Kelsey's Lake

Kelsey's Lake

When I first set out to write Felarya stories the result was pretty much a disaster. We're talking bad writing, grammar, and probably bad jokes too (I'm a fan of stand up what can I say?). There were good times, bad times, and even some adventure times in there too. But after a certain amount of times I pulled the hammer out of the works and hunkered down to write a story that truly captured Felarya in its essence. All it stood for from the good to the bad. "It came to me in a vision" literally.

Kelsey, a crazy mermaid from another world washed into Felarya for a whole new chance at life. Here are all the chapters so far. It starts out a bit rough with an introduction to Kelsey and the lake but picks up with the main story after everything settles down. Join her on her adventures with humans, nagas, miaxi, castles, fish, and even death! Grab a chair, pull up a blanket, and enjoy! Just don't forget the orange slupree!

Please tell me what you think! If you like it tell me why, and if you don't like it tell me that too. Can't improve without your input!

__!!!Warning large amounts of story!!!__


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Kelsey’s Lake - Chapter -2: The Beginning
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Slowly he descended from the sunny sky, down through the clouds towards a long and crystal clear lake. The surrounding landscape was a blur of green and blue, no structure or order could be derived from it. He looked himself over; he was a human all right. He had brown hair and blue eyes, dressed only in a pair of swim trunks. He was pretty sure he was at least nineteen years old, and he knew he had a name too. He was falling faster now, falling towards the blue lake below. There was a sudden jolt.
“Hey Gregory” called a voice, “Get up you lazy bum!”
He opened his eyes. He was sitting in a small white motorboat which was floating on the lake he saw from the sky. The voice belonged to his friend, a black boy named James about his age. James was swimming in the lake, splashing around with another of his friends: a red haired boy named Klark.
“I’ll coming out you guys!” Gregory said.
He climbed out of the boat and into the water. The crystal liquid was the perfect temperature, not too cold or too warm. He swam over to where his friends were splashing about.
James gave him a punch on the arm. “So what were you doing sleeping on a day like this?”
“I was dreaming about something” Gregory replied, “It involved talking salmon and a giant mermaid.”
“Ha ha” Klark laughed, “Giant mermaids huh? Somebody forgot to take their sanity pills today!”
Gregory frowned. “Hey, don’t make fun of me for what my mind makes up when I don’t have control over it!” He turned around in the water, “I’ll see you guys later.”
He dove underwater and came up with a strong stroke of his arms. Imagine his surprise when he broke the surface! His stroke had launched him high into the air, hundreds of meters in fact, as he was soaring as high as the clouds. He began his decent, staring in awe at the lake below him as he zoomed towards it. He hoped he wouldn’t die from the impact.
He landed with a splash as if it were from three feet. “Did you guys see that?” he asked breathlessly.
“We did” Klark said in wonder, “That was far out!”
Gregory dove under and came up again, launching himself into the clouds again. His two friends soon joined him, jumping almost as height as he did. They all landed in the water again, completely unharmed.
“Whooo this is amazing!” James hollered, “Let’s do it some moooooore!”
They all jumped into the air again, this time going higher then ever before. Something caught Gregory’s eye this time though, he saw what appeared to be a mermaid lying on the beach of the lake. She wasn’t moving and there was a huge cut across her forehead, bleeding slowly. Her tail was a sea-green and her hair was a brown like his. It was hard to tell from this height, but she looked over ninety feet long!
He pointed at the mermaid on his way down, “I’ll be right back guys.”
Moments after pointing at the mermaid he appeared floating above her. She was indeed giant, so large that it rang a bell in the back of his head. He landed on her chin.
“Oooh, this looks like a pretty bad cut” he told himself. “I wonder how you got it?”
The mermaid opened her eyes, revealing the aquamarine orbs to be filled with pain.
“Hang on lady” Gregory said soothingly, “I’ll get you fixed up.”
He reached behind his back and made motions at the lake. He kept moving his hands as a large tendril of lake water twisted through the air to where he was sitting on the mermaid’s face. The water washed over her cut.
“There you go” he said calmly, “We’re fixing you up.”
After a few more moments of channeling the water Gregory dropped his arms. The water fell away onto the sand around them, leaving the mermaid’s forehead completely healed.
The mermaid’s blue eyes gave him a questioning look.
“I know” he said, “That was pretty strange. I think I learned how to do that from somewhere, but I can’t remember.”
Suddenly and without warning a strong force grabbed him in the back and yanked him off the mermaid’s face. He watched in horror as she vanished before his eyes, disappearing into nothingness as if she hadn’t been there. He turned around in time to see the lake coming alive with black slimy tentacles. The sky was dark now, with thunder and lightning filling the air.
“What’s going on?” he yelled.
His two friends were nowhere to be found, all that he recognized was the white motorboat they had come in. The force released him just in time for a huge tentacle to lash out at him. He dove underwater and leapt up into the air, narrowly escaping several of the horrible whips.
What is going on here?
Without thinking he pointed at the white boat, instantly teleporting onto it. He revved up the engine and slammed the throttle to the max. He aimed the boat at the place the mermaid had been, swerving left and right to avoid the nightmarish tentacles. A huge one was about to smash the boat to splinters when a brilliant white light filled his vision. There was a hard hit on his head and he went out like a light.

