PART ONE

It started on December 21, 2012, in the sky over Mexico. Tens of thousands of feet in the air, there was a bright flash of light, and a glowing miles-wide disc of energy appeared. Minutes later, something emerged: the head of a snake-like creature nearly filled the portal’s huge diameter.
The head was followed by a body, which was followed by more body. On and on, a giant serpent flowed out of the portal, snaking its way through the sky.
Humanity took notice, and world-wide panic took place. Airplanes were grounded, and the whole planet waited to see what would happen next.
The seemingly endless Serpent ignored humanity’s attempts at communication and violence, and its flight around the globe was uninterrupted. Eventually, the Serpent reached its destination: the other side of the very portal that it emerged from, completing the circle it began.
When the Serpent’s head touched the glowing disc, a blinding flash of fire covered the entire planet. When the flames finally disappeared, they took the Serpent and the portal with it, and that was the only thing that they seem to have affected. The rest of the world appeared to be unscathed.
It took some time, but soon the truth started becoming apparent: the Serpent might have gone, but it left something behind. People across the planet started manifesting strange, superhuman powers and abilities that seemed to break the laws of physics.
These abilities soon came to be known as “The Serpent’s Gifts.”

Gravesong

By Richard Bacula

Clara Graves basked on the beach in near perfect contentment. She was so glad that her family decided to go all the way from landlocked Middle America to Florida for summer vacation this year, and that she hadn’t had any summer classes. College was fun, but it was rough, and Clara really did need this break away from it all. She needed an escape.

For most of the morning, she’d found her escape by reading a crappy romance novel on the beach, content to bask in the sun and salt air, not even going into the water. Just being there seemed to give her a rejuvenating charge, to make her feel refreshed, stronger and healthier than she’d felt in some time. Her book came to a stretch that was kind of a downer, and reading no longer worked for her. She decided to enter the water, to actually swim in the ocean for the first time in years.

She expected the water to be cold, so she approached gingerly at first. The waves rolling up onto the beach washed against her toes, and the temperature didn’t feel too bad. Soon the waves were up to her ankles at their highest point, then her shins. Soon, she was up to her waist. Clara was pleasantly surprised to find that the water wasn’t cold at all. It was just the perfect temperature.

She walked out into the ocean, bobbing along with the waves. Before long she had to spend much...

Fraternity Alpha Series, Chapter 5: Games 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️