Page 12 of Champion of Cards

It was strange to see the world from such a new vantage point. The colors of the trees and leaves were different, and the sun didn’t look the same either. With my body distribution altered, it took more energy to move than when I used to just glide. Now my teeth were normal and I had no fangs, but I had big hands and powerful arms to replace them. I just didn’t know how to use them.

We stopped when it was dark and made camp. We were able to find me some traveling clothes on the way back. The boots were a little tight, and the clothing wasn’t as nice as what Kingsnake and Larisa wore, but it was better than being exposed to the elements.

I stacked a pile of branches on top of rocks and tried to light them with a match, but I grappled with the movement.

“Want me to show you?” Larisa asked as she kneeled down.

I continued to try on my own. No. If I’m going to win the tournament, I need to know how to use my handsss.

“You need to learn how to speak.” Kingsnake dropped the cot on the ground.

I continued to strike the match until I finally got it. I dropped it on the logs, and within seconds, flames lit up the dark encampment. The flames rose, and then I felt heat against my flesh, felt the temperature more vividly through skin than scales.

“What you speak in your head, just say it out loud,” Kingsnake said. “You’ve watched us speak enough times to understand the concept. You can’t compete in the tournament without saying a word.”

I stayed by the fire, and they walked away, getting into their cot, a cot I would normally share as a snake to keep warm. But now I was bigger than Kingsnake, and there wasn’t room for me. So I sat alone by the fire and practiced. “Kingsssnake…”

Kingsnake was already in the cot with Larisa. “Drop the extra s’s. You aren’t a snake anymore.”

“Cut him some slack,” Larisa said. “He’s trying.”

“He doesn’t have much time,” Kingsnake said. “He’s got to figure this out now.”

* * *

When we returned to Grayson, I was outfitted with proper clothing. I was given a uniform identical to Kingsnake’s, even though he was the king and I was just his companion. They also outfitted me with his armor, black and red, with the kingsnake image in the center of my chest. And I was given a sword, a weapon that I’d never touched.

Kingsnake looked me up and down, his arms crossed over his chest. “You look great.”

Kingsnake refused to acknowledge me if I spoke internally rather than verbally, so I’d gotten better at speaking aloud. “Thanks.” My voice didn’t sound the same when I spoke. It was deep with a baritone, sounding nothing like me.

Kingsnake grinned. “This is weird…but it’s also not weird.”

“Are you scared of me?”

“Right now? No. But if I met you on the battlefield, I’d take you seriously.”

“Good.”

He patted me on the arm. “Ready to go? The tournament starts in a few days.”

I nodded. “I’ve been ready.”

Viper came down the hallway and entered the room, hesitating when he saw me. He glanced over my armor, then narrowed his eyes on my face again. “Kingsnake, who is this?”

It was a small community of vampires, and for me to wear their armor meant I was someone important, someone he would already know.

“It’s a long story…” Kingsnake grinned before he looked at me, like he wanted me to answer.

Viper shifted his gaze to me.

“It’s me,” I said. “Fang.”

Viper stared at me for a solid three seconds. “As in…the snake?”

“Yes,” I said.

Now he looked me up and down all over again. “What the actual fuck?”

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