STORY 16

Many years ago…

A light rain pattered through the canopy of the Felaryan jungle's tall trees, dripping off thick green leaves towards the damp ground far below. From beneath a pile of autumn leaves, stacked against the trunk of a fallen tree, a slug girl emerged cautiously, and slithered out in search of food for her children. Nearby, in a small clearing, a giant naga curled her tail protectively round her eggs, rearranging a cover of large leaves to shield them from the rain. Her dark blond hair was streaked with auburn shimmers, and the scales of her dark blue tail criss-crossed with intricate patterns of light blues and greens. She glanced up into the falling rain, blinking droplets out of her green eyes, before turning her full attention to her nest, and contemplating it with tender, motherly care.

Two eggs still held precious, unborn lives sheltered within, while the third egg had hatched a few days earlier, giving birth to a tiny nagaling, a girl. The baby slept soundly, oblivious to the rain, protected by thick leaves propped up on sticks - a shelter devised by her loving mother. The girl's hair was ginger, and her tail greener than her mother's; at present, she was curled up on herself for warmth, breathing steadily as she slept. Her mother watched her sleep, a gentle smile on her face.

There was a shimmer. The adult naga looked up instantly, while her daughter slept on. The shimmer had come from the edge of the clearing - a haze of blue, which gradually expanded, until it was almost opaque, a disc-shaped, bright, sparkling haze. Worried, the naga mother stared at it. She had never seen anything like it. And it had just seemed to appear out of nowhere. She frowned, concerned.

A whirring sound preceded the appearance of a strange something which came through the haze a few moments later. It was a sort of light grey box on wheels, fitted with a smaller, rotating box-like device, and, on a thick tube, a narrow, horizontal, darker something else. The thing moved forward, whirring on its wheels, and the smaller box on top of it swivelled, turning until it pointed at her, and stopped. The naga's eyes narrowed. She did not like this at all.

The thing on wheels stayed still for a moment, then began to move again, circling her and her nest at a distance. The naga watched it sharply the whole while, tensing. Once it had completed a full half-circle around her, leaving her between it and the blue, circular haze, the device stopped, and the horizontal tube swivelled in turn to point at her. The naga's sense of alarm increased. Her eyes darted quickly between the blue, sparkling disc and the thing which had come out of it, as she tried to watch both of them at the same time.

The tube-like object on the grey box made a screeching sound, followed by a deafening burst of noise. The naga yelped, startled and fearful, when she realised what it was. Bullets slammed into her body, bouncing off harmlessly, an irritation. It was a machine-gun of some sort, the type that humans used. It was no threat to her, but its presence here, spewing bullets close to her fragile eggs and her baby, filled her with terror. With a cry of fear and anger, she drew herself up, and slithered towards it, firmly intending to smash it to pieces. Seemingly aware of what she was doing, the object jolted into motion again, speeding off with a whir, deeper into the jungle, still firing at her as it went. The naga hurried after it, angered further by the bullets hitting her repeatedly. Her thoughts were simple, albeit clouded with emotion: this was a threat to her children, and it had to be destroyed.

Behind her, unseen, something else was happening now. A leg appeared, protruding from the blue haze, followed by torso, a face, and a full human, stepping through into the Felaryan forest. He was a little shorter than average for his species, but made up for it with a solid build. His dark face was bulky, squarish, giving him a rather crude expression which concealed his swift, calculating intelligence. He was dark of skin, and wore simple clothing in shades of black and dark green; he carried a heavy-looking automatic rifle, of a design more advanced than any known to Felaryan humans. His eyes were a striking, dark forest green, matched by the peculiar dye of his short-cropped hair. He looked around as he stepped clear of the haze, spotted the nest, and smiled.

Behind him, two more humans stepped out of the shimmering dimensional portal, activated from offworld in this empty space. One, a woman, was as dark-skinned as the green-haired man, but much taller, her build slender and athletic. The other, a man, had pale skin and light blond hair, topping a face as squarish as the first man's. Matching the woman in height, he had a deceptively light build, which hinted at agility but revealed little of his strength. The three of them watched the naga chasing after their armed probe, with her back to them.

