After the rain, morning mist climbed from the valley floor and condensed into droplets on the pine needles.
Black Snake raised his head and breathed, listening to the chanting of morning lessons.
Thick mist surged over the summit, rising and falling like a tide as it flowed across the ridges. Black Snake relished the sensation of clouds and mist washing over him, leaving every scale cool and comfortable.
The lovely scene did not last. The white mist thinned and faded beneath the sunlight, its last few wisps dispersing like smoke.
Looking down the mountain, he could always see antlike heat signatures traveling up and down the stone path.
He vaguely remembered a little stone temple that had once stood there...
Enough thinking. He was hungry and needed to find something to fill his belly.
His tongue caught the scent of prey carried on the wind, probably a carnivore. Black Snake decided to take a look. Whether he could eat it could wait until he had seen it.
As he slithered through the woods, he increasingly felt how inconvenient moving was. Level ground was fine, but jagged rocks slowed him down.
He had to move pressed against the ground and could not leap, which severely restricted his hunting.
He pondered beginning research on limbs as soon as his head was big enough.
His belly scales rolled over dead leaves as he moved in fits and starts, his tongue catching scents and repeatedly correcting his course.
Soon, three warm red outlines appeared in his heat vision.
Judging by their outlines, they should be what humans often called wolves. There were few of them, and their size was suitable. He decided to hunt.
First, he surveyed the terrain, then silently moved onto a rocky outcrop above the wolves, carefully selecting a suitable target