Nidhogg laid motionless, his head still raised up. It took him a moment to realize that the truck had driven far away.
"They left me here," he thought. "Maybe they forgot something back in the house, and went to go pick it up."
He calmly lowered his head on the ground. Perhaps if he took a small nap, he would wake up and find that his owners had come back with a leash. Then, they could all go on a small walk before getting back into the truck and driving back home. He slowly closed his eyes, and his breathing turned into soft snores.
His eyes suddenly opened and he shot his head back up again. "That's nonsense!" he thought. "There's no reason they would drop me off here just to get something as stupid as a leash! They intentionally ditched me here!"
He scrambled his way back up the slope. His claws raked through the mud, and small pieces of dirt flew through the air. He felt the slope become less and less inclined as he made it to the top. Aside from his overweight body, he was able to pull himself up with ease.
Once he made it, he scoured around, his tongue flickering rapidly. He could only make out a faint silhouette of the road. The lizard thought that being locked down in the basement every evening made him used to the dark, but this was a completely different experience for him. The night swallowed up everything around him. The road in front of him went on endlessly into the abyss.
Nidhogg crawled around in a sporadic manner. He zigzagged around the road's edge, before turning around and running diagonally. The realization that his owners abandoned him sent him into a fight or flight response. He had no clue where he was going. His only instinct was to keep crawling until he found some kind of shelter. He suddenly stopped, and turned towards the trees. There might be an opening behind all of those under groves. The air began to cool down, and the lizard could feel the condensation form on his tongue every time he flicked it out. Tiny droplets of water suddenly began falling from the sky, before it slowly turned into a full on rainfall.
"I guess I've got no other choice," Nidhogg muttered to himself. He went back down the slope on the opposite side of where he came from and pushed his way through the trees. Twigs snapped under his talons, and branches scraped against the sides of his scales. The under groves were pitch black, and so Nidhogg had to close his eyes to make sure that he didn't get blinded by the thorns. He could feel the thick trunks stretch out into spider-like limbs. Occasionally, he would get caught between branches and would have to worm his way out of there. The fact that he has a potbelly made it even more burdensome to unsnag himself. The trees and shrubs were so thick that not even the rain can penetrate through them.
Nidhogg continued to wriggle his way through the branches until he felt a space that had enough room to fit his body. Once he secured himself in that space, he wrapped himself up with his tail. He laid low and snuck his head in the middle of his coiled body. The tree leaves and twigs muffled the pattering of rain outside, so it was rather tranquil inside the under grove.
"What am I gonna do?"Nidhogg thought. He was full for now, but the next day he was going to have to go search for food of some sort. This new environment was foreign to him. He had no idea where to start.
"There's no point in dwelling on this now. Might as well get some sleep."
Nidhogg felt his eyes growing heavy and the sound of rain grew even more distant. He didn't realize how much dragging his overweight body had exhausted him until now. He felt himself go limp as he fell into a slumber, his fatty sides cushioning his head like a pillow. Meanwhile, the rain outside continued until the break of dawn.
***
Nidhogg slowly opened his eyes and raised his head. He wasn't sure how much time has passed, but he could see faint glimmers of light piercing through the branches. There seemed to be faint rippling noises coming from the opposite side of the under grove from where he came from.
"What's that noise?" he thought to himself.
He struggled to unwrap himself before pushing through the branches and twigs towards the other side. The trees and the shrubs grew thicker, and so he had to bite and claw his way through the underbrush. Eventually, he broke through the wall of plants and pulled himself out from the underground. After dragging his entire tail out from the leaves, Nidhogg crawled a little bit further and looked around. He was standing in front of a large river, separating him from even bigger trees on the opposite shore. The edge of the water was muddy and slippery, but the lizard's claws helped him get a grip on his balance. He leaned closer towards the water and saw there were tiny, green phlegm floating on the surface. He flicked his tongue at it, and the phlegm dispersed before joining again.
