The Serpent and the Wings of Night

Oraya is often referred to as a serpent, an analogy that symbolizes aspects of her character and moments of growth. Through shedding their skin, snakes have come to symbolize rebirth, transformation, and immortality. Vincent’s nickname for Oraya is little serpent, and it is his plan for her to “slough” her humanity and embrace immortal life as a vampire. He emphasizes this objective by introducing the idea of Oraya entering the Kejari in order to secure a wish from Nyaxia and bond with him spiritually as his Coriatae. Though Oraya finds vampire bloodlust repulsive, she views it as a “small price to pay, to shed [her] humanity like the discarded skin of a snake” (174). A snake sheds its skin when it grows—because its skin does not continue to grow with it, and because shedding removes harmful parasites that have attached to the old skin. Just as a snake sheds, Oraya plans to shed the skin of her humanity after winning the Kejari in order to “grow” into the power and strength that the wish granted by Nyaxia will give her.

While the term begins through Vincent deeming Oraya his “little serpent,” it takes on a different meaning when