Sixteen long years had passed for the serpent. Deep beneath the waters of the vast lake was a cave the creature called home. There it slept, resting from a near escape from monster hunters. Physically, it hadn't changed much since it was abandoned, it was never released from the form of the serpent as no human ever would stay close enough to think that. The only ones who ever came for her were hunters. The only change to it was the length of it. When young, it was only around 23 feet long. Now, from snout to the end of her tail, she was over a hundred feet long. Her strength and speed in the water allowed for her to evade most hunters. But she would always watch below as ships went by, yearning to be part of that world. Slowly she woke and went into the sea to find some dinner.
Francis was an apprentice merchant trader. Born seventeen years before and at the age of twelve, joined the sea merchant trade. He came from the city on the southern side of the lake, opposite the creature lay. He had heard of the serpent before, saying seeing it was a sign of doom. He stood on the edge of his master's ship and watched the sun set into the waters. He enjoyed this time of day and smiled gently.
"Hey boy!" came a voice, Francis knew it as his master, "Stop day dreaming and keep an eye out for pirates!" Francis shook his head. In the five years he had been sailing, never had he been attacked by pirates, of either the eastern or western factions. And he rarely heard of being attacked this far north as well.
"Yes Master," Francis called back, not paying the warning much mind. As he continued to watch, he heard a high whistling coming at him. "What is that?" he thought. He was answered by an explosion on the aft of the ship.
"They hit the rudder!" came the helmsman's voice. Francis was scared and didn't move. More shots were fired and damaged the ship even more. The shock of these strikes caused Francis to fall into the water. Francis, upon surfacing, started to swim away from his ship, so the debris didn't hit him.
The serpent looked up and saw the attack. "More men dead," she thought, knowing the likelihood of the pirates taking prisoners was slim. As she was about to swim away, she saw Francis fall into the water. She saw him swim away from the fight.
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