It was big. 

Truthfully, big was an understatement. 

The room the King Cobra inhabited was too small for its crimson body. Its black-tipped tail piled on the floor, its head bending against the roof. There wasn't much room for maneuvering but it managed. The snake leaned down at the sight of intruders, yellow eyes gleaming. It opened its mouth revealing bloodied fangs and a forked tongue.

The snake hissed. Ema fainted. 

Amneris scanned the room. Bodies were strewn everywhere. She bent down beside one, searching what remained of the body for some sort of identification, presuming one still existed. She found it. The Terpolite seal sown onto the torn blood-stained jacket. She cursed.

Colt came to her side, recoiling at the sight of the body. Amneris tore off the seal. She held it to the group. They all realised how dire the situation was at that moment. These bodies were fresh, still warm in some cases. Nephthys and Aurelia had just come through. And had used their troops as a distraction, no less. It was a good strategy, Amneris had to admit. Distract the snake. Get the blood. Get through the next rift.  Whoever lived, lived. Whoever died, died. 

Amneris clenched the fabric in her fist. Despite what the stories said, she would never - never - use her own people as a distraction. Leave them to die. To be eaten. Maybe Kek, but no one else. There was no honour in such a death. No doubt these people had been given two choices: distract and attempt to survive the snake, or die by Nephthys' hand. 

The body's face, though carved and covered in blood, remained mostly in-tact. Amneris closed their fear filled blue eyes. Even Terpolites didn't deserve to die in such a sacrificial way. 

Colt placed his hand on her shoulder. Amneris stepped away. 

"We will get her," he said, reading her thoughts.

She let out a breath. "I know. I know." 

Amneris faced the group. 

"Divide and conquer. Hathy and Jay, you search for the next rift. Hathy, try to not look at the bodies. And take Ema with you," she said, waving at the unconscious Fae. "She's of no use like that. Kayla, you go too. See if you can't wake Ema up from her, um, shock." 

"Sure."

"You got it, Queenie."

"Can do."

"The rest of us are going to get blood from the snake-"

"Without killing it!" Hathor called firmly over her shoulder.

Amneris slumped. "Without killing it. Fine."

Xix raised a hand. "Uh, how do we do that?"

"It is Apep," Colt said, eying the serpent. "This will be difficult."

Amneris rolled her eyes. "It's not Apep."

"Certain?"

"Positive. He's much bigger. And more evil vibes. And rarely leaves the Duat." Colt appeared satisfied with her response. "As for the how," Amneris said, turning to Xix, "I was thinking we just go for it. Full frontal."

Xix's eyes narrowed. "You do remember that not all of us are immortals." Not a question.

"I am open to suggestions."

Power sparked between the two. A flash of red and blue lightning. 

Zoe stepped between the two. "I can distract the snake but I will be needing your help, Amneris. Some extra protection would be appreciated." This was to Colt who nodded. Zoe then faced Xix. "You and Kek can get the blood. If you're up to that?"

Kek clicked his tongue at her tone. "Sure. Fine. Whatever."

Xix grabbed Kek by the neck of his shirt, half-dragging him across the room. Amneris didn't bother hiding her laugh. It quickly vanished. Amneris dived forward, tackling Zoe away from the snake's huge mouth. It's fangs broke stone. The snake didn't seem to feel the pain. It only looked annoyed at missing its prey.

"So," Amneris said from where say lay over Zoe, "what was that about having a plan?" 

Zoe blinked. "Oh! Yes. Sorry. Had a moment there." 

"You don't say." 

On her feet, Zoe pulled a capsule from her pocket. It was small, easily held between the thumb and forefinger, and yellow in colour. She gripped it, wound back, and--"Get ready!"--tossed it with all her might. The capsule whacked the snake in the face-

An explosion of light filled the room.

* * * * * * * * 

The snake roared, recoiling. 

Xix and Kek rushed forward, knives in hand. 

Kek went first, jumping onto the snake's tail and slamming down with his blade. The blade shattered on impact. Kek gaped at his hands holding only the metallic hilts. "Are you fucking kidding?"

Xix didn't fare much better. She rolled and sliced down the snake's centre, landing on the ground with ease. When she looked up, there wasn't even a scratch. Xix grimaced. That was going to be a problem. 

* * * * * * * * 

It didn't take the snake long to figure out the solution to its light problem. It whipped back its tail, eyeing the source of light with a hate-filled gaze. 

