In a seedy, filthy alleyway in Actium, the shivering little Serpica removed a few loose bricks from one of the walls, thereby revealing a small crevice. Her small hands reached into the darkness one last time, and she retrieved her few meager possessions. Not quality goods, to be certain, but each and every last piece of garbage inside that wall meant everything to the small Lamia.

Her broken rocking horse, Black Thunder, was already inside Al's cart. Serpica still wasn't certain why the man would allow her to come with him. She didn't even know why he would accept her in the first place. But that didn't matter. What mattered is that for the first time, after talking and sharing an excellent soup made of boot leather, Serpica felt wanted. Not just tolerated, but wanted.

Serpica removed a stale crust of bread. Only recently had she acquired it, but it was the least fungal crust she had ever laid eyes on. She turned back to Al, smiling, and said, "We can share it later! Let's have it with the left over soup."

She returned to the hole, and removed her most precious treasure. It was the shiniest, smoothest pebble she had ever found in her ten years roaming the city. Just holding it and rolling it around in her tiny hands made her feel more at ease. She clasped the treasure close before reaching back in and pulling out a deck of cards. Over the years, Serpica had been picking up spare cards, and she almost had a full set. To her, each and every card was a memory. Next, she pulled out a tiny sock. Perhaps her luckiest find, this sock was just the right size to cover the very tip of her tail snugly. She didn't really know if this made her any warmer or not, but it certainly felt like it did. Lastly, she grabbed Anna, a small square of burlap filled with tiny rocks. This was her favorite doll, and the third member of their adventuring group.

Serpica slithered over to the man, still trembling from the cold, and placed each precious object into the cart adjacent to him. She then grabbed onto his arm, and coiled her tail around it.

"It's cold," she murmured, hugging the man's arm tight. She had no idea until today that Humans were quite so warm.

Or maybe it was just Al.