Chapter 7 Abe's Death

Threatened by Klaus, the Serpent Woman had to use magic on the petrified troll. The rock slowly crumbled and fell from the troll's body, and the troll, finally freed, saw the living snake woman with murderous eyes.

"Klaus, Abe needs help," Lyme shouted.

Klaus saw Abe, who had been bitten by the green snake, lying on the ground. His already dark skin was turning a deep purple, and dark blood streamed from his eyes and nostrils. He moaned in pain and kicked the ground.

"He's poisoned by snakes, and my magic doesn't work against it at all," Lyme said in frustration after failing to treat Abe.

"You," Klaus stared at the snake woman, "can you cure snake venom?"

"I can try," whispered the snake-woman as she approached Abe. She drew a small white vial from her pocket and poured the powder over Abe's wound.

The snake-woman pressed her hands to Abe's wounds, her eyes closed, and she whispered some ancient incantation. As she whispered, Abe ceased groaning in pain as he had done just before, and for a moment he fell silent.

This calm, however, did not last long, for suddenly Abe sat up, a black stream of blood gushing from his mouth, and then his body slowly fell backwards.

His eyes widened, and his limbs stiffened as if he were dead.

"Damn, what the hell did you do?" Rand growled as he prepared to plunge into the snake-woman's neck.

"Rand, stop," Lyme tried to stop Rand, but he pushed him away.

"Snake venom... The venom of the snake had eaten away at his bones..." said the Snake-woman, in a hoarse voice.

"Let her go, Rand," Klaus said to Rand, "Let her finish."

Rand had to let go of his hand, and the snake woman, who was finally able to catch her breath, said, "I've cleansed the venom from his wound with an antidote, but the venom of the green snake erodes very quickly. Even if he were alive, he would be no different from a vegetative person."

"You're lying!" Rand yelled at the snake woman, "I'm going to kill you."

"Rand, she's right," Lyme explained, "The snake venom of the green snake is so venomous that the average person simply can't survive."

"Then let me kill her and bury Abe," Rand said, as he raised his axe to slash at the snake-woman.

Seeing this, the snake-woman rolled hastily to the other side to escape, and she cast an imploring look at Klaus. Klaus was tempted to look the other way, but just then a prompt appeared on the panel.

[Snake woman has a good fertility function, and using the snake woman as a fertility tool can increase good luck value]

[Rescue the snake woman: Yes/No]

"Rand," Klaus pressed his lance against the axe that was about to be hurled at the serpent-woman's neck, and the two weapons collided with a resounding crash.

The other trolls turned their attention to Rand and Klaus, and even Leam looked at them in disbelief.

"Don't stop me from killing her," Rand glared at Klaus with hatred, "Otherwise, even if you were my brother, I wouldn't hesitate to hurt you."

"It's more valuable to keep her alive than to kill her," Klaus patiently said to his brother, "She can help us find the lair of the Serpent so that we can avenge Abe and the dead people."

Rand's eyes flashed with a hint of hesitation, and Klaus continued, "Leave her to me. I promise that I will be able to dig out the information that will be useful to us from her." "Rand, Klaus is right. Lyme stepped between the two men, and with his hands separated the two men, who were at a deadlock. 

"If we want to avenge the dead, we must exterminate the snake people. But none of us knows the lair of the Serpents, so we need someone to provide information."

Rand was loath to strike with his axe at the big tree beside him, and in an instant, the thick-set tree was cut in two. Then he glared fiercely at the snake-woman, as if to tell her, I will certainly kill you!

Then the snake-woman was so frightened that she crawled straight behind Klaus to get out of the way. Klaus stopped Rand from attacking her by blocking the snake-woman with his spear.

"The smell of blood in the woods may attract more advanced magical beasts," Lyme said to the group, "I suggest we go back to the valley now."

"What about these corpses and Abe?" Klaus glanced at Abe lying on the ground, although he was still breathing.

"He's no different from a dead man now," Rand's tone was sad, but there was determination in his eyes.

"The gates of the valley are open only to the brave," Rand said and glanced at Abe, "He'll stay here."

Klaus was shocked and bewildered. He could not understand how Rand, who had been so crazy about Abe, could have changed so much in such a short space of time.

"Lyme and I will go and check out the directions," Rand said calmly, "The rest of you are in charge of packing the prey and dismantling the tents, and we have to leave the Endless Forest before sunset. Do you have any other opinions?"

The other trolls shook their heads, saying that they had no opinion, and that Rand was the new leader for the moment, and that everyone listened to him.

Klaus saw it all, and he noticed that none of the trolls wept for their dead, and that, like Rand, they had calmed down after a brief period of anger. No one would bury the dead, for that would only delay their departure.

The sun shone through the crevices in the leaves, and the trolls packed their bags and walked along the path of light.

Finally, they returned to the valley, and when the gates of the valley were reopened, the remaining tribesmen came out to meet them.

It was only then that Klaus understood why the gates of the valley were only open to the brave, for the dead were meant to be forgotten. Trolls are accustomed to the idea of people dying in the line of duty.

Those who came back alive were called warriors, and those who died said not a word.

"That's the rules of the game in this world," Klaus said to himself.