[The Dragon Queens Lament]: (Sakura and Birichino)

[Birichino]

The raiju grumbled as the heat bombarded him, scampering away from the revolting sights of her past meals' remains as soon as he recognized them. While he himself could rival the surface of the sun with his power, he still preferred the cool air of the forest outside of Archa's churning flesh. He weakly kicked at her stomach wall a few times, testing its elasticity.

Her query took him by surprise. Although the gesture was lost on the dragon queen, he crossed his arms and held up his chin as he replied. "I have nobody beyond me," he replied proudly, "but if you want to know who I am, I'll still indulge you! Well, I sort of did already, but I guess you weren't listening. My name is Nevi! I'm from the world above yours...and a little to the...east? And as for magic, I don't need it! Making that thunderbolt was an accident before; my body has all the power I need."
His explanation was equal parts boasting and genuine effort to explain himself, but the divide between mortal and divinity had always been vague to him. As far as he was concerned, the divine were mostly strong, sanctimonious, and smelled different. His devourer would actually fit in well among them, were she not a different kind of different.

[SakuraHanaryuu]

"...your a god in disguise...that explains your raw arrogance", *Archa stated as she entered her cave...though 'cave' was a poor description of this dragons layer. The owner had rearranged the very stone into a graceful dragon sized household, complete with furniture and simple luxuries, she even re-routed a stream to flow through, allowing her access to fresh water if need be, though in truth she preferred lava over water.*

*It took only a few hours for Archas belly to reduce the bones and carriages in her stomach to ashes, from there, Nevi had the belly all to himself, the hulking wyrm producing a series of loud belches in satisfaction, feeling the gasses released from her meals expelled, she knew her prey was well on its way to adding to her blubbery figure. Archa slumbered as she dreamed of gold, satisfied that she'd eaten a disrespectful god, just a piece of her former life's increadible feats...he was a young god...but he was now all hers...it would be several days before she felt something working its way through her bowels and realizing something she couldn't absorb was trying to get out, she moved outside and with a bit of an unpleasant strugle, pushed the very boy she'd eaten from before from between her huge rear cheeks.*

"Whew...been a while since I've had to do tha-" *she stated but when she turned and saw the boy her eyes just took on this 'really?' expression before she sighed and proceeded to ignore him returning to her cavern lodge..but on the inside she felt all twisted up thinking*, 'how the hell does somone 'live' through 'my' belly, I've eaten gods before how can this happen', *her thoughts racing as she actually started to feel worried about the ordinary looking boy.*

[Birichino]

Nevi prepared to correct her, but Archa's deafening belch put him off-balance long enough for her to fall asleep. Somewhat irritated, he begrudgingly took a page from his brother's book and sat cross-legged in the fat-ensconced prison, letting his energy continue to flow around him as he entered a restful state. Despite the peace he was able to derive from this meditation, however, he was thoroughly rustled when the stomach saw fit to draw him through the rest of her body, and by the time he was expelled, he wasted no time in cleansing himself on a molecular level with a pulse of electric force, even if all that could really affix itself to him was ash and bodily fluid. He glared at the surprised dragoness.

"I'm not a god," he muttered, crossing his arms, "and I'm not arrogant, either! I can do everything I think I can."
As he began storming off in the direction of the town, if only to complain about Archa to whoever would listen as an outlet, he kicked a rock like the ones he had tried to make into gold hard enough to make it vanish from sight in the foliage. That was what he got for trying to help people. Her stomach may not have been bad, besides the heat, but being forcibly removed from bellies was already something he resented before the humiliating circumstances of it even came up.

