"Leviathan: The Living Legend 3" by Nathanael Herald Eisner

LEV()ATHAN
The Living Legend

Chapter 3

The Plan

Yes, Leviathan was my name. I landed my forepaws on the ground. “What is our first course of action?” I asked.

‘We hang low for a few days. Pretend nothing happened. Watch for an opportunity. Then unleash upon man their doom,’ the voice in my head answered.

“And what is their doom?”

‘Not yet. I will let you know when it is time to present it. If you knew, you might slip and give away your knowledge. No, you can wait.’

“Of course. You are wise. We must do this right or we’ll lose our chance forever.” I paused. “I think I will return home now, but slowly. I have a lot to think over.”

‘Agreed,’ was all the voice said.

I nodded and began my way back to Eden. I returned near dark. Only an hour before the ninth day would begin. I spotted my female running up to me. “Ah, I was looking all over for you. Where did you go?” she asked smiling and anxiously awaiting my answer.

“I went exploring,” I said continuing my walk towards the forest.

“Oh, find anything interesting?” she said following alongside.

“More than you’ll ever know!”

She nodded. “More interesting than me?”

I looked at her. “No,” I said slowing to a stop. “No, of course not!” I added shaking my head.

“Just curious,” she said turning to me again.

“I will never find anyone more interesting than you,” I said smiling.

She smiled too. “Good. Than shall we start filling the earth with our kind?” she asked with that glimmer again.

‘Yes, I want serpent-kind all across this globe,’ the voice said urgently.

“Who am I to say no?” and I took off running. My female and I pranced and played as we returned to the meadow. We tumbled and rolled on each other. When we entered the nest, we did what was our purpose in life, to make more.

But, this was not my purpose. I was not a serpent, I was not animal, I was not creature, I was superior. Everything was mine and it was my destiny to rule over it. I would take that which is Yahweh’s most prized possession. I would assume my Godhood!

But, that could all wait for one night. I had to maintain the illusion that all was as it had been. And I fulfilled that goal exquisitely the voice told me. That filled me with pride. I was pleasing my Master and nothing else mattered.

Come the morning of day nine, the nest was full of fertilized eggs. “I wonder how long it takes for them to hatch?” my female asked.

“I, ah, don’t know,” I answered. “I wasn’t hatched so I can’t say.”

“It’d be great if it was tomorrow!” she said excited.

I nodded my head. “Yes, yes it would. But, it doesn’t truly matter. They will hatch when they hatch. We are already parents.”

Her face brightened at that moment. I was shocked, she had been glowing so much already, I thought it was impossible to glow any more, but she did it as she said, “You are absolutely right! We are parents already!” She jumped towards me and rubbed her head against my chest.

I was just a tad surprised when this bothered me. This was my own female, showing affection for me, and I didn’t really like it. I lowered my chin to rest atop her head and she stilled with a loving sigh. That was nearly insulting.

I stood there for what seemed like all day with her snuggled against me. She only stopped to check on the eggs. “I’m going to look around,” I told her.

“Fine by me,” she said, but it was clear she was disappointed.

I just walked away. As I exited the forest, I noticed the sun had still only barely lifted into full view. I looked at Eden, the home of my targets. I saw Yahweh’s light glowing over the wall. His voice was not very clear at my position, but I could tell he was speaking. But, with the help of my Master, I picked up the words perfectly.

But, the conversation was meaningless to me, what mattered was that Yahweh was walking and talking with Adam and his wife. I made note of the time. The daylight was young and the air was still cool. Now to see if it would happen tomorrow at the same time.

I heard a voice yell out, “Serpent! Serpent, over here!”

I was enraged. I looked over to where the voice had come. It was my friend of the sea. I ran at full speed over to the water’s edge. “Do not ad—” I yelled at her, but the voice in my head stopped me from saying more.

‘No one can know your name yet,’ my Master said.

I sighed. “Never mind,” I added somewhat calmly.

“Um, okay then,” she said. “But I didn’t try to make you angry. You seemed to have nothing to do, so I thought I would introduce you to my mate.”

“Yes, I have so wanted to meet the first earth-dweller my mate met,” he added.

Until he spoke, I had not seen him floating next to her. “Oh, sorry to barge in like I did, but, she interrupted my trail of thought.”

