A Mouse and her Dragon
 
 
  Wind ripped through Teodora’s mousey ears as Zduhać tore through the air. Zduhać was a sleek, snake-like black dragon that was bred for speed, and this flight showed it. Lagging behind the pair was another speedy dragon, mounted by Radomir the vole, and seven golden-scaled eastern dragons mounted by various soldiers. These dragons were a lot larger, and frankly, a lot cooler, but Teodora wouldn’t trade the world for Zduhać. Behind her, Radomir was shouting orders for the aerial division of the Šarović army. Four dragons were to dive below the clouds with him and attack the Asztalos supply lines to provide a distraction for the Šarović foot soldiers to attack. Meanwhile, Teodora and the others would scout the clouds and attack any Asztalo dragons they saw. If all goes well, the Asztalo invaders will be cut off from their supplies, and be driven out of the Šarović capital. With the commands in place, Radomir shouted, “Za našu slobodnu državu, Šarovia!” and the five dragons dove below the clouds.
  The other three dragons fell in line behind Teodora and Zduhać, and beneath them, a battle started. Šarović dragons were well known for their large, snake-like bodies, similar to Eastern dragons, but also for their ability to shoot lightning out of their mouths. Zduhać couldn’t shoot lightning, but Teodora preferred speed anyway. Lightning snaked through the air beneath the clouds, and a cry arose from the Asztalo trenches as the soldiers quickly armed themselves for an attack. Meanwhile, the Šarović army, who was resting away from the supply lines saw the lightning arcs and charged into the battle with a war cry.
  While gunfire and brimstone filled the air, Teodora began scanning for any signs of Asztalo dragons. However, the only dragons she saw were decorative fashion-dragons. As far as she could tell, the Asztalos were throwing a parade in the streets! The thought burned her cheeks. This was her home town, and it was being desecrated by Asztalo citizens! Šarovia didn’t deserve this, Asztalia declared war on them just because one Šarović student shot their king! Teodora’s angry thoughts were stopped as Zduhać turned his head to face her. He couldn’t speak, but his dark eyes staring at her immediately calmed her down. Asztalia may be inconsistent, but Zduhać would always be there to help her.
  Her thoughts were interrupted again as a soldier behind her shouted, “Ratni zmajevi ispod nas!” There were war dragons beneath them! Teodora cursed loudly and directed Zduhać to dive below the clouds and attack the dragons. He obeyed, and she found herself face-to-face with five Asztalo Sárkányok. Sárkányok were similar to western dragons, in that they were quadrupedal, and had wings, unlike the Eastern dragons which snaked through the air using wind magic. However, a Sárkány was unique in how it still used wind magic, but for attacking enemies instead of flight. Teodora gasped as she saw one of them was none other than Hétfejű, the seven-headed dragon that belonged to Asztalo Officer Oskar himself! The dragons hadn’t seen them yet, so that meant that they had a surprise advantage, but not much else. Teodora gulped shallowly and pulled out her rifle, then commanded her soldiers, “Napad za Šarovia!”
  Lightning thundered down from the clouds, and Oskar looked up just in time to see four Šarović dragons snaking their way towards them. “Vigyázz!” He shouted, but it was too late. He cursed silently as two of his Sárkányok were struck by lightning, one of which was sent plummeting to the streets of the Šarović capital. He should have known Radomir would bring more than five dragons! Oskar shouted at his remaining dragons to prepare for a Tornádó maneuver.
  Teodora watched happily as one of the Sárkány was knocked out. Now it was a four on four battle, but it was still going to be a tough fight. She began to command her soldiers to dive forward for point-blank lightning attacks but stopped as she saw the four Sárkányok begin whirling around. They were trying to summon a tornado! Teodora shouted at her comrades to stop and just charge their lightning from afar until she gave a signal. Meanwhile, she spurred Zduhać onward. His speed and wind magic made it so he would be able to fly stably in the middle of a Sárkányok Tornádó maneuver.