The green-haired man motioned his companions towards the nest, and they sprinted up to it. They would have to move quickly. Hauling off the leaves, they contemplated the two eggs and the sleeping baby. Without a word, the first man picked up the child, surprisingly gentle, and cradled her in one arm while holding on to his rifle with his spare hand.

“Get an egg,” he whispered, and made his way back towards the portal. His companions nodded, moving to seek a grip on the closest egg. With difficulty, they began to roll it out of the nest. The green-haired man reached the portal, and stopped, turning back to wait for them.

It was then that he saw the naga returning. At that same instant, the baby woke, and found herself in an unfamiliar situation. She began to cry.

“Paylee! Hijam!” the man shouted out in warning. “Leave it, leave it, go, go, go!”

The woman and the blond man, who had just succeeded in lifting up the egg, looked up, and found the adult naga bearing down upon them with alarming speed, a look of fear and fury on her face. They dropped the egg instantly, and ran.

Hijam, the blond man, half-turned as he ran, lifting his gun and firing at the giant naga. The bullets had no effect, and she was incredibly quick. Reaching him, she swiped him off the ground, snatching up Paylee with the same hand. Paylee screamed.

“Chab! Chabby! Shoot! Shoot her, shoot her!”

Chab, the green-haired man, grimaced, and lifted his rifle. He opened fire, bullets streaming out at the gigantic snake-woman who held his companions, and who was hurrying towards him, despair on her face as she raced to save her child. Chab tightened his grip on the wailing baby, and continued to fire. No effect.

“Chabby!” Paylee screamed, struggling in the naga's hand. Grim-faced, Chab continued to fire until the naga was dangerously close, then he took a step back towards the portal. To his surprise, the naga slowed. There was anguish in her eyes. She was a woman whose newborn child was being kidnapped. Chab knew that made her desperate, and dangerous. He had not expected her to speak, however. Her words came almost as a whisper.

“Let my baby go!”

Chab stopped firing. His companions squirmed in the monster's grip.

“You let my friends go first,” he said.

“All right, all right!” The naga was crying, tears trickling down her cheeks, while her baby sobbed, cradled in Chab's arm. “But let her go, please! My little Jissy…”

Chab hesitated. He took another step back towards the portal.

“Don't!” the naga shouted.

“Chab!” Hijam yelled. Chab's face hardened.

“Sorry,” he said. He stepped backwards, into the portal, firing once more as he did. The sight of Felarya faded from his view, replaced by a crackling shimmer of blue, then by a large room, its walls paved in white slabs, its large windows filtering the glow of an afternoon sun. The baby continued to cry.

“Close it!” he snapped, without looking at the person behind a slab of control panels. “Close it, right now! Now!”

The man who had opened the portal knew better than to argue. He hit a control tab. Through the large blue disk, fingers began to appear, a huge hand reaching through. The portal vanished, abruptly, and the giant naga's fingertips, no longer connected to any hand, hovered in empty air for a moment before falling to the ground with a small spray of blood. Chab breathed out a sigh of relief. The naga baby screamed, wriggling in his grip. He dropped his gun, and held her with both hands. Looking down at her, he noticed for the first time that she was a cute little thing, her tiny tail wriggling as she cried.

“Welcome to a new world,” he told with a smile of grim satisfaction. “Jissy, is it?” He held her up. The baby hiccoughed over her own sobs, crying frantically. “Shh,” he told her. “You'll be all right…” A smile curled at his lips. “You, little one, are very precious to us indeed.”

* * *

“So, this is what a fearsome naga looks like when it's little?”

Chab stood in a large room, facing a man whom few would dare approach. He knew that, somewhere in the recesses and darkened corners of the room, someone probably had a weapon trained on him. He did not mind. He was not here to threaten the man who was about to pay him.

