Slay the Dragon! Side Stories

[nicktaken]

Spoiler: show

First encounter, page 1
Point of deviation: viewtopic.php?f=23&t=45364#p2422320

"Come out of hiding little one. I promise I won't hurt you if you comply."

Yeah, right. Like that's gonna happen. Kilian thought to himself. There was no way, no way in hell he was going to listen to a dragon. Especially a dragon the lair of which he was very much invading at this very moment and who had been pestered by adventurers not unlike himself for... what was it, a few weeks now? He wasn't that naive. Of course, it was a bad idea to piss off a dragon, but if you had one around, it was best not to show yourself openly. It seemed as though the beast couldn't tell where he was; that was good. He could use that.

Besides, even if he had any intention of giving himself up, she - well, the voice did seem feminine - didn't sound very convincing. He couldn't believe someone who talked down to him like that actually intended to spare him. Nah, she was just baiting him with the promise of safety. Convinced by his own speculation, he felt the wall for a ledge he could hold on to and started climbing. He would definitely prefer being able to see something, but that would also mean the dragon might see him. Sure, the very rocks he clung to did provide cover, but it was anything but perfect. Who knew how sharp the dragon's eyes were? He'd rather not find out.

The higher he went, the harder it became to keep moving. He was in great shape - even if not very well-fed - so he could take it, but it became very problematic once the walls started leaning in and gravity was working entirely against him. Perhaps this wasn't such a great plan after all, but as he hung on with his hands alone, he realized there was no going back. He'd made too much noise trying to descend and reveal his position. And this was good in a sense: the hanging rock formations were going to take him directly over the dragon's head. He'd drop down, grab his dagger mid-air and plunge it straight into its eye. It might not kill the beast, but it would surely be a big step forward for him.

But as all "great plans" did, this one had a flaw. The flaw was in the stalactites he desperately clutched. Still largely unable to see, he gripped the next one along his imaginary path and his hand slipped off, a piece of stone in it. The sudden jerk was enough that his grip on the other didn't hold: he slipped off, breath stuck in his throat. Well, great. He was going to fall to his death. So much for killing a dragon by himself.

His landing was a lot softer than he had expected, but it still knocked the air out of him. As he palmed at the surface beneath him, he found it to be flat, smooth and slightly warm. Oh shit. He struggled to get up, but he'd be too late even if he had done so instantly. The place he landed was the dragon's back.

[DarkPinkie]

Zerechia waited a good amount of time for him to most likely get over his fear or run. But neighter happened. She could still sense his presence but he had yet to show himself.

Oh great, another one of these sneaky types. Rogues and theves always thought they were able to sneak up on her and either deliver a sneak attack, as unlikely as that would actually be that they actually hurt her severly, or to simply sneak in and grab part of her hoard. They where the worst kind of adventurers. The brashy knights or the obnoxious wizards was one thing, but they were usually a lot easier to deal with. A bit of ice breath here, a quick spell there, and ultimately a swipe of her claw dealt with most open adventurers. But sneaks were a lot more slippery.

"I'll give you until the count of three to show yourself before I get annoyed." She bellowed. "One!" She started to try to pinpoint the life force of this sneak. Yet whatever it was he appeared muddled to her. As if he was everywhere and nowhere at once. "Two" Giving up on her more supernatural senses she started relying on her more mundane ones. The slight light of the mana crystal was enough to make everything in the cave as clear as on a bright summer day to her eyes. Looking around the cave she was quite unable to see him, and with her ears being about as good if not worse than a human's she was actually unable to hear him either.

"Two!" Her voice rang through the cave. Yet she was still unable to find him. Whoever this was it seemed to be the sneakiest one so far. Maybe this would actually be the adventurer thst ends her depression... And her life. "Thr-" She started but was interruped when she felt something hit her back. For a moment she believed she had been attacked and that this adventurer had gotten to her. However once the initial shock passed she realised didn't feel like a pointy weapon. In fact the way it moved suggested one thing.

Snarling she bent her long neck around and stared at him. A pair of mana crystals had fallen down with him and lit up as they had been disturbed. She moved her head in close enough where the dim light from the crystals was able to frame her pissed off face. "Three." She said in a serious and annoyed tone. She spent the couple of seconds staring at him. He didn't appear to be well equiped. Only carrying run down rags for clothes and his weapon was only a blunt old dagger laying on her back besides him, possibly dropped in the fall.

In a flurry of movements she decided what to do with him. Her tongue shot from her opening maw quickly wrapping around him almost like a snake. The very long, nimble, warm, and kind of wet muscle easily pinned one of his arms to the side as the tip of large tongue easily as thick as his upper legs lifted him up. Her saliva coating him as she held him up, helplessly in her grip and held him close enough where she could make eye contact. "You mae me do dis." She said, slightly impared as her tongue was busy holding on to him.

A second later she pulled him into her mouth, easily able to accomidate another one his size without an issue. As she unwrapped him a single mana crystal came loose from the tongue, having been snapped up together with him. The one crystal was giving just enough light for Killian to see the inside of her mouth. Her gullet twitching gently as it anticipated him. Her breath could be felt around him like a strong breeze, surpringly enough her breathing out would be cooler than her breathing in. This would last for the span of a couple breaths before she started tossing and turning him with her tongue. As if she was tasting him.

[nicktaken]

He only had time to sit up halfway before he was stuck face to face with a very pissed dragon. At least he imagined she was from the tone she used to count out loudly for him: not only did he have no idea what sort of expression a dragon was supposed to show depending on their emotions, her head was too big and too close for him to actually take all of it in with a single look. For some reason, the thought that crossed his mind in that moment was how exactly did he expect to carry this head - mcuh larger than himself - back to wherever he could claim the bounty. The dragon seemed even bigger up close, but he did see her next to the barbarians. He should have known she was enormous already.

"Um..." He tried to force out as she counted to three. Now that he was seeing a dragon this close up, it was quite scary. Why was he not scared before? Was he crazy? Oh yeah, kinda. But not this crazy, right? What am I thinking about right now?! He questioned himself and rapidly returned to reality. Unfortunately, it wasn't quick enough. "Here I..." He tried to play it off as if he had shown himself before she counted to three, which was technically true, even if not intentional. But his words came out weak and quiet, possibly barely audible behind her own breath, and her mouth opened before he actually finished the sentence, cutting him off completely. Okay, Kilian was now officially terrified. It was one thing thinking about fighting a dragon and another seeing all those huge teeth, some larger than his arms, right in front of his face.

"Ah! Ah! No!" He had instantly devolved into panicked screams as her tongue grabbed him. He tried to struggle against it, but it was useless. His Gift effectively made his limbs immovable against his will, but only on the condition of sufficient foothold. With his whole body scooped up, his strength was only ordinary and desperately insufficient. The tongue consists almost entirely of muscle tissue, his memory kindly offered a relevant bit of trivia. Yeah, thanks, that's very helpful, he answered himself in a sarcastic tone. Surprisingly calmly, even as panicked shouts continued to escape his lips. This was... odd. His mind was cloudy but otherwise calm, but his body thrashed all on its own. I lost my mind from fear, he concluded calmly.