[SakuraHanaryuu]

*The people in town wouldn't believe him when he tried to tell them he'd been eaten and excreted by a dragon...most thought he was making a joke.*

*Archa continued to devour caravans, and the task was not completed.*

*The next time Archa could be found she'd added another five feet to her body, and was a good half size wider. She was just then gulping down the last horse of a wagon with a delighted wiggle as she began her walk back home. Or rather, to one of her homes. After being so disturbed, she planned ahead and decided that she would need multiple homes, so that if one was discovered, she could swiftly move to another location. All were well concealed and difficult to reach, to prevent large groups from approaching her, and all of them had a secret exit.*

[Birichino]

Fed up with humans and dragons alike, Nevi stubbornly resumed his usual pattern of trekking across the land in a straight line. He was led back into the verdant forest, but unlike Archa, his only change was that he now walked with visible anger. At one point, he stumbled on a root and ruthlessly sliced open the tree it belonged to with an earsplitting thunderclap. The only reason it wasn't hewn or burnt in two was that his claws didn't extend that far. Although he knew he was being irresponsible, he felt better.

"Humans, dragons, gods, all completely full of themselves!" he snarled, at no one in particular, "Everyone wants me for an obedient pet, is that it!? No respect or thanks, just more work or punishment!"
With a stomp, he incinerated the patch of grass beneath his feet, though his yelling had already sufficiently terrified a nearby squirrel. He took a few breaths and straightened his posture from the feral hunch he had been moving in. "Fine," he continued his monologue, "I'll find a creature I can trust or a place where none of them can bother me, then. All that's changed is the list of what I can't trust."
Content with the structure his speaking practice had awarded his conviction, he slowly but steadily continued east from the easily-located site of his tantrum.

[SakuraHanaryuu]

*Several weeks came to pass. Until one day, Nevi caught wind again of the caravan eater of the western mountains....she had eaten an entire dwarven village. If he was so mighty, and benevolent. Why did he run from her? Why did he not slay the beast? Or at the least fight her off and defend the rout?*

*Archa, now at a towering fifty feet long, patted a belly filled with the gold and riches of the dwarven town of Selsidovo, three thousand men women and children sloshing beneath her bulk, all the cattle, all the grain. The buildings themselves and every scrap of wood...she'd turned the magnificent city into a rubble strewn grave marker, all to regain her former power...and the guilt was as heavy as her stomach. She wept at her own lowliness, at her selfishness in doing this, tears of lava flooded her snout...she didn't mean to go this far...all she wanted was the damn gold...but once they realize she was the dragon queen...something snapped. To defend her name, they had to be silenced...in the madness she devoured them all, hunting every last one of them down and consuming them whole, she even ate the children...their soldiers came at her, and were also devoured...the hunters, the adventurers, the merchants...any unlucky soul that happened to be at the town...she could not savor this meal, she dared not to...she, a benevolent, righteous ruler...she'd stooped so low, fallen so far...Archa's thoughts began to drift towards ending it all...she had a vision, of flying into the clouds, and then diving onto a mountain peak....but then she'd thought of the corpse that would leave, of the people who would come for miles to find the dragon queen herself, slain on the mountains, still a shell of what she was...and that stopped that thought immediately.*

"I...need...someone..." *she spoke aloud* "Someone to get me gold....or...hmm" *Archa's thoughts began to return to her homeland, to Cladaka...to her rivals, and those supporting her usurper...and that...wet her apatite. She knew them all by name, she knew their allegiances...and she knew no less than three with hoards so grand they'd fill a castle...did she dare? Break the sacred tenet...well...if she ate them first and fully digested the dragons who'd wronged her...she wouldn't be stealing their gold...that gold would be hers at that point...but she needed an easy win right off the bat...meaning the tricky one was out of the question until she could bulk up to at least two thousand feet...Varusia had a huge hoard for a reason...she may have been small, but she was undefeated, and could hit way above her weight class...the copper dragon would be her final target preferably, at least before that damned usurper planting her fat green ass on 'her' throne.*

*Maltovor...Malty would be her next meal...he had a sizeable hoard, the black dragon was plenty arrogant but he was a survivor...he'd know exactly when to run...but he'd put up a fierce resistance as well...but...with a few helpers..." *Archas mind turned to that whelp from a few years ago...the one who smelled of lightning and rain...* "I wonder what he's up to nowadays."

