A Bloodbath Theater
Serenica sighed. She would have to stretch her jaw enough to dislocate it entirely. She did not like this trial. At all.
"Come to me, serpent," she commanded. "I will swallow you, try…try to stay alive during the process."
"We are already dead, though," the snake reminded her.
"You're really into semantics, aren't you?" The healer shook her head.
As the serpent slithered up to her, she tried to find out the maximum capacity of her mouth.
It was way too narrow in her maw, her jaws were too tight, and she felt that this would surely end up in a bloodbath for both parties involved.
"This is stupid, mother of worms!" she cursed and realized immediately that it was also stupid to speak of the Mother as a curse – as the snake had so helpfully said, they were already dead and there was absolutely nothing to fear any longer.
Except for an eternity spent trying to swallow a snake that was as thick as a thigh of a grown man.