"What is this stuff?" he asked himself. It tasted like nothing, and it was an alien specimen to the lizard. The water tasted like dirt and salt, something completely different from the clean, freshwater that Nidhogg had back at home. He could barely see through the silt that was swirling inside the lake. His claws sunk into the mud, which was saturated with last night's rainwater.
Nidhogg jolted his head up when he heard a splashing noise. He slowly turned his head to the left. A strange looking creature had jumped into the water and swam in the opposite direction of the lizard. It had brown-black, matted fur and a face full of whiskers. It's ears were small and rounded, pressed on opposite sides of it's bulbous head. The creature's tail was round and tapered, and acted like a rudder. Despite its tail furiously paddling through the water, the creature was moving rather sluggishly. It pushed the green phlegm away on either side while its tail left a trail of ripples.
"Maybe that thing can lead me to food and shelter," Nidhogg thought. He followed the creature by crawling along the edge of the lake. The mud was like pudding, and he had to yank his claws out every time he took a step. Luckily, Nidhogg could trail behind the creature because it was swimming slowly. The trees closed in, and the water changed in appearance. The amount of green phlegm floating on the surface was decreasing, and the silt in the water was settling down. As the two animals continued forward, Nidhogg was able be see inside the water more clearly. It was still mostly dark and murky inside, but now there was a bluish hue that wasn't present before.
The creature didn't notice the lizard following behind it. Its head continued to bob up and down above the water. Nidhogg felt his legs trembling. He was losing strength, and felt the mud swallow up his sore feet.
"How long it this going to take?" he grumbled. He splattered the mud behind him with his tail. The long trek plus his fat body were making his joints ache. He clenched his teeth in pain. The river, trees and water plants stretched on endlessly. The air was filled with heat, humidity, and a variety of animal sounds that the lizard has never heard of before.
"Where is this place?" he wondered. He caught a glimpse of different birds flying around on the tree tops, some of which he's never seen before. Some were bright blue, some were yellow, and others were a mix of colors. They came in different sizes as well. As the river continued on, there were more water plants floating along the way. Nidhogg saw giant water lilies the size of dinner plates. The air was fresh and soothing, the tranquility harmonized with the sound of running water. The creature submerged underwater and disappeared. Nidhogg looked around and saw a small trail that branched off from the main road, covered with bushes. He follows it, pushing through brambles. The lizard could hear and feel the wet gravel crunch under his claws, and once he made it out the other end, he had leaves stuck on his legs. In front of him was a vast grass field, and he spotted a tree standing right in the middle.
Nidhogg crawls forward for closer observation. The tree trunk was twisted and gnarly, it's dead bark the color of charcoal. The branches clawed in all directions, the tips piercing the sky. Nidhogg circled around the tree and saw a giant, gaping hole in the middle. Inside it was filled with bones and empty egg shells. He flicked his tongue out and tasted something foul in the air, like rotting meat. He crawled up the tree and stretched his neck inside the hole.
"WHO GOES THERE?!"
Nidhogg snapped his head back as another lizard almost pounced on him from the darkness. This lizard was slightly smaller than him, about four feet long. Its body was covered in zebra stripes. It was armed with a long whip-like tail, a pair of bulky jowls, and four sets of talons. It flicked its fat, pink forked tongue to smell Nidhogg. The lizard glared at Nidhogg with black, beady eyes.
"Who are you?" he demanded.
"I could ask you the same thing," Nidhogg retorted. "If you didn't want me snooping around, you should have made yourself present!"
"Fool! Did you not see all this litter?" the lizard gestured to the bones and egg shells with his head. "Clearly this means I own this territory!"
"Oh? You want to talk about territory?" Nidhogg sized up his chest. "I can drag you out of this tree and claim it as mine!"
"I'd like to see you try," the lizard hissed. "I may be smaller than you, but my jaws would snap your bones like twigs!"
The two lizards stared each other down, both motionless. A small gust of wind blew by, but it disappeared completely to the tense silence.
Nidhogg tilted his head. "So, what kind of lizard are you?"
"My name is Fafnir. I'm a Tegu."