When he finally came to he was floating in something. He opened his eyes and looked around. The sky was a bright blue, with the sun shining down and warming the world. The lake he was in was not that large, but it was a crystal clear one. Surrounding the lake was a forest of absolutely huge trees, all filled with flowers and plants of all kinds. The white boat was floating several meters to his left, smashed to bits. He lay back in the water and sighed.
“Where am I now?” he asked aloud.
The surface of the lake was quiet, save for the occasional call of birds from the surrounding forest. He floated there on his back, looking up at the sky and wondering what all he had been through had meant. His thoughts were interrupted however as he felt something brush against his leg.
“What was that?” he returned to an upright position. “What is that?”
Suddenly he was thrust into the air by a force from below, soaring over twenty meters high. His flight path was stable however, so he was able to get a solid look below him. Something green had disappeared under the water where he had been. He looked around the landscape as he reached the peak of his climb. Far off in the distance was an absolutely massive tree.
“Now that looks familiar” he said to himself.
He twisted his body into a dive, holding his hands out below him. If he was going to hit the water from the height he was if he managed to dive deep enough he would be ok.
Here goes nothing.
He entered the water with a splash, his diving plan working out brilliantly. Due to the perfect form of his dive he sped through the water with no ill effects. He tried to arc his way back up to the surface but ended up at least fifty feet underwater. He looked up at the surface in dismay.
What now? Will I drown?
He looked back down and something in the distance caught his eye. Far off in the lake was a mermaid, one that looked identical to the one he had seen before. She had this odd smile on her face and was looking directly at him.
Suddenly it all hit him like a pie to the face: giant mermaid, beautiful forest, massive tree in distance… He was in Felarya! The memories came rushing back as he watched the mermaid start coming at him. Panic set in as he tried desperately to swim upwards. It was no use however, as the mermaid was already upon him. He closed his eyes as her open mouth surrounded him, snapping shut like a clamshell.
Great… I have nothing… Not even air…
Floating in the mermaid’s mouth he prayed that he would live, but he had his doubts. He had literally nothing to his name, and in Felarya that was a death sentence. He was just about to give up and release his air to drown himself when the most unusual ting happened.
The mermaid’s mouth suddenly drained of water, all of it being swallowed as he was pressed up against her pallet. The air from her lungs then filled her mouth, providing him with oxygen to breath.
What is she doing?
An extremely loud noise filled her mouth, forcing Gregory to cover his ears. The air was vibrating all around him as the mermaid started to hum. Why she has humming and not just swallowing him he had no idea.
The mermaid’s mouth opened, letting light flood in. Her tongue slid up and pressed him up and out, causing him to land none too gently on a rocky floor.
“Oooh I looove him” the mermaid sang, ”I loooove that boooy…”
Gregory sat up, looking around in confusion. The mermaid had spat him up in some kind of underwater cave, a well lit one too judging from all the glowing plants on the walls.
The mermaid poked Gregory over with her finger. ”I like him sooo much… I wont ever leet him gooo.”
“Why are you singing?” Gregory asked, “And furthermore-”
He has interrupted as the mermaid scooped him up and tossed him into her mouth. He ducked in time to avoid knocking his head on her teeth, but not in time to avoid her uvula. Her tongue immediately tried to shove him to the back of her mouth and down her esophagus, but he was too quick. He rolled over to the side of her mouth and slid underneath her tongue. She began humming again, but this time with more intensity. Her tongue slid to the back of her mouth leaving Gregory resting on her lower jaw. Her tongue then thrust forward, scooping him up and slamming him against the roof of her mouth.
When her tongue flattened Gregory rolled to the side again, this time knocking his head on one of her teeth as he slid to the bottom of her mouth. The humming continued as her tongue slid back again and scooped him up, this time slamming him against both rows of teeth before shoving him to the back of her mouth. The tongue lifted up and pressed him into her throat as she swallowed with a gulp. As he was squeezed down her throat he could feel the surrounding tissue vibrate as she began signing again.
”Just can’t get enouuugh of him.”
The mermaid dove back into the water and swam up and towards the beach. She continued to hum her song as she went, playfully rubbing her belly as she did so.
“What is this mermaid’s problem?” Gregory asked aloud, backing up against the stomach walls, “Is she just nuts or does she have poo brain?”
The mermaid broke the surface of the lake and pulled her top half up onto the beach. ”Juuusst love that guy” she sang.
She took a break from singing and stuck her tongue out. She then put her finger in the back of her mouth and began gagging.
“What now?” Gregory asked.
Her stomach began heaving, tossing him all over the place. The convulsions got stronger and stronger until he was finally forced up and into her esophagus again. Up and up he went, loud gagging sounds surrounding him as he went. Eventually he made it to her mouth and with one final gag was sent flying onto the sandy beach.
He stood up and turned to face the mermaid. She was propped up by her arms and smiling down at him with her eyes lazily half-closed.
“May I ask what in the name of Butter Biscuits you think you’re doing?” he asked angrily. “Because as far as I can tell you-”
He was interrupted again as she snatched him up in her right hand and stuffed him between her breasts. His face immediately turned bright red and he sputtered in protest.
“Umma- nerggth- huzzata…”
The mermaid ignored him, shoving off shore and resting herself into a back float. She started signing again. ”He’s got the little voice that sounds like a little peeerson… And it’s just sooo cuuute…”
Gregory was still unable to form any intelligible sentences due to his position, but he did attempt to free himself with no avail. He was stuck in the most awkward of places he could imagine.
When he finally regained his composure he tried to shout over her signing. “Hey why don’t you let me go huh? Sound like a plan?”
The mermaid stopped signing, and he hoped he had gotten through to her. She reached up and shoved him further down with her left hand and then submerged herself into the water. This gave Gregory a very bad feeling, a feeling that was about to be confirmed.
”He’s juuust theeee” the mermaid began singing.
She dove underwater with Gregory still wedged between her breasts, diving deep down to the bottom of the lake. When she reached the sandy bottom she scraped her chest along the sand, forcing Gregory out of his nook and leaving him swirling head over heels in the water. She then did a loop-de-loop, coming around again and grabbing Gregory in her left hand. With her fingers firmly wrapped around him she zoomed towards the surface, keeping her hand close to her body as she went.
When she reached the surface she flew out of the lake it an amazing backflip, tossing Gregory high into the air at the peak of her jump. ”Beeeeessst!”
Gregory’s ears were filled with the rushing wind as he flew into the sky. He looked down to see the mermaid splash into the water with a huge explosion of water, and he had to admit it was a pretty good flip. He had little time to admire the flip however, as he was on his way back down and the mermaid’s head had surfaced beneath him. Her mouth was wide open and her tongue was sticking out.
Great… I can guess what comes next.
He frowned in disgust as he sped into the mermaid’s mouth, his high falling speed literally forcing him down her throat. She barely even swallowed!
She put her hand to her neck and sighed as she felt the lump descending. ”Just soo tasty” she sang softly.
Gregory landed in her stomach with a squelch, a very angry look on his face. He stood up and kicked her stomach wall with all his might. “Why are you so insane? Are you going to finally digest me and get this over with? Or am I going to have to break the first rule of fiction?”
His answer came as the stomach became lurching again. He was tossed all around as the strong muscular walls flexed to and fro. After a while of bouncing he was finally pressed up and into her esophagus again, the slimy walls squeezing him up none too gently.
“I swear… When I get up there I’m going to have a fit!”
He was finally pressed up into her mouth where he hit his face on her uvula again. Her tongue then reared up behind him and shoved him out of her mouth and into the daylight, landing with a splat in her open hand.
He stood up with an angry expression on his face. He turned to look her in the eye and was amazed to see her grinning. He closed his eyes and concentrated with all his might, and after mere seconds a strange amulet appeared around his neck.
“That’s the last straw” he said harshly, “I’m ending this madness once and for all!” He grabbed the amulet and held it up high, “Amulet of the Thirty Second Shape-Shift activaaate!”
A brilliant white light blinded the mermaid, who immediately covered her eyes. When she opened them she cried out in alarm: an octopus as big as she was had materialized in front of her!
The octopus began wrapping her up with its eight arms, constricting her arms and legs. After it had immobilized her it dragged her underwater where it began pumping water from the siphon on its head. They shot through the water towards the shore, the octopus guiding them with two of its arms. With a huge splash and the spray of sand they both came sliding to a halt on the beach, the mermaid’s tail still flapping in the water.
They both sat there a moment, the mermaid’s eyes wide as she stared at the huge creature that was pinning her down. There was another white flash, and when she opened her eyes she found the human standing on her stomach looking slightly dazed.
She picked him up and held him in front of her face.
“Oh no no no” he yelled, “No more of that! We are going to talk this out!”
She spoke to him for the first time. “Huh?”
“Put me down right now” he demanded, speaking with bravery considering his position. “Do it now!”
The mermaid rolled up onto her hip and propped herself up with her left arm, grabbing Gregory with her right as he slid off her stomach. She placed him on the sand an arm’s reach away from her and stared at him expectantly.
“Now” he said as he brushed himself off; “I’m sorry for having to resort to force with you, but your erratic behavior left me no choice.”
The expression on her face was not what he expected after his display of power. She was still staring down at him with that blissful look in her eyes.
She reached over with her free hand and poked him in the stomach. “You’re cute!”
He pushed her finger away, “I’ve gathered as much. Now can we please move on?”
She smiled and tilted her head to the side, giving him that nervous feeling again. He was completely unprepared as she leaned over him and collapsed to the ground, squishing him beneath her breasts.
“Mummbhb muhh!” he mumbled.
She lifted herself off the beach and into the sitting position, sand falling off her chest. Gregory was now stuck in the most awkward place he could imagine again, this time with sand all around him too.
The mermaid looked down at where he was stuck, “Awwwwww!”
Gregory wiggled about until he loosened himself free, falling down onto her stomach and rolling onto her lap. He got up and tired to get his footing on her slippery scales, eventually falling over on his backside where he stayed.
“Holy Cheeseballs!” he said exasperatedly, “What in imaginations name is your problem?!”
She looked down at him smiling, poking him in the side with one of her fingers. “I like you! Yoouur’re the bessst…”
“Enough with the singing” Gregory said, “Please.”
Her face turned from happy to a pout.
Gregory sighed; “I’m all for people liking me, but usually I know why they like me. Is there a reason you like me so strongly?”
“Uhuh!” she said nodding, “When I was washed onshore in a strange lake you came and helped me feel better. Then you brought me back home to my lake here, fighting off all kinds of monsters to protect me.”
Gregory rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I don’t seem to have any memory of that last part, but I do remember seeing a mermaid with a cut on her forehead. It’s foggy…”
She watched as he paced back and forth on her lap, giggling slightly at the sight.
“I was in this strange place with a lake that makes you jump really high… There was this white boat and these two people. I jumped up and saw you went over to you and fixed you up, and then the sky got all dark.” He stopped pacing. “THAT’S IT!”
The mermaid jumped at his sudden shout.
“I somehow activated lucidity and was transported to Felarya with you when the nightmarish stuff started happening!” He looked up at her face, “I’m glad to see the cuts doing better. How did you get that anyway?”
She cocked her head and smiled down at him, “A white floating thing that made noises. It was strange.”
Gregory sighed, “It looks like this is entirely fault then. Sorry for dragging you into it all.”
“It’s alright” the mermaid replied, poking him again, “I like you!”
He stood up, “Do you mind if we get on a first name basis? It’s a bit awkward not knowing your name.”
She nodded, “I’m Kelsey! I’ve lived here alone in this lake for as long as I can remember. It’s not often people come along.”
“Well my name is Gregory” he said taking a bow, “I travel far and wide learning all I can about everything I can.” He stood up straight; “Now that the formalities are out of the way Kelsey, can you please tell me why in the muffin you kept eating me and throwing me back up again?”
Kelsey blushed, “Well I like you… You taste really good…” She began drawing nervously in the sand with her finger. “I wanted to keep feeling you inside my tummy but I didn’t want to digest you, because I like you too much.”
Gregory slapped his hand to his forehead, “I’m flattered. I’m sure you’d like me to hang around.”
“Does that mean you’re going to leave Gregory?” Kelsey asked sheepishly, “You’re not going to leave are you?” She grabbed him up off her lap and held him in front of her tearing eyes. “Please stay here with me!”
Gregory sighed deeply. “Sadly I cannot stay here; I must be getting back home.”
“No” Kelsey said, a tear falling from her eye, “You can’t go!”
“I have to” he replied, “But if you let me go without any more trouble I promise to come back and visit you plenty.”
“Really?” Kelsey asked rubbing her eyes, “Promise?”
“I promise” Gregory replied, “Now please put me down.”
Kelsey put him down gently on the beach next to her before rolling over onto her stomach. She propped herself up with her arms, letting her tail float on the surface of the lake.
“Now please give me some quiet for a moment” Gregory said, closing his eyes and putting his hands together. “This next part is going to take all my concentration.”
Kelsey watched intently as he began humming to himself, his face wrinkling up as he concentrated harder and harder. She lowered her face down right in front of him, and rested her chin on her hands.
A small object slowly began materializing in front of him, its outline looking like an oval mountain. Kelsey’s eyes widened as it began to fill with color: the peak was white with snow, the base was green, and there was a cave on the bottom that was pitch black. There was even a sign on the top that had two words written on it, although she couldn’t make them out.
It finished materializing and fell to the ground in front of Gregory. He sighed and opened his eyes. “GEEZ!”
He was staring directly into a giant face that was inches from his own, startling him so much he fell over backwards. Kelsey stuck out her tongue and began licking him, slobbering all over him while giggling.
“Hey stop, stop!” he said, pushing away her tongue. “What the broccoli?”
Kelsey pulled her tongue back into her mouth, “You taste good!”
“You’ve said so before” Gregory replied, standing up and wiping some of the saliva off of him. “And I would appreciate it if you didn’t remind me of that fact constantly.”
Kelsey propped herself back up on her arms and watched as he collected the object from the ground. She cocked her head, “What is that thing?”
“It’s called a M5” he replied proudly, lifting it into the air, “And with it I shall travel home.”
“You mean you’re leaving now?” Kelsey said sadly, “Whyyy?”
Gregory lowered his arm and punched several buttons on the back of the device. “Because I must return home and study the fauna of Felarya of course!” He looked up into Kelsey’s face. “Don’t worry though, I promise I’ll be back!”
A yellow glow appeared from the device in Gregory’s hand and surrounded him. The light slowly began fading, and as it went taking him with it. He waved to her and smiled so she sat up and waved back, a silly grin still on her face.
She could faintly hear Gregory’s last words before he faded completely, “See you soon!”
The device he was holding had not faded, and it dropped to the ground where he had disappeared. Kelsey carefully reached over and picked it up, holding it up to her eye to get a better look. There was a small red button on the back that was just too much for her curiosity.
“I wonder what that thing does?”


