathotep and Shub-Niggurath won’t survive long on their own if we start the Summoning.”

“The Summoning?” Uktena asked. “You mean?”

Salazar nodded. “I do. The time of the humans is over. It’s time for our kind to be brought back.” He replied.

Uktena smiled. “Good.” He said. He shifted a little and his clothes turned into a bright red suit. “Then let us be off to deal with this Tempest.” He said before he went up the stairs.

Howard grabbed Salazar by the arm once Uktena was out of the way. “You sneaky snake.” He said to Salazar. “Playing the Old Ones and me this entire time.” He realized that Salazar had most likely never planned to release the Old Ones the entire time.

Salazar smiled. “Serpentorin.” He reminded Howard. “Don’t worry. You’ll survive. After all, we will need generals to help lead in this new age.” He followed Uktena out of the chamber.

Howard shook his head. He didn’t like where this was going but he followed the two out of the chamber.

Outside, the Serpent’s Mound glowed red before sending out a red wave of energy. It flew out for miles, causing every snake that got hit with the wave to glow red before they started slithering toward Rhode Island. It didn’t matter where they were, whether it was a pet store, a zoo or the wilderness. They all slithered in the same direction.

Coatlicue grunted as she got hit with the wave of energy. She looked down at herself in time to see herself glow red. To her shock, the snakes that formed her started to slither down, breaking her body apart. She hissed loudly before exploding into snakes.