The Bride of the Serpent is Silent

Frantic hollers and the rapid steps of heavy boots rising from the shores of the once sirene pond. There were a handful of guards that surrounded the entangled figures of the water god and his human bride as they laid on the silt of the embankment. The wall of tall black boots, blocking out the idyllic scenery, in which the couple had drifted merely only moments prior. Neither the men's presence nor the hasty commands that prompted them to disperse in different directions was to detract from the pounding in Shui Long's chest.

The sound of uneven breaths emanating from the woman that was encompassed in the god's arms. Jing Li still clinging to him in a fervent embrace after she had exerted herself in the effort of tackling him onto the ground. Shui Long shifted amidst the sand to hold her more protectively against his chest, when he felt his hand brush upon a mildly sticky substance on Jing Li's arm. Noticing the warm liquid that sullied her robe, there was an apprehension which made the rhythm of his heart alter as he summoned the courage to investigate the source of the substance further. 

A metallic scent, eventually coming to waft up towards the water god's nose. Shui Long's heart felt as though it proceeded to sink deeper into his stomach as he discerned the smell of fresh blood amongst Jing Li's delicate floral aroma. Motivated by these alarming details to raise the hand that caressed his bride's arm before. This action was soon to confirm the basis on which Shui Long's dread was founded. His palm, red from the evidence of a fresh wound found on Jing Li's forearm. The water god came to feel that strange mixture of rage and fear that only Jing Li could inspire within him once again. These emotions, intertwining messily inside of him the longer he gazed upon the blood and sand that was now stuck to his fingers.

They eventually came to culminate in a more familiar form of anger that he was more comfortable with confronting. Frustrated that his petty quarrel with his bride's admirer had led to the oversight, which had placed Jing Li in immediate danger. There was the flicker of a fierce yellow sheen evident in Shui Long's irises as he recovered himself from the sands of the embankment. Disregarding the advice of his guards to seek safety for himself. The water god bent down to pluck his injured bride from the shore of the pond before retreating to the Lotus Pavilion. Silt and sand clinging to the red liquid that seeped out from the cut on her arm, Jing Li did not seem to mind the wound inflicted by the dagger or the state of her attire. Her eyes filled only with concern for Shui Long. The water god considered himself to be entirely undeserving of Jing Li's earnest compassion as he rushed her away from the site of the attack. 

The god's heart, overwhelmed once more by guilt upon recollection of these shimmering blue pools that told of his bride's sincere faith in him. Shui Long recognized that there was once a time, prior to Jing Li's arrival into his life, where he had found little fault with himself. However, it was her trust and kindness that had brought these unfamiliar emotions such as guilt to the forefront of Shui Long's mind. Ill-equipped with the humility and patience often required to process remorse, the water god was left to fumble with these emotions in the days to follow the incident. 

Feeling responsible for the part he had played in his bride's injury; the water god's regret could not be alleviated by the quack doctor's assurances that the wound was not grave; nor even the measures of heightened security that he had imposed upon her household thereafter. Shui Long's contrition was quelled mildly by news of the assailant's arrest. However, the water god could still not deny the unsettling feeling that this guilt had stirred in his core as he turned down a darkened corridor.

The passageway concealed deep within the temple where Jing Li had vowed to carry out her duties as Shui Long's bride. The god of Xilian Lake did not think twice about his journey through the narrow halls as he descended deeper into the bowels of the building. The structure's secrets, unknown to many apart from those few monks who happened to stumble upon them and the god's trusted advisors. Shui Long knew each stairwell and passage like an old friend, whom not even the passage of time would not allow him to forget.

A dank and stagnant air, rising to meet the water god as he descended the stairs. This would be the third day that Shui Long was to slip over the uneven steps or slide past the damp mildew that covered the underground pathways, whilst recalling the fateful events which had led him here. Shui Long's arrival onto the lowest level of the dungeon, announced by a morbid squelch as his shoes finally passed over the last notch in the stone stairwell. They sank beneath the frigid water that lined the bleak hall, which to the estate's holding cells. Devoid of windows or lanterns, there was only the torch that Shan Yu carried and the water god's beastly vision to guide them down the long corridor.

Their approach marked by the sloshing of water that their solemn steps provoked as they proceeded towards the thick metal door at the end of the hall. The entry posed an impervious barrier to the mystical forces that might try to free whomever was contained behind it. Reinforced with countless enchantments and loyal only to those who possessed the water blood of the water god. The door opened willingly before Shui Long to reveal a cell of his own malign design. The floor of the fortress, progressing merely a few meters, until it fell into a cavernous pit. There was a dark and seemingly bottomless pool, above which a single man was suspended at this time. 