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Kelsey’s Lake - Chapter -1: Orange Flavored
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Gregory had paddled his way out into the middle of the lake. He rowed the boat with his left arm while holding his orange flavored slurpee with his right. Today had been a particularly busy day adventuring and he hoped to relax a little in his swim trunks on the water. His thoughts of relaxation were interrupted however as a huge brown haired head emerged from the water directly in front of his boat, causing a large wave that almost capsized it.
“Gee Whitaker!” he exclaimed, “Watch what you’re doing Kelsey!”
The mermaid looked down at him with aquamarine eyes, a silly grin plastered on her face. “Gregory, you know I like sneaking up on you!”
He watched as Kelsey rose higher out of the water, being ninety feet long she dwarfed the little row boat. Gregory blushed and turned his head away, she wasn’t wearing her top today. He nervously took another sip of his slurpee.
“Oooh” Kelsey cooed, reaching down and plucking him from the boat, “What do you have in your hand?”
Gregory turned his attention back to the mermaid, he had nothing to be uncomfortable about now that he was dangling in front of her face. He gave her a stern look as he hung from her fingers.
“First off: what did I tell you about not wearing any clothes around me?” Kelsey blushed. “And second off: put me down and I’ll tell you.”
Kelsey brought up her left hand and set him down in her palm. She then lifted her hand up in front of her nose and stared at Gregory expectantly.
“That’s better” he said, brushing his chest off, “I’ll excuse the whole topless thing for now, but you really need to remember that.”
Kelsey poked him in the stomach with her other hand, nearly knocking him over. “But it’s so strange wearing that thing! Besides, you haven’t told me what that thing is you’re drinking!”
“It’s an orange flavored slupee” Gregory said, holding it up. “Its ground up ice mixed with the taste of oranges.”
Kelsey’s eyes widened, “Oooo! Can I have some?” Gregory looked at her and then at the slurpee. “Pleease?” she whined.
He sighed, “Fine… Stick out your tongue.”
Kelsey held her hand up to her mouth and stuck out her tongue. It was twice as big as Gregory was, but he walked across her hand and right up to it. He popped off the lid of the drink and poured it onto her tongue.
“Ny cunght tnaste nit” she tried to say.
He sighed, “Alright hold still.”
Leaning up against her tongue he reached over to where the slurpee was sitting. Using both hands he spread the slurpee around the surface of her tongue, trying to get it onto as many taste buds as possible. His plan apparently worked, as Kelsey let out a squeal of delight, pulling her tongue back inside her mouth which pulled him into a face-plant on her palm.
“Ooooh its soooo good!” she sighed, “I want some more!”
Gregory pushed himself back into sitting position and leaned up against her thumb. “That was all I brought with me Kelsey, there isn’t any more.”
Kelsey looked at him with her eyes slanted, “Then you should bring me more!”
“It doesn’t work like that” Gregory sighed, “I can’t produce things from thin air.”
Kelsey lowered her hand below her chin and stared down at him. “If you don’t get me some more I’ll eat you!”
“Ah ha ha” Gregory laughed, “Don’t be ridicu-”
He was cut off as Kelsey tilted her hand to the side. He tumbled out of her palm and fell down though the air until he landed in the lake below with a splash. He surfaced next to Kelsey’s bellybutton with an annoyed look on his face.
“What was that for Kelsey? Give a little warning when you do that sort of thing!”
Kelsey silently lowered herself into the water, keeping her glaring eyes on him until she was completely submerged. A small wave washed over Gregory as her head disappeared under the lakes surface.
“Oh come on” Gregory said, “Where are you going?”
The surface of the lake was eerily quiet; the giant mermaid was nowhere to be seen. He looked all around to try and find her but had no luck. Treading water was beginning to get tiresome and he was about to call out her name again when he thought of something.
“Oh wait… She wouldn’t…”
With a sudden fear gripping his heart he looked down into the water, and he was just in time to see a huge gaping mouth coming up around him! He flailed his arms as the rows of teeth shot up out of the water on both sides. He was slammed into the roof of Kelsey’s mouth as she shot from the water, diving back into the lake with Gregory inside her. Her mouth shut tight as she reentered the water, her tongue pinning Gregory against her palate.
She sat there in the water just under the surface, her arms crossed across her chest and her face in a pout.
Gregory was slipping around in her mouth; he had barely enough room to get on his hands and knees. “Come on Kelsey! What are you doing?”
The massive tongue jerked upwards, slamming him into the roof of her mouth and knocking him down again. He grabbed his head to try and stop the room from spinning and when he had recovered he pounded his fist on one of her teeth.
“Hey open up will you? I’m not going to get you more of that slurpee alright?”
Suddenly her tongue lifted into the air, turning from a squishy floor into a slippery ramp. Gregory began sliding backwards towards her throat. “Woah now Kelsey, enough is enough!”
Kelsey either didn’t hear him or wasn’t listening, because he continued to slide into the back of her mouth. He grabbed onto the surface of her tongue as best as he could, but he soon found himself with his legs in her esophagus holding on to her tongue for dear life.
“Okay stop it!” He shouted, “What do you thing think you’re doing?”
Kelsey’s tongue rose high into the air and began pressing him down into her esophagus. Was she really going to swallow him alive? He scrabbled at her uvula to no avail, and he was forced to give in to her demands.
As he slipped into her esophagus he screamed out at the top of his lungs. “ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT! I’LL GET YOU A DAMN SLURPEE!”
Kelsey’s tongue stopped and he let out a sigh of relief. A crack of bright light appeared between her teeth as her mouth slowly opened. A flood of water rushed inside, swirling around him and filling up her mouth; this caused him to float up out of her throat and out into her mouth. Her tongue came up behind him and pushed him forward and out into the lake to freedom.
He surfaced sputtering, looking up at the blue sky with new appreciation. He then turned around to see Kelsey floating several meters away. She was chest deep in the water with her arms crossed, her eyes glaring down at him and her mouth in a frown.
“What did you think you were doing?!” Gregory said scolding her, “You almost swallowed me! There are other ways of getting things from people than threatening their lives!”
Kelsey turned her face away and huffed. Her huge tail lifted from the water beneath Gregory, taking him into the air with it.
“What now?” he asked, gripping the green scales as best as he could.
Kelsey made another grunt and closed her eyes. Her tail suddenly flicked up straight, sending Gregory soaring through the air towards the shore. He spun through the air in cartwheels and summersaults, flailing about like a human off of ground.
“Woooooaaaaaaaaah!”
He impacted the water and skipped across it like a stone, landing with a thud on the sandy shore on the third bounce. Getting to his feet his held his head to regain his balance, trying as best as he could not to fall over.
“What a trip… Gregory air mail…”
After his head had cleared he looked out over the water, he saw that Kelsey was looking at him with a concerned look on her face. As soon as she saw him looking she turned her head away again, arms still crossed across her chest. She stuck her nose up and submerged into the lake completely.
“What a kidder” Gregory said to himself, “She tries so much to hide her emotions.” He turned around and pulled a small and colorful mountain out of his pocket. “I had better go get that slurpee then… If I wait any longer she’ll be unmanageable.”
He pushed the snowcapped peak of the mountain and disappeared into a green portal.

