Trust

(Part 23 of Shadowdale)

Sterling's gray eyes lit up as he saw the two figures break the tree line several hundred meters away. From far down the cold, sandy beach a pair of waves reached him, sent by the hands of Silver and Tyus as they made their way closer to their friend.

But before he could take a step in their direction warm breath fell against his shoulder, rolling over him like the ocean's tide. The hairs on the knight's neck stood on end; he hadn't heard or felt the creature approach!

"Boo," a familiar voice taunted.

"Crystal?" the human asked a moment before his world became a blur of motion. His legs scraped against something rough and hard as his body was lifted from the ground, his head encased in darkness. He felt himself sliding backwards into a realm of damp, soft flesh; the blue dragon hadn't eaten all day, and Sterling was certainly a suitable meal.

"I will ask again: this is common, right?" Silver nervously greeted his fellow dragon. Much to the dismay of the human in her mouth the golden-eyed dragon nodded.

Several moments passed where both Crystal and her human friend played out the roles of predator and prey. The boy was tossed about the dragon's maw, his body hopelessly soaked in saliva in little to not time as his taste began to permeate all other feelings in the mouth of the huntress. Finally, after what seemed like nearly an hour to the miserable morsel, Crystal's teeth parted and she released her companion into her palm.

"Your turn," she called down to the dark elf at her feet, depositing Sterling on the sand as she hungrily reached for the drow. Tyus took a step back and reached behind himself, protectively grasping the hilt of his scythe as it drew itself from a newly-opened portal.

"Try," he challenged.

"Don't tempt me." The blue dragon giggled, playfully flicking her tongue through the air. "I'm dying to learn how you taste…"

"You're lucky," the knight muttered as he wiped spit from his soaked frame. "She knows I won't hurt her; you don't have the heart to leave her in one piece."

"The conveniences of being a drow." The assassin joked. "Spending nearly a century underground takes you off of the menu, I guess."

"Well then Sterling has quite a ways to go…" the huntress said, turning towards the lighter skinned of the two smaller party members and giving him a friendly lick. The swordsman gave a disgusted groan as his body, nearly clean, once again was covered in saliva.

"Wasn't Embyr with you?" Silver asked after several moments of vicious cleaning on the human's part. The knight's face fell at the question, and his nervous gaze met that of the dragon a moment later.

"We… were separated."

"I'm surprised she let you out of her sight." The metallic giant noted. "She cares greatly for you."

"She tried to eat me."

"Oh…"

There was an awkward, depressing silence for several minutes after that. Sterling's mind went back to the fateful encounter with his close friend while his companions came to a unanimous realization: they would need to figure out what to do if the Black Terror didn't come back, if she was lost to the wisp and the marsh.

The thoughts of the four were interrupted a moment later, however, as a rustling broke out at the tree line. Embyr emerged first, staggering slightly as her weak body faded out of the twisted, decaying woodlands. Closely following the dragon was an enormous naga, her tail well over one-hundred feet long while her upper body was almost identical in proportions to that of the black dragon.

Crystal, Tyus, and Silver staggered back in alarm, the dark elf quickly drawing his cursed scythe into his hands. The turquoise snake-woman hovered over them, her green eyes piercing into them for a brief moment before she moved to the red-eyed dragon beside her.

"Will you be alright?" she asked Embyr, putting a hand on her shoulder. Lost in a daze the Black Terror nodded, her eyes fixed on the sand as the naga pulled away from her.

"Slithice, this is the rest of my party." Sterling said, introducing the newcomer to the defensive trio. The others exchanged curious glances before looking back to the naga, not knowing how to take her arrival.

"She saved my life back in Wanderer's End." The human explained. "When Embyr…"

There was a great crash as the obsidian colored dragon sank to her knees, lowering her lower body at a much slower pace to the sand. Her eyes closed to release a pair of crystalline tears and then her form was still, save for the rhythmic breathing that brought the chest ever so slightly from the ground.

The knight grimaced. He had obviously brought back up the touchy subject; it was likely a hard burden to bear for the dragon, the thought of nearly killing her closest friend in such a horrible manner. But the human mentally shrugged the bonds of emotional turmoil away; he had already forgiven his companion and, being the victim, he figured she would do likewise.

"I am glad to finally meet your group in person." Slithice said after several silent seconds, turning back to the others with a warm smile. "I've been following your group for some time, admittedly. I haven't seen any intelligent creatures in the dale other than driders – if you can call them 'intelligent' – in some time. It is good to meet slightly more… exotic people."

"You're a nice change from the spiders yourself." Tyus said. Having fought several of the creatures alongside Silver in the marsh, the elf truly meant his words.

The naga beamed down at him, accepting the compliment with a nod.

"Well… um… thanks for saving Sterling back there." Crystal added. "I'd hate to lose such a rare snack." She giggled, playfully poking at her friend's small form.

"Oh, yes," the snake agreed "he's rather delicious."

"You've already tried him?" the dragon asked, a bit surprised. "I can already see you two are going to be good friends."

"I didn't have much of a choice." She admitted, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. "I needed a bit of mana – we usually absorb it through kissing but, for curiosity's sake, I decided to suck on him a bit – to go back into the swamp and find Embyr. I had to dispel a number of illusions; despite the fame given to the 'monster of Shadowdale' the wisp seemed to want me as food nevertheless."

"You're the monster of Shadowdale?" Silver asked as the faces of the newly-acquainted screwed up in surprise.

"For as long as I've been here, I've been 'the monster'." Slithice confirmed. "Not that I intend to kill any of you; just driders."

"Well you proved that you aren't going to murder us by saving Sterling." The metallic giant said. "So… what do you plan to do, if you aren't going to take bites out of us?"

"I was called here, seemingly by the sea itself." The naga explained to her new companions, just as she had to Sterling. "I feel like I need to be here. I figure that you all came here for a reason; perhaps the same reason I was drawn here so many years ago. I was hoping I could come with you… wherever you are going."

"You were 'drawn here by the sea'?" Tyus asked. The emerald-green eyes locked on him as the sea naga nodded.

"We're searching for a magical blade, Tide Bringer. It is one of the four legendary Key blades, swords said to control water.

"It would make sense, you being a sea naga, that the weapon could have some sort of affiliation with you. You could be its chosen wielder…"

"You really think so?" Slithice asked, the news coming at her as a shock. Far below the assassin nodded.

"We're going to set out along the coast tomorrow to search for the cave that houses the sword. It wouldn't be a problem – in fact, it is probably a necessity – that you join us." The dark elf said.

"Wait… I thought that the Key blades were all human-sized." Sterling interrupted. "How can she use something that isn't any longer than her finger?"

"Each sword is unique." Tyus explained. "Each blade – Flame Seeker, the Eye of the Storm, Tide Bringer, and Stone Heart – conforms to the perfect design for its wielder. If its wielder is a human, the sword will appear as yours is now; if the wielder is a dragon – or a naga – it will be much, much larger. The same rule applies to the armlet."

"It makes sense." The knight nodded.

"As of now," the drow said "it is too late to start looking for Undertow caverns tonight; we will start in the morning. We can camp here on the beach; I'd hate to spend the night back in there." He pointed through the haze of mist to the swamp, shuddering slightly as he imaged the wisp angrily flitting about within its shadowy depths.

"Fine by me." Crystal yawned, dropping down in the sand several feet away from the black dragon. "Wake me up in the morning – or for breakfast (Sterling)." With that the golden eyes of the dragon closed, dropping her quickly into her dreams.

Tyus moved to the nearest of the decaying trees, leaning against it and closing his own eyes. Several feet away his friend curled up protectively, like some sort of metallic guardian watching over its charge. Eventually, however, the silver eyes closed and dropped the massive dragon into his own dreams.

Slithice watched the others for a long while with a pleased smile on her face. Her kind were solitary creatures; but she found herself to be different. She liked being with others; and she had found an excellent group to be part of. She already liked the dragons, but found herself especially drawn to the smaller, scale-less men in the party.

Sliding into the ocean the naga lay down with only her head on the shore, the refreshing waters relaxing her body as her tail extended to its full length. The waves crashed over her gently as the tide ebbed through its natural course, sending pleasurable pulses through her frame until, eventually, that pleasing rhythm dropped her from consciousness.

All that remained were Sterling and Embyr.

"Hey," the knight called softly as he approached the living mountain of black scales. The dragon shifted slightly to look at him with her blood colored, tear rimmed eyes.

"Go get Crystal." She choked.

"She's asleep." The boy said. "But you're awake. It's a bit cold out…"

Sterling mentally did a double take on his actions. He hated being eaten; he hated being within a living creature. Yet he was practically asking – begging, with Embyr in such a condition – for her to let him in, to allow him to sleep inside of her. What's more, the request was coming from a human that, hours before, had nearly ended up a real meal for the Black Terror!