The state of shock didn't last too long though. Soon he found his body and mind working in unison again, and he couldn't say he was happy. He was about to be, no, he was already being eaten. He had no illusions regarding how pleasant that was going to be, and he would have preferred to not feel the agonizing dread and pain that came with. But of course, that just wouldn't be his life, would it? No, even in dying he couldn't get a break. He didn't think much of dying before, but now that he was faced with the immediate prospect, his opinion changed very rapidly. "Fuck this!" He willed himself out of a stupor. He wasn't going to go down without a struggle, at least!

No sooner than he thought that, he realized the futility of his struggle. A strange glowing crystal accompanied him into the dragon's mouth, showing him a picture he would much rather not see. His first reaction was to look deeper into her mouth. Nope, bad idea, he realized, rolling over to see the solid wall of massive white teeth. Yeah, there was no way he could break even one of those, certainly not in this awkward position. Just as he thought there was no harm in trying, his ability to move on his own was taken away by her tongue, which started to toss him around the mouth.

His world was one wet, slimy and surprisingly cold mess. Only a couple of seconds passed before he could hardly tell which way was up and down, and whether he was trying to move his left or right arm. It was complete chaos. He was being tossed, turned and rolled around, one edge to another, front to back. It came to mind that it might be a good idea to try and grab her tongue to get at least some kind of stability, which he proceeded to do. Except it was so slimy that he constantly had to readjust his grip just to soften the force of her playing with him. At a few points he thought he managed to kick at her teeth from the inside, but that hardly helped anything. At this point he was just being petty with his attempts to hurt her; it was obvious he was completely at her mercy.

[DarkPinkie]

Despite being such a sneak the dragoness decided he at least tasted pretty good. She almos made sure to keep her teeth closed in case he got any brilliant ideas. It wasn't long until she could feel him gripping her tongue to hold himself steady. Zerechia mentally smirked at this. No longer able to toy with him and extract more of his delicious taste she got another idea. Slowing her tossing down just a little bit she waited until he got a good grip around her tongue. The muscle easily as thick as his torso on the thicker parts, yet was quite comically small compared to the mouth it resided in.

Once he had a good grip around it she leaned her head back, angling her snout backwards as she slowly tiled it up towards the roof of the cave. As she did, the crystal that had been stuck between two teeth while she had thrown the man about started sliding back into the mouth until it vanished down the throat, hiding everything in darkness except for the gullet, as for a brief moment that was the only thing visible. But even that turned into pure darkness a moment later. All that was left was him struggling to hold on to the slick muscle as gravity constantly pulled at him to join the crystal.

She did hold her tongue still to give him a fair chance, but even so she was taking great enjoyment in how he struggled, ever so slowly sliding further back in her mouth. Once Zerechia thought he was far enough away from the rim she opened her mouth and sent a pulse of magic causing the crystals in the stalagtites to light up, giving him the ability to see in the mouth. Even so he was managing to hold on surprisngly long until he reached the back of her mouth. It seemed he was at the end of the ropes. As soon as his feet reached her gullet it twitched, lodging it inside before starting to tug him downwards. She was holding herself from swallowing and instead only to rely on gravity and her throat's natural tug to pull him in.

Hed sink past the ring of muscle, like he was stuck in fast acting quicksand. But eventually the man passed into the gullet taking asay even the faint light of the crystals. As he slowly sank down the throat it got colder and colder, until he passed a small lump that was ice cold at which the cool began to be replaced with a gentle warmth. Even if she held herself from swallowing, his trip through her throat only lasted about a minute. In the end of it he was deposited in a fleshy sack about the size of her large mouth but constantly growing and contracting as she breathed. The crystal was also here shining it's light on the lone occupant. At the bottom end of the sack was another muscular ring, leading deeper into her body.

As he was in there her voice spoke up, it sounded as if it came from everywhere. "Welcome to the crop little thief. There you will stay until I decide to make you my dinner. You are lucky I just had lunch. Now you get to spend a few hours inside of a magnificent dragon. That is before I digest you and add you to myself." The voice was muffled theough the flesh, but easily loud enough were he could hear it. The chuckle that came afterwards was quite loud too. Then the whole area shifted as the dragoness laid her head down to rest.

[nicktaken]

By the time he realized the tongue was moving more slowly his fingers were already aching from the strain. He had already proven he could hold himself up with his hands alone previously, and her tongue was definitely a lot easier on the skin than rock. It wasn't actually the effort of trying to hold himself still, it was just tension brought on by panic and fear. His whole body was tense, in fact, muscles creaking from involuntary contraction as his body continued its desperate struggle for survival. Of course, the irony of it was that this overexertion only made things worse. He was already feeling tired despite not having done much of anything. It wouldn't take much more of the same before his endurance got exhausted and he could no longer perform any but the most basic movements.

Which was exactly why the unexpected calm felt like a blessing from the skies. He was able to take a few deep breaths and just barely calm himself. She promised to spare him if he had come out on his own in the first place and she gave him a chance until she counted to three after. Perhaps she was going to spare him? Perhaps this was just her teaching him a lesson? A rather cruel but certainly effective method. He let out a quiet chuckle as his mind instantly substituted the actual reality for a desired one. He was going to live! This was the first time in his life that simple thought brought him such joy. Even if his life was absolute crap, as long as he was alive, he could still do anything. And he certainly wasn't going to mess with any dragons again; lesson learned!

These thoughts were the reason he didn't notice the change in position straight away. Rather, he refused to believe it. How could the dragon be so cruel? Giving him a glimmer of hope only to take it away? "No, no, no, no, no!" Kilian stammered out, trying desperately to grab onto her tongue more tightly. He knew it was futile, but what else could he do? Her teeth would be less slippery, probably. Yeah, that was worth a shot. He tried to reach out for one but ended up almost slipping down instead as the surrounding mouth leaned further and further back. Clutching onto her tongue with both hands, he knew he had to try again. Holding onto the slimy soft muscle would only delay the inevitable, and only for a bit. He knew he had to try again, but his hands refused to let go. His fingers, probably white from strain, tried hopelessly to hold himself up. Probably? He asked himself and suddenly realized he was in complete darkness again. He realized the crystal providing him with light had slipped down and disappeared into her gullet at some point, a fate that certainly awaited him if he didn't... Do what?! Unfortunately, there was no one to answer his silent query.

As he slipped further and further down, desperately trying to crawl back up her slippery tongue, he saw light coming from above. She had opened her mouth slightly and through the two rows of teeth he could see the roof of the cave, some of the previously dark stalactites alight with an odd shine. They provided enough light that he saw he had slid pretty far back. Even knowing it was a bad idea, he couldn't help but point his face down, only to see his feet slip past her mouth and where her throat started. He instantly felt the flesh there pull at him, making him sink deeper and completely negating his attempts at holding on. It barely made a difference now. "Nonononononono..." He chanted to himself, attempting to pull his ankles out in vain. If he couldn't hold on against gravity alone, what hope did he have of gaining ground while being pulled under? None, obviously.