Gregory was soon back on the rowboat floating across the lake, this time with a large wooden barrel in the back of the boat. He was using both oars to propel the vessel across the water, but with the heavy cargo it wasn’t easy. Once he had gotten a fair distance from shore Kelsey’s head appeared in front of him with a large wave. This time the boat was fine though, what will all the added weight.
“Did ya get some?” Kelsey asked excitedly, her face now beaming, “Did ya?”
Gregory sighed, “Yes I did. It’s in this barrel.”
Without further ado Kelsey put her hand on the bow of the boat, and pressing down flipped the rowboat over and sending the barrel into her open mouth. Gregory landed in the water under her chin.
“Not the boat again!” he cried.
There was a loud crack as Kelsey’s teeth shattered the barrel, and soon after a loud moan of delight. She floated backwards and brought her body up into a back float, her stomach coming up underneath Gregory. She continued making pleased sounds as she sloshed the slurpee around in her mouth, and when she finally swallowed she let out a long sigh of contentment.
Gregory sidestepped out of the way as she rested both her hands on her stomach. He turned towards her head and saw that she was resting with her eyes closed. He had trouble seeing her face over her chest though, and he was pleased to see that she was at least wearing the bikini he had given her.
“So now what?” he asked, “Did you enjoy it?”
Kelsey replied with her eyes still closed. “Oh yes, but I still want more... Will you get some for me?”
Gregory thought about it for a moment. “Well there is this one way, I can’t believe I didn’t think of it before. Stay still and I’ll be right up.”
“Aright” she sighed.
He climbed over her hands and walked across her stomach. He stopped at her breasts and blushed, smiling weakly.
Kelsey lifted her head and looked at him with one eye open. “Go ahead, I don’t mind.”
He took a deep breath and let it out in a long sigh. He took a few steps back and took off running for her chest, leaping high into the air and almost cleared her breasts. He bounced off her left one and fell flat on his face on her chest under her chin. He stood up, face red, and tried to regain his composure.
“Hurry up” Kelsey said, “I want more slurpee.”
Gregory turned around and jumped up, grabbing onto her chin and pulling himself up onto her face. This produced a small giggle from Kelsey, whose chin was ticklish. After she had calmed down again he carefully jumped her mouth and sat down in front of her nose.
Kelsey opened her eyes and stared cross-eyed at him. “So where’s my slurpee Gregory? It’s soo good…”
He produced the small mountain device from his swim trunks pocket and began fiddling with it. After a few moments a foot wide faucet appeared jutting out from the small cave at its base. He held it up so she could see.
“This M5 shall produce the slurpee” he said smiling, “Oh I am such a genius!”
Kelsey gave him a puzzled look, “How is slurpee going to come from that?”
“All we have to do is calibrate it to your taste buds” he said, pulling a long wire out of the device. He stood up and attached a clamp to the end of the wire, “Stick out your tongue will you?”
Kelsey’s huge tongue slipped out from between her lips, rising up to Gregory’s height. Suddenly it shot forward and knocked Gregory over, knocking him over her nose and onto her forehead.
He let out a disapproving grunt as she giggled. “If there’s any more of that there won’t be any slurpee” he said.
“I’m sorry” Kelsey replied sheepishly.
He climbed back over her nose and walked up to her tongue. “Good, now hold this thing still for a moment will you?”
He took the M5 in one hand and the wire in the other. Reaching out with the clamp he stuck the wire to her tongue, pressing a button on the M5 with the other. There was a small click and the snowcapped peak turned red.
“Nhurry nup!” Kelsey said impatiently.
Gregory sighed, “Calm down its almost done.”
There was another click and the peak turned green. He took the clamp off her tongue and it disappeared into thin air. Kelsey withdrew her tongue into her mouth and licked her lips.
“So now what?” she asked.
Gregory got down on his knees on her lip and held the spigot of the M5 out. “Now open your mouth and get ready for a flavor blast from out of this world!”
Kelsey opened her mouth wide, giving him a full view of her huge maw. He pushed a button on the M5 and a huge stream of orange slurpee began pouring from the spigot and into her mouth. She let out a squeal of delight as she began drinking it, her tongue sloshing it around in her mouth, some of it splashing up onto Gregory.
He was trying to keep the M5 in place, but the splashing was making it hard. “Hey watch what you’re doing there! I’m getting orange all over me!”
Kelsey was too caught up in the delicious slurpee to hear him, and she stuck out her tongue to catch all the orange liquid that was spraying all over the place. She closed her eyes and began lifting her head.
“Hey keep your cool” Gregory said as he began losing his balance. “I’m right here still!”
His words fell on deaf ears as Kelsey continued to sit up, causing him to fall off her face and into her mouth. Orange slurpee was still pouring from the M5, and now that it was in her mouth it began overflowing out. This caused Kelsey to pull in her tongue and close her mouth, knocking Gregory’s head against one of her teeth as she did so.
“Let me out of here!” Gregory cried, slipping about in the slurpee flood.
Kelsey was still drinking the slurpee, and he knew sooner or later he would get swallowed too. Acting fast he smashed the top of the M5, shutting of the flood and retracting the spigot. There was still plenty of slurpee in Kelsey’s mouth though, and her tongue began lifting up in preparation to swallow the remaining bit.
“Hey remember me?” Gregory shouted, “Still in here!”
Too late, her tongue pressed him back into her esophagus and he was pulled down and out of her mouth. The slick walls pressed in around him, propelling him down, down, down. After several moments of being squeezed down her throat he felt an empty space below with his legs. With a short fall and a splash he landed in her orange slurpee filled stomach.
Kelsey was floating waist high in the water, rubbing her belly and licking her lips. “That was the most wonderful thing ever Gregory! Thank you so much!” She looked down and around her. “Gregory?” No response. “Gregory, where did you go?”
She put her hand to her chin and thought hard. All she remembered was Gregory sitting on her lips and dispensing the slurpee. He should have been fine until she sat up, he couldn’t have fallen anywhere far. A sudden movement in her stomach brought on the realization like a lightning bolt.
“Gregory!” she cried grasping her stomach, “Gregory are you in there?!”
There was a succession of small kicks.
“Oh no” she wailed, “I ate you! I really ate you!” She looked franticly around, “I’ve got to get to shore!”
The contents of her stomach began sloshing around as she swam panicked towards shore, causing Gregory much discomfort. He knew that she wouldn’t be able to get him out, so he took matters into his own hands. Holding the M5 above his head he pressed a small button on the back, producing four legs from the sides. The four legs reached up to the top of her stomach and pulled him up and back into her esophagus.
Kelsey had reached the beach and was laying there panting. She still had one hand on her stomach and her face was panicked. “How am I gunna get you out of there Gregory?” she said sniffling, “I don’t want to digest you!”
The felt a sudden movement in the base of her neck, it was a strange lump that seemed to be coming up her esophagus and producing a weird feeling. She tried to swallow it down again, but it kept coming.
“Ugh! I need… Ught. To get you.. gah… Out…”
The lump was halfway up now, and its presence was making her gag. She bent over on the sand and began coughing harshly. After what seemed like forever of coughing she felt it come up into her mouth, and with one final cough was sent flying onto the beach.
She looked down and saw Gregory lying on the sand, the M5 in his hand retracting some weird looking legs. He was covered in orange juice and seemed to be out cold. She gently scooped him up in her hands and held him to her face.
“Gregory… Are you alright? Please tell me you’re alright…”
She sighed in relief as he coughed, sitting up in her hands and rubbing his head. He looked up into her tear filled eyes and smiled weakly. “Calm down there Kelsey… I’m alright.”
She wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled back at him. “I’m so sorry! I though I was going to digest you!”
Gregory laughed, “Don’t be silly. You know what they say: you can’t keep a good man down!”
Kelsey laughed with him, sinking onto the beach in exhaustion. She placed him on the sand and rolled onto her side, draping her long brown hair around him. He dried himself off with her hair and sat down next to her head.
“That certainly was an interesting trip” he said, “But I think we’ve learned out lesson.”
“And what’s that?” Kelsey asked puzzled.
Gregory gave her a stern look, “No more slurpess for you. Ever!”
“What? Never ever?” Kelsey asked in alarm.
“Well maybe some day” Gregory replied, “But I’m certainly not going to be serving it!”
They both laughed together, finally dieing down a few moments later. The whole ordeal was too much for Kelsey to handle though, and she began to nod off.
“Thanks… For the… Slurpee, though…” she mumbled.
Gregory smiled up at her and ran his hand through some strands of hair. “You’re welcome Kelsey” he said.
He stood up and watched as she fell asleep, her chest rising and falling as she drifted off into REM slumber. He untangled himself from her hair and backed away onto the beach, picking up M5 up from where it had fallen.
“Sleep well Kelsey” he said, “I’ll see you again soon.”
He pressed a button on the M5 and a small green portal opened behind him, and after he had gone the portal closed. Kelsey lay there on the beach, her tail floating in the lake behind her. She smiled in her sleep, dreaming what it would be like if her lake were filled with orange flavored slurpee.


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Kelsey’s Lake - Chapter 0: Everything Changes
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Kelsey examined the large red button on the back of the device closer. Is this the button Gregory pushed to make the slurpee come out? She thought about the taste of the slurpee and her face scrunched up in delight.
“I bet it is!” she said happily.
She pressed the button as gently as she could with her pinky, breathing quickly through her nose in her excitement. The button disappeared into the device with a loud beep, a small light bulb coming out of an opening in the top.
Kelsey squealed, “Here comes the slurpee!”
Orange slurpee wasn’t what came out though; instead the light lit up red and began flashing, an extremely loud siren piercing the air. Kelsey dropped it immediately and covered her ears.
“Ow! That’s too loud!”
Black lightning came out of the device, arcing wickedly all over the beach and turning the sand into a black goop. There was a loud ripping sound as a large portal opened in front of Kelsey. Once the portal was fully open both the alarm and lightning stopped.
Kelsey carefully peeked into the portal, “Hello, anybody there?”
Through the portal was a dark mountain canyon, the rocky walls made entirely of brimstone. A ways down the canyon was a huge black castle, fire and smoke pouring from several of the windows as well as from large towering chimneys. There was a pair of brown two legged dinosaur looking things walking side by side towards her. They were only half her size, but their teeth looked very dangerous. Once they had seen her they stopped in their tracks.
“I see it” the one of the left said in a gruff voice.
“I do too” the other replied, “The boss will want to know about this.”
The first one turned around; “I’ll go tell him, you keep her from escaping.”
Kelsey was feeling more and more uneasy the longer she looked into the portal, but for some reason she couldn’t look away.
The first creature had walked away, leaving his partner in the canyon. The second one looked up at Kelsey, its glowing red eyes locking with hers.
It grinned evilly, “Hello little lady…”
As their eyes locked Kelsey’s heart skipped a beat, she was suddenly filled with fear and she tried to back away. Her heart was filled with terror when her body refused to respond to her will, staying frozen in place with her gaze locked with the strange creatures.
After what seemed like an eternity a large black cloud of smoke appeared in the canyon and was zooming towards then. The creature broke its gaze and turned around. “Here he comes… Ugly…”
The smoke cloud rushed past the creature and through the portal, filling the air around Kelsey with black smoke and the sound of maniacal laughter. The portal closed slightly with another ripping sound, the air slowly clearing of the black smoke.
Two red eyes appeared as the smoke dissipated and an evil sounding voice came drifting from where they floated. “Well, well, well… What a wonderful occasion.”
“Uh-uh” Kelsey stammered.
The rest of the smoke cleared revealing the source of the voice. Standing on the beach was a seven foot tall black furnace. It stood on four pointy legs and had two tube-like arms that ended in comically huge claws. The front opening of the furnace served as its mouth, red fire burning behind its iron teeth. There was one large pipe on the top surrounded by puffed up black hair, black smoke continually spewing into the otherwise clean air.
“Hush hush mermaid” it said smiling, “No need to waste your last breaths. Although you have far too little intelligence to understand how many inhales you have left.”
Kelsey stared in horror at this bizarre creature. “What are you?”
“That is none of your concern” it replied raising a claw, “All you need to know is that I am your undoing.” It pointed at the device lying in the sand. “Do you even know what you did when you pressed that button?”
“I thought it would make slurpee come out” Kelsey said timidly.
The creature held both claws to its belly as it laughed heartily, “Oh ho ho! You stupid thing! What you did was connect to the imagination and allow me to access your location.” It put its arms down and looked up at her, “And do you know why that was a bad thing?”
Kelsey shook her head, “N-n-no.”
“Of course you don’t” it said, walking over to the device and picking it up. “Why would you know? But because of what I’m about to do I’ll take the time to explain.”
It spun around and pointed the device at her, causing Kelsey to flinch.
The creature laughed. “What you have done my idiotic creature, is allow me the perfect opportunity for revenge on Gregory!”
Even though Kelsey was deathly afraid of this creature she was still curious. “Why do you want revenge on Gregory?”
“It doesn’t matter to you” the creature replied nonchalantly as it began pressing buttons on the device in his claw, “You won’t even exist to worry about it. Ah, here it is!”
A large needle popped out of the front of the mountain shaped device and the light bulb on top lit up red. The creature walked over to where Kelsey was sitting on the sand and held up the device.
“What are you doing?” Kelsey asked fearfully.
“Just hold still” it said.
Quicker than Kelsey could move the creature drove the needle into her scales, a small spurt of blood coming out as the needle was jabbed in. Kelsey let out a cry of pain and immediately tried to pull out the needle, but no matter how hard she pulled it would not come out.
“Don’t bother with trying to remove it” the creature laughed, “It’s locked in there using the power of the imagination. You would need to imagine it coming out to make it so, and sadly you are recently created and therefore unable to use such a power.”
A strange feeling was spreading around her body from where the needle was inserted. “What is it doing to me?” she cried.
The creature laughed again, “In the simplest terms available? You’re about to commit imaginational suicide. Using the darkest powers of the human imagination the imagined thing affected by the serum in that needle will cease to exist, wiped from the very imagination itself.”
Even though she had no idea what this creature was saying Kelsey could feel the implications in her spirit. She looked with wide eyes at the needle in her flesh.
“The initiation of this process is linked to a trigger in your mind” the creature continued, “In your case the moment you recall your favorite memory the countdown will start.”
The red light on the top of the device started blinking and a small beeping sound started coming from somewhere inside it.
“Well that was certainly quick” the creature commented. It turned away from Kelsey and walked into the slim portal still hanging in the air. “I must be going now” it said waving a claw, “Your complete destruction awaits!”
The portal vanished leaving Kelsey on the beach with the device in her lap, still counting down to whatever was about to happen. She put her face in her hands and began sobbing.
“What’s going to happen to me? I don’t want to die!”
A large multicolored sphere came out of the device on her leg and grew larger and larger until it was draping over the entire lake. Kelsey looked up and around, her eyes still filled with tears.
“What’s happening now?” she asked softly.
A strange blackness began filling the air near the top of the dome, slowly spreading its way downward. Suddenly a soft voice filled Kelsey’s ears, a mysterious calm coming over her.
Fear not imagined being it said, You will not be completely extinguished from all of existence. You are pure of essence and display the purest form of the human imagination.
“Who are you?” Kelsey asked, “Where are you?”
The voice continued ignoring her questions; You will still die however, but not in the way of your body or spirit: you will die in part of the imagination. It paused before continuing. This will not be as complete as you were told, for you will be reborn in splendor. Sadly this will cut you off from Magic Mountain for all eternity, you will never be able to travel there on your own or see Gregory ever again.[
Kelsey began tearing again, “Never see Gregory again? That can’t be!”
Perhaps never is too long a time the voice replied, There is a slight possibility you will see him again in the far future.
The beeping coming from the device was getting more frequent, as well as the flashing of the light.
The countdown is almost over imagined being the voice continued, And when it ends you will be destroyed and recreated in the infinite human imagination. You will remember nothing from this life, and nothing of Gregory. This lake will be completely different in nearly every way, your life will be brand new.
Kelsey had no idea how to even begin to comprehend all this terrifying information but for some strange reason she knew it was going to be ok. The strange blackness had reached where she was sitting now and began wrapping itself around her.
The voice came once more and softly whispered in the back of her mind. Do not worry Kelsey, your new life will be much better then you’re current one. You were living in an empty lake, with nothing surrounding you on all sides. This will give you meaning once again, a life full of vibrancy and discovery. Imaginational suicide in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1


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THE ENDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDdddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd3459729562395761293207156127065150000017.5



































A bright light came pouring in, water splashing up. A large crystal clear lake materialized out of thin air, its water filled with all manner of aquatic life. Somewhere several miles away a ninety foot long mermaid dropped from a tree into a huge flowing river, attracting the attention of a pair of nearby fairies.[/i]

Chapter 1 is where the story truly begins. Hold onto your butts cause here it gooooes!


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Kelsey’s Lake - Chapter 1
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The morning sun was high in the sky, floating in the vast blue expanse where it spread light to all life within sight. Below it spread a vast forest, the vibrant greens of the trees contrasting the bright blue of a massive river. With crystal clear water the water sparkled in the sun, many strange forms of life swimming about in its depths. The riverbank was also filled with life: from the chattering birds in the trees to the packs of hairy beasts stalking unaware prey. It is on the bank of this river that the mermaid Kelsey now lay.
The ninety-two foot long the hybrid lay sprawled on the bank, her long chestnut hair draped over her pale skin. Her long tail was halfway in the river, the vivid green scales reflecting light like the water. She also wore a bright yellow bikini, an almost unheard of sight. Two human sized fairies fluttered above her head waiting for her to awake, one was blue and the other purple.
“Do you think she will wake up?” the first fairy asked, “She’s been out for a long time now.”
The second fairy shrugged, “Who knows? Her aura is pretty messed up. Whatever happened to her in the last few days sure wasn’t pleasant.”
Both fairies jumped when Kelsey stirred, a low groan coming from deep within her chest.
“I think she’s coming to” the blue fairy said excitedly.
The fairies flew around to the mermaid’s head as she lifted it from the sandy bank. They stared expectantly at her face as her eyes slowly opened, revealing two unfocused aquamarine eyes.
Kelsey put her hand to her head and moaned again, “My head hurts so much…”
“You hit your head or something” the purple fairy asked.
Kelsey’s eyes immediately came into focus, snapping onto the two fairies in front of her face. The look on her face was a combination of surprise and relief, confusing the fairies even further.
“Who are you?” Kelsey asked.
“What do you mean who are we?” the purple fairy replied indignantly, “We should be asking you that!” She crossed her arms, “You drop out of the sky and nearly flatten us and then you have the nerve to drill up with questions?”
Kelsey pushed herself into a sitting position and looked around, the look of confusion on her face now that of bewilderment. “Where are we? How did I get here?”
“Like I said” the purple fairy replied in a slightly annoyed tone, “How can you now know where you are? You fell out of the sky and into the Telemiz River.” She motioned to the other fairy, “We’ve been waiting here for you two wake up for hours so you can apologize to us.”
Kelsey took her hand of her head and looked down at the fairies. “I’m sorry for almost hurting you, the last few days have been very jarring.”
“I guess so” the blue fairy piped, “Mind telling us how you ended up falling from the sky?”
“I don’t really know” Kelsey replied thoughtfully, “The last thing I remember is climbing a tree too see a large thing coming at me. It ran into me and I was lifted off the ground by these sticky round things. I managed to pull myself free and then when I started falling I passed out.”
The blue fairy puffed her cheeks, “Why were you climbing a tree? Don’t mermaids live in the water?”
“They do” Kelsey said softly, “But I was looking for someone and needed to be up higher.” A low growl filled the air and Kelsey put her hand to her stomach. “I’m sorry you two” she said, “I have to go find something to eat now.”
She lay down on the bank again and pushed herself backwards with her arms. She left a large furrow in the sand behind her as she slid into the water, the surface of the water barely being disturbed as she entered. Both fairies followed after her as she pushed off the shore and out into the river.
“So your just going to leave then?” the purple fairy asked.
Kelsey nodded, “Yup! I’m off to get something to eat. Thanks for keeping an eye on me while I was sleeping!”
Without another word Kelsey ducked her head under the water and swam off, leaving the two fairies fluttering above the water watching her swim off.
“No problem I guess” the purple fairy said.

