The following night, Trinity left the slumbering Saladin alone and went on a hunting excursion. He'd awoken by the time she returned.

They feasted on the voles she caught, devouring the still-warm rodents in one gulp.

Her insatiable curiosity drove her to bombard him with questions about he himself, his family, and his culture. He answered them to the best of his ability.

Some of his responses encouraged her to propose additional questions, resulting in a self-sustaining discussion.

The conversation lasted for over two productive hours. Both beings turned blue in the face, metaphorically speaking, and brought it to a fitting close.

Having gained a newfound obsession with each other, the owl and the snake wasted no time in deepening the intensity of their bond.

Trinity reclined belly-down on the hollow floor and raised her tail invitingly. Saladin twined his body around her legs in a figure-eight fashion.

Everting his paired copulatory organs, he thrust both as deep as possible into her reproductive tract. Her back arched and red-hot pleasure rippled throughout her body.

"Good Glaux… Saladin… your penetration methods… are incredibly effective…"

"Practice… makes perfect… does it not?"

"Prove it… you sinful serpent…"

"Tempting me… are you? Normally… that isn't wise… but this… is an exception…"

The Ambalan flying snake proceeded to plunge his twin daggers in and out of her cloaca in a euphoria-inducing rhythm. Passionate moans flowed endlessly from her beak like a river of sweet honey.

Saladin hissed with every potent thrust, his two-tone tongue flicking madly. Driving each other inexorably towards the brink, they exchanged naughty comments in-between gasping breaths.

"Ahh… it's wonderful… how I fit… so neatly… inside of you. We were… made for… one another…"

"It doesn't matter… mmm… if this… isn't what… nature intended. Making shameless love… to a snake… is so… rewarding…"

The creatures were so engrossed in the erotic act that neither sensed the intrusion of another winged being.

"Trinity! What in Glaux's name are you doing?!"

The masculine voice's tone was unmistakable. A blade of dread cut clean through the haze of gratification clouding her mind.

She staggered to her feet and stood eye-to-eye with her mate, Terence.

Saladin slid unceremoniously to the hollow floor. His hemipenes popped out of Trinity's cloaca in full view of her partner.

"I cannot believe what I just witnessed. You were actually mating with that… that serpent?!" he exclaimed.

"Terence, please, you must understand-"

His plumage stood erect, increasing the apparent size of his body.

A chaotic tempest of shock, anger, nausea, and an overwhelming sense of betrayal engulfed his soul.

"All this time, I thought you loved me. My inability to satisfy you was unacceptable, wasn't it? Clearly this snake is superior to an owl of your own species! What a fool I was to trust you!"

"Yes… I mean no… it's complicated! I wanted to experience something more-"

He savagely cut her off: "I refuse to hear your selfish excuses. Our relationship is over as of tonight. Now you won't have to regret letting this serpent pound your gizzard out!"

He delivered a crippling kick to her midsection and stormed out of the hollow. She staggered backwards and nearly skewered Saladin with her talons.

He swiftly dodged and rose up to meet her gaze.

"You were mated to that owl?"

"Yes…" Spontaneous fury coursed through her veins, causing her blood pressure and temperature to rise.

"Fine, leave! I don't need you! This serpent can please me more effectively than you could ever hope to!" she screeched.

Saladin coiled himself around Trinity to try and subdue her fierce emotions.

"You deserve better than such a judgmental owl. I will not forsake you."

"You're right. It doesn't matter what sort of creature you are, so long as we can provide mutual pleasure to one another."

"Exactly."

"Curse him for interrupting our lovemaking ritual! He has utterly ruined my mood."

"He had no right to do so. What you do in the privacy of your hollow is none of his concern."

"Tell me something I don't know."

"If he returns, shall I strike him down? One dose of my venom will easily end his existence."

Saladin parted his jaws to reveal two wickedly-sharp fangs.

"No. I want his impulsive actions to haunt his mind and torment his conscience."

"Very well, I shall spare him."

Saladin neatly closed his mouth. All of a sudden, Terence burst in with an irritated shriek.

"If I can't have you, no one can," he said menacingly. "You disgust me!"

He lunged and grabbed Saladin by the throat.

"No! Stop! You mustn't do this, Terence!"

He flung the snake into the wall with excessive force. Conscious but paralyzed by the blow to his skull, Saladin dropped to the floor in a messy heap.

The enraged male then shoved the female against the back wall. Her head smacked against the unyielding wood, momentarily stunning her.

Flames of vengeance burning in the depths of his obsidian eyes, he extracted something out from under his starboard wing.

The light of the crescent moon reflected off the polished face of the shiny metal object.

It was a dagger.

He crept towards her maliciously, looming over her as a hungry predator loomed over its victim.

"Don't hurt me! I'm begging you!"

"Your pathetic pleas are meaningless. You wronged me like no mate should ever be wronged. I have come to exact my revenge upon you."

"No! You can't do this to me!"

He lifted the dagger and aimed it at her in an ominous gesture.

"You seem to enjoy it when that snake buries himself inside you, correct? I wonder if you'll love having this buried inside you instead."

In one calculated, savage motion, he thrusted the tapered dagger into her vent up to the guard.

He whirled around and took flight, vanishing in an instant.

The blade simultaneously lacerated and tore the walls of her reproductive tract, mutilating them in an instant. Searing agony raced up her spine and dug its cruel claws into her mind.

Hot scarlet blood began leaking out of her cloaca, staining her belly and tail feathers. As the unsettling warmth spread throughout her nether regions, Trinity slipped into a state of delirium.

She could not avert her eyes from the weapon sticking out between her legs. The miasma of pain was unbearable and the awful sight sickened her to the core.

"No… oh Glaux no… this can't be happening… someone… anyone… help me…"

As the horrifying seconds ticked by, she felt her grip on consciousness fading. The flying snake had still not recovered from the attack; he watched helplessly as Trinity's vital ichor pooled around her.

"Saladin… save me… please…"

Alas, Heedless of their plight, the planet continued to turn and the night dragged on. Trinity's breaths grew labored and all color drained from her vision.

"Forgive me… Terence… I never meant… to disown you…"

Moments before the void consumed her, an unfamiliar pair of owls appeared. She lifted her wing and attempted to speak, but no sound escaped her beak.

They gasped, frantically dashing over to her.

Just as they reached the anguished short-eared owl, her eyes slid shut and she sank into an inky blackness.