"And where'd you come from?"
"My owner tossed me outside," the lizard explained. "I've been clawing my way through these swamps since then, until I found this tree. Once in a while, I've been able to catch myself some good anoles and squirrels to feast on."
"Then where'd you get the eggs from?" Nidhogg inquired, nodding towards the broken shells.
Fafnir crawled out of the hole, pushing Nidhogg to the side. He then walked towards the opposite side of the tree and pointed his snout up.
"Come here already!" he exclaimed. "Do you see that? Behind the bushes?"
Nidhogg walked up to where Fafnir was and looked above the horizon. Sure enough, there was an old, white house in the middle of the grass field, with a painted black roof. The house had a front porch with a rocking chair on the side. On the side of the house, there was a large chicken coup attached to the side, with wired fences surrounding it.
"What's in that house?" Nidhogg asked.
Fafnir turned towards him, his beady eyes glinting.
"Why, food of course!" he exclaimed. "There are plenty of eggs stored in that house, and I know of a way to get in there!"
Nidhogg stared out at the house again.
"Take me with you."
Fafnir turned towards him. "What?"
"I want to go inside that house too. I'm starving, I haven't eaten for days!"
Fafnir looked back at the house before turning back to Nidhogg.
"Follow me. There's a way through the house at the back. If we get in trouble, you're on your own."
The two lizards made their way to the house. They had to push through the bushes and shrubs, but they eventually were able to make it to the house. When they got closer, Nidhogg saw that the white bits of paint was slowly chipping off the wood of the house. Moss had grown all over the black tiles on the roof. There was a black, crooked chimney sticking out from the top, but there was no smoke coming out of it. Nidhogg peered through the wired fences, where there was a giant chicken coop built on the side of the house. Nidhogg can see feathers and white feces on the ground, but no hens came out of the coop yet.
"Come on! This way!" Fafnir said impatiently. The two lizards made their way around the chicken coop towards the back of the house, where they came across an air vent. Fafnir pulled off the gated door and crawled inside the vent. His head popped out when he noticed Nidhogg was not following.
"Are you coming or what?"
Nidhogg looked into the vent. A whistle of air echoed through the endless tunnel of darkness. The silver lining of cobwebs can be made out in the shadows, the silk gently floating in the air. Nidhogg slowly placed his feet inside before following Fafnir into the abyss.
Click, clack, click, clack
The sound of lizard talons tapping against the metal echoed in the chamber. Nidhogg couldn't see anything in the pitch-darkness, but he could feel the cobwebs brushing up and sticking against his scales. Every time he flicked his tongue out he could taste the dust sticking on it. The minutes seemed to stretch on forever. Nidhogg could hear Fafnir's tail dragging ahead of him, a soft thumping noise followed by light tapping.
"How much farther do we need to go?" complained Nidhogg.
"We're almost there!" replied Fafnir.
After a couple more minutes passed, both lizards started to see light at the end of the tunnel. When they got closer, they saw that there was another gated door at the end of the tunnel. Fafnir removed the gated door with ease and the two of them exited out of the air vent.
They found themselves in a giant, well-lit room, where there was a giant kitchen stand in front of them and a tall refrigerator on the left. There were fruits on the stand, but the lizards weren't interested. Nidhogg surveyed their surroundings. The dining table was off to the side of the kitchen stand, surrounded by three chairs. The table itself was small and round. Fafnir climbed up the refrigerator, bit on the handle and started pulling as hard as he could.
"Come on! Help me!" he yelled.
Nidhogg climbed and also started pulling on the handle with his teeth. After a long struggle, both of the lizards were able to yank the refrigerator door open and they dropped to the ground. The two of them peered inside. The inside of the refrigerator was brightly lit, almost filled to the brim with food and drinks. There were bottles of liquid lining the inside of the refrigerator door, each one a different color. The fridge had drawers filled with vegetables, with bags of bread and sausages stacked on top.
