Prologue
The punishing sun shone dry and bright on the arid sands of the Sahara Desert, the light reflecting off the dunes, blinding anything that got in its way. An Egyptian temple stood, tall and imposing in the distance, basking in the warmth of the sun, making sure all nearby knew of its status and power. A snake hissed and rattled away as its rock was disturbed by a herd of camels. As the snake slithered on, a hawk appeared in the sky, circling, hunting its new prey. The snake knew it would be eaten if it didn't get to cover soon and headed for the nearest shelter, at least five hundred metres away. Sensing the snake's urgency, the hawk dropped in height to get a better view of the ground and its prey. The bush was getting ever closer in the snake's vision, but it had sensed the hawk in the sky overhead and knew it was being hunted. The body of the snake squirmed and wriggled even more as it desperately tried to reach cover.
Up in the sky, another hawk joined the first. The snake was almost safe when the first hawk dived. Closer and closer it descended towards the snake. Raising itself up, the snake turned and prepared to attack its hunter. The hawk was feet away. Its claws outstretched; its wings held back. Ready for the kill. The hawk almost had its talons round the snake's neck. But the prey ducked and lunged for its attacker's leg, sinking its fangs into the feathery mass of the hawk's thigh. But the bird of prey managed to release itself from the snake's bite and soared high again to join its partner. The irritated snake was left with a mouthful of feathers.
While the first hawk was diving, the second hawk was watching the snake, looking for a weakness. It had found one. The snake wouldn't have attempted to bite the first hawk unless it was hungry, seriously hungry. In fact the snake was starving. It was well overdue for another feed but there had been a severe lack of prey since the sandstorm three weeks ago. Weak but determined, the snake had kept going. Now the second hawk knew how to capture its prey. As the first hawk returned from the attack, the second hawk shot straight at it and pecked it on the back. Confused by this, the original hawk did what its instincts told him, fight back. Soon the two hawks were tussling and turning in the sky, pecking and scratching at each other. The snake watched this fight in earnest. One of them was going to fall, injured, from the sky, and then it would have food.
Sure enough, without warning, the hawk which started the fight came hurtling down and hit the ground. With eyes narrowed, the snake started slithering towards its shock stricken prey, sizing it up, ready for the kill. The prey was a fair distance from cover and was still breathing but the snake decided to risk it, it hadn't eaten in weeks. Meanwhile up in the sky, the first hawk was watching the scene in complete confusion. However as the thin line that was the snake was making its way to the hawk's fallen opponent; realisation dawned in the bird's tiny mind.
The snake had almost reached the fallen hawk, eyeing it hungrily. The hawk was still breathing, if not more faintly than was normal for a bird of prey. The smell of defeat and death was very strong in the snake's sensitive nostrils and it knew this bird was dying. With its jaw unhinged from its head, the snake coiled itself preparing for the lunge. An ear-deafening screech ripped through the air. Turning in surprise, the snake found its original attacker landing on it. A razor sharp talon pierced the snake's throat and it quickly went into spasms, trying desperately to free itself of the hawk's grip. The talon was driven deeper in as the hawk pushed its foot into the ground. The other foot was brought into action and held down the snake's head, preventing it from using its deadly fangs and venom. With body and tail flailing, the trapped reptile used every little bit of strength it had left to free it self. But that strength was fading and the snake was weakening.
The fallen prey lifted its head, interested to see if its opponent had caught on to what it was doing. A sense of satisfaction grew inside the hawk as it watched the original hunter grappling with the dying snake, the battle was already won. The hawk blinked and the brown of its eye sparkled turning from its muddy brown to red, to green to black and back to brown.
With a last breath of air, the snake gave in. It completely relaxed its body as the life drained out of the animal. The hawk glanced up from its now dead prey, searching for the strange bird that had attacked and then helped him. Where the bird was lying last time the Hawk looked, there was a hint of disturbed sand which was very quickly fading. It had completely disappeared. Without a second thought, the hungry hawk ripped off the head from the snake's lifeless carcass and started feasting on its body...