[Birichino]

Although he had distanced himself from the races he knew well, Nevi had always been fond of the dwarves. He had never been much of a protector, but hearing of such sorrow infuriated him. This time, he had to solve the problem, or he would never be able to walk free again. The weight of responsibility felt terrible on his shoulders as he made his way towards the ruins of the village.

Archa, of course, was not hard to find. Her size surprised him, but he was beyond intimidation even without the righteous anger burning in his heart. He brandished his claws as he approached, finally ready to take a life now that he understood how many others it would destroy, but the sound of sobbing slowed him. The man-eater was...leaking. Nevi was experienced with pity for those who were weak, enslaved, or deprived of their loves, but the weeping dragoness baffled him. Should he still kill her? He came closer, claws still extended.

"Why did you do it?" he asked coldly, "What did these people ever do to you? You're going to keep killing people as long as you live...is that why you're crying?"
His green eyes shone with condemnation. "Freedom means that you alone choose what you do. You knew the people here had no chance against you, so you alone are responsible for this. Why cry over something you meant to do?"

A breeze rolling over the new wasteland ruffled his ragged robes of red and gold. He had changed them since their last meeting, but conflict always found its way to him. He turned his gaze to the sky, as if looking for the souls of the people she had killed or listening to a message only he could hear. He came closer to Archa and held a claw before her eyes. "What will you do now?" he asked, gently showing the blades' sharpness to present her with an option, "Where does it end?"

[SakuraHanaryuu]

*Archa was rolled onto her back, her towering belly displayed to the sky, her wings draped over the ground, her head tilted all the way up to ease the burden of her enormous horns, resting the weight on the golden crown as her horns were called.* "You want some reason? An Explenation? I regret to inform you that no reason can be given. I walked into the town and demanded they surrender their gold. It was given with only a slight struggle...however, one of the town guards identified me....and called out my name...My reputation is worth more than entire countries little boy...if someone found out that the monster haunting this road was none other than the most powerful dragon to ever live...cursed into a tiny body...the hunt would never cease, millions of adventurers would hunt me down, and I would be forced to slay them, True, many might have gold...but I would also have to deal with Elatrude's dragon assassins...the Lunar Wings, assassins trained in dragon slaying. Some of which are actual dragons. As I am now, I've not even reached Wyrm status yet...any full grown dragon of any species could prance along, strike me down, and be on their merry way...I have to change locations now...I was thinking of heading back to Cladaka, my homeland...would you come with me if I asked?"

*Archa could do nothing but grieve, she knew the weight of what she'd done, but she was an ancient being, her experiences, her knowledge and ability were so valuable that she could honestly say, no creature in this entire world was more valuable to her kingdom. Loosing her life would be the equivilant of seventy five percent of Cladaka's military power...she'd been having nightmares of invasions upon her people every day, the enemies she'd made, the evils she'd kept at bay...True, she was a city eating monster...but there were forces out there, that would destroy the entire world if given the chance.*

[Birichino]

Nevi's glare gradually deepened as she justified her small-scale genocide to him. By the time Archa finished, the air around him was crackling, but it suddenly faded. "You want me to help you?" he asked, his voice an unreadable monotone. Raising his claws, he strode past her without a glance and approached the largest protrusion of stone still left of the village. Thunderous slashes crossed its surface in what looked like another of his tantrums, but over time the blows became finer and finer, until he was gently chiseling his work with a single fingertip. When he moved aside, he revealed an immaculate carving of a man in resplendant dress, with a ceremonial hat, flowing beard, and harsh, judging eyes. His claws retracted.

"This is the god presiding over reincarnation," he explained, "he decides how long each soul is bound away from creation, where they go when free to return, and what weights their souls carry until then."
He murmured an incantation and at a sparking touch, the eyes of the statue lit up for a moment, leaving a vague sense of presence around the sculpture after fading. "And now he's listening. If you want my help, pray to him. Pray for every innocent soul you've robbed of its life, even if their burdens become yours when it's your time. If you don't, I'll never forgive you. You say dragon-slayers will come for you? All that does is make my life easier until I see a reason not to want you dead myself. I have no idea who Elatrude is, but I haven't heard a word of her massacres."