  Soon, the tornado was going full force as all four of the Asztalo dragons began flying in repetitive circles. The buildings of the capital were torn up and sent flying in a one-block diameter of the storm. However, Zduhać flew into the center of it with no problem. Teodora gave another command, and Zduhać charged full strength into one of the Sárkány making the tornado possible. Despite the Asztalo dragon’s bulk, Zduhać’s speed meant that it was forced out of line. The rider of the Sárkány was a black hound with a brown muzzle. The dog looked surprised, and began to pull out its rifle, but was stopped by three sudden bolts of lightning! The golden dragons under Teodora’s command took down another dragon, bringing the battle to a 4v3.
  Teodora was given no time to bask in the glory of her mission, before one of the soldiers shouted at her, “Pazi!” Fortunately, Zduhać’s snake-like body meant he was very maneuverable, and he quickly dodged out of the way of a charging Sárkány. Lacking the manpower needed to summon storms, Oskar was forced to start dogfighting again. The Sárkányok were not particularly fast, but a blow from one of their gale attacks could take down a dragon. However, things only got worse, as Teodora felt a growl emanate from Zduhać’s stomach. Zduhać was a talented dragon, but he ate a lot, and if he was hungry, he had trouble focusing.
  Lightning and blasts of wind fired back and forth as the two aerial forces circled each other, waiting for a lunge or a mistake. “Ostanite u formaciji!” Teodora commanded, deciding to play a more defensive role in the fight. However, it didn’t matter as a blast of wind knocked down of the golden dragons and sent it spiraling to the streets. She cursed vehemently and shouted at her remaining two fighters to continue firing lightning from a distance. Meanwhile, Oskar commanded the Asztalos to get into another formation. Hétfejű hovered in place as the other two Sárkányok lined up behind him then they charged in an arrowhead formation.
  Suddenly, Teodora had an idea. She maneuvered Zduhać to fly behind the two Šarović dragons, then charged in between the two of them. Zduhać gained speed rapidly, and Teodora directed him to fly directly at Hétfejű! “Otvori usta!” she commanded Zduhać right as they collided with the seven-headed dragon of Asztalia.
  GLOMP! The two Asztalo riders suddenly stopped as they realized their leader was no longer there. They turned around to see the tiny black Šarović dragon with one of Hétfejű’s heads in its mouth! This shock of the riders was exactly what the two golden dragons needed, and lightning arcs struck down the two Sárkányok. The other six heads of Hétfejű looked confused and scared as one of their heads was inside the mouth of the smaller dragon! Oskar commanded Hétfejű to attack the Šarović dragon with wind magic, but it had very little effect on the dragon! He cursed, and readied his rifle at the mouse rider of the strange snake-like dragon.
  A wound pierced Zduhać’s side as a bullet bounced off of his hide, causing a slight whimper. Teodora felt her anger grow again. Nobody is allowed to hurt Zduhać like that! She pointed her rifle at Oskar and fired. Her talent for sharpshooting was second to none, which was why she was second-in-command. The bullet collided with the Asztalo commander, sending him stumbling off of the side of his dragon! He would have plummeted down to the Earth, had it not been for the Šarović dragon that caught and swallowed him whole. He would be needed for negotiations later. Meanwhile, Zduhać worked his way down one of the long necks of Hétfejű. With every swallow, the draconic head sank deeper into his long, snake-like stomach. The other heads began trying to attack their devourer, but three heads suddenly restrained by a long golden dragon!
  The Šarović dragon that had swallowed Oskar swooped up and wrapped around the other three heads. The two soldiers knew of the dangers of Hétfejű, and if this is how Teodora wanted to eliminate that danger, so be it. Soon enough, Zduhać was at the base of the first neck. However, he was still hungry, so he opened his mouth wider to swallow the shoulders. Hétfejű was flapping his wings wildly as the tiny dragon swallowed him down, and felt his six other heads folded back so they were next to his shoulders. This made it easier for Zduhać to open his mouth ultra-wide and wrap his jaws around the base of the six necks and the shoulders of Hétfejű.