Amneris saw the strike a second before it came. She shoved Zoe one way and rolled in the other. The snake's tail smashed the ground between them, breaking stone. Amneris whistled at the sight. That certainly was not normal snake strength. Then again, this was not a normal snake.

A groan made her head whip around. Amneris cursed. She'd landed beside one of the fallen Terpolites. And they were still alive. She stared for a moment, every rational part of her brain saying to leave them to their fate.

The snake pulled its tail back again.

Amneris wrapped a strand of her power around the unconscious Terpolite, dragging him out of the way before leaping after, the snake's tail missing by inches. She landed beside the Terpolite, looked over his injuries, and decided he would live. It didn't matter in the end. If Xix and Kek's frustrated expressions were anything to go by, they would all be lucky to get out of this room. 

That was when she saw it.

* * * * * * * * 

"Oh, of course! I'll just ask the snake to make itself vulnerable so we can kill it!" Kek was saying, waving his arms with frustration. "Because that makes sense!"

Xix raised a hand to her head with a sigh. "I highly doubt it is invulnerable. All creatures have a weakness. We merely have to find this one."

"It hated light," he tried.

"I believe it will now expect that trick." Xix waved a hand toward where Zoe and Colt were keeping the snake's attention on them. 

Amneris, for some reason, was looking between them, the snake, and what looked like a lump beside her. She waved at Xix, pointed to herself, then pointed to the snake and made a chomping motion with her hands. Amneris pointed at Xix then to the snake once again. Xix's jaw dropped in response. 

"That is a horrible idea," Kek said. "Make sure she does it."

"Could you not be yourself for a moment," Xix hissed. "Please."

It wasn't like they had any better ideas.

Xix nodded at Amneris.

* * * * * * * *

On one side of the room, Hathor and Jay found the rift. Jay placed his hand on the wall. A familiar hum came from behind. He nodded to himself. Now they knew where it was. 

Naturally, this was when things went wrong.

The wall glowed. The room shook. An unseen force knocked Jay and Hathor to the ground.

The snake spun round at their surprised cries. 

Zoe, using Colt's golden power as an extra source, lashed out at the snake. A beam of light struck its eyes. The snake recoiled from the recovering four, turning its attention back to the pair.

A loud whistle echoed through the room. The snake's head swung around to Amneris. She ran forward. The snake roared at her approach. It did not stop her. Amneris leapt into the air. The snake's mouth clamped shut around her. 

Everyone stared.

"Tell me she did not just do that," Colt said, aghast. 

Xix made her move, dashing to where Amneris had pointed. There was a mark on the snake's skin near its centre. Small, insignificant at first glance and easy to miss, but radiating with power the closer she got. 

"Keep it busy a moment longer!" Xix called as she arrived. 

A voice flashed through her mind. Do it now!

Xix slammed her knife onto the mark, expecting it to break. It slid through. At the same time, another blade came out from inside the snake. Both tugged their respective knives in opposite directions, gutting the snake from both inside and outside. 

The snake roared. 

It fell to the ground, unmoving. 

Hands appeared from inside the snake, opening the wound. Amneris clambered out covered in, well, Xix didn't want to know what she was covered in. Amneris pulled herself out and tumbled to the floor. 

She lay face-up on the ground, grinning like a maniac. "That was awesome! Tell me that wasn't awesome."

Xix gaped. "You were just eaten by a snake and you thought it was awesome? What is wrong with you? Are you insane?"

"Well, yes, but that isn't a recent thing." When Xix made to help her up, Amneris stopped her with a look. "I'm covered with snake venom among other things. Touching me wouldn't be the best idea." The hand retracted. Amneris turned to her daughter. "And, technically, we didn't kill it. The snake's immortal. It'll be fine."

Hathor sighed. "Of course the snake is immortal." 

Jay, being the only one in the room to process the weirdness, smeared snake blood on his hand. He walked to the rift and rubbed it on the wall. The wall opened up, a swirling portal being revealed behind. 

"So," Jay said, "on to level two?" 

"It would appear so," Colt said. He snapped his fingers. Amneris and Jay returned to their clean selves, no longer covered in snake contents. 

As the others made their way to the portal, Amneris returned to where she'd left the still-alive Terpolite warrior. A moment of internal debate later, she picked them up and carried them to where the group was crossing over. 

Amneris saw the look Colt was giving her. "Shut up," she said.

"I said nothing."

"You were thinking I'm a good person and that you're proud of me."

He shrugged with one shoulder, a motion Amneris knew meant 'well, you're not wrong.'

She shook her head, adjusted the man she carried, and stepped through the rift.