Kelsey swam just under the surface of the river, looking back and forth to take in the river bed. The slopes of the river went down quite a distance to the bottom, a couple hundred feet at least. A variety of plants and kelp grew from the rocky outcroppings and in clumps on the rivers bottom. Several caves could also be seen in along the rivers descending bank if you looked hard enough, no doubt lairs of predatory creatures. There were schools of fish everywhere, some hundreds of members large. They were big fish, small fish, thin fish, and blue fish. They came in every color of the rainbow and their vivid colors dazzled the senses as the huge schools darted back and forth in the river.
“Awww” Kelsey said holding her belly, “I don’t feel like fish right now. Aren’t there any tasty humans around?”
She flexed her strong tail and propelled herself up to the surface, popping her head out of the water and began scanning the water. There were several small dark things floating on the surface a ways away, some of them disappearing underwater for brief periods of time.
Kelsey beamed, “Yaay! Those must be divers up ahead! It looks like its yummy humans for me today!”
She dove back under the water and sped off towards the divers, her powerful tail churning the water behind her. Her green scales helped her blend into the underwater plants and their sparkling only further increased her camouflage. She giggled to herself as she sped through the water.
As she got closer she identified that they were indeed human divers, a group of six collecting some kind of shelled animal from the riverbed. She smiled to herself and increased her speed and just as Kelsey predicted to herself in her head the divers never saw her coming.
She sped through the group at a incredible pace, catching one of them in her open mouth as she passed. The massive wake produced by her sleek body created spiraling underwater currents that sent the remaining five divers spinning head over heels. Quickly swallowing the diver in her mouth Kelsey skillfully changed directions with a summersault, taking off at almost the same speed for a second run at the divers.
With the divers still spinning around in the water she was easily able to gulp down two more, the two humans wresting each other in her mouth and throat making her giggle. She stopped herself with her tail and turned back towards the remaining three divers, smiling happily as she watched them trying to swim to the shore. Their eyes goggled as they saw her swimming up to them, coming to a stop and staring as the giant mermaid positioned her chest directly in front of the three humans. She smiled down at them as she watched them stare at her chest, as even though she was wearing a bikini she was a sight to behold.
As they were distracted Kelsey brought her hands up behind them, bobbing her torso up and down to keep their attention. Then quick as a wink she grabbed two of the divers with her hands and stuffed them in her mouth, which had the unfortunate side effect of snapping the last diver out of his trance. Kelsey frowned as she watched the last human swimming away; she would have to swallow her catch before she could finish enjoying them properly. Emptying her mouth with a large gulp she followed after the remaining diver, swimming along lazily with her mouth wide open.
Every few moments the human would look over his shoulder to take a panicked look as his pursuer, with every glance only slowing him down further. Kelsey’s eyes were bright with excitement as she slowly gained on the diver, her tongue flopping around playfully in her mouth as she swam. She was almost upon him when he apparently ran out of air and bolted straight for the surface, swimming up past Kelsey’s head as she went by under him. She frowned at this and brought her tail up behind her, the large fin picking up the diver and sending him flying into the air.
Kelsey crossed her arms and turned over, looking up through the waters surface at the now falling diver. He impacted the water with a splash and sank several meters until he was just above Kelsey’s face. She lifted her head and closed her mouth around the diver, crushing him against the roof of her mouth with her tongue as punishment for his attempted escape. After several moments of his struggling she swallowed, letting out a burp that produced several large bubbles.
“I hate it when they try to ruin my fun” she said to herself, “It’s so much nicer when they play along.”
She rolled over and began sinking towards the bottom of the river, rubbing her belly in a satisfied manner. Closing her eyes she began drifting to the side of the river, aiming for a large patch of kelp she was planning to take a nap in.
“So full” she mumbled.
With her eyes closed Kelsey was unable to see the cave behind the kelp, a possible danger to the unprepared swimmer. More importantly then the cave however were the two eyes near the base of the kelp, two eyes that were looking up at the approaching mermaid.
“I need a naaaap” she sung quietly.
Thankfully Kelsey opened her eyes in time to see the massive creature lift its head from the riverbed. Her eyes widened in shock as a huge serpentine head reared up before her, the kelp seemingly attached to its head. The creature began opening its mouth, a maw fully capable of consuming Kelsey. Her mind raced; she would be unable to turn around and swim away in time, her only choice would be to enter the cave next to the animal’s head.
“Not a cave” she cried to herself, “But I have no choice!”
She bolted at the cave as the animal turned its head towards her, narrowly missing its huge mouth as she slipped into the cave. She heard a loud and muffled snap behind her as she entered, continuing further into the dark passageway to get as much distance between her and the animal as possible.
After she felt that she had gotten enough distance she came to a stop, panting heavily. “I-I think… I think I made it…”
She leaned against the tunnel wall, finding it surprisingly smooth. It was completely black in the passageway, but she could tell the cave was a couple times wider then she was by touch. A slight current was coming from deeper within the passageway, apparently coming from a underwater river of some kind.
A low growl could be heard from the direction Kelsey had come from, sending a shiver down her spine. “I guess I have to keep going in here and look for an exit” she said to herself sadly, “I don’t want to get eaten today.” She stared into the blackness and shivered again, “I hate the dark so much…”
Disheartened and afraid Kelsey began swimming down the dark passageway, tucking her arms in close to her body as she swam. The sound of crumbling rock faded into the distance as she went, the darkness enveloping her closer as silence overcame her.
“I think the water is getting colder” Kelsey commented, “I don’t like this at all.”
The current began to pick up now, passively increasing her speed. It slowly became faster until it was pulling her along at a brisk pace. Unable to control her speed Kelsey began bumping her elbows and head on the walls of the tunnel.
“Ouch!” She gripped her head with her arms which led to her arm being scraped on the rock. “Owie!”
The tunnel began turning to the right now, the smooth arc causing Kelsey to knock her entire body all over the place. She tried to make herself as streamlined as possible but it only ended up making her travel faster.
She was beginning to get angry now, “This sucks! Why did I come into this awful place?”
After traveling for a while more the current slowed down to a crawl and allowed her to get her bearings. The tunnel also opened up to a couple times her length which gave her room to move around.
“I wonder what sort of place this is” she asked herself as she groped about. “It feels like there are two different tunnels here. Which one should I take?”
She floated there struggling with the choice, holding her hands to her head in frustration. These kind of choices never sat well with her, they just caused too much stress for her poor mind to handle.
“Grrraaahhh! I’m just going to take the left one!”
She put her hands on the walls and groped out the left tunnel. After finding it she swam into it and was sucked down by the current, this one growing to be more powerful then the first. It pulled her into another larger tunnel and swept her along for quite a while. She became very tired as the current carried her, slowly giving up hope of ever getting out of this terrible dark place.
The current came to a stop again and this time she could feel that she was in a large cave. More important than the extra room was that she could see light a distance away.
“Light!” she shouted happily, “I made it!”
She swam towards the light in an ecstatic mood, but as she got closer her heart sank. The light she saw wasn’t an exit to the cave at all. The light she saw was in fact small glowing fish of some kind, all floating along in a current that flowed from a tunnel on one side of the cave and into another.
“Why me?” she moaned, “I am going to be lost down here forever!”
As if in response to her cries several of the fish moved out of the current and came close to her. Now that she had a better look at them she found them to be quite cute. They were very round fish with white eyes and no pupils, their thin fins waving around in the water in erratic motions. Their entire bodies gave off a pale yellow light, illuminating their surroundings but not making it hard to look at them directly.
Kelsey reached out for one, “Awww! Aren’t you the little cutest?”
The fish immediately withdrew back into the current, speeding off into the tunnel on the other side of the cave.
“Oh? You don’t like being touched?”
The other two fish were still floating around her, their blank eyes always pointed in her direction. They looked so funny that she couldn’t help but laugh.
“You guys are just too silly!”
She felt a strange fear creeping its way into her heart, catching her completely off guard and confusing her thoroughly. She looked at the fish and the wall but found nothing that would scare her.
“Huh” she grunted, “What’s going on here?”
She felt the fear growing inside her; almost as if a evil presence was sneaking up behind her. As the presence grew stronger it became certain that something was coming up behind her, but it was so terrifying she was unable to turn and look. She was completely frozen in fear as a small current brushed over her back and sent chills down her spine.
She stared at the glowing fish that were floating beside her and whispered, “Help me…”
Suddenly the stream of fish changed direction, dozens of them coming out of the current and surrounding the panicked mermaid. Their strange fins allowed them to grip her skin and soon her body was covered in them, she couldn’t believe it herself.
The fish began moving in one group, pulling the frozen mermaid through the water and towards their only escape from the chamber. The presence behind them grew closer and more powerful as they swam, becoming almost maddening as they entered the current.
The instant that Kelsey entered the current she was dragged into the tunnel, the glowing fish still gripping her body as they were sucked in. A loud grinding could be heard as they disappeared down the tunnel, the sound of crushing rocks leaving lingering fear in Kelsey’s heart.
“Are we safe?” Kelsey asked aloud.
The fish didn’t answer, though they continued to grip her skin. More of the glowing fish surrounded them as they joined back up with the school, their pleasant light calming Kelsey down and pushing the fear out.
“I’m glad you guys saved me” she said, “Whatever that was back there I would have been a goner for sure.”
The current slowed down again and they came into a small cave. Now that the light of the fish illuminated the area she could clearly see three different tunnel entrances.
“Oh no” Kelsey moaned, “Now what?”
Several of the fish moved into the center tunnel and disappeared into the darkness. The rest of the school began following after them excluding the ones currently attached to Kelsey’s body. They pulled her to the entrance of the right tunnel and pushed her in, detaching their bodies and moving into the middle tunnel.
“No wait!” Kelsey shouted as the current pulled her away, “Don’t leave me to die down here!”
As she was pulled down the passageway the light of the fish faded and her heart sank, though for some reason she could still see a faint light. She figured it was only the afterimage of the light and it would fade, she had been in darkness for so long. To her great delight it did not fade and she immediately searched for its source. Looking down she saw one of the fish stuck inside her bikini.
She pulled it out and giggled, “You seem like a very adventurous fishy! What were you doing in there?”
The fish slipped out of her grip and swam up to her head, gripping her long brown hair and tugging it.
“Ow! Knock that off!”
Another fork in the tunnel was coming up ahead, and this time there wasn’t a break in the current. The fish began tugging her hair to the right and she finally got it.
“Oh you want to lead me the right direction! You are the nicest fish ever!”
Kelsey positioned herself along the right side of the tunnel and was swept into the right passageway, the current doubling in speed. The fish was stunned by a knock against the wall and Kelsey immediately snatched it in her arms.
“I’ll keep you safe fishy!”
The current became faster and faster, advancing to speeds Kelsey never thought possible. Soon the passageway began twisting left, then right, then left again. Next it angled upwards and began narrowing out, forcing Kelsey to cramp herself around the fish. She could see the walls getting closer to her, and they were going by as such incredible speeds she knew she was running out of time.
“I don’t want to die down here” she cried, “I don’t want to die!”
The walls got closer and closer, the sign of her certain and impending doom. She began panicking again and she lost all hope. She would have gone mad too if it weren’t for a sudden calm that inexplicitly came out of nowhere. Wither it was the glow of the fish or something else Kelsey could feel a presence inside her heart. A calm came over her entire body and she knew that somehow she would be alright. The walls closed in and began scraping her shoulders and she closed her eyes, submitting herself to her fate.
FROOOOSSSHHHH!

Kelsey felt herself spinning upwards, the water becoming warm on her skin. Light was pressing itself against her eyelids so she opened them. She couldn’t believe it: she could see daylight all around her!
She released the fish and threw out her arms, “I made it! I’m alive!”
Forgetting about her savior fish she sped towards the surface, spinning in a circle in pure joy. She couldn’t. see much around her due to the murkiness of the water but she could tell which way was up, the bright sun almost magic to her light deprived eyes.
The broke the water and flew high into the air, “Fresh aaaaiiiiiiiiirrrr!”
She spun around in the air and dove back into the water with a splash, spinning loop-de-loops in her bliss. She swam this was and that, leaping from the water in celebration. It took several minutes but she finally calmed down, settling herself in a vertical position with her head poking out of the water.
“But where am I?” she asked looking around; “I don’t recognize this place at all.”
She was in the middle of a large lake, tall forest trees surrounding it on every side. The sun was high in the sky, strangely at an earlier time then when she first entered the cave.
“I must have been underground for longer then I expected” she said, “Maybe a day or more!”
She looked over the water to the far shore and noticed a small group of tents as well as a boat or two near the shoreline. Several human looking things were everywhere.
“Oh yay!” Kelsey said, “It looks like when I get hungry there will be plenty of munchies for me!” She looked around in the water, “But where did that fish go? I bet he would want something to eat too! I should find him.”
Letting out a deep sigh Kelsey turned away from the human camp and dove under the water, swimming down into the water in search of her glowing friend.
She let out another sigh, “I’m just glad to be back in the world of light.”