"Crystal won't mind." The teary girl said, sniffling slightly. "She loves how you taste; everyone does."

"And you do, too." The sandy haired knight prompted. "Come on, I think I'm getting frost bite."

"You shouldn't want this." The giantess said. "Earlier today I… I tried to eat you, Sterling. You wouldn't have come out like you usually do; I would have swallowed you!"

"I trust you."

"You shouldn't!" the dragon snapped.

"You would have realized what you did. You would have let me out as soon as you knew you had eaten a real human, especially knowing it was me.

"I trust you."

"If I do anything stupid, if I do anything crazy, get out." The Black Terror commanded. "It you move an inch too close to my throat, make me let you out. Shock me-"

"Slithice ate my mana." Sterling grumbled. "I would have loved to zap Crystal if I had the chance."

"Then keep your weapons with you." The obsidian dragon commanded. "Don't hesitate to make me pay for doing anything to hurt you. I can't lose you…"

The teeth before the human parted and, removing his shoes (as she always requested) the boy stepped inside the warm mouth. The dragon did her best to avoid salivating on her guest, trying to keep him as dry and comfortable as possible as he took his spot on her tongue. He rubbed the muscle for several moments, forcing his taste onto the dragon; as he predicted she did not act on it, did not take him further.

He didn't know why he was acting the way he way; it didn't make sense, since he should be the emotional one. But he had to prove that Embyr was not a heartless killer, that she would never harm him. Not that he needed to prove it to himself; he needed to prove it to his friend.

Shocked and horrified at his own movements, Sterling moved towards the back of the dragon's throat. He had done this once before, back countless months ago after a trio of unfortunate humans had found their way into his friend's bowels.

The first time he had gone slowly; far too slowly to not be caught. But, this time, Sterling didn't stick a single arm down the fleshy tunnel; he dived headfirst into Embyr.

The dragon nearly choked as she felt her friend moving within her. His body passed beyond her throat, beyond the point of no return, and made its way into her chest. There was a small lump from the outside for only a few seconds before the boy's momentum sent him out of sight, deep within the belly of the beast.

Darkness surrounded the knight as his head entered a much larger area, quickly followed by the rest of his body. Liquid stung his lower body as he rose in the shadows, drawing his Key blade to shine its pale light on the surrounding flesh. Pink walls surrounded him, always moving as they churned the digestive juices beneath him.

He quickly sheathed his sword as he felt his world tilt and shift, the huntress rising in horror. He felt himself move again as she bent over, slamming into a wall of the stomach before feeling his surroundings press in against him.

Then he was moving up, flying back through the throat as the gag reflex took hold of his friend. Moments later moonlight cascaded down on the boy as he fell on the sand, covered in bile and grit.

"What in hell's name did you just do?" Embyr demanded, bending down towards her friend with fire in her eyes. A great hand came up and slammed the boy down into the sand, leaving a shallow indention where he lay.

"Do you want to be digested? Do you want to wind up like so many others before you? I certainly don't want you to; I can't live without you, you cocky little bastard. Never do that again!"

"I told you."

"You… what the hell do you mean?"

"I told you that you wouldn't hurt me. You spit me up when it would have been easy to let me die, to let me become part of you. You won't hurt me Embyr; do you understand that now?"

The dragon slumped back, breathing heavily. Silence overtook the mist-shrouded night for the longest time before, finally, Embyr lay back down and patted the ground beside her.

"You didn't need to prove that by… well… going that deep." She said.

"Did you enjoy it?"

"Well… yes. But it doesn't need to be a regular thing; it's far too dangerous."

"I don't mind. I hate being eaten; you know that. But… I'm glad you enjoy it. I would rather you be satisfied with me just being beside you but, hey, we are all different people, right? I trust you, no matter how many people you've killed in the past."

"Thank you… it's more than I deserve and more than I ever asked for."

"So…" the human said slyly, watching the mouth open up invitingly before him. "You can't live without me, hmmm?"

"Don't get a big ego." The dragon groaned, rolling her eyes as her friend stepped between her jaws. "And try to stay in my mouth this time, ok?"

The human nodded in response to her slurred instructions, lying down on the enormous pink muscle that dominated the floor of the maw. He closed his eyes as the teeth behind him sealed shut, trusting his friend in the fact that he would wake up in the morning.

All around him, that feeling of trust sent a flare of warmth through the overjoyed dragon's body. Despite her words, she was glad Sterling had gone through with what he had done; there was nothing more satisfying than having his tiny body so deep within her…