Within seconds his waist was captured as well. Holding onto the tongue was useless, so he attempted to push against something else. Except there wasn't anything to push against. He tried desperately to grab on to anything at all, but it all ended with about as much success as this whole plan had. The further he slipped into her gullet the faster he went along. It was only when his shoulders were barely above the greedy circle of muscle that fear suddenly gave way to clarity of mind. "Please! Don't! I'm sorry!" He shouted, but even if his words were heard and had an effect, he was a little too late in saying them. He sunk completely within the next second, what faint light was coming from above hidden away by the dragon's flesh surrounding him.

As he ended up in complete darkness, Kilian instantly found himself quietly crying. It wasn't supposed to go this way. This isn't fair. Why always me? Those thoughts were the ones running through his head as his felt himself sliding down the fleshy prison. He didn't even try to struggle anymore. He was exhausted, and besides, what was the point? He could do nothing before, and there was absolutely nothing to even try holding on to here. That and it felt even slimier. These thoughts were interrupted when the chill around him finally got through to his bones and psyche. Why was it so cold here? Wasn't it inside a living creature? Soaked with her saliva and what not, he felt like he might actually freeze to death like that. Well, at least it wouldn't be too painful, right? He'd just be very cold and then fall asleep, especially if he didn't fight it.

But even that little bit of mercy was taken from him. The strange cold started growing distant and then disappeared somewhere beyond the muscles of the dragon's gullet. It was replaced with a warmth much more appropriate for a living being, especially the insides of one. His body welcomed the change; his mind despaired over it. Why can I not at least have an easy death?! He complained to nobody in particular, sobbing quietly. Not that freezing was particularly easy, but it was likely better than the alternative. Before long he limply slid out into a larger chamber, having neither the physical nor mental strength to move anymore. His good friend the shining crystal from before was already waiting for him. Friend? Yeah right. What good was being able to see where he was? There were only fleshy and slimy muscles all around him, unceremoniously pushing him around a bit with each breath the dragon took.

And then she decided to mock him. To remind him of the awaiting doom that he was all too painfully aware of. It was at that point that it hit him. She hadn't swallowed him. No, sure enough, he was inside her, in the crop, whatever that was. Probably like a second stomach or something. But she didn't swallow while eating him. She was letting gravity, the natural mild pulsation of her throat muscles, and - to a lesser extent - his own struggles do all the work. She had been toying with him the whole time. In fact, he couldn't even be sure she really didn't see him, instead of misleading him into thinking he had the drop on her. And had he not fallen himself, she probably would have caught him in her mouth once he jumped. This erased any semblance of doubt that she had no intention of sparing him no matter what he did from the very start. His only hope had been to run away, if she'd let him, as this dragon hadn't once attempted to leave the cave despite being attacked regularly. But it was too late to regret that now, wasn't it?

For about fifteen minutes he just laid there, weeping quietly, letting her body move him about as it saw fit. Then he forced himself to get up through anger. He wasn't going to give up and die. Unfortunately, all of his attempts at striking the walls of this crop were laughable: there was no footing to be had, and even if there was, would it really inconvenience a dragon much? She'd probably be more discomforted if she stuffed herself. Desperate, he attempted to bite at the fleshy walls, but it ended with nothing, as well. Between the layer of slime, the flesh being slippery and the natural toughness of the muscle all he managed to do was almost dislocate his jaw, with nothing even remotely similar to actually harming her.

"I give up." He told his little companion, lying down next to it again. For some time, he couldn't tell how long, he just stayed still. Well, as still as he could in a constantly shifting meaty sack. There was nothing to do, really. Nothing but resign himself to being a dragon's lunch. It seemed as though his body was, for a change, in agreement with his mind. Having already been eaten, his survival instincts seemed to have died down. All part of nature, probably - it wouldn't do for food to rebel against its purpose. And that was what he was, now. Ever since... however long ago he decided he could try killing a dragon.

"Well, I guess it could be worse." He said, a little surprised to hear himself believe it. "Better than falling victim to a wolf pack or some bandits." There was no need to talk, but he was desperate for some sound besides the thumping of the dragon's heart and the gurgling of some other organs around him; probably the stomach which he believed the next ring of muscles led to. But his own voice did not make a good substitute. He never really had a problem with it before, as he had been alone for years, but now? Facing imminent death inside another living being? He desperately felt like he wanted someone to answer. Someone else. And, well, there weren't many people to choose from, now were there?

"Uh... miss dragon? Can you hear me?" He tried the waters. "If you can, I just wanted to say... I'm sorry about before."

[DarkPinkie]

There the dragoness lay, taking deep breaths as she rested. Her eyes shifted around the cave seeing the barbarians, muted and trapped behind the stone pillar were she left them for tomorrow's lunch and dinner, in case another adventurer party didn't come. Inside her she could feel the shifting of her newest snack as he was waiting for her to finish digesting the frozen lunch she had.

As she lay there she was unable to detect anyone else entering the cave. After three parties in a row that didn't come back out was going to make the others think twice. Granted one of them had been alone. With the knowledge that she wouldn't be disturbed she let her eyes drift close as she was going to rest her eyelids a bit.

As the dragon fell asleep her insides would start to change. Her heartbeat, normally very slow and methodical would start to pick up in speed. Her breathing shortened into short ragged breath's and she would start shifting around, murmurring in her sleep. It would only be ten minutes before her eyes flew open and her body would start to calm down. Always the night terrors.

Soon her body had gone back to normal and she started resting again, determined to not fall asleep and relive that same horrid memory again. As she rested she could hear the human in her crop speak yet she didn't listen. It wasn't until she heard him adress her personally that she actually started paying attention. His words caused her to raise an eyebrow, nearly chuckling as she did.

"Are you sorry that you attacked me, that you failed, or that you had the stupid idea to go after a dragon in the first place?" She replied with a hint of sarcasm. Que the begging for his life. At least she could perhaps squeeze some enjoyment out of this poor sap of a human before it was his turn in her tum. Her stomach gurgled loudly working the previously frozen solid adventurers over, already well on the way in their digestion.

Tsking the dragon rolled her eyes. "Had you showed yourself when I first asked I would have let you live. Even if you gave away your position while I counted I may have let you go after toying with you and giving you a taste. But I have a zero tolerance for mortals attacking me. No motter how innefficient." She said rather annoyed. "By the way. Your dagger is so dull it wouldn't even pierce my eyes. Perhaps you should have found a blacksmith to sharpen it for you." She added before chuckling. Holding the tiny metal object in her claws she got an idea to once more toy sith the human. Tossing the dull blade inside her mouth she swallowed it. Along with a large glob of drool. It was highly unlikely he could even hurt her insides with it. Anything less than enchanted weaponry usually stod little chance against a dragon, both outside, and inside.

[nicktaken]

Kilian certainly didn't like the tone of her question, but there was little he could do about it. Not inside her stomach. Or crop, whatever. "All three, but I meant intruding on your home." He answered, feeling annoyed and a bit surprised at himself. He was pretty convinced he wasn't going to feel anything anymore, now that he resigned himself to death, but apparently not. Taking a second to double check his thoughts - which coincided with her stomach loudly rumbling just beneath him - he concluded fear was still not part of the equation. That was odd, but he wasn't about to complain. He had already experienced greater fear than he could imagine today, and he suspected he might once again before long. There was probably a saying about it, but he didn't care to try remembering one.