  As he continued down the body of the seven-headed dragon, the dragon could no longer flap his wings due them being pinned against his body. To help with this, the two golden dragons held up the tail of Hétfejű as well as the body of Zduhać. The dragon at the tail end of Hétfejű lifted himself up more to let gravity pull the dragon into the belly of Teodora’s dragon. More and more of the dragon was swallowed down by the tiny black dragon, and his body began expanding as the beast sank into his belly. Zduhać let out a small moan as his demand for food was being fulfilled with a very tasty meal. The front legs, as well as half of the six necks, sank deep within him as he continued swallowing his way down the dragon. His stomach was already four times his original body size!
Finally, Zduhać swallowed down all seven heads of the dragon, and began working on the back legs of the dragon. The legs were heavily muscular, but Zduhać swallowed them down easily. The dragon on Hétfejű’s tail was forced to move and help support Zduhać’s massive stomach, as the black dragon found it harder and harder to fly on his own. Finally, all that remained outside of Zduhać’s body was the seven-headed dragon’s tail. Zduhać slurped down the tail like a long, wriggling noodle. He let out a loud belch, and the Asztalo scourge of the skies would see no more daylight. Zduhać’s belly was ten times his original size, and he needed the help of the other dragons to help him transport his massive wriggling belly away from the battlefield.
 
 
  As per Šarović tradition, all of the dragons of both armies showed up at the peace negotiations. However, a couple of dragons couldn’t make it due to severe lightning injuries, and one dragon that was there in a… different way. As the Asztalos worked their way through the surrender contracts, they sometimes shuddered whenever he looked up to see the rounded belly of Zduhać. Hétfejű had stopped struggling, and Zduhać’s belly had rounded out a bit due to digestion, but his stomach was still massive. The gigantic orb of a stomach was firm and nearly ten times as large as the black snake that rested upon it. Maybe it was a bit cruel, but the negotiations were sped up quite a bit when Zduhać let out a massive belch. After the meeting was complete, the battle was declared a decisive Šarović victory, and the Asztalos would leave the capital immediately. However, one thing that was concerning was when the regurgitated Oskar walked out of the room past Zduhać’s belly, he mumbled in perfect Šarović, “Hétfejű je bio oruđe, Asztalia će pobediti u ovom ratu.”
  Teodora was shocked, this sentence called Hétfejű merely a tool, and promised a war! However, before she could speak up, Oskar had left the negotiations room. She warned Radomir about this, but he didn’t seem too concerned. After all, what could they do without Hétfejű?
 
 
  Back in the dragon barracks, Teodora was nursing the wound Zduhać gained from Oskar. Zduhać had grown in length and width as the digested chime of Hétfejű was sent throughout his bowels. The nutrients gushed through his intestines, causing rapid growth. Zduhać was now almost the size of one of the great golden dragons, and he wasn’t even halfway done digesting yet! Teodora was forced to help him shed his scales as he grew, while he whined at her for more food. After seven cows, four sheep, and a belly rub, Zduhać finally settled down. His stomach was still a massive orb, but now it was a lot more sloshy and similar to a water balloon.
Teodora placed her hands deep into the massive belly and climbed her way up the dragon’s stomach. It jiggled with every movement she made, and she sometimes had to pause until the liquid-like earthquakes stopped. Finally, the mouse made her way to the top and walked over the jiggling belly to lie next to the Zduhać’s head. Zduhać looked at her excitedly and warmly invited her to lie on his belly next to him. Now that it was time for bed, it was time for Teodora to read to Zduhać. The dragon couldn’t read or speak but understood Šarović perfectly. Today’s book was an ornithology book. Not too exciting, but Zduhać would love it regardless. After a bit of settling, Teodora began reading, and Zduhać drifted off to sleep.