He closed his eyes. Ordinarily, he would simply ask what was in her offer for him, but he was starting to appreciate the principles of the land he had fled the more tragedy he saw in the world. Part of him felt like a child trying to lecture like its parents would, but he had no doubts that he wasn't wrong to care about life more than reputation or fear.

[SakuraHanaryuu]

*Archa's gaze lingered over Nevi, looking at him like he was some strange thing she couldn't explain*, "Do you know what you've done Nevi?" *The statues eyes faded away and the presence dissipated*, "You just revealed my location and Identity to a god...sigh...I have to move again now."

"I have eaten several high ranking gods in the past you idiot...to them I am a fiend, a devil of the highest calibur...to me...they are the salmon and I am the bear...but in my weakened state I stand no chance of fighting off angelic assassins, let alone the more fearsome forces heaven has to offer...Seraphim, Gryphonic champions...and I'm screwed if a Kirin comes after me...your probably one of those fools that thinks the gods are benevolent beings that never act outside of their own interests...their just glorified politicians...asshats of the highest order...you want to know what reincarnation I am destined for...I will be destroyed upon my death, my soul erased entirely with no chance of reincarnation...There is no redemption for the things I have done in the past because the redeemers are corrupted beyond their own standards. Showing favor in exchange for gold, as all are wont to...you fool...you have no idea how this world operates."

*Archa stood up and smashed the statue apart with her tail*, "Now then, I need to get away from here...you can follow along if you intend to help me, but attack me again and I'll eat you, jump into a volcano and spit you out in the magma flow...let's see you get out of that one with no sense of up or down, and no capacity to see."

[Birichino]

"Nobody where I'm from has ever heard of you, you idiot!" he snapped, "And you know what else? Nobody I told about you these past few weeks CARED, if they even believed me!"
Nevi's body trembled with rage before a sudden, depressing stillness came over him. "It all makes sense now." he admitted softly, "The way they never cared. The way they followed their prim little ceremonies and callous judgements. It's because the creatures of this realm...are like you. Selfish, savage things. Like me, too, perhaps...you could have earned your existence, had you truly cared."

A single tear rolled down his cheek as he felt something like a fragment of his soul dying. There could be no such thing as a free life without a corrupt heart, so he was wrong to ever want one. That was what the stubborn, paranoid monster had taught him. "Maybe this world has its own gods, as hateful and petty as you are, but if you had business with mine..." he finally murmured, "...maybe I should go home...but...I didn't stop you before. What you did here is my fault, but I still believe in atonement! Only those who seek it can have it, and it can be a long and painful road, but is it truly something that can be lost? Elatrude, you said...we'll see which of you is the greater monster."

Sighing heavily, he turned his back, hands tucked into the pockets of his black pants. As he understood it, these lands had to be ruled by a dragon. Now he just needed to find the right one...or kill them all, somehow. "I never wanted to hurt anyone, you know...probably not anything you understand."

[SakuraHanaryuu]

"Now I get it..." *Archa turned and loomed over Nevi, her huge gut sloshing from the motion*, "Your just a pet, aren't you?" *Archa narrowed her eyes*, "You don't know anything about the world aside from the parts you've seen when your master took you on a walk", *Archa leaned down and picked Nevi right up off the ground.* "I need followers, servants, CHAMPIONS...if all you are is a dog your nothing but meat to me...I gave you freedom, I let you go last time rather than hunt you down again, I let you walk...you no longer have that option...be mine, or I must seal you away...you know my name and have been making claims of who I am...PUBLICLY...DO YOU KNOW THE DAMAGE YOU HAVE DONE YOU LITTLE IDIOT!"