"Yeah, I don't believe you." He responded plainly. "You enjoyed tormenting me at every step. Had I shown myself, you'd have pretended to keep your promise until I was convinced I could leave and then probably done the same thing." He accused her of trickery without reservations. What was there for him to feel uncertain about? What more could she do? Continue to mock him, apparently, as he noticed her moving about and then discovered his dagger joining him inside the crop. He already knew what the result would be, but he couldn't just sit still. He picked up the weapon and tried to jab it into the side of his fleshy prison. As expected, the tip could do no more than harmlessly slide off. He didn't even bother trying the blade: he had this stolen dagger for a while and knew it could barely cut anything anymore.

"Do you seriously have nothing better to do?" He spoke haughtily. "You've already eaten me alive. There's nothing I can do. It's only a question of time until you digest me. And you still try to toy with me? Fuck you, you shitty lizard. You overrated giant leather sack. Mutant offspring of a turtle and a chicken. That's right, your mom's a chicken and your dad's a turtle. And you're an overgrown freak. Oh, what's that? You don't like it? Well, what are you gonna do, eat me?!" He ended in a shout and kicked the closest fleshy wall, which caused him to slip and fall over. It took him a few seconds to realize that he had started sobbing again. The fear hadn't returned, but it just felt so stupid. He felt so stupid for ever thinking he might be better off dead. He didn't want to die.

He stayed quiet for another couple of minutes before the silence became unbearable again. "So what did you do for the king to put a price on your head anyway?"

[DarkPinkie]

"Hah! So far I have offered to talk with everyone that have come in here and so far no-one seem to ha listened to me. I would have honored my word even if it would not impress me that you actually listened." She growled back. "Besides I only play with the poor saps who are not genuinely a threat but still thinks they can take me on. Show them how horribly wrong they are in their ssumptions before I make them my latest snack. Just like you who thought you could attack me from above. Pathetic."

As he started ranting she got pissed. Like really pissed. "Oh so that's how it is. I can agree that my mother was as cowardly as a chicken. But my father was a most radiant silver dragon, and his legacy is not to be slandered." She growled rather loudly, no doubt audible to the adventurers outside her cave. With it her heartbeat picked up as her rage grew. "I planned to cough you up so I could study how you masked your life force from me, but now you're a dead man. Using some magic she sped up her stomach's digestion of the former adventurers. "You better make peace with yourself because you're going into the stomach in just a few minutes rather than a few hours."

As the magic aided the acids in the stomach the gurgling from it was insane. The dragon was far from happy. Even more so the mortal had had the gall to insult her. She was breathing heavily as she sarted venting her anger. Then came the question. Blinking she stopped. Her anger diffusing. "I dunno. Slept on private hunting grounds or something. Shouted at some solders as they woke me." She was usure. What had caused the bounty on her he- "Wait! Bounty!?" She said utterly confused. "I though the adventurers where after my scales and my hoard!" Her stomach once more gurgled loudly as it was drained of the previous adventurers.

With her stomach emptied it growled at her to fill it once more. "Well little sneak, seems like I'm done with the previous adventurers. Once inside there is no way for me to cough you up, and speaking will probably not be a thing. Good bye sneak. You should have listened to me." She taunted before a sound similar to a swallow reverbated through her body. The bottom muscle on the crop opened up pulling Kilian into the short tube down to the next chamber.

The caustic air inside the new chamber that Kilian got dropped into was stuffy and hard to breathe. It also stank of the dragon's digestive juices which pooled along the bottom. Luckily, or perhaps unluckily the glowing crystal seemed to have followed him all the way inside here, giving him vision of the fetid chamber. Now with him in there his fate as dragon chow was set in stone.

[nicktaken]

"You... did?" Kilian asked in disbelief as she mentioned planning to let him out, if only he hadn't insulted her. No! What have I done?! Wait, no, no... she's just messing with me again. Like she had never planned on letting me go... He told himself. It worked, sort of. It helped not regret having insulted the accursed dragon. It didn't change the fact that he was still going to get digested. A few hours sooner or later - what was the difference? He realized she gave herself away: even if she really did cough him up to study.... whatever it was she said, she'd eat him afterward. He'd seen some assholes in his time, but this dragon was by far the worst of them. The physical torture that humans resorted to was bad. The mental torture of repeatedly having the promise of your life dangled in front of your face and stripped away was worse.

"You really take after your parents, don't you? Stupid and slow." He mocked the dragon again, which was the only thing left for him to do. "Threatening someone you basically killed already with death? How long did it take you to come up with that idea?" Still, the noises from her stomach suddenly growing a lot more frequent and loud unsettled him. He was keeping a strong front, but that was just out of stubbornness and defiance. "You never intended to let me go from the start, did you." He accused the dragon in a melancholic tone. "It was all just one big game for you, wasn't it. All a ruse. Give me hope and take it away. Time and again. So fun to watch someone desperate and powerless struggle, isn't it. It's not like I ever had a chance of actually harming you. You damn monster."

He dropped his face into his hands and started crying again. It wasn't silent weeping or terrified sobbing like before. It wasn't out of fear - that had yet to return, and he hoped it wouldn't. It was out of frustration at everything. He was letting out all the pain and bitterness he accumulated. He was bawling his eyes out, as loudly and angrily as he could. It wasn't like he'd have to live with the embarrassment that he cried like a little girl. He had everything. His life was pretty much perfect - and then he lost it all to a crime he did not commit. For years he struggled to survive, fought so hard for any opportunity to get his old life back. Or at least start a new one. If only he could have started over. And now it was all going to end.

As the crop started contracting and pushing him toward its bottom, Kilian realized something. I'm okay with dying. He was surprised at how calm his thoughts sounded, considering tears and snot continued to flow out from his eyes and nose respectively. His body, on the other hand, was in disagreement again. "No, no, please, no, please, I beg you!" His mouth pleaded almost against his will. Well, it wasn't like he wanted to die, after all, he was just used to the idea. "I was panicked! I didn't really mean that!" In his defense, it was kind of true. It's not like many people would remain calm after getting swallowed alive. But his pleas fell on deaf ears.

Being sucked into the fleshy tube was almost a familiar feeling, except this one was hotter and shorter than her throat. As he got squeezed through, the young man found himself dropping into a shallow pool of acid. He quickly stood up and took a breath, immediately starting to cough from the air in here. Well, all things considered, it was probably strange how it smelled just a bit stuffier and more humid than the outside in her crop. "Now what?" He asked himself, wiping his face and then covering his nose and mouth to offset the air. It wasn't that difficult to stand as long as he stayed still and held one hand against the wall. And it was also entirely safe, for the time being anyway.

However, what was he supposed to do at this point? He could lay down and get digested peacefully - relatively speaking - but like hell he was going to do that. Not for this crappy dragon. But what could he do? The entrance above him was one-way: he tried and quickly realized he couldn't force it open. The exit... that would be suicide, wouldn't it? It was under a layer of her stomach acid, which meant there would be plenty inside, as well, but with no room to avoid it. Staying here was obviously not going to help.