Bound by the rusty coils of chains that dangled from the ceiling, the prisoner no longer reeled against his fate but instead hung as though awaiting for death's imminent arrival. Denied the mercy of a swift demise by his captor, there was nearly a third of the man's body that remained submerged in the icy pool below. His skin, turning a ghastly shade of blue from the constant contact he kept with the inhospitable waters of the cell and near drowning he had experienced in the days prior. The assassin was marred with dark violet marks from the persistent inquiries of his jailer. Yet, still he did not relinquish the identity of the despicable entity who had employed him. 

Appearing hardly more than a corpse now, the man barely possessed the will or the energy to acknowledge the two men that had just entered the room. However, he managed to hiss disdainfully in their direction, "Why prolong my suffering, demon? When you know that I will tell you nothing?" The assassin's open defiance towards his questions, presenting a challenge that the water god had admittedly found somewhat invigorating at first. Shui Long was now becoming tired of this lengthy inquisition as the days that he was left without answers had begun to grow in number. 

The god's irises glinting in the dim light cast by the torch in Shan Yu's hand, he glowered at the prisoner as he responded, "You will speak, unless you want to know the full extent of my cruelty." The assassin, raising his head as he attempted to return an obstinate glare in response to the threat of his captor. The prisoner's blue lips quivered in vehement contempt as he spat a single word, "Never." The man's head, rolling to rest in a less strenuous position upon his shoulder after exerting himself in his reply. There was a sadistic curl that crept onto the corner of Shui Long's thin lips as he chose to continue their exchange. 

"Never?" the water god asked, "Do you really expect me to believe that you would never give up the name of your employer, even if I were to torture you for an eternity?"

"That's not possible." the prisoner grunted, seemingly feeling confident that the god could not defy death. However, the man began to doubt this conviction, once Shui Long did not appear to be perturbed by the idea of his demise. The god's imposing figure seen leaning back against the slimy walls of the cell as he surveyed the weakened prey which dangled before him, he replied, "Longevity is often considered a blessing bestowed by those who preside over watery dominions, but perhaps you will come to consider it a curse." 

Shui Long's powers, whilst not infinite regarding matters concerning the extension of a person's life. There were methods available to the water god that would easily allow him to extend the assailant's suffering by at least a hundred years, before he would be made to seek out the kind of powers that would be required to revive his prisoner. The limitations of his abilities, although likely known by gods of a higher rank than the assassin, who appeared to be no more than a mere underling of someone of greater influence. Shui Long did his best not to expose the gross exaggeration of his words as he added, "Your agony could end here, if you were to speak the name of the person who sent you to try to silence me?"

A shiver of ghoulish laughter emanating from the man upon hearing these words. His contemptuous amusement continued to shake the chains that bound him to the ceiling as he spoke, "It was not you who was meant to die." The heavy knot of dread that the god had felt before, beginning to weigh upon the pit of Shui Long's stomach once more. There was a twitch of annoyance discerned within the arch of the water god's brows, which caused his placid expression to waver as he considered the assassin's response. 

Requiring only a moment's reflection for his mind to confirm what his gut already knew by instinct. Shui Long knew that there were few others who had joined him on the embankment that day that were worth employing an assassin to dispose of; apart from one. The water god, speaking her name like an epiphany, said, "Jing Li?" Seeming mildly pleased that the true recipient of his dagger was finally revealed, the assassin chortled weakly whilst observing the gravity of this fact erode the water god's composure. 

Realizing that it had been an intentional oversight to carry out the attempt on Jing Li's life in broad daylight. Shui Long now knew that he was meant to be present as a witness to this ruse. The threat likely intended to dissuade him of his affections for Jing Li or encourage her return to the Mortal Realm. The realization of this overt attempt at coercion provoked Shui Long's irritation further. This vexation marked within the tilted arc of the god's brows and the exasperated tone, he asked, "What reasons does your Master have for wishing harm to come to my bride?" 

The assassin's head, still cocked to one side, there was a knowing smirk which appeared upon his pale lips. The knowledge he possessed, able to instill a condescending air within the man in spite of his predicament. This smug expression was eventually subdued by the impatient tug which came upon his shackles. The man grimacing from the agony that the sharp motion evoked as Shui Long held onto the coils of chains hanging from a metal peg on the wall. The water god did not relent in this torment, until he was finally satisfied that the man's conceited attitude had abandoned him entirely. 

Panting from the exertion of his pain, the assassin's head flopped down once again to look upon his miserable reflection in the dark waters that had swallowed his feet and knees. The man's restraints still trembling from his agony, he grumbled, "You have no idea what she could be capable of, Serpent of Xilian Lake." The prisoner spasming from the simultaneous pain and hypothermia that he was likely experiencing, he issued a gasped warning, "That woman could be the gods' undoing." The garbled advice of the assassin sounding absurd to Shui Long, they were waved off as he turned to leave the cell. However, the water god would often come to recall the words of his prisoner in the months to come.