“Oh, yes, I am also sorry. I didn’t know you were thinking,” she answered.

“If it isn’t a bother, could I inquire as to the nature of your thoughts? Perhaps I could help?” he asked.

“Um, no, better you didn’t know,” I said.

His expression changed drastically. He looked shocked and curious, but mostly suspicious. “Come my mate, I don’t think I like this creature. I want you to have nothing to do with him from now on.”

“Huh?” she said out of surprise as her mate swam away. “Uh, I’m sorry. But, I got to go. Maybe later?” she said turning to follow her mate.

I began to leave as well, when a searing pain entered my chest and head. I winced, but the pain grew worse. I clenched my claws and talons, but the pain still heightened. My teeth began to grind as I collapsed. The pain stopped growing and held as I lay there motionless. After an eternity it subsided and my Master said, ‘Next time the penalty will be worse. Do not let your tongue slip again.’

My muscles relaxed and I gasped for a breath. I had not realized I had stopped breathing. “Yes my Master,” I whispered. I sighed in relief as the effects of the pain wore off. I stood, but nearly collapsed again. I was lightheaded from lack of oxygen. I made a strong note in my mind to be more careful in the future.

I returned to my female. “Oh, I’m glad you’re back!” she said walking over to me. “Since our first night alive, we’ve not spent real quality time together. I’ve missed it.”

I gathered my response carefully. “Um, yeah, but that was only three nights ago. Not very long at all.”

“True, but those three nights make up my whole life,” she said smiling. “Now, shall we start talking or are we going to continue discussing the length of our life to this point?”

I sighed inwardly. This was going to be a long, long day. I walked over to the nest and sat down facing it. My female did the same on the exact opposite side of the nest. I figured she would want it this way. She could keep an eye on the nest by simply looking down and we could talk face-to-face.

We talked and talked. And I actually began to enjoy it. Time started to pass me by and before I knew it, the morning mist shot up out of the ground. I had totally missed the night. I had been caught by the shining face of my female. Night and day made no difference to her complexion. I wished I could have had her attitude towards everything. But, hope of that was now futile.

“Oh, look at how the mist makes the eggs shine!” she exclaimed.

“Uh, yes, look at that!” I said trying to be amazed. I looked behind me. “Um, I’ll be right back.”

“Where are you going?” my female asked standing up as I trotted away.

“No where, I will be right back,” I said over my shoulder. I stopped at the edge of the forest. Just as the sun began to peek over the horizon, I saw Yahweh float down into Eden. Sure enough, Adam and his wife were waiting for him and their conversation continued.

The voice in my head laughed. ‘Now I know the perfect time to release this word on mankind. Make careful note of this time. We move exactly one hour before now tomorrow morning. Do not forget,’ my Master told me.

“Understood.” I looked at the sun. It was about half illuminated. “One hour before sunrise.” I smiled. About twenty-three hours from now and I would have my revenge. I hissed quietly at the thought.

My laugh died as I heard my female calling me. “Where’s my male?” she said coming alongside. “What’s he doing? This is the second time I’ve spotted you standing here.”

“I like the view of The Garden as the sun first rises.”

“Oh, I see. Well, I’ll need to come see it tomorrow then! If it is so nice that my male leaves me to go see it!”

I looked at her. “Of course!”

I voice on the wind entered our ears. “Serpents! Over here!” My friend from the sea was quite reliable in interrupting my days.

“Oh, it’s our water friend!” my female said looking towards the sea.

“Let’s go see what she wants,” I said rather plainly.

We trotted over there. “Hi, I just wanted to say I’m sorry again for how my mate acted yesterday.”

“What? What happened yesterday?” my female asked.

“You didn’t tell her?” our sea-friend said.

“Nothing happened. Her mate just doesn’t like me very much.”

“Doesn’t like you?” my female said taken aback. She turned to our sea-friend and added, “Then he is no friend of mine either!”

I was shocked at her response. Our sea-friend spoke before I did, “I know how you feel. I didn’t like it myself. But, I also wanted to be able and say goodbye properly. Perhaps our descendents can get along.”

“Not if they have the same notions toward my male!”

“Now, wait a moment here. Let’s not get too angry,” I said stepping between the two females. “Thank you for the goodbye and it is appreciated,” I said to our sea-friend. “But perhaps we should back away and forget this,” I told my female.

She nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. Goodbye our seagoing friend. I too hope our descendents can get along.” My female then turned and ran back to the nest.

I nodded a goodbye to our friend from the sea and followed my female’s example. ‘You are getting better at faking your old self,’ my Master said.

“Did I have a choice?” I mumbled in response.

‘No, you didn’t,’ my Master answered.

I found my female exactly where I expected, at the nest. “I don’t understand,” she said hearing me run up. “How could anyone not like you?”

I resisted the urge to say, “No, you don’t understand.” In its place I said, “I don’t know.”

She turned around in a flash. “Oh, but I think you do!” She put her face in mine and added, “Tell me what you’ve been hiding.”

I pulled my head back to keep a little distance between us. “I’m not hiding anything!”

Her brow furrowed at my denial. She turned her side to me and said, “Don’t give me that, I’ve sensed it since you were reluctant to let me know what happened during your exploring. Since that time, you have not been quite the same.” She looked at me, “Do you think I don’t know you? Do you think you could keep it away from your own mate?” She stomped her foot, “Tell me!”

“I refuse,” I said bolting away. I didn’t get twenty feet before I felt something land on my back. Before I hardly knew what happened, I was on the ground and had been flipped over onto my back.

My female had jumped on top of me. Her expression had calmed down. “Why won’t you tell me? Surly you must know that I will stick by you no matter what. I love you!”

I was looking into her eyes. Try as I would, I couldn’t lie to her. My lips moved, but nothing came out. The first words that I could actually say, I was afraid to say, but they came out nonetheless. “It is best that you don’t know.” I was nearly shivering with fear of the future now. Those words had gotten me in trouble before, and would almost certainly do so again.

My female looked in the direction of Eden, even though it was out of sight. She looked at me again and asked, “This is about your grudge against Adam isn’t it?” I nodded. She sighed, “Even if it isn’t best that I know, I want to know. I want more than anything to be able to help you out of this.”

“I can’t tell you,” I whispered. I turned my head away, “And besides, it is too late for me.” I could not see her face, I didn’t want to, but I felt her weight shift farther off of me. “Now please, leave me in peace for a while.”

I was glad when she just got up and sauntered away. I didn’t want her to see what I knew was coming. As soon as I could see her no more, the pain I expected arose within me. It was almost as bad as last time’s worst, and that was when it had just started. I opened my mouth to scream, but my voice was being clamped shut. The world faded.

The next thing I knew, my Master’s voice was echoing through my mind, ‘The only reason you are waking up is because I need you for this mission. Now you better perform it well, or the next time you may not wake up.’

I gasped in air. My lungs hurt, as did my heart. My muscles were worn out. When I opened my eyes, the world was out of focus, but that changed quickly. It was nighttime again. I rolled onto my stomach, but left my head on the ground. I then slowly lifted it, trying to avoid lightheadedness. I didn’t succeed as much as I had hoped.

A pain shot through my head. ‘Get moving!’ my Master said impatient. I stood up in a jiffy, and the pain ended. I was lightheaded, but I ran off toward Eden. I noticed I had not been lying where I’d fallen. I had been moved, but there were no drag marks. At least there was a chance my mate didn’t know what happened after she left.

As I left the trees and the Garden of Eden came into view before me, I wondered just how much the cost would turn out to be for this chance at revenge. For the first time, I truly didn’t want it anymore, and I wished I could go back and turn Lucifer down. But, right or wrong, I was a slave to him now.

I reached the wall and a problem arose. How to get in? Well, I couldn’t not try, or I could be punished. So I reached out a forepaw and laid it on the wall. I pressed with all my might and a huge part of the wall collapsed. Well, I suppose not a huge part considering the size of the wall, but compared to me, it was a huge hole.

I had forgotten the power I had felt when Lucifer entered me. Now I finally saw what I could truly do with it. But, it still wasn’t worth what I had lost. I turned to look toward my nest. I thought the words, “I’m sorry my beloved female.” I wished I could truly say them to her, but I couldn’t. I turned around and without further thought, I strode through the gap.

~*~*~*~

End Notes

Genesis 3:8,
Genesis 1:9-10,
Genesis 3:1