"Well, then." He said aloud for no real reason. "Hey! Dragon! Can you still hear me?" He paused for a moment. "What's your name?" He decided to ask, not sure if she even heard or was going to respond. But what did he have to lose by trying?

[DarkPinkie]

Having sped up her lunch and now having an early dinner the dragoness simply laid down calmly. She could hear the human speaking in her tum, but the words were to muffled for her to properly understand. But it mattered little to her. "Stupid inconsiderate mortals. First they take everything important from me then they dare insult me and my heritage." She grumbled as she once more tried resting.

No longer using her magic on her stomach her digestion wouldn't be rushed, but she was certain that the human wouldn't be able to stay away for all too long. Though they way the squirmed while the did always felt good, in an odd way. But there was going to be pain, and the man did appologize at least. Feeling just the tiniest bit of guilt she cast a quick spell aimed at the human in her stomach. "There, at least he won't have to deal with the pain of being melted alive." She said with a nod as she finished her painkiller spell.

With nothing else to really occupy her mind she once more returned to lazily count the new coins added to her hoard out loud. Not that knowing how much was added mattered considering she had no idea how much the hoard was to begin with. But it gave her something to do. Something to focus on so that she wouldn't have to deal with the nightmares.

[nicktaken]

He didn't keep just standing around very long. His attempts were futile, for certain, but he couldn't just give up. Well, it was more for peace of mind than anything, really. He wasn't going to get out of the dragon's stomach, he knew that much, but at least he could tell himself he tried. He attempted to climb back out into the crop a few times. To no avail, naturally. The fleshy gate was only supposed to move things in one direction, and even as he managed to get his hands into the slippery tube just a tiny bit, there was nothing for him to hold on to. That and if he did manage to start climbing back, the force could be enough to crush his rib cage. If he ever did get to that point. Which he wouldn't.

The other exit was similarly inaccessible. Not only would it do nothing to get him away from stomach acids - instead trapping him in a tight tube smothered in such - he couldn't get in there, either. That path wasn't meant for solid foods, after all, only bits significantly softened and broken up by the stomach. That wasn't him, at least not yet. But he was going to be, at some point. After some minutes of trying each exit in futility, and kicked the stomach walls out of spite, Kilian just sat down. There was nothing more he could do.

It wasn't like he only realized it just then, but the dragon never did answer him. Did she not wish to speak to him anymore, or did she not hear him at all? Regardless, her stomach was hard at work trying to digest him, having gone from one meal to another. He had been keeping himself safe by only letting his limbs go into the foul-smelling acid, as much as he could anyway, but he only had to take a look at his clothes. Actually, he didn't even have to do that. Apart from several smaller holes here and there, his sleeves and pant legs were significantly shorter than prior to his being eaten, and all that remained of his shoes were several pieces of old leather floating about. About the same was going to happen to him.

"I don't know if you can hear me. But I'm sorry. Honestly. I mean, I'm not really expecting you to let me out at this point or anything..." He sighed heavily. Even if he was just talking to himself, he felt like saying it. "I mean, I never even bothered to question why there was a bounty on you in the first place. Maybe you're like me, wrongly accused." The dragon did seem sincerely surprised to hear there was a price on her head, so perhaps she was misunderstood. That would have been easy, considering. Or maybe someone just wanted to be safe from a dragon settling this close to people without risking the army to drive it off. Nobody would criticize a king for bounty hunters dying en masse; after all, it was their choice.

Once the majority of his clothes had been melted away, he wondered why there was no pain still. Was she still just teaching him a lesson and not actually digesting him? The answer came as soon as he looked at his arm and fear struck his heart again. Nope, she was digesting him for real. A lot of his skin was gone, the acids approaching his muscle tissue in some places. But it didn't hurt at all. As for the reason, well, there was only one answer. Perhaps she had been kinder than he assumed. Perhaps if he had just listened to her, she'd have let him go free. Not that he had much use for that freedom.

Still, seeing himself slowly melt away was terrifying. With little hesitation, he grabbed the glowing crystal and showed it into the bottom exit from her stomach. It was small enough that it passed through easily, and he leaned against the slowly pulsating walls again in complete darkness. "Thank you. Truly, thank you." He said softly, feeling gratitude for being relieved of what would have been unimaginable pain. Of course, he would rather not be getting digested in the first place, but he supposed he had nobody but himself to blame.

Besides, with the feeling of pain taken from him and no direct awareness of the process, it was almost pleasant. The air was caustic, sure, but he had sort of grown used to it. It wasn't even that bad if he took smaller breaths, now that he was sitting still, and the lack of discomfort from her spell probably helped. But other than that, it was like a weird hot bath. With constantly moving soft walls and floor, a liquid significantly more viscous than water, and various loud gurgles her body made around him, but he wouldn't call it entirely unpleasant. He might even enjoy this, if he wasn't being broken down into a nutrient solution by her gastric juices.

Wishing to reciprocate her small kindness, he continuously moved his hands and feet along the wrinkly surface around him. He wasn't sure if she would even feel that, but he wanted to at least let her know he appreciated the partial mercy she showed him. With death imminent, all of his anger and bitterness was just irrelevant. Dying while fighting a dragon wasn't the worst way to go, really. Details aside, it sounded quite heroic. And adding to one such majestic creature wasn't the most useless end a person could have. He had entertained himself with such thoughts and attempting to strike up a conversation with his devourer a few times while his body gradually grew numb. Rather, there was simply less for him to feel.

He could feel his consciousness start to fade alongside physical sensations before his survival instinct had a chance to get him to struggle once more and fill him with terror. Well, that's lucky, for once.

That was the last thing he thought.

[DarkPinkie]

The dragon spent quite a long time trying to get some rest after swallowing the human. Looking at the futile terrified struggles of the barbarians was only funny for so long. At least the man she had swallowed seem to have settled down. His voice reaching her ears as a quiet muffled mess. At least he didn't seem to be shouting anymore. She was even surprised to feel him against the side of her stomach. What was he doing? Rubbing himself against the walls? Crazy humans. She scoffed amusedly.

But only so much amusement could be gained. With eaving approaching she settled down to rest, perhaps even get just a tiny bit of sleep. Most adventurers tended to leave her alone during the night. A few times waking from nightmares. But overall she did perhaps get an hour of sleep that night.

Hours later just at the crack of dawn she decided on what to do. She have had enough of this kingdom. Wll these people came for her for nothing but simple greed. They didn't want to become the knight that slew or tamed the beast. They just wants piles of gold and silver. And they didn't even sleep on it! Instead she decided to go somewhere where the mortals respected her. An island where the people wore cloth made out of gold. Perhaps she could disguise herself and offer herself up as one of their sacrifices? Though she would have to stick around a few months but at least it sounded like a more worthy way to go than to be a simple cashgrab.

Packing up her hoard in her portable hole she locked it in place in it's usual space behind her neck. Seeing as she was leaving the cave she gave it a quick look atound before smirking. She still had her barbarian breakfast. Showing the poor, tired mortals what exactly was going to happen to them through articulate gestures. Right afterwards she simply ate them one by one.

