- [i] part of a series on environmentalist stories in [[Verraine]], see also: [[saving Maehlorn trees]]. - [i] part of the [[Surzi]] story chain involving the metamorphosis of [[snapper]] males. - [!] Status Log - complete-draft - Posted to [Scribophile](https://www.scribophile.com/authors/eleanor-cully/works/conservation) for critique 2021-11-25 - Begun [[2022.01.05a Defense against the invasive man-eaters]] as the afterword. - Edited 2022-01-02 - [n] References - [[What is a Mangrove And What Does It Do]] - - - On the strength of a child's report that she'd found a wyvern nest, Tyoka left the safety of camp. He donned his battered weatherproof cloak and headed into the depths of the rainforest he'd devoted his life — and a substantial amount of magic — to nourishing. Following his niece's directions, he hurried over blue frog's pond bridge, past the great scarred rock and up the little hill overlooking the clear waters of a mangrove stand. Nestled in the exposed roots of the tallest tree, he found what Jdanve described. His stomach clenched when he saw it pulse. Not one of the rare wyvern eggs he hoped to protect, but a snapper cocoon instead. It had maybe looked like an egg once, when the outer layer was still opaque, but that must have been days ago. By now, the cocoon was so translucent the old mage could make out the red spots on the deadly creature's bile-yellow hide. The beak was hidden, tucked into its chest and curled beneath its powerful tail, but Tyoka recognized it anyway. It had none of the wings or rainbow majesty that made Nakayrande's native wyverns so beautiful. It was a misshapen lump, with claws like daggers and geysers of toxic chemicals bubbling under its skin, ready to poison anything that came into contact. He imagined Jdanve reaching out with curious hands to touch it while it hatched and flinched. Anger blossomed in his chest, masking his fear like a callous after a cut. The damn things had no business in Verraine, much less in the rainforests of Nakayrande. Some Realmwalker two thousand years ago brought the horrible creatures through one of the holes between worlds. It had probably been an accident — the really powerful mages never seemed to consider the consequences of their actions. For all Tyoka knew, some old bastard absentmindedly left behind eggs he'd brought for dinner — but regardless, they'd spread. Fully grown snappers were functionally immune to magic, could regenerate limbs and organs, and ran faster than most horses. Of course the monstrous beasts managed to spread. Normally Tyoka didn't have to worry about them. Snappers rarely ate enough to trigger metamorphosis. When they did, though, it was enough to devastate entire regions. The last fully adult snapper he'd heard of stopped the advance of a foreign army cold. Hundreds of mages over hundreds of years tried to kill it; in the end, they'd just barely managed to starve it into torpor. Even then, they destroyed leagues and leagues of fertile forest to manage the feat. If he didn't stop this snapper now, Nakayrande would suffer the same fate. Not about to see his homeland decimated by a monster from beyond the sea, at least not without a fight, Tyoka sucked magic from the reservoir of his aura. With a quick prayer to the gods of his ancestors, he focused it into a spear. With a single deep breath to settle his stomach, Tyoka took careful aim. If he didn't get the spellwork just right, the beast would explode out of its cocoon, wounded and furious, and choose Tyoka — and all the power in his aura — as its first meal. If Tyoka _did_ manage the shot, he'd still have to deal with a pile of poisonous meat the size of a double-hulled canoe and thrice as heavy. He would rather have a wyvern to study. The universe rarely handed people their preference. Tyoka released the aural power he'd gathered, the single vicious jab more than sufficient to pierce the brittle cocoon. It did not so much as dent the snapper's hide. The beast was too close to finishing its metamorphosis. It unfurled herself with a furious cry, revealing the squat, wide triangle of its abdomen. Female, and therefore three times the size of only other snapper he'd ever battled. She lunged out of her cocoon, the popping sounds emerging from her rounded maw a clear signal of her fury. Tyoka flung himself backward to dodge the lunge, but didn't dare try to escape. His niece deserved to run free in the lands of her ancestors, and she wouldn't be able to if he allowed this monster to gain a foothold here. He had to kill it. It was thinking the same thing about him. The snapper blinked its wet, bulbous eyes at Tyoka, then charged. Tyoka squeezed his eyes shut and dove into the nearby river. Snappers were unaffected by magic, but Tyoka wasn't. He poured his power into the muck at the bottom of the swamp as he swam, eel-quick through the murky water. A few heartbeats later he scrabbled into in an air-tight, air-filled container at the bottom of the river, counting on the beast's predatory instincts. This soon after hatching, it would be close to starving, and Tyoka was the biggest prey around. The snapper obliged, sloughing off the goopy enzymes that fueled its transformation as it splashed into the river after him. The crystal blue water of the forest floor instantly turned cloudy and Tyoka was forced to navigate by touch as he hoisted himself along the ceiling of the tube as fast as he could manage. The hammer-boom sounds of the snapper's tail slamming into the sides echoed through the murky water even as Tyoka squeezed through the narrow opening he'd left at the end of the trap. His lungs burning, Tyoka darted for the surface. Impossible to concentrate on magic when he couldn't breathe. He breached, gasping for air, and then slammed his magic into the closest cypress tree, shoving it down into the mouth of the trap with the same spell he'd once used to drive piles into harbor bottoms. The magic fizzled away, absorbed by the snapper's damnable hide, but it served its purpose. The beast's desperate attempt to escape its prison echoed through the swamp, and Tyoka hoped the tree would hold long enough for him to craft something more permanent. He siphoned more magic from his aura, adding layers to the trap, compressing mud and half-decayed plant matter into an impenetrable cage. He didn't stop until he'd exhausted his magic, and his legs from treading water for so long. The next day, he brought Jdanve over blue frog's pond bridge, past the great scarred rock and up to the little hill with the rip-root cave. From the safety of shore, he taught her the difference between a cocoon and an eggshell, and how to weave snapper traps. One day, when she finished growing, the beast would die and she could harvest its hide for a cloak just like his. Then, Nakayrande would be hers to protect. ## Analysis - https://e360.yale.edu/features/how-returning-lands-to-native-tribes-is-helping-protect-nature?ref=refind inspired me to do a story of land management where somebody has to go wipe out all the invasive species and guard the land against it while still letting native things in and out. Could be fun with fantastical animals in Verraine.