Alez Lamhit was undoubtedly one of the richest and most influential crime lords of the world Ordona Prime. He had built his fortune dealing in all imaginable illicit trades, and co-existed in a tense but mostly stable balance with his rivals. The planet was ruled without law, by powerful criminal factions. It was a hellhole to the respectable. Those who lived here were either criminals themselves, or were unfortunate enough to have been born here and were too poor to leave.

Lahmit's eyes were on Chab now. They were cold grey eyes, set in a face that looked younger than his years, but was no less formidable for it. His hair was short, neat, jet black. The green-haired abductor held the kidnapped baby in his arms, standing firm, his expression calm.

“What do you expect me to do with her?” Lamhit asked, bluntly. “She's far too tiny to dispose of anyone in… entertaining fashion.” He smiled thinly.

“She'll grow up,” Chab said, just as bluntly. “By the time she's reached her full size, she'll be able to swallow two or three of your enemies, and still feel hungry afterwards.” In his arms, tiny Jissy sighed peacefully, turning in her sleep, oblivious to the discussion about her future. Chab and his associates had finally got her to settle, after feeding her from a bottle of milk.

“You make her upkeep sound expensive.”

Chab grinned. “You can afford it. And you'll be the only person on this entire world with your own naga.”

Lahmit leaned forward, peering at him. “Can you guarantee that?”

“Sure I can. Only we know how to get to Felarya.”

“Speaking of which, where's your team?”

Chab's expression darkened. “Inside her mother's intestine, probably.” He glanced down at the nagaling. “They didn't make it.”

“Oh, cheer up. That means you get the full pay, instead of splitting it.” There were chuckles from the crowd milling around in the room, some little more than shadows in the corners. “This is what you're going to do. I'll pay you now, but I'm not interested in the naga until she's grown. Bring her back when she's big enough.”

Chab nodded. “Right.” He rocked Jissy gently, without waking her. “I'll see that she's taken care of.”

* * *

“You want me to do what?”

“Just while she's a baby.” In the lower levels of a bustling city, Chab stood in the doorway to a small flat, close to ground level, most of the sunlight blotted out by a tall, grimy building on the other side of a narrow street. He held the nagaling out towards the flat's occupant, a brown-haired woman in her late twenties. The latter stared at the baby.

“I'd ask whether she's yours, but since she has a tail…” The woman, Malina, scowled. “Where did you find her?”

“It's a long story. Listen, for now, what I need is someone to look after her. We think she's only a few days old. She needs breastmilk.”

Malina glared up at him.

“I see you're just as tactful as always.”

Chab shrugged in poorly feigned apology. “You're the only person I know who's just had a baby. I could feed her from a bottle, but I'm told it would be best for her to have a mother, to feed her, look after her, all that sort of stuff.”

Malina sighed, and rubbed the side of her head. “You're giving me a headache.” She paused. “Oh, give her to me!” she snapped at last, impatiently. “You're going to hurt her, holding her like that, you great brute.”

Chab smiled, and handed the child over. Malina took her in her arms, very gently. Jissy stirred, and looked up at her, eyes wide with curiosity. The baby smiled, hesitatingly, then yawned, and stretched her tiny arms. Malina smiled back at her, touched.

“She's adorable…” she whispered. The next moment, her expression hardened again as she confronted Chab. “But she's also a naga. I've heard about them. I don't want her in my home if she's going to be any kind of threat to Parip.”

“Malina… She won't be. I promise.”

“I know what your promises are worth!”

“No, seriously. She's just a baby. She can't hurt anyone. As soon as she starts getting bigger, we'll take her off your hands. In the meantime, she and Parip will be like brother and sister.”

Malina grimaced. “You seriously want me to raise her with my own kid?”

“Just for a short while.”

“And if I say no…”

“You're her best hope of survival.” He paused. “Lamhit will pay. He'll pay all your bills. It won't cost you anything; in fact, you'll make money from it. Enough money to give Parip a future. Better than he would get otherwise in this dump.” Chab waved his arm around sweepingly. “You'll be doing what's best for your kid, and for the girl. And for you. And for me; Lamhit will kill me if his naga dies of neglect.”

