Page 75 of Their Promise

Rushing forward, I slid on my knees towards the four-foot-long python with a deer halfway swallowed.

She thrashed on the ground, eyes wide in panic.

“Easy,” I whispered and set my hand on her head. “I’m a snake shifter, too, I’m Princess Liliana. Let me look at you and see if I can help.”

She blinked her eyes at me and stopped thrashing.

Tilting her head, I realized her breathing tube was stuck between a hoof and the deer’s body, making it hard for her to breathe.

“I’m going to help free your breathing tube, okay? You understand?”

The little snake bobbed its head as much as it could.

Reaching down, I freed her breathing tube and watched her take a big breath. Stroking her head, I smiled. “There you go, pretty girl.” I admired her brown and black scales with a bit of red. “Your scales are gorgeous. I’m going to leave you to finish feeding, but after you’ve digested your meal, I’ll come visit you again, okay?”

She took another swallow of the deer, being careful to keep her breathing tube out, and nodded again.

Standing, I turned to the two teary-eyed elven parents. “She’ll be okay now. I’m sure that was scary for you.”

The mom threw her arms around my shoulders and hugged me tight. “Thank you! Thank you so much! We didn’t know what to do.”

I patted her back and smiled at the father. “It’s okay. It’s something that you learn as you get older, so it’s understandable this happened. I’ll come back and teach her more after she’s digested this meal. Don’t move her from here for at least two days, okay? We can move, but it’s really uncomfortable to be moved while we’re digesting. Don’t be surprised if it takes her a week or more to digest that, too. I’m not sure how quick her digestion is, as I only have myself as a sample.”

“Thank you,” the father said and gripped my hands. “We’re in your debt, Princess.”

“Nonsense,” I said and shook my head. “That’s part of what I’m here for.” I gave them my phone number and told them to call once she’d finished digesting.

Great Uncle Silverowl put his arm around my shoulders and squeezed as we headed back towards the main house. “I’m glad you were able to realize the issue so quickly.”

“Well, let’s just say I might have experienced something similar when I was little. I didn’t realize the true issue because Tony had pulled the animal I was swallowing partially out of my throat, allowing the tube to be freed, but after some research, I realized my error. After that, I did a ton of research on reticulated pythons so I knew more about myself.”

“I’m sorry we don’t have much information on your kind of shifter,” he whispered. “I’ll do more research myself to ensure we can help her as she grows.”

I leaned my head against his shoulder and said, “As long as she has someone understanding and accepting like you, Great Uncle, she’ll be fine.”

“Is everything okay?” Great Nana Kara asked and stood as we entered the house.

“Yes,” Great Uncle Silverowl answered. “Lily was able to help the girl and everything is fine now.”

“Breathing tube,” I told Mom.

She exhaled loudly and sagged her shoulders. “Those poor parents must have been terrified. I remember Tony telling me about that.”

I nodded. “It is scary, especially as the snake. I knew I couldn’t shift with half of an animal in my mouth and I couldn’t breathe. If Tony hadn’t helped, I might have suffocated.”

Mom hugged me and growled.

“Mom, that was like two decades ago,” I whispered with my face pressed against her chest.

She released me after one more squeeze. “Are you ready to return home?” she asked.

“Wait,” Great Nana Kara said and walked up to me. She reached a hand out, set it on my chest, and closed her eyes while drawing in a deep breath. “Something’s changed in you.”

“Oh, uh, yeah,” I said, unsure if we should tell her what had happened. I glanced at Mom who shrugged one shoulder.

“I don’t know what you did, but you’re definitely more stable now,” Great Nana Kara said, opened her eyes, and smiled up at me.

“Let’s hope it stays that way,” I said with a nervous laugh.

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