*Archa stuffed Nevi into her maw again, but this time she maintained a firm hold on him. He wouldn't be moving into her bowels this time around.* "I will apologize for one thing...the sight you shall view inside me...it will be grim, I ask that you avert your gaze from my shame...this was a necessary evil...", *Archa stated as Nevi fell into a belly far more vast than the last time...but filled with an even more devilish content, the bones were a graveyards worth of death, numbering three thousand, and that was just the sentient ones. be they noble or be they peasant, all were eaten, every one a story to their death, and every one selected and hunted with Archas full will and control...'she' did this, this monster, this demon.*

"I must move locations now...we venture far to the west, to my homeland of Cladaka...there is a region there where I may find sanctuary enough to plot my next move...if you behave, I will allow you to accompany me...I...wasn't...a bad person...but now...I can't really say that can I?"

[Birichino]

Nevi stood still as she approached. Although he'd had other plans, he would only bring calamity to the places he passed if he fled now. Besides, it sounded as though the other dragons would come to her, and so him as well. "I'm nobody's pet anymore," was all he said before the ravenous dragoness swallowed him whole.

Her maw was a rush of flesh, greedily consuming him in an instant. He could hardly tell of its look or feel, because it barely touched him before he reached her gullet. Of course, the dragoness' gluttony was obvious, but so too was her haste. "Let her fear," he thought, his childishness making a silent appearance, "she doesn't deserve peace."

He didn't look away from the terrible sight inside her. He had seen death before, even on such a terrible scale, but more importantly, he had taken a stand for the souls of these victims. How could he try to turn a blind eye to the carnage he had discarded his lust for freedom over? Looking upon all of the charred remains, he understood how even the gods of this land could hate Archa. He was starting to, as well. Drawing his claws, he considered tearing into the churning flesh around him, letting her own stomach's lava sear her with his explosion of rage, but somehow he felt that it would pain her even more to be left with stillness. Time to think about what she had done, even if her pride was all she cared about when three thousand lives had been snuffed out.

"You can't." he replied simply, seating himself against a wall, "Not ever again."

[SakuraHanaryuu]

*Archa moved with a surprising swiftness. With the knowledge that she was being hunted, she kept up a solid pace. Her enormous belly swiftly melting down the city inside her, brick and bone alike. Bouncing and sloshing as the huge dragoness carefully moved through the trees, first she would stop by her caves to destroy them, to conceal her identity from anyone who might realize her specific tastes. She had an artistic flare in her carved furniture that was a tell tale sign of who she might be. It was too big a risk to allow, she squished her belly flat to her body, and shrank considerably to reduce her impact on the Forrest and leave a smaller trail. Nevi would feel none of this as she remained just as gargantuan as before on the inside. Back at ten ft long, she was far less obvious, her trail as a giant, had actually been leading others, away from her caves, leading any pursuers north, while her caves were nestled in the south east. From there she took to the sky and flew up into the mountain range, circling back around to begin dismantling each of her ten caves one by one, simply melting the stone away. Each cave took about ten minuets to obliterate in this fashion, she was careful to fly low and fast to keep her movements controlled. And she was out of the valley in just a few hours, she had no doubt that her persuers would be hot on their trail in no time...she suspected they would be professional dragon slayers...which meant trouble anywhere outside of Cladaka. She flew low for the first thirty miles, then resting her wings she began to walk along the ground. Red dragons preferred to walk rather than fly, contrary to what most believed. Due to their larger bodies it was harder for them to stay in the air for extended periods...but they could 'move' when ground bound, and move she did, but very carefully, she wasn't sprinting at full speed, she cautiously moved, covering her tracks and making as little imprint on the environment as she could.*

"If whoever they sent has the blessings of the gods...they will likely be riding gryphons...which as much as I hate to admit...are faster than I am in the air, gryphons are omnivores like myself, meaning they can refuel from nearly anything, but their smaller and more efficient in the long run...getting away is going to be very difficult...I'd take a smaller size but...then I would be in danger of being eaten by a random animal...its an option some dog wont have the acids capable of melting 'my' flesh....but...how-much-more-shame-can-I-possibly-take!?!?"