Malina gave him a hard look.

“You'd probably deserve it.” She shook her head. “Oh, all right, damn you. You'd better keep the cash coming; I can't afford to raise her without it.” Her eyes met his. “Now go and get me a crib. And some nappies that will fit on a naga. Go on, off you go! I'll try to make the poor little thing feel at home.”

Chab grinned.

“Coming right up. You're the best.”

“And you're a curse on my life,” Malina muttered. “Now get the hell out. I've got a new baby to look after…”

* * *

Many years later…

“I'm still not sure about the details of the expansion project. At least, not in Lumati Sector. The profitability studies aren't exactly optimistic. Cutting in on Cablit's territory, with little to gain in return…”

Alez Lamhit was not as young as he had once been, but his ageing body was still fit, and his mind, if anything, had grown sharper with age. He walked without a stick, beside a younger man, in his late forties perhaps, chubby and well-dressed.

“Who's been conducting those studies?” the latter asked. “I've had some of my own done, and the potential profits…” Lamhit shook his head. They were walking down an underground corridor beneath his `palace', and he gestured towards a door.

“We'll discuss it over drinks, in privacy. We have a lot to talk about.”

The chubby man, Ferus, nodded in agreement, and preceded Lamhit through the door when a guard opened it. Lamhit followed him, and found the younger crime boss staring in shock. There was no doubt as to what he was staring at.

The room was vast. It was so large that it contained trees, illuminated by artificial light. There was also a huge pond, and, nearby, what appeared to be an oversized jacuzzi. Drapes of silks and satins covered the walls, set incongruously between large childhood drawings. A gigantic, luxurious bed occupied one corner. Parallel bars and other gymnastics implements had been provided, along with entertainment in the form of a huge screen, which was currently switched off. In all, the room appeared to be the home of a giant being.

The being in question was relaxing with her tail dipped in the artificial pond, but looked up as people entered. She drew herself up, and slithered over to the humans. She was a fully grown naga, towering above them at over twenty metres in height, her ginger hair neatly fashioned. She was richly dressed, her light, dazzling silk top intricately designed, chastely covering her chest while leaving her slender arms free. A short skirt of sorts covered the top of her tail. Jewelry adorned her wrists and hair, and she wore a delicate, expensive necklace. She smiled politely at her visitors.

“Ah, Jissy.” Lamhit returned the smile. “How are you this morning?”

“Very well, thank you, Mr. Lamhit.” Her tone was polite but definitely not warm.

“My dear Ferus, allow me to introduce another associate of mine. Or I suppose you could call her a pet. Magnificent, isn't she?”

Ferus had stood there in silence, as though stunned.

“V-very beautiful,” he managed to say at last. “I'd never seen one before. How do you do, Miss Jissy?”

“How do you do.” Jissy grinned. She knew where this was going.

“You hadn't heard about my naga?” Lamhit asked innocently.

“Well, uh…”

“Never mind,” Lamhit cut him off. “Enjoy your lunch, Jissy.”

“Thank you, Mr. Lamhit,” she said dutifully, and picked the chubby human up. The man's eyes widened with shock, and he began to struggle.

“Wait, wait, what… What are you doing??”

“She's going to eat you,” Lamhit explained calmly. “I know you're difficult to stomach, but please try not to give her indigestion.”

“What??” Ferus squirmed desperately as Jissy lifted him closer to her mouth. “I don't understand!”

“Yes, you do. You tried to double-cross me.” Lamhit's voice had turned cold. “If you try to do that, you die.” He smiled thinly. “Enjoy your stay in my naga's belly.”

Ferus was terrified. Jissy brought him up to her lips, and opened her mouth.

“Wait, naga! I'm rich, I'm very rich! If you spare me, and eat Lamhit instead, I'll-” Jissy did not even bother listening. She put him in her mouth, head first, and pushed him in all the way, soaking him with saliva as she held him for a while. Then, once he was thoroughly wet, she tilted her head back a little and swallowed the wriggling, struggling human. He disappeared down her throat with a gulp.