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Kelsey’s Lake: Chapter 2
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The water was very murky, a light grey color that made it very hard to see any far distance. Kelsey had to squint sometimes to keep particles of sand from getting in her eyes, and she only knew which direction was up due to the sun above. She swam towards a large dark object which she assumed to be the side of the lake, jutting up from the bottom below to the beach above. The lake wasn’t very deep, as far as she could tell it was only a thousand feet deep. It wasn’t that large either, only the size of an alpine lake.
“I wonder where that fish could’ve gone off to?”
As she reached the wall of the lake she could see it was mostly made of rock, though many types of plants grew out of its surface. There was also a large cave opening just next to a large clump of kelp, its dark entrance large enough for her to enter easily. She swam up to it and peered inside.
“Hello? Fishy?”
A small red eel darted from the cave causing her to jump, she dove into the nearby kelp and tried to hide herself. The eel didn’t seem to notice the mermaid and continued on its way, swimming down to the murky floor of the lake. When it had gone Kelsey swam back over to the cave entrance, her heart still beating quickly.
“It was only an eel Kelsey, nothing to be afraid of.” She took another look into the dark cave and a shiver went down her spine; “I think I’ve had enough of dark caves for a while, I’ll go look for fishy somewhere else.”
She turned away from the cave and swam along the wall, keeping an eye out for any glowing lights. The murky water scattered the bright sunlight from the surface and made it very hard to see any glowing, so she didn’t know if she even would find him.
“Oh I just have to find you fishy” she told herself, “I just gotta!”
As she swam along the lake wall she could see more cave entrances, some of them large enough for her and others more human sized. All of the caves were very dark inside, Kelsey’s recent experiences making her too timid to even think about entering. She also noticed a surprisingly little amount of aquatic life, the few fish and crab like creatures she did see forming drastic contrasts to each other. If she didn’t know better she would have thought they came from entirely different places.
As she swam her stomach began to grumble. “Ohh” she wailed, “Where can you be fishy? I’m getting hungry and I need to eat, but I can’t eat without finding you first!”
She was just about to give up and despair when she noticed a large pair of jagged rocks jutting out of the wall ahead. The two rocks curved out and down like some kind of stone fangs, each of them easily as big as she was. There was a large cave entrance directly between them, its entrance almost completely covered with thick kelp. The whole ensemble looked like some kind of gaping mouth just waiting to swallow her up, and she was just about to turn tail and swim when she noticed something that made her stop. Deep inside the dark cave she could see a faint light, a yellowish glow far back in the blackness.
She swam up to the cave and peered through the kelp, “Could that be you fishy?”
Looking around she couldn’t’ see any other creatures either inside our outside the cave. Going inside the cave didn’t sit well with her but she had no other choice, if her glowing friend was in there she needed to find it.
“Ok” she called, “I’m coming in!”
Parting the kelp Kelsey swam into the cave entrance, making her way down the tunnel towards the faint light ahead. The cave walls were very rocky with few plants growing near the mouth, she found it quite easy to swim down though as the tunnel was large enough for her to comfortably travel through. The tunnel arced upwards slightly and Kelsey followed it, coming out into a small underground cave. To her surprise she could see the surface of the water right above her head, the water only one hundred feet deep. She swam up and her head broke the surface, giving her a sight she could never dreamed of.
The cave was big enough for several giant mermaids to lay comfortably, its stone floor made of smooth stone slabs. Natural stone pillars rose from the floor and hung from the ceiling in several places, their sharp points dripping water into pools below. The walls of the cave were rocky and rough, and in several places looked like they could impale someone foolish enough to bump against them. How you could see in this underground cave was the biggest surprise: hundreds of giant orange mushrooms grew all over the cave. They came in sizes from human to as big as Kelsey’s head and grew on the walls and floors in clumps. Each mushroom gave off a strong orange glow, filling the entire cave with a light not quite unlike the sun itself. Small pale crabs could be seen crawling around beneath the mushrooms, their faces completely lacking eyes in any form.
Kelsey was so enthralled in the spectacle of the cave that she didn’t notice one of the crabs walking onto her hand. When she felt it’s slimly feet on her skin she jumped back. “Oh gosh! You scared me!”
She watched the crab as it walked over to the water and slipped in, not even producing a ripple.
She looked back up to the cave, “This place is so amazing! I can’t believe such a place could exist somewhere as creepy as a cave!” The reason for her entering the cave suddenly sprang back into her mind, “Oh right! I came in here for fishy!”
She dove underwater and looked around, and to her delight saw a large fish over in the corner of the cave. It was a very pale yellow, its eyes clouded over with no visible pupils.
Kelsey squealed with delight and swam over to it, “Fishy! I finally found you!”
She grabbed the fish and hugged it tight, her rather vigorous embrace causing it to wriggle in her grip. After the hug she held it to her face.
“Come on fishy, we’re going to go get something to eat, I’m super hungry and I’m sure you are too! I saw some tasty looking humans on the beach up at the surface so we can just pop up there and get some!”
Kelsey started for the exit of the cave on the floor but as soon as she approached it the fish broke from her arms and swam away.
“Where are you going fishy? Don’t you want some food?”
The yellow fish swam over to one of the pale crabs and poked it with its nose. After a moment the fish opened its mouth and swallowed the crab whole.
“Oh I see” Kelsey said putting her hands to her hips, “You like eating crabs over humans. I guess that’s fine, I’ll just go eat some food and come back here.” She swam down into the tunnel, “You stay put here ok fishy?”
Kelsey traveled down the tunnel with a smile on her face, she was happy to have found her friend, and now that she had she was free to go get something to eat. When she reached the cave mouth she parted the kelp and swam into the lake, taking another glance at the two rock pillars.
She licked her lips, “Now to get me some food!”
Churning up the water with her powerful tail Kelsey propelled herself to the surface, swimming away from the shore in case she was to emerge near the humans. She slowed down when she reached the surface and poked her head from the water to look around.
“Now where are they?”
The sun was still high in the sky, illuminating the surrounding lake shore in vivid yellow light. Far across on the other side of the lake Kelsey could see the humans, a small camp of maybe thirty or less. There were several tents set up just off the beach near the trees with one or two strange looking things that were shiny and glinted in the sun. The real prize she was focusing on were the people swimming in the lake as well as the two small wood boats floating just off shore.
Kelsey licked her lips again and smiled, “It’s just too easy!”
She ducked under that water again and started off towards the boats. Her tail went up and down as she traveled just below the surface, producing a large wake on the water above. She went faster and faster, trying her best to go as fast as she possibly could. At the speed she was traveling she reached the opposing shore in record time, coming up on the swimmers and boats like a boulder in free fall.
Kelsey slid on her stomach onto the sand underneath the boats and pressed down with her arms, transferring her forward motion into an upward one and blasting from the water in a huge explosion of water. Screams filled the air as the ninety foot mermaid’s body sent the swimmers and boats flying in all directions, her massive from dwarfing the humans below.
She grinned happily as she snatched up the nearest human, “Snack time!”
The people on the shore were now getting in on panic as they watched helplessly as the titanic mermaid began swallowing people left and right. Kelsey took no notice of them though, she was much to enthralled with her eating. She had already eaten five swimmers and was picking another out of the water when she noticed something that immediately absorbed her attention.
One of the humans swimming towards the shore appeared to be a young male with short brown hair and for some reason Kelsey recognized him. Her arms fell limply to her sides, the human in her hand dropping into the water forgotten. The boy had reached the shore and was running towards one of the tents, the other people already hiding inside. Kelsey floated over to the shore in a trance, falling over like a cut tree and landing on the sandy shore with an earth shaking thud.
This caused even more panic among the humans, and many of them fled into the forest. Kelsey reached out for the boy, still in a strange trance brought on by some distant memory she could no longer recall. She was oblivious to the humans scattering around her massive form and even more oblivious to the returning humans from the forest, all of her attention was directed at the boy directly in front of her.
“Uhhhh” she grunted.
The boy turned around and was revealed to not be male, the two breasts on her chest proving quite the opposite. Kelsey didn’t seem to notice though, and she continued reaching for the young woman.
The girl turned to the returning people and she became even more upset. Kelsey followed her gaze and her trance was finally broken. Two foot long beetle creatures were swarming out of the forest in pursuit of the people that had ran into it. They dove at the humans and stung them in the chest, taking off after they had finished injecting and searching for new targets. Several of the people had gotten into the large metal things and were protected from the beetles, but sadly the majority of them had or were getting attacked.
The first thought that went through Kelsey’s mind was to protect the boy in front of her at all costs, a forgotten memory driving her to do so. She wriggled further onto the beach and reached for the girl, knocking aside one of the beetles that was flying at her. Her large hand wrapped around the girl and she closed it as gently as possible, withdrawing her arm with several beetles in swift pursuit. Pushing back with her arms and wriggling her tail in the water Kelsey fled into the lake as quickly as she could. One of the beetles landed on her bicep and stung her, a sharp pain filling her senses.
Many more of the beetles were closing in on her location and Kelsey knew the only way to escape would to go underwater and the safest way to transport the boy would to put him inside her body. She opened her mouth and tossed the girl in, closing it immediately and diving underwater. She could feel the girl thrashing around in her mouth, several punches and kicks landing on her tongue and pallet causing an extremely tickling sensation.
Looking up Kelsey could see the beetles hovering above the surface and she knew she wouldn’t be able to surface for a while. She also couldn’t hole the boy in her mouth forever either, as it was filling up with saliva. It would be so much easier if she could just swallow him and spit him up later, but she couldn’t do that with food in her stomach