*Archa stopped for a moment to check the sky above her, watching out for any sign of gryphon's...but no wing beats, no scents, no...wait...what kind of god was it that Nevi brought forth...she suddenly shrieked out loud* "Oh shit! THAT WAS A REINCARNATION GOD! I'M BEING SOUL TRACKED!" *Tears welled up further in Archas eyes as she completely abandoned any chance of escape and prepared now to be ambushed, rushing to the mountains and imediately burrowing into the rock via her fiery breath. She tried desperately to worm her way into a lava vein or abandoned mine shaft.* "Damnit boy...Damnit damnit damnit! I'm too weak right now to face a fully equipped dragon slayer team...if I'm being soul tracked the only way to get away from it is with magic or earth, of which magic I don't have the time to prepare...simply put, soul tracking makes ones soul shine like fire to those who are tracking it. They can see it miles away, it sticks out like a sore thumb! But only in open air, underground the soul's shine will not pierce the earth. They'll still know where I am though...they just won't know precisely where...alright...I..."

*Wing beats sounded behind her and she pushed even further into the mountain, now actually terrified, the images of swords with bonus atributes specifically designed to pierce dragons hide...Ice lances and water staves to slow her movements and break her bones...even at the peak of her power she despised these things...but now in her weakened state she knew they could very realistically kill her, probably with ease.*

"We Know its You Archa come on out!" *the dragons eyes widened, conveying misery, hatred, murder, sorrow, and gut wrenching agony...they knew...but archa kept digging...realistically though...this was too much, she could sense the mine but it was still ten minuets of digging away...then something snared her tail. She dug her claws into the stone but in humiliation she was dragged out, her claws scraping horribly against the cave walls before she was pinned down by a huge claw...she turned just barely before something whalloped her on the head, and the lights just went out.*

*When she next awoke, she was tied down on a wagon drawn by two oxen, a steel bag over her head. She couldn't see and this must've been Cladakan steel, because she couldn't burn through it. Archa tried to raise her head, but the chains over her body stopped her from lifting up...and she couldn't shape-shift...her head was killing her all on its own.*

"You should know better than to call a god for help...what were you thinking devil?" *One of the slayers spoke up*

"So...you know who I-"

"Silence fiend, you will not speak-"

"Untill I am dead, I WILL speak you misguided mongrel", *Archa thrashed in the chains but to no avail*, "Do you idiots have any idea how important I am to the country of Cladaka!"

"You mean the hell where DRAGONS rule MEN!" *one of her captors spoke before a hammer was dropped on her back, making her wince and recoil. In response she spat flames through the metal bag trying to light her wagon on fire...but it appeared to be made of some fire resistant wood...indeed this was no ordinary team, real dragon slayers that knew exactly who she was and what she could do...*

"Damned Extremists...what cult are you from? Virador? Salasulia? Maybe that heathen bastard Nakmoor..."

"Do not speak ill of Nakmoor! He gives far more-"

"Bingo...when I return to power, I'm going to eat him..." *This time the blow was much harsher, a dane Axe planted in her right hip, but even with this horrible attack, she held in her pain, and did not scream out..* "Tch...you'll need to do better than that to get 'me' to hollar...you understand i'm going to get out of this...and when I do...your all lunch meat."

"Funny you should say that my queen...I was thinking the exact same thing." *came a voice from definately a much larger being...archa went pale and promptly shut her yap, as she knew who it belonged to, the one person she didn't want to find her, the one dragon she actually feared...the copper magician, Varusia...a full Wyrm, though Copper dragons were smaller than reds, Varusias apatite rivaled her own...she very much considered this dragon to be the greatest threat to her rule, even before Elatrude swept the throne out from under her feet.* "What are you doing here Varusia? And with Dragon slayers no less...don't you realize your in danger too?"

