Mavris was tired. Coiled up under a rock, slow, because she was cold. She reaches for her dress, a little sundress of white, contrasting her black scales on her long snake's tail. She put it on, and ran her fingers through the tangles of her raven hair that fell to where her arse would be, had that part not been snake tail. Mavris was a lamia. A monster born of the gods' jealousy. Like almost any monster. No one had bothered her except the occasional dumb adventurer who ended up a broken body being slowly digested by her. Nah, usually she just scared them off without having to hurt them. She slithered out into the morning. The fog of the forest near the lake was clearing, and she needed sun. She hauled herself onto the big rock that made the roof of her den. Sun shining down on her, the warmth spread, and she could feel her energy level rising. Almost ready to face the day. Just then, she heard the string of a crossbow. She sat up, twisting this way and that to see where the