"Where are the eggs?" Nidhogg asked. Fafnir indicated with his head. Nidhogg looked up, and sure enough, there were two cartons of eggs next to the bags of bread. Luckily, the eggs were not squeezed into a corner.
"How do we get them down here?" Nidhogg asked.
Fafnir climbed inside the fridge, carefully hooking his claws on the edge of the drawers until he reached the top where the egg cartons were stocked. Using his teeth, he pulled one of the egg cartons off the edge inch by inch until a third of it was dangling in the air.
"I'm going to keep pushing it off," Fafnir explained. "You just grab that end."
Nidhogg hesitantly climbed up and caught the dangling end of the egg carton with the tip of his snout. Using their jaws, both lizards managed to lower the egg carton down to the ground. It landed with a soft thud.
Fafnir scrambled down from the refrigerator and started tearing open the carton of eggs. Nidhogg did the same thing too on the other end. They managed to remove the lid off, revealing twelve eggs lined in pairs. Nidhogg licked one of them with his tongue and felt the cold, tingle inside his mouth. He then pushed and rolled the egg of its side. No cracks found. Fafnir did the same for the eggs on his end. It seemed like all the eggs were in good shape.
Without warning, Fafnir snatched up one of the eggs and crunched it in his jaws. Yellow yolk oozed from the sides of his mouth, and he lifted his head up to let the rest of it flow down his gullet. After the egg had been drained of all its content, Fafnir spat all the shells out and helped himself with the second egg. Nidhogg wasted no time, either, shoveling two eggs in his mouth simultaneously. Because he was larger, Nidhogg was able to crack both eggs in his mouth like a nutcracker. He could feel the yolk running down his throat and he was savoring every moment of it. Both lizards finished the first batch of eggs in no time and now have moved on to the second batch of eggs already. They clumsily moved the second carton down the fridge, but were able to get it down safely without breaking the eggs. They finished all the eggs within minutes. By the time they were done, the kitchen floor was a mess. Egg shells scattered everywhere, and the floor stained yellow with yolk. Fafnir scavenged the floor, licking off the yolk with his fat wormy tongue. Nidhogg went for the bottom freezer and began pulling out the door.
"What are you doing?!" Fafnir exclaimed.
"I'm still hungry," Nidhogg grumbled, as he clawed and bit the handle to open up the freezer. Slowly, he was able to open the door inch by inch. Unhooking his claws from the handle, he climbed up the door and peaked inside. An icy breeze blasted him in the face. The inside of the freezer was brightly lit and misty. Nidhogg saw a whole array of frozen meat: chicken drumsticks, chicken breasts, sirloin steak, and pork chops. Nidhogg can feel the saliva filling up and leaking out of his mouth. Drool dropped onto the packaging. He climbed in and began tearing at the packaging. The cold pierced through his scaly skin, but he didn't care. He felt this insatiable appetite to consume more. He easily cut the thin, plastic with his talons and tugged at one of the chicken drumsticks. At first, he couldn't get it out because it was frozen stuck, but after clamping his jaws down and digging his claws in, he was able to yank it out. The drumstick was rock-hard with jagged edges of ice, but that didn't stop Nidhogg. He attacked the piece of meat, scratching and biting the frozen skin of the chicken.
"Hey! Nidhogg! Let's go!"
Nidhogg dropped the drumstick and scrambled out of the freezer.
"What?" he hissed impatiently, unhappy that Fafnir broke his concentration.
"The owners! They're back! We must leave!"
Nidhogg sat up and listened. There was a whirring sound of engine as the garage door opened and the car parking inside. The car engines came to a complete stop, and distant thugs could be heard as pairs of feet could be heard coming closer and closer. Nidhogg scrambled after Fafnir. Loud barking noises suddenly could be heard.
"Oh no!" Nidhogg thought. "They have a dog?!" He was sure of it. He recognized the barking from back at his old home. His owner's neighbors had pet dogs, furry panting creatures that were always wagging their tails. His neighbor's dogs were huge as well, their height reaching above a human's waistline. He always hated how loud they were, and it made him skittish when they started running and jumping around.