With the barbarians secured in her tummy she quickly made her way out of the cave, surprised at the camp outside it, but took to the wing and flew southwards her stomach gurgling loudly as it was processing the muscled men.

A couple hours later she felt another buildup in her backside. With a sigh she landed in a forest clearing. "Geez. Had enough of my insides mortals?" She comented in draconic as she raised her tail slightly. With a quick grunt of effort out came a log of dragon waste. The soft thick log started coiling as it built up in a pile. Once the pile was about the size of a couple of average adult humans it stopped. With a final massive burst of gas that sounded almost like a thunderclap she was done. Not even taking the time to inspect it she spread her wings anew and took to the sky, leaving behind the brown mess. The only things visible that wasn't a uniform brown was a pair of bladed metal weapons and a glowing crystal.

[nicktaken]

Spoiler: show

Depression and anger - Page 8
Point of deviation: viewtopic.php?f=23&t=45364&start=140#p2433661

"I told you time and again not to underestimate the magic mortals can come up with. I said we should prepare to face the blood mage. I warned you not to fall for the goading of a person you should already have known to be bad news. But you just ignored all of that." He continued more dryly. "And it was you, not her, who almost killed me twice. I appreciate your help so far, but I am not dying for your arrogance." He concluded. "Good luck with... whatever it is you're going to do from now on." He gave her a short wave and started walking away.

Back to square one, he thought as he tried not to stumble. He ached all over after her hit, and he could use medical attention, but, well, that was nothing new, really. He had first come after Zerechia not as much for the bounty, as he knew how unrealistically small his chance of actually claiming it was, but to go out fighting. His life was ruined due to a crime he did not commit. He was the only survivor, dammit, not the perpetrator! But nobody would listen. What followed was several years of absolute misery. He was tired of it, enough that he thought to end it all.

Now that he stepped onto the brink of death, though, he changed his mind. Perhaps it was just base animal instincts, but he didn't feel like dying. He would rather continue clinging to this pathetic existence, whether he could realistically turn it around or not. Yes, it was highly improbable. Yes, it would take him a lot of time and effort. But there was hope for as long as he lived. On the other hand, if he died... well, that would be it. No more anything. He'd rather keep struggling for a bit longer.

[DarkPinkie]

The disguised dragon was just stunned by his words. The way he told her that he was right and she was wrong was aggrevating her. She had been worried for him, her tears still wet on her cheeks. And to top it all off he decided to simply walk away on her. She was left hurt, sad, and confused. What was she to do? All she could do was stare into his back as he walked away from her.

It wasn't until he was out of sight that her mind had a proper reboot. Realizing that he had just left her because of a mistake made her angry. "It's not like mortals don't make mistakes all the time, oh no. They are just too perfect to make mistakes." She said to herself.

She took a few minutes thinking over what to do. Eventually she settled for something simple. She generally was quite unforgiving to mortals that crossed her, with the possible exception of the dwarves. Being hailed as a godess does tend to make one a bit mercyful. But this human had just upped an walked out on her. Already feeling her magic returning to her she was hatching a plan to teach him a lesson about playing with the feelings of dragons.

Setting off the way he walked off she eventually found him a while later. The way he was sort of limping did suggest he was in quite the bit of pain, but even though it caused her to wince she had set her mind of teaching him the lesson. But she wasn't so sure she wasn't going to feel guilty about it. Using her weak magic she cast a simple spell. the same one she used a couple of days prior to silence some unruly brutes, but this time whe focused it on her feet. Using the silence she was able to more easily sneak up on him. Once in reach she grabbed at his arms, using her raw strength to keep them pinned to his sides. "You know what Kilian. I decided that I'm not going to let you just walk away on me. No. I'm going to teach you a lessons about playing with the feelings of a lady and then I'm going to keep you for myself, forever." She said. Alright, that did totally not come out as crazy. Or maybe it did, it mattered little. Kilian was going to be hers and there was nothing he could do about it.

[nicktaken]

Kilian did not look back as he walked while carefully nursing his side. It wasn't that he didn't want to or didn't care enough to think of it. Quite the contrary: he knew that if he started looking back, he would start doubting his decision. What was the point of walking away now after sticking with her through the worst of it? Just the fear that the worst was actually yet to come. Her adversary's tactics left the dragon almost powerless, which... Actually, he wondered why that witch chose this specific moment to attack. Why not do so straight out of the cave, when Zerechia was completely devoid of her magic? Only reason he could come up with was, this Casandra character had managed to actually absorb some of the power she drained from the dragon, and wished to do so for as long as she could. Except then they sort of came up with a counter-measure, so she must have decided it was now or never.

Incidentally, that meant his former companion would no longer be controlled or as helpless - not that she truly was, just comparatively - from this point on. Which meant he'd be at less risk should they run into someone hostile again, not more. On the other hand, he was giving up on the best chance he ever had of getting his life back for the sake of potentially not dying. Even though just a bit of rotten luck, like being unable to find a doctor willing to treat him or running into bounty hunters before he recovered, would surely put an end to his life. Both issues the dragon would most certainly be able to help with, one way or another. The stupidity of his own decision was astounding. He got scared and ran away with his tail between his legs, stupidly walking away from the best chance he had and into even more danger. How dumb was that? That was what he got for listening to his bloated sense of self-preservation. It just couldn't account for companions; that was what his apparently empty head was for.

Just as he considered turning around and heading back to apologize, hoping he'd be able to find her at all, someone forcefully grabbed him from behind. The first thing in his head was pain; whoever it was wasn't being very gentle. "Agh!" He grunted with his teeth clenched, his ribs none too happy for the sudden constriction. The second thought was how someone managed to sneak up on his so perfectly with all this grass around; he should have been able to tell the rustling from someone's steps from other ambient noise. The third was realization that the hands holding him were both slender and impossibly strong; seems the dragon decided to find him first. Of course, the voice gave her away a couple of moments prior to that, but it didn't register through the surprise and pain.

"That really hurts!" He stammered out, trying not to whimper as he struggled to get free. He was none to pleased to discover that he couldn't. Well, after she had shown off carrying that scale with one arm without issue, compared to him who was winded after a few minutes of tugging it along, it wasn't really surprising. "Playing? Ow! What are you on about?" He tried to turn his head to get a look at her face. His torso was about as stuck as his arms around it. He did manage to catch a glimpse of her face out of the corner of his eyes, even if it required him to almost twist his neck. What he saw wasn't very encouraging. It was definitely her, but there was a strange look to her eyes. They almost seemed glazed over, as if they were turned inward rather than looking around. The eyes of a someone obsessed with an idea to the point of madness.

"Zerechia? What are you doing?" He asked, feeling somewhat scared. She had already proven how much power she held over him when she almost murderer him while trying to resist the blood magic. If she used her strength willingly, well, it was probably going to be much more dangerous. As she was sorting of proving again by completely ignoring the fact he was trying to push against the ground with his legs to get away and she didn't even seem to notice.