“Good girl,” Lamhit said approvingly. He looked around. “Is there anything I can do for you?”

“No thank you, Mr. Lamhit.” Her voice was tired, the reply almost automatic. Her owner nodded.

“I'll leave you to digest, then.”

Jissy watched him go, and sighed. She looked over at the pool. Suddenly, it no longer seemed as appealing. Nothing did. She hesitated, then went to lie down on the bed, gazing up at nothing in particular. Her room was vast, but she had been here for more years than she could possibly count, and it was difficult to derive much enjoyment from any of it any more. Inside her stomach, her lunch was struggling desperately. Jissy placed her hand over her tummy, burped as his struggles pushed air up her throat, and sighed. He would stop moving soon. She had no idea who he was; someone that Lamhit didn't like. There were many people he disliked, and she had eaten a lot of them over the years. She barely gave this one another thought.

The door opened again. Jissy closed her eyes a moment, wearily, before looking over towards it. When she did, however, a genuine smile touched her lips.

“Roshan!” she whispered, pleased.

Roshan was a human, a middle-aged, rather scruffy man with reddish-blond hair, a thick beard and deep-set blue eyes. He was Jissy's carer, the person placed in charge of her well-being. Most importantly, he was the only person in Lamhit's employ who seemed to genuinely like her, care about her, and treat her with respect, as a person. Over many years, they had grown close, and Jissy had found that she could confide in him. It had been a tremendous relief. At long last, she had had somebody to talk to! He had always listened to her kindly, and given her comfort when she had cried, despair filling her at her endless captiviy. It was Roshan who had found out where she had initially come from - a world known as Felarya. Her adopted human mother and brother visited her from time to time, but Lamhit did not allow them to come often, so Roshan was the only friend she could hope to see regularly.

The only friend she had.

“Hello, kid.” He smiled at her, walking over to her bed. She helped him up onto it, and he sat down. “How have you been?”

“Bored,” she admitted, grimacing.

“I've brought a deck of cards.”

She smiled a little. “If it were anyone but you, I wouldn't be interested.”

“I know,” he said kindly. Her stomach growled, and he glanced at it. “Are you hungry?”

“A bit.” She rubbed her tummy. “The boss gave me someone to eat, but…”

“But just one human for lunch isn't very filling,” Roshan finished, sympathising. “Would you like some fruit? We've got a fresh shipment. Sehan fruit, really big and juicy.”

Jissy's mouth watered. She could not complain about being ill-fed, but her size gave her an appetite that Lamhit sometimes seemed to underestimate. Roshan was the one who made sure she was never left hungry. When he stood, though, she held him back gently.

“No, don't go yet. Food can wait. I'd like you to stay a while.”

“Of course.” He sat back down, and began to shuffle the cards. Jissy was quiet, and Roshan eventually looked up into her lovely face. “Jissy…” he said softly. “You're crying.”

The naga sniffled, and wiped at the tears in her eyes.

“Not… crying. Maybe I'm just a bit tired.”

“Then you should rest. Forget the cards…”

“I'm tired of resting,” she whispered.

He gave her a look of genuine sympathy. A tear trickled down her cheek. Standing up, Roshan walked across the bedsheets and put his arms over her tail - the closest he could manage to a hug.

“You poor kid… You're bored out of your mind, aren't you?”

Jissy nodded, sniffling, and wiped at her eyes again.

“I'm so sorry…” her friend said. “I keep asking if you can be let out for a while. Out in the countryside, where you could get some fresh air. He won't allow it. He's afraid that if they let you out, nobody will be able to force you back into here.” At the far end of the room, a thick, locked stone door led up a passageway to a small courtyard, where Jissy was sometimes allowed to soak in actual sunlight. They were her only touch with life outside this room. Such moments were all too rare.

Jissy gulped at her tears, and nodded, without saying a word.

