Vala is the wicked Werelady that rules the Wyldermen of Wyrmwood.
Weretype: Cobra
Titles: Serpent Goddess, Wyrm, The Serpent, Red Queen, Baba
Friends: Darkheart, Whitley (former), Gretchen (former), Wyldermen
Enemies: Drew and Trent Ferran, Whitley, Gretchen, Lady Rainier
Homeland: The Wyrmwood
Status: Deceased
Fate: Her jaws were snapped by Drew and Whitley
Appears In: Rise of the Wolf, Rage of Lions, Nest of Serpents
Vala is a Wereserpent. One of the Old Therians, Vala is very old, yet a deadly fighter. She is a minor antagonist in book one of Wereworld, a supporting character in book two, and a major antagonist in book four. Her servants are the Wyldermen, led by Darkheart, and they worship her as a goddess. Her human form is a Romari witch named Baba Korga, who appears in books two and four. One of her main advantages in battle is that her scales are durable and she can take many injuries before being defeated. The Wereserpent speaks with a hiss in her voice whenever saying words with the letter “s” in it while in snake form.
Background[]
Before the series time period, the Wyldermen worshipped Vala, and at some point killed Baba Korga. Centuries old, Vala was one of the Old Therians, existing long before the Werelords who rule Lyssia now. Her servants fought with the people of Brackenholme for many years, causing Vala to develop a long grudge with the enemies of the Wyldermen.
Wereworld[]
In Rise of the Wolf, her minions capture Lady Gretchen the Werefox and bring her to Vala as a sacrifice in the Dyrewood. She nearly succeeds in devouring her, but Drew Ferran the Werewolf and his friend Hector the Wereboar rescue Gretchen. Despite her massive size and strength, Drew battles and badly injures her. However, Vala’s injuries infect Drew with poison and nearly kill him, but the Wereserpent is seemingly destroyed.
However, she did not die, and she appears in Rage of Lions masquerading as Baba Korga. She is kind to Gretchen, as well as the Werefox’s friend Lady Whitley, when they are stranded. Her mute friend Rolff, who is actually Darkheart in disguise, accompanies Vala. Traveling with other Romari, Vala takes several children and devours them while others are sleeping. The Romari don't know about the imposter except Rolff.
In Nest of Serpents, Vala continues to appear as Korga while traveling through the Dyrewood, and listens to Gretchen and Whitley talk about Drew. She deduces that they both love him, and formulates a plan to bring the Werewolf down. The crooked Wereserpent dispatches Darkheart, still pretending to be Rolff, to help find Whitley’s friends. When Whitley comes to her home in Brackenholme, Vala is brought into the city. She uses Rolff to open the gates, allowing for a surprise attack on Brackenholme. Breaking through the castle, Vala reveals her trickery to the Wereladies. Because she pretended to be a friend, the Wyrm is successfully able to infiltrate the kingdom and kidnap Whitley, as well as her mother, Lady Rainier. Though they attempt to fight, Vala squeezes Whitley until she is unconscious. The Wereserpent attempts to snatch Gretchen as well, but with the help of Trent Ferran, Vala fails and loses one eye to the Werefox’s claws. However, she controls the kingdom and kills most of those who resist her.
Later, Vala makes a nest for herself, turns back into an old woman and visits Whitley, revealing more of her backstory, including that she killed the children, which sickens the Werebear. The massive therianthrope intends to use Whitley as bait so Drew will come, and Vala will then kill him. She mocks the Werebear and comes close to breaking her prisoner. However, Vala is caught by surprise when her poisonous threats, including killing the Werebear’s mother, anger Whitley, making her strike. The Bearlady grabs Vala and puts her claws at the Wereserpent’s throat. But she is forced to release the evil monster once her minions threaten to kill Whitley’s mother and the other prisoners.
When Drew arrives at Brackenholme, he discovers the nest Vala made for herself. Disguising himself as a Wylderman and sneaking in, he gets Whitley down from where Vala held her. But the Wereserpent, who wants to dine on his flesh, soon discovers him. With the trap set, Vala is ready to avenge her defeat at Drew’s hands from before. Taunting him about his missing hand from his fight with Vankaskan, Vala reveals that there is a prophecy about Drew. He is quickly tired of Vala’s words, intending to make the Serpent pay for her wrongdoings, and prepares to fight. However, Vala proves far more powerful than before. Despite his efforts, the Wereserpent wraps her tail around Drew’s body and tries to strangle him. Whitley tries to help, not wanting Drew to die because of her, but Vala smacks her away.
As Vala prepares to kill Drew, Whitley attacks again and stabs through her remaining eye, blinding Vala. Unable to see her adversaries, the Wereserpent bites her own body several times. Drew gets free from her, and he and Whitley turn into their respective therian forms. Together, they jump onto the Wyrm’s head, and the two heroes tear their opponent’s jaws apart, finally slaying Vala. During the fight, Drew’s howl summons hundreds of wolves, which attack and drive her Wyldermen into hiding.
Characteristics[]
In her human form, she appears as an incredibly old, shrunken woman, with very thin gray hair. Her Therian form is that of a gigantic black and purple cobra with bright green eyes. She loses her left eye against Gretchen and later she's completely blinded by Drew and Whitley before they finally slay her.
Personality[]
Vala is egotistical, as she wishes to be worshipped as a goddess. Because she is an old therianthrope, she considers younger ones in the world of Lyssia to be weak, such as Whitley. Vala is also clever, such as when she developed a scheme to eliminate Drew and manipulated the Wereladies to suit her plans. The Wereserpent has no bounds with murder, such as when she told Whitley about eating children and claimed that she merely does it to eat live food. Being very cruel, Vala likes to taunt her enemies before a fight, hoping to break their spirit and make them easy prey. She is a formidable fighter, using her poison, fangs and tail to defeat her enemies. Ultimately, her arrogance is her downfall, as she underestimated her captives and believed they would stay out of her way.