[DarkPinkie]

She stared at his head. What she had in store for him was not going to be pleasant. At least not in his current state. "Oh are you in pain? Let me fix that for you." A quick low powered spell later and the pain of his wounds wouldn't be an issue any more. Granted the wounds would still be very much there, just not painful anymore. "There. Now everything is just... Perfect." She said sounding almost sinister. She was going to make him all hers and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Oh what am I doing? Oh nothing. Just holding you still to make it easier on me." She did feel him push against her and she was rather impressed with the resistance he was putting up, but she didn't show it. She looked into his eye eith her own. Her pupils shrunk to pinpricks as she simply smiled at him. Leaning forward she took a deep sniff of his hair. He would most certainly do. "If you don't fight it it will be easier on both of us... Well mostly on you, but." She began but didn't bother finishing. Instead she simply tested her yaw. Seeing the lousy articulation in it she added another spell from her youth, making her skin and muscles a lot more stretchy. Now it wouldn't stop when she opened it. But even that wouldn't be entirely enough.

So she did yet another spell, for someone who was drained of magic just half an hour ago she was able to apply quite a bit of it here. With her eyes focused on him she forced her magical will on his body, while she had to push a lot more than she ever had done against other mortals she eventually broke the resistances and he started shrinking in her grip. At least until he stopped at around the size of a preteen child. Pushing through his resistances had drained her reserves. She was unsure about pushing herself any further as she didn't want to knock herself out as that would probably just end in him killing her in her sleep.

Now with her spells active she looked down at the now smaller Killian. "That will have to do." She said with a tired sigh. "Time to make you mine forever." She laughed meanacingly as she lifted the small man up. Stretching her jaw open she took in his head. Nearly choking on his unkept hair but was able to solve that issue with a slathering of saliva. That's when she begun gulping. It was slow going. Every inch was a battle as he was still slightly to large for her disguised body to handle. Yet she kept going. With every gulp and every tug a little more of Kilian vanished down her throat. His clothes had a very dry and earthy taste to it. It sort of disgusted her, but the flavour of any and all exposed skin was really good and almost made up for his horrid clothes.

[nicktaken]

As the feeling of pain vanished from his body Kilian couldn't help but feel a bit relieved, but at the same time the way she phrased it left him very worried. "Perfect? What are you talking about?" He asked again, struggling a little harder and instantly realizing that it was just the pain that was gone. He was still very much hurt otherwise, he guessed that much from his side felt as he tried to squirm some more. Of course; there was no way a spell to actually heal him could have been cast so quickly and effortlessly. Not even by a dragon, or at least not one who was suffering from having her magic almost completely drained until very recently.

"What will be easier?" He was starting to actually freak out at this point. She kept talking in circles and he knew it wasn't by coincidence; whatever it was she had in mind she deliberately avoided telling him. And seeing how forceful she was being with him, he kind of doubted it was something he'd enjoy. Her smile did not seem cheerful at all. No, it was more sinister than anything. Like whatever she was thinking of would be nice, but only to one of the parties involved. He could definitely tell when she leaned forward to take a sniff of him, her nose almost touching his hair, and he heard another noise he couldn't quite place. Perhaps he might fathom a guess about her intentions if he hadn't missed her words when she declared her intention originally, but it was halfway muddled by a sensation of pain in his sides and halfway by his thoughts that it probably wasn't good.

He didn't have much time to continue struggling as he felt some spell being cast on him. His Gift instantly came into play, evident by the sensation in his arms, doing its job on its own. He was not okay with this. Perhaps if she had at least told him what was it she meant to do, but... Without really knowing what he was doing or if it made a difference, he made a conscious effort to resist whatever magic was supposed to affect him. For a while it seemed to be working - he really couldn't tell without knowing what the spell was supposed to do - but then he started to notice something changing. His perspective seemed to start changing, and her hands on his arms felt like they were growing a bit bigger. As he looked around he realized what was happening: he was shrinking in size, somehow. It was the dragon doing it, rather, and it seemed she had enough power to actually break through what he used to consider basically flawless magic resistance.

"Alright, very funny." Kilian sighed heavily, finding himself a lot shorter than what he was used to. Hopefully this was the lesson she meant to teach him. The words that followed did not sounds too promising though. "What do you mean?" His voice shook slightly just before she lifted him up. Still held from behind and unable to take a proper look at her, he was hoping whatever he was thinking of wasn't what she actually intended to do. That small hope was shattered when he found his head shoved into her mouth. Rather, his head was suddenly engulfed by something moist, dark and warm, with a snaky thing moving beneath it - and only a second later he realized it was her mouth and tongue. This wasn't normal. How could she be doing this, even physically? Well, he supposed her body wasn't human but only an imitation of one. But it was still positively crazy otherwise!

He tried to struggle, but it was pointless. He couldn't break free when he was normal-sized and had the ground to push against, so what hope did he have now that he was around literally half size and being held up? None at all. His one chance was to plead with her, he realized. Just as he attempted to breathe in to voice his protest, she swallowed, a bit of her saliva going straight up his nose. He choked and coughed for a couple of seconds, feeling himself get squeezed into a soft tube of muscle positively coated in some kind of mucus: her throat. This wasn't a joke, she was seriously set on eating him! And while she seemed to struggle with his size, she was definitely more than making up for it in effort, as his shoulders were already being squished together by her powerful gullet.

"Zerechia, stop!" He tried to shout, but with his chest being constricted as it was, he could hardly get a decent breath and produce a strong voice. In fact, forget speaking, just breathing alone was hard enough, and that wasn't counting the distinct shortage of fresh air in her throat. "Please stop." He squeezed out. "Don't eat me." Could she even hear him, a fearful thought came to mind. He was unable to speak loudly, her moist flesh likely muffled the sound, and her ears were probably filled with the noise of her own swallows.

And how energetically did she swallow! Despite clearly having some trouble, she kept eating him with reckless abandon, as if her life depended on it. The soft walls around him kept pulsating at regular intervals, squeezing him a bit deeper inside her with every wave of movement. His words were either not heard or ignored. Panic started to set in and he squirmed to the best of his ability, not that it was a lot: her muscles were tight around him, very strong, and very intent on pulling him in all the way.

[DarkPinkie]

The disguised dragoness kept swallowing hard. It was almost painful to swallow him down at his current size yet she endured. After all the dragoness was ao used to physical pain from her childhood that it really didn't affect her all that much besides being a bit uncomfortable. His shirt kept scraping against the roof of her mouth and for a moment she wondered if she should just spit him out and remove his clothes. With a shrug she decided that she had come this far so she might as well continue. However she did make sure to remove his pants and shoes just to lessen the horrid taste impact of his clothes.

As she swallowed him further and further down she could hear the muffled whimpering he did. Yes, beg me to stop. It's too late now. You chose this path. She thought as she could feel his chest and arms follow his shoulders. A few more gulps and his bad tasting shirt was no longer against her tongue. Instead it moved over his exposed legs getting more of his taste in. The squirming he did was also enjoyable. To feel his movements against her insides. It made her swallow with even more joy.

As much as she enjoyed the taste and feeling of him sliding into her throat she was finding herself needing to breathe. As such she resolved herself to finish him up quickly. With deep gulps she brought him down even quicker before. Within moments she was rolling her tongue over his feet, taking in one last taste before she sent them to follow the rest of him down with one last resounding gulp.