“It's not fair,” Roshan said. “I know it's not fair. But you have to be strong. And I'm here. I'm your friend. You can always talk to me.”

The naga managed a smile.

“Thank you, Roshan…” she whispered. “I'd go insane without you.”

“Shh, don't say that.” He gave her tail a friendly pat. “You're a lot stronger than you realise. And I don't mean just physical strength. You're a brave girl.”

She managed another smile.

“Roshan…” She hesitated.

“Yes, Jissy?”

“Is there anything else you can tell me about Felarya?”

Roshan looked into her eyes, then sighed sadly, and shook his head.

“I'm sorry, kid. I've told you everything I've been able to find out. But no-one seems to know much about it.” Jissy looked disappointed, and his heart ached for her. “But you know,” he added quickly, “I've been wondering about it. Trying to imagine what it might be like. I was thinking, perhaps… If you like, maybe we can imagine it together. Even if we can't see it, it can exist in our minds. Our own place. Your place, away from here.”

Jissy's stomach gurgled, digesting the human she had eaten, and calling out for more food. They both ignored it, for now. “Imagining my world…” she said, almost shyly. “I think I might like that.”

“Well…” Roshan smiled at her encouragingly. “How do you imagine Felarya?”

A slow smile grew on Jissy's face, and she seemed to look past him, into empty space. For a few moments, she was quiet, a dreamy look appearing in her eyes, and on the soft smile of her lips.

“I imagine…” she whispered. “I imagine a large lake, maybe a small sea. Near it, there's a huge stretch of grass, all the way to the horizon. And hills, low green hills, with trees. People, nagas, moving across the plains… Talking and laughing. Oh, and real sunlight! Warming them, making them… Making them happy.”

“It sounds lovely,” Roshan said, gently. Jissy looked down at him, her face filled with deep, mixed emotions.

Softly, she began to weep…

* * *

Three weeks later.

“Jissy, wake up.”

“Hmmm…” All was dark. The artificial lights had been turned off for the night, and no windows provided even the faintest glow from the planet's four moons. Jissy stirred in bed, and opened her eyes at the sound of a familiar voice.

“Roshan?” she whispered in the darkness.

“Shhh…” A whisper. “Yes, it's me. I need you to get up.”

Jissy moaned sleepily, then sat up. “Roshan, it's the middle of the night. What's going on?”

Rather than an immediate response, there was a click, followed by a bright green glow in the black air. It was sufficient to light up Roshan's anxious face, casting an eerie green light over it, outlining shadows in his thick, reddish-blond beard.

“Do you know what this is?” her friend and carer asked her. Jissy's interest had immediately been awoken, and she got out of bed with a twinge of excitement.

“It's a personal transporter.”

“That's right.” He nodded. “A friend of mine has tweaked it so that it would work for a person of your size.”

Jissy's eyes widened. “You want me to go somewhere?”

In the cast of the green glow, she saw Roshan smile.

“Don't get your hopes up, but… I'm going to try to get you to Felarya.”

Her excitement increased in a sharp burst, and she inhaled a hiss of breath.

“Really?”

Roshan smiled at the startled joy and hope in her voice.

“Yes. Well, I'm not sure we'll succeed.”

“Oh, Roshan!” His gigantic naga friend stooped down to pick him up, then, much to his surprise, hugged him against her chest. It was then that he realised she slept naked, and he felt himself blush.

“Uhm… Jissy, I'm not going to pretend I'm not enjoying this, but…” He stopped, and allowed himself to grin. “Oh, what the heck.” Extending his arms and pressing himself close, he hugged as much of her as he could - a gesture of friendship, even though it was impossible to ignore her huge, full, naked breasts.

She put him down again at last. Far up above him now, her face was invisible in the darkness.

“So we're going to use the transporters to get to Felarya?”

“No,” he explained. “No, they're nowhere near that powerful. We're going to use them to get to a lab, which I recently found out about. That's the only place where a portal can be opened to your world.”

“So we can… get to Felarya from there?” Hope brimmed out of her voice.