The air vent became tighter for Nidhogg, as his stomach was filled egg yolk. As he wriggled and squeezed his way through the air vent, the footsteps and the barking grew louder. Nidhogg began to panic and struggled even harder, his talons scratching the sides like nails on a chalkboard. Behind him, he could hear the barking becoming frantic and now there was shouting involved. Nidhogg pushed himself harder, ignoring the owner's distant complaints about the mess he made. The shouts grew fainter and fainter, and Nidhogg was able to catch up behind Fafnir. The two lizards managed to come out of the air vent from the other side, and Fafnir placed the gater door back where it belonged. Fafnir then began to scurry away.
"Where are you going?" asked Nidhogg.
"Where do you think? Back to my tree of course!" Fafnir angrily replied. "I'm not staying around here to get killed, and I suggest you do the same thing too!"
With that, he broke into a run and took off to the forest, disappearing almost immediately. Nidhogg followed right after, until he stopped next to the chicken coop. He peered through the fence. All the hens were inside the coop, as he could hear the occasional clucking noise and flapping of wings. He climbed over the fence with ease and dropped down. The hens didn't seem to hear him approaching the coop, but Nidhogg still moved as slowly as possible. He climbed up the coop's walkway and peered inside. There was only one hen, nestled down with about six or seven baby chicks surrounding her. The mother was observing her chicks while they were picking scraps from the ground. The chicks were scurrying around like ants while the hen was watching each one of them, her head cocking from one chick to another.
Nidhogg took one step forward and the floor cracked underneath. All the chickens froze and looked up, staring at the giant lizard. There was a moment of silence, as all the animals in the coop were unable to respond. Then, in a flash, the hen squawked and charged forward at Nidhogg, wings flapping wildly. The hen landed on his head, and he snapped back into the moment, tossing and turning. Feathers flew everywhere as the lizard and the chicken somersaulted in the air and hit the ground hard. Nidhogg shook his head violently and clawed at his own face, trying to get the hen off of him. His tailed whiplashed across the floor, sending dust and soot flying everywhere. The hen was dancing feverishly on top of the lizard's head, trying to peck his eyes out. Her wings repeatedly smacked Nidhogg on the side of the head. Finally, Nidhogg twisted his neck around and clamped on the bird's leg. The hen's squawks turned into one long scream. The lizard bashed the chicken against the floor and then swing her around in his maw. The hen's body left a stream of feathers in the air, like a torn pillow. Nidhogg slammed her against the ground before scooping her head in his mouth. There was a loud crunching noise, and the hen laid lifeless on the floor. Nidhogg lifted his head up. He could hear the humans shouting from the main house.
"Dad, did you hear that?! Something's attacking our chickens!"
"I know, I know, I'm taking Rusty to go check it out. C'mon boy!"
There was a barking noise, followed by the sound of footsteps and the door opening. Nidhogg snapped his head to look down at the dead hen laying in front of him. He had to leave now. He was about to turn around before he caught some movement in the corner of his eye. It was the baby chicks. He almost forgot about them. They were running around and chirping frantically, confused by all the commotion. Nidhogg stared at them intently. If he turns away now, he may never get another chance. He then looked ahead, and saw that there was another exit past the chicks. Without hesitation, he scurried forward and plucked each chick into his gullet. One by one, each chick disappeared into his mouth. Nidhogg can feel them slide down his throat with ease. In a blink of an eye, they were all gone. Nidhogg burst out the other end of the coop, climbed up the fence, and dropped down hard before taking off into the woods. The lizard felt reinvigorated, ready to brace the wilderness. As he ran, he can feel the chicks bouncing inside his belly. He really wanted to eat the hen, but it was no problem. The chicks will last him a couple days before he gets hungry again. Nidhogg reached the trees, slithered between the trunks, and disappeared into the foliage. Amongst the leaves and branches, he finds a small cave underneath a giant bedrock. He crawled and squeezed himself inside the cave, before falling asleep.