Feeling the man start to curl up in the tight confines of her stomach she leaned back and sat down in the grass eith a sigh of relief. "You tasted really good Kilian." She said as she rubbed her very pregnant belly. "And now you will be mine forever." She said with a slight smirk before letting out a cute little burp. "Heh. Oops. You're squirming is kicking up what gas remains in there." She giggled. Now all that remained was to digest Kilian's body and then merge his spirit with hers. That way he would always be with her, even if he probably didn't want to. "Sorry it had to be this way, but I just couldn't have you walk out on me like that. Not after showing that you cared." She laid back and looked at the sky, still content with rubbing her belly. "It really hurt me you know. To have you abandon me because of a honest mistake, so soon after showing me that you cared." She took a deep breath and then realized that Kilian might also need some proper air. So after a few moments of trial and error she swallowed down some fresh air for him. "But none of that matter now. You're going to be mine. Forever. And this way you will not be able to leave me. Ever." She smirked, freling content as she laid in the grass with her stomach stretched to the brim.

[nicktaken]

Unfortunately, the dragon did not seem like she had any intention of listening to him. All she did in response to him asking her to stop and struggling was remove his clothes below the waist, which did not bode well for him. What possible reason could she have to do that? He tried to come up with an answer, but regardless of the starting point, it all ended on his attire probably being less than pleasant to eat. As opposed to the rest of him, apparently. He wasn't exactly happy about that. He kept squirming, trying to push with his hands against her throat to maybe get stuck and attempt to get back out. Whether she'd choke because of that wasn't exactly his primary concern. Unfortunately, it hardly helped. Her ridiculous strength didn't extent to her limbs alone, it would seem, and at this shrunken size he had a lot less to use. He didn't manage to give himself much breathing room at all and simple continued to slide down.

Once her gullet captured his waist he started to slide in easier, her saliva making the skin of his legs quite slippery, which it couldn't easily do with the absorbent and somewhat rough material of his shirt. He was surprised at how calmly he was analyzing the situation instead of completely losing his mind over being eaten alive. Probably because it still seemed so unreal. If she had attempted to eat him as a dragon he'd probably be freaking out by now. But getting swallowed whole by a woman that was actually smaller than him, the shrinking part notwithstanding? It felt like a weird dream. A weird dream where he was being pushed down a warm and even surprisingly soft fleshy tube. Ah yes, he remembered. She took away his feeling of pain. If it was in place, he'd probably find this trip a lot more real and unpleasant.

He wasn't sure how he felt about ending up in her stomach. For a moment it felt roomier, and then simple stretchier than her throat. While the latter was supposed to constrict him and send him in one specific direction, her stomach seemed surprisingly accommodation. The air here was worse than in her throat, at least as stuffy but with a handful of unpleasant odors included. Well, it wasn't really surprising. This was where food went to be digested and broken down for the intestines to absorb the nutrients from it. It wasn't supposed to be an enjoyable place to visit.

Kilian squirmed slightly as her tongue tickled his feet, his movement still restrained by the fact a lot of him was in her throat. Not for long, though. He could tell that he was completely inside her, and with a few more vigorous swallows, his feet were pushed into the now very tight chamber. Stretchy as it was, it wasn't meant to contain meals half her size. Yet it did, evidently. "I'm glad you enjoyed that." He responded when she mentioned he tasted good and feeling her hand on his back. Well, he wasn't even being facetious; he had no ill will toward her just yet. Her next words suggested he should have, but letting anger get the best of him wasn't the smartest idea while talking to the person who just ate you. Her burp resounded loudly around him. He caught himself thinking that he might even find it cute if he wasn't experiencing it from her gut.

The lack of air made it difficult to talk, so for now he just listened, adjusting himself slightly to sit more comfortably within her and thinking about what he would say. Luckily, she seemed to consider that and swallowed some fresh air for him to breathe. That was a good sign. What would she care if he could breathe well, or at all, if she considered him simply food? She certainly didn't speak of him that way, even if it were weird, to say the least, and he was inside her stomach. "You're right. I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking straight." He responded slowly. Being stuck in complete darkness inside a fleshy and slightly stretchy chamber that was soon going to secrete acid all around him made it difficult to stay calm and encouraged him to seek an exit, but that just meant he needed to weigh every single word carefully.

Showing her that he cared? What was she even talking about? He supposed he did help her out a couple of times, and he'd lying if he said he hadn't entertained the idea of being inside her. Definitely not like this, though. Speaking of which, at the very start she mentioned him 'playing around with her feelings'. He wasn't sure what she meant. Everything she said and did so far just showed that she did not, in fact, feel anything for him. They were friends at best, but mostly just companions with a common goal. But talking about being hurt and keeping him to herself forever sounded distinctly like she actually cared a lot, it was simply that she didn't show it before. He supposed he shouldn't be surprised; to admit liking a human was probably quite difficult for a dragon. Still, the important question was, how was he supposed to deal with this situation?

"I apologize for trying to leave." He kept forcing down the nagging thought that she might not even be able to hear him. It would all be meaningless if that were the case. "I promise I won't do it again." He continued, pretty sure he was lying. It was still true that she was his best chance to get his life back, but if she was willing to eat him to keep him around, perhaps he was better off passing on the opportunity after all. "So... could you let me out now?" He really hoped that she was even capable of that, physically. Sure, swallowing him whole was a feat in itself, but bringing him back up was likely going to be more difficult. "I'm sure your stomach is as cute as the rest of you." He decided a bit of flattery wouldn't hurt and softly ran his hands along the wrinkly walls. They were warm and soft, almost pleasantly so. "But I'm a bit worried about how diligent it is." He let out a chuckle.

[DarkPinkie]

She was glad he admitted to making his own mistake, though it was a bit late for that. Had he apologized before she swallowed him then she would have most likely let him go so they could continue on their quest. His apoligy for trying to leave made her smile. Yet all she did was rub her stomach contently. "I am sorry. I don't think I can spit you up even if I wanted too." She responded with a slight shrug. "Had I been able to shrink you down as much as I wanted to then I would but right now..." The loud sigh that came afterwards was long and relaxed.

Almost as on que her stomach gurgled and the process of breaking him down started just as he mentioned how diligent her stomach was. "Thank you for the compliment. Will not change the fact that you will be digested. After all, my stomach is very diligent." She rubbed over the bulge that was Kilian. "But if it means anything to you then I'll bind your essence to me once you pass. That way you will be with me, body and soul, forever." The more she spoke the more demented she seemed. Her pupils slowly shrinking as they stared at the sky. It truly was a too warm day.

With a few waves of her hand the previous sunny sky was filled with dark forbodding clouds. Another few waves and it grew a fair bit colder. Then with a snap of her finger she was done and leaned back into the grass to keep rubbing at her now gurgling stomach. "I may even give you a new body. Who knows." She shrugged. There was a few things she enjoyed more than a hearty meal, and right now she had a very heart and still squirming meal. She sighed once more, her gurgling stomach slowly filling up with acids. She looked wt the sky once more as she saw it. The snow she had conjured up with her weather magic. She smiled as she saw a snowflake land on her nose and stared at it crosseyed.