“Yes,” Roshan said, gently. He had rarely heard her so happy, and her excitement made him feel warm inside. “At least, I hope so. We'll have to make the people there open it up for us. But I'm sure we can do that.”

“Oh, yes,” Jissy agreed, and laughed, lightly. “Oh, Roshan! I'm so happy! Thank you, thank you!”

“Shh…” He smiled. “Keep your voice down. And you'll thank me if and when we get to Felarya.”

* * *

A short while later, in Felarya…

Bright sunlight warmed the ground, trees and residents of the jungle, and the giantess smiled as she strolled leasurely through the forest. She was a pretty young lady, with glossy, dark hair and skin the colour of milky coffee, her smile as warm as the sunlight. It was a pleasant day, and Milly was in a cheerful mood.

She felt even better when she came across a group of tourists - nine of them, not counting their guide. The latter was the last to notice her, entranced as he was in his own talking, pointing out the uses of the native flora. Eventually, however, even he could not fail to spot the giant woman in his path, and by then Milly was happily snatching up as many of the humans as she could catch.

She shoved the first two in her mouth right away, so as to be able to hold more of the others. She managed to snatch up three in each hand, while the remaining two dashed away, screaming. Quickly, Milly swallowed the two in her mouth, put two more in to replace them, and walked after those who were escaping. Catching up with them on her much longer legs was no challenge, and they soon joined their companions in her hands. She savoured the humans in her mouth for a few moments, then swallowed them one after the other, and breathed out a sigh of satisfaction. They struggled frantically as they went down her throat, and she could feel them being pushed down deeper in her oesophagus.

“Aahh… I needed that. Thank you for coming here at lunch time.” She smiled at her captives. “Tourists, then? How are you enjoying your holiday in Felarya?”

Most of them screamed at her. Her face took an a slightly pained expression.

“Now, now, don't yell at me like that… It's not nice. What parts of the jungle have you visited so far? Have you seen the temple yet?”

More screams. Milly sighed.

“Oh, all right. Well, if you're not going to talk, I'll let you see an often-visited Felaryan sight.” She smiled playfully. “My tummy.” Casually, she ate two more of them, lifting the squirming humans to her mouth, moistening her lips and sucking them in. She swallowed one of them almost right away, but shifted the other round on her tongue for a while, soaking in her taste, before gulping her down in turn. The woman thrashed wildly as she slid into Milly's throat, and was still struggling by the time she reached her stomach. Milly licked her lips.

“Well, six is enough for lunch,” she told the four remaining. “Your friends are quite filling!” She gave them a warm smile. “I'll eat the rest of you later.”

Some of the humans were beginning to beg, or cry. Milly hoped she would be able to comfort them, but at that moment her attention was drawn to a sudden flash of bright, hazy blue a short distance away, between the trees. Curious, she began to walk towards it. Her senses told her what lifeforms she would find, but she heard them talk before she actually saw them.

“Oh, it's a jungle then.”

“So it would seem…”

“It's quite moist… But sunny! And, mmm, fresh air!”

Intrigued, Milly approached, walking into view. She found a giant naga, about her size, with pretty ginger hair and an expression of awed joy on her face. Beside her, on the ground, was a bearded human. The two had been talking to each other, but the naga was not restraining the human, who appeared to be staying by her side willingly. They both fell quiet when they saw the giantess.

“Oh, my…” the human exclaimed. The naga tilted her head, looking as curious as Milly felt. Meanwhile, the humans in Milly's hands were still crying and protesting. The ones in her stomach were punching and kicking - a pleasant tickle.

“Hello!” Milly said brightly. “I haven't seen you around here before.”

The naga smiled, cautiously.

“Hello! Uhm, is this… Is this Felarya?”

“It certainly is! You've just arrived then?” Milly's curiosity increased.

“Sort of…” The naga took a deep breath, inhaling the fresh air, and releasing it with a sigh of happiness. “My name's Jissy.” She looked at the giantess, her smile broadening into a grin. “I've come home!”

THE END