"Oh I know...but if they try anything I've got nine different strategies...make that ten, to clean up shop...anyways...I'm just here for you...you pretty little morsel...I've wanted to gobble you up since the moment we met...though...I'd prefer you at full size, I'm not a picky eater...if these funny bunnies fail to catch you...well...I get my long awaited treat...by the way...they can't see, touch, hear, or smell me...oh please try to escape...the idea of eating the legendary dragon queen makes my maw water...of you vanishing into my body like mere food, the pleasure of hunting you down and crushing you like common cattle...aaah..." *Archa felt a wide tongue lick over her body, and a gigantic maw teasingly open gripping her from head to tail...she could easily swallow the huge waggon up whole at any time...Varusia though small for a dragon, was well over five hundred feet long, well over five times her body size...but that wasn't the issue. Varusia was a specialist in vore, she could swallow things a hundred times her body size in seconds(like a yoshi), This was the main reason she feared Varusia, she was the only dragon that could keep up with Archas mad apatite, despite her being the larger dragon, their bellies often measured quite close in eating competitions...how...how did she get out of this situation? It was impossible...Varusia was also a well known trickster wyrm, she toyed with you until you just gave up, pestering and agravating you with supperior speed and the copper dragons natural affinity for terraforming and earth magic.*

"Cat with a ball of yarn then..." *she muttered...it was here, that she went limp, despair filling her mind as her last droplets of hope dried up in the overhead sun.*

[Birichino]

The twitching ears of the raiju listened beyond the churning and gurgling of Archa's guts as she sped about her tasks. Inside her, there wasn't much to do but try to percieve the world outside, or else be overwhelmed by the horror of the village's remains dissolving. She would pay those people their dues one day, no matter what it took.
Nevi winced at her sudden shout. "He wouldn't spare the time..." he grumbled before thinking about her reaction. "...you really are being pursued out there, though, aren't you? Maybe someone was waiting for a way to cover their tracks. He even might have claimed a favor from you. If that's the case, he's in my debt whether he admits it or not, and I can do what you refused to. Though, you would lose any forgiveness your prayers may have garnered. Well, what was that saying? 'You reap what you sow?'"

His comfort shifted away as the resounding blow that claimed the dragoness' consciousness reverberated through her body. It was an incredible impact to be felt through such an immense amount of sinew and blubber, he thought, unaware of the stealthy form Archa had adopted. He could hear and feel the troops outside go about their work. He considered calling out, but there were many of these people, and they were strong. He wasn't in the habit of trusting most people who couldn't harm him these days, so why not reap what little benefit came with being sealed in the abundant flesh of a monster? All he had to do was keep his ears open, and learn what he could.

The sounds that came to him were...several names he definitely wouldn't remember...subtle traces of Archa's rage and agony, the most infinitesimal of droplets compared to the ocean of the same she had wrought from others, he was sure...how interesting that her stomach muscles seemed to twist and tense with her emotions, and listening harder, her heartbeat followed a similar theme. But organs weren't nearly as informative as people, so Nevi kept his ear to the slick wall...and noticed a problem.

"Hey, I'm not about to get eaten again, am I?" he growled at the defeated dragoness, "To hell with that! Open up! If you're going down, fine, but I've got better things to do than be the stuffing in someone's lunch! I already had better things to do than be your lunch!"
As he complained, he kicked the stomach wall. Not with any intensity likely to hurt her, even if her stomach were as delicate as a human's, but possibly enough to show in her compressed form.

[SakuraHanaryuu]

*Archa had to think...how could she get out of here...she had no items, these people likely had weapons that could kill her with relative ease and armor resistant to fire...this wagon was clearly of magical design*, '...think you gorgeous destroyer, think...you've gotten out of crazier spots than this before...remember your close encounter with the demon king at the Pythagoria, or that time you fell into the Ethereal drill, The phantom siege at Low-light Bastion.' "the slayers..." *she whispered before she began speaking lowly with her occupant*, "I'll tell you what little Nevi...I'll let you out tonight on one condition. You must free me from this wagons shackles, and bring me the bags of these adventurers...do this, and I will give you your freedom. If you do not...we will both be eaten by one of my rivals when I try to escape on my own."

[Birichino]

Nevi frowned. "It seems a lot like you'd digest and I won't..." he began, "but...I'm going to have you atone, so I'm setting you free anyway. The bags you'll just have to see what you can get. I don't play fetch anymore."
Despite his bid to gain influence, the childish heart he had suppressed longed to see what had the smug dragon so desperate. He couldn't help but concede half her terms immediately with the loss of that knowledge added to his penalty should she prove too stubborn. He pushed against the entrance -or more commonly, exit- of her esophagus, trying to make some headway on his own, but while he probably could crawl out with an hour of Archa not swallowing, he would need her to relax those muscles to get out anytime soon.
"I don't think even you value your pride more than your life!" he shouted, "So hurry up and let me out!"

[SakuraHanaryuu]

"I'm sorry...they have my head covered with an iron bag...your only option is the back door..." *Archa stated with a repulsed thought*, "my bowels are quite clean, my body doesn't produce fecal matter...but don't come out yet...wait until nightfall, I'll let you know when."

*Indeed, night came sooner than expected, and when it did, Archa helped Nevi work his way through her system again, and out of those oversized rump cheeks, much to Archa's embarrassment. These guys spared no expense, the carriage was made of rare, fire proof dragon wood, treated with a double lacquer to make it's resistance even higher, heat would not cut it. Archa was chained to the floor of the covered wagon via Cladakan steel chains, designed to be elementally resistant. It could be assumed that the entire wagon was dragon proofed, the slayers and their armor were probably the same.*

*Outside, the slayers were encamped their gryphons let loose to hunt, and somewhere in the dark of the night, the copper dragon Varusia waited, ravenous, her eyes fixed on the wagon...even at night, this was a most dangerous game.*

"No...it must be you...Virusia is nearby...shes a full grown copper dragon who wants to eat me, if she sees me leave the wagon she may decide to and I don't stand a ghost of a chance. She's proficient in illusion magic, in my current state I can't even unveil one of her claws let alone the whole Wyrm...please, I can't die here." *Archa was disgusted with herself...but she was more important than anyone else to the survival of her home, even her pride would be eaten to ensure Cladaka reigns at the top...and for a red dragon...that was saying something.*

[Birichino]

Since his last journey through Archa's digestive system, Nevi had developed a trick. A simple barrier of his energy, of little use in a fight, kept the walls of her tightened bowels from actually touching him, and so this time he emerged feeling much better about his condition. He took a few moments to appreciate the chilled night air before drawing his claws on a single hand and approaching her chains. As expected, even the divine blades that could split stone wouldn't sever such thick iron, and while he could perhaps melt or hack through them with his full might, the tremendous din and light show would bring every army in the area down on him, weakened from the task. Still, he smiled. Things were finally starting to look up for him, in every department. "Watch this," he instructed, moving into Archa's line of sight.

Touching his claws to a chain, he gently wiggled them back and forth, an electric current from them palpable, but not visible. Once he found his rhythm, the shaking sped up until it was utter vibration. The chains were magnetized against themselves as his claws steadily eased their way between their basic matter, a trick he could only manage with iron and steel so far. It took several minutes, but he finally severed one of the chains.
"That took way too long..." he murmured to her in disappointment, rubbing his tired hand, "this stuff is really dense. I can barely tell it's steel...you'll have to make due with that if I have to lure everyone away before I...get their keys?"

He tilted his head at her with the last part. In fact, he hadn't been told what was in the guards' bags. "Actually, I want to see this big scary copper dragon," he declared with a grin, "so once I've set you up to escape, I think I'll make a scene."
Turning to move towards the slayers, he paused for a moment, then leaned back. "By the way, I can just cut through the wood, if that's easier," he finally realized, "...and I might be able to see your nemesis? If she wasn't in the darkness. Does she usually hide herself from divine eyes, too?"

[SakuraHanaryuu]

"Do not let her find you...Virusia...imagine a herd of deer in broad daylight, they prance, they stamp, eat grass and flee at the slightest noise...now imagine them vanishing, no noise, no windfall, not even the sound of them struggling...that's what Virusia can do...an entire herd eaten in a single untraceable, undetectable gulp...I don't know if god eyes can see her, but it won't matter, even if you do see her, she's far above either of our capacity to deal with...just bring me the bags, forget the chains, I need their scrolls...dragon-slayers always keep magic scrolls in their bags, find a scroll of teleportation and we can get out of this mess in an instant."