"You will help me find that beast." Carter said.
"Certainly!" The green snake nodded repeatedly.
"And you must agree to become my Guardian."
"What does that even mean?" The snake's black eyes watched her in confusion.
The other passengers and sailors also looked at her curiously.
Carter didn't answer the question. Instead, he asked, "Why did you attack the ship?"
The Serpent changed its depression. Its cowardly face was no more. What was left was only hate.
"I have lived for two hundred years, human. It was time for me to become something greater. Something beautiful. And something honorable."
"What would you become?"
"A Mizuchi."
"That can't be. Only a kind-hearted Serpent has the opportunity to become a Mizuchi." The captain blurted out. "A savage beast like you can't be it."
"What is a Mizuchi?" Carter asked.
"A Water Dragon." A passenger spoke up. "The legends say a Mizuchi could control an entire river, call forth the rain, and even bless the land around it."
