Chapter 3: A Gold Palace! Who Lives Here?
Nonetheless, every pro had its own con. The soils birthing turquoise, amethyst, sapphire, pearl, ruby, diamond, emerald, tanzanite, jasper, topaz, aquamarine—nearly every kind of jewels—turned out to be thoroughly barren and infertile. It radically failed to sustain any crops or vegetation, no matter how much the serpents there tried.
Hence, feeding the subjects had been the most difficult aspect of Venomblood. On the basis, they never intended to exclusively feed on any livestock, rather they wanted to include all the food items in their diet chart that would meet their all nutritional requirements.
Under the banner of empresses regnant, the agriculturists conducted several researches on their soils--the magic engineers invented countless magic devices--many serpents had been sent to various kingdoms to gain knowledge regarding agriculture through both basic and advanced courses.
However, nothing worked...
Therefore, the soldiers, appointed in the royal palace, and the local feudal lords had to trade food initially with Fangland, the territory ruled by werewolves and a dwarven kingdom, in exchange for gems. Later on, they expanded it to two other kingdoms as well, which were largest individual cereal-crops producers in the earth realm.
Years of this practice, made the Venombloooders put their guard down, and spill some bits and pieces of their treasures, which eventually resulted in Venomblood being prone to invasions.
More and more outside-forces started swarming over there; the smell of gemstones attracted all the hostile parties in Venomblood the way flowers did to honeybees. They relentlessly cooked conspiracy to overthrow the then empresses regnant, and monopolize everything.
Nonetheless, what none of the invaders had any cognizance of were the septemviral serpent gems, the holy protectors, affording protection to Venomblood against all the adversaries.
Whenever anyone without serpentine blood, sullied Venomblood's soil with impure intent, the septemviral serpent gems would combine their energy, and rise the invisible bulwark. The impenetrable sky-scraping walls—a stream of defense—would sprout out, throwing everyone out of the borders, with a lightning speed.
This subsisted for thousands of years, until she, the Crown Princess Elena, laid bare the strictly confidential info, the enigma behind the invisible protectors of her land, and invited the arch enemies home.
This time around, however, the holy keepers could do nothing. Because, the kingpin of the septemviral serpent gems, chose her as its master. It utterly lacked the power to disobey its master and the rest six orbiting around it, were only meant to follow their head's lead.
This was how she, Elena, the name meaning 'shining light' pulled down the cord herself and enveloped her own land and own people in the sheet of darkness.
The Venomblooders, who once worshiped her, commenced imprecating curses on her. The chains filled with gold beads, which had been once used for harping prayers for the empire's welfare, began getting wielded for Elena Ashford's destruction.
Heaven answered the serpents' prayers for her ruination, and as a retribution for the grave sin she committed, it snatched her power—eighth stage of mana augmentation. A Grand Mage, Nature Controller.
Irony was, she was in the peak level of eight stage, at the bottleneck of breaking through, just one more step over the threshold to become immortal when they stripped her of all power.
Eliana was still haunted by the nightmares of that ill-fated night. She dreaded those sole-quivering memories; the pain of mana pathways being crippled was akin to grinding her bones into powder, tearing all the veins one after another and twisting her guts cruelly.
It would perhaps still be okay, had things ended there. But, nah! Those enemies invaded the pure land time and again, and it absolutely didn't cease until they acquired what they wanted—six of the septemviral serpent gems.
Repulsed to be used in unfair ways and means coated with avarice, each of those gems shed blood tears. And, it struck the Venombloooders with full force, afflicting all the inhabitants with the 'freezing curse' which statued everyone—from the line of royal descent to the peasants.
Although she, the main culprit was saved, for the leader gem resided inside the space between her eyebrows, repentance and self-reproach sucked all the air out of her lungs despite her breathing.
Every second struck her like eternity, falling on her with a mountain's weight. She couldn't take it anymore, hence, begged the heaven for another chance at the cost of all the good karma she had accumulated in her lifespan of a thousand years, and swore to tear Venomblood out of the curse.
Eliana journeyed through all the way from the heaven realm, passing through ten kingdoms, swimming across seven oceans, and thirteen rivers, before reaching the green island in the heart of Tabsha Ocean.
This hazardous island, otherwise known as Fangland, nurtured many mountains, and they were ruled by the barbarian werewolf clan.
Perhaps, Eliana was accompanied by a stroke of luck every time she trespassed the area, for she had never been discovered by the werewolves.
Not that she deliberately encroached on other's property, rather she had to travel through the circuitous route, lest her enemies should catch any whiff of abnormality.
Under the starlit graphite celestial sphere, standing on a precipitous cliff, Eliana stared down at the gaping hole that extended down toward the center of the planet, then slithered twelve hundred meters down to the east, reaching her land—her home.
She shifted back into her human form, and drew a sharp intake of breath. "Venomblood." She scrooched down, picked up a fist of golden sand, and drew up her mother land's air audibly through the nose, taking in the smell of its sand.
Lifting her gaze, she filled her vision with the post-apocalypse sight of Venomblood's royal palace. In momentary trance, remembrance dated back to a century, played out before her mind's eye.
"Ena!"
Little Elena, five at that time, had a loss of nerve when her mother's stern voice crawled into her ears. She whipped her head around, eyes searching for a hideout. However, a pull on her round ear restrained the swiveling of her neck.
"Elena, didn't I forbid you from shifting way too much?! You have just learned to do this, dear! Non-stop shifting will exhaust your energy!" Empress Katherine Ashford leaned down, holding Elena's gaze.
"Mother!" She threw herself in her mother's arms. "Have you forgotten the oracle, the high priest read out loud in the temple? I'm born to be a Goddess, which is why the leader serpent gem chose me as its master. Now, you tell me, how can a mere shifting use up all my might?" Her green eyes like gemstones glistened brilliantly, as they sought out for a change of opinion in her mother.
Empress Katherine's face crumpled, perhaps trying to suppress her laugh. In the end, her mouth betrayed her, letting out the burst of amused laughter; pride that swelled her heart reflected in the eyes.
She cupped Elena's small face, and planted a gentle kiss on the crown of her head. "Mother has a surprise for you!"
"Really? What is it?" Little girl in her memories jumped up and down. To her, the word 'surprise' had always been associated with aesthetic dolls!
"Let's see it, shall we?" Empress Katherine wiggled her fingers in front of her small frame, and she grasped the long fingers, giggling.
Eliana walked, following her younger self with their mother. Her eyes teared up, emotions swirling inside the heart.
The little Elena sprinted her steps in order to match her mother's valiant steps. Walking a little farther, she gasped, "Mother! A gold palace? Who lives here?"
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
The_Lazy_Kitten
The_Lazy_Kitten Support this book by voting and rating. Do let me know, if you find any error. Also, comment your opinions.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone