I mentioned in the Trinity of Evil -picture (which I got from about a month ago) that I would be "soon" uploading the three images from it as separate submissions.

Took a while, reason being that I got carried away by writing small stories for each of the three images I commissioned from him. You can find the story under the line.

The story and the picture you see are both about the prince of Geragha, Slergh Garghan, son to Vergal Garghan, meeting with an unfortunate elf named Deraleth during Slergh's takeover of the elven city. Slergh, like his father and others from the Island of Geragha, are shape-shifters. The serpentine form you see here is not the only form he can take. Other is the form of a pompous and arrogant human prince.
There is a whole backstory related to them, Geragha and the shape-shifters in my stories which includes a canyon filled with raw magic, floating crystals, greedy high-elves, rebellion, shape-shifting druids and all sorts of things. Might just write that backstory down properly at some point in the future.

The story under the line and this picture both however take place during chapter 3 or chapter 4 of the story that I am writing currently, called Lightning and Fire. You can find its prologue over at my DA gallery (http://lamaohi.deviantart.com/). I will also be uploading the story here eventually, but most likely in chunks so that 5 or so chapters are included in a single submission.

Original picture that this is from can be seen over here: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/17484830/
Slergh in all forms belongs to . Art by .

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Deraleth, Ilnarithiel's second in command, was running for his dear life. He had been separated from his commander and the rest of his own squad by this enormous serpentine being that had burst forth from under their feet mere moments ago. The sudden appearance of this fiend had sent many of his lifelong friends toppling over the side of the garden walls to their deaths, if the screams that ended abruptly and that were accompanied by the sound of multiple objects - their bodies most likely - hitting against the waves down below were anything to go by. The garden they had been standing in had been built ages ago over one of the huge balcony like platforms, most of which would have toppled down to the sea below a long time ago were it not for the inanimate guardian statues holding the platforms upon their shoulders. Deraleth and his commander, along with the rest of their platoon, had been watching from the garden as more and more seafaring vessels down below - that shared only the dark colour of their sails where as in the amount of their masts and the size of vessels differed greatly - were materializing and making themselves known to the elven fortress city high above the ocean. Ilnarithiel had suspected that the ships had been concealed on purpose by magical means, and before he could order the gates leading to the city be closed and other inhabitants of the city to be notified of the potential threat, seeing as how the vessels were of unknown origin and did not sail under any of the known flags, the green visage - which now followed Deraleth after each and every turn he took in these corridors that were built like a maze - had crashed through to the gardens. Not only had it managed to make the entire garden platform unstable - and cost the lives of over ten elves as it had burrowed through from down below - it had brought with it what to Deraleth had seemed like enormous spiders, lizards the size of men and a few bat-like creatures as well if he had not been utterly mistaken, that had climbed after the serpent. Creatures that had also been more or less the size of men now that he thought about it.

The snake itself had disappeared amidst the lush and verdant foliage, roaring out what had had to be orders seeing as how the lizard men had immediately engaged the remaining elves in combat while the spider like creatures had skittered away after the snake with great haste, some being snatched up in the air by the bats as well. Judging by the amount of smoke rising from other parts of the city, Deraleth suspected that the spider beings along with the bat creatures had been ordered to cause further chaos in different parts of the city in order to prevent or halt the alarm from being rang too soon or at all in the first place.
Deraleth had tried to assist his commander in pushing back the tide of lizards that kept on climbing up through the hole, but the whistling sound caused by a boulder launched from one of the larger vessels from the sea down below had sent him and many others tumbling away from the breach. The last he heard of his commander as he came to were the orders issued by Ilnarithiel to light the distress beacons in order to alert the nearby towns - along with the city itself - that they were under attack. Though the amount of smoke now rising from different districts along with the screams he heard coming from everywhere around him were proof enough that the city was more than aware of what was going on.
Another whistle and the amount of debris sent up in the air by another projectile crashing against an ornate statue right next to him along with the sight of his own squad - half of the original platoon which had managed to survive the breach and the following projectiles - being surrounded from all sides by the invading forces, had been enough to send Deraleth scrambling towards the gateway leading away from the garden. As much as he hated to admit it, there had been nothing else he could have done back in the garden. Someone had to light at least one of the beacons and seeing as how he was unsure if anyone else had been able to follow Ilnarithiel's orders, it could very well be him.

He had not managed to get far when he had heard something approaching from behind. What he had at first thought out to be the footsteps of some of the lizard-men running after him, had turned out to be the scales of the massive serpent sliding against the marble flooring as the huge form crashed against the walls around it. A fact that had become more than abundantly clear as Deraleth had taken a look behind him and noticed the parted jaws, the glistening teeth, the orange eyes with a vertical aperture in the middle that were filled with delight, along with the split tongue so common to even some of the smaller, non-venomous snakes that were an everyday sight in the gardens. He had managed to barely avoid getting caught between the jaws of the serpent by throwing himself flat against the ground just outside the corridor, only to be then greeted by the weight of the green body as it was dragged over him. The scales of the serpentine body scratched and tore his skin as if they had been small teeth instead. The serpent had disappeared to one of the maze like corridors leading to the right and as Deraleth had taken the briefest of moment to gather and push himself up from where he had fallen, he could see that the corridors actually mattered little to this menace. Huge chunks of marble along with the occasional head or other body part belonging to the elven statues nearby had been flung high into the air, followed by the green body as it crashed through walls and ceilings of the surrounding areas before the chunks of marble fragmented as they hit the ground. White dust flowed like water from the corridors to the right, covering the potted plants and benches in the room Deraleth found himself with a fine layer. What had been a room dedicated for meditating between visits to the different garden platforms soon seemed like something straight out of a nightmare Deraleth had had few weeks ago. Come to think of it, the whole situation had reminded him of that particular nightmare. This seemingly wanton destruction caused by the serpent had soon turned into a methodological search and Deraleth had had no delusions about not being the one the serpent was searching for. His fear had soon been proven right as the creature had appeared behind him once more, crashing through a wall on his left while grinning in a manner not unlike the madmen locked in the city asylum somewhere between Deraleth's feet as it had started to head towards him again.

Deraleth had ran from corridor to corridor, room to room, throwing doors behind him close and toppling over furniture while yelling for the elves and humans alike who he met along the way to get out of his way and find shelter in an attempt to both hinder the creature and prevent others from falling victim to it. All for naught as the sounds of doors being pushed from their hinges or turned to a rain of splinters behind him, furniture getting crushed beneath the massive figure and the pained screams of the few occasional bystanders had reached his long ears.
And then it had stopped. For a moment everything - except for the screaming coming from deeper in the city - had been silent, and Deraleth had found himself catching breath under the gaze of three impressive statues which represented the three main deities of the world. The room itself he had found himself in this time was one of the three bigger temples of worship. There were of course smaller rooms of worship scattered all across the city, but few of them were intended to be used by all the different religious factions that resided within the city walls. This particular room had been designed in such a way that the prayers would echo from wall to wall before escaping through the canopy of a huge oaken tree, planted in the middle of the spherical room and creating a natural ceiling with its branches and leaves.
Echo was the last thing Deraleth wanted right now, especially as a voice now resounded suddenly all around him. A voice that had to belong to none other than the serpent who had chosen him as his prey. Fear grasped his heart, but it was not the tone in the serpents voice that sent his legs trembling. It was the fact that the serpent was speaking the same language as Deraleth was.

"I do apologize for the uninvited entry. The original idea was to send you all spiralling down to your deaths, but you and few others were standing just a bit too far to the right. Do not worry. Your, hmh, friends, were all dealt with before I left after you. I assure you that their deaths were... Hasty. To a certain extent. Pity really, for I was planning on extracting their ears." The voice spoke as if the serpent had been standing right next to him. Deraleth spun around wildly, pulling his ornate sword from its sheath while turning and slicing in horror at the air behind him, yet there was no one there. He took a panicked look around, his hands trembling and starting to sweat which made holding the sword all the more difficult.
"What do you want from me, from us? Who are you?" Deraleth spoke, too exhausted from all the running and too frightened by the situation to properly portray his anger through his words.
A chuckle from his left. Then from his right. Sounds of scales scraping against something else than the marble flooring. A leaf falling down from the tree. Deraleth spun around yet again and glanced upwards to the branches above him, his heart beating as if it was about to burst through his chest at any given moment.
"Answer me!"
He felt the air move behind him, the trembling of the floor beneath him as something enormous fell from the tree. Sharp pain cut across his back before he could turn around as something not only managed to cut through the lightweight plate armour he was wearing, but also sent him flying across the room. He came to a halt after hitting one of the benches that had been grown out of the roots of the oak in the middle by the plant whisperers, pushing himself up while whimpering and coughing out blood.
Deraleth managed to turn himself around, his face turning even more paler than what it normally was at the sight of his opponent. The serpent, now balancing on its tail, had to be at least the size of three elves in height and two or so dwarves would have easily fit side by sides in terms of the width of its muscular form. Before his eyes were drawn towards a series of soothing and calming patterns upon the flared hood of the serpent, Deraleth's noticed the four heavily scarred arms, each of them holding an exotic sword. The swords themselves were some form of an exotic mixture between a sabre and a scimitar, made from metals and materials that Deraleth had never encountered before. One of the swords was dripping with Deraleth's own blood as well.
"Who... Are you?" Deraleth repeated his question, his hands growing surprisingly tired as he kept staring at the patterns that seemed to move on their own. He tried to turn his head away but his eyes remained fixated upon the patterns. He tried to move his legs but found himself standing still. He was just about aware as the serpent lowered two of the scimitars upon his shoulders, the smell of his own blood from the blade that caressed his cheek catching his nose.
"Slergh Garghan, heir to the throne of Geragha. Son to the future ruler of this land, and therefore, the future ruler of these lands as well. At your service. Not that you need to mind your pretty little head with that. You see, I would love to stay and chat about all the wondrous things this continent will soon experience and tell you all the little details about what my father has planned. But I have a city to take over in his name and I need to take it over tonight. I am sure you understand. Now then... This will only hurt for a moment."
The last thing Deraleth saw after his head had stopped rolling and before his eyes glazed over and the world faded from sight, was his own decapitated body being dragged away by the son of Garghan and the bloody trail it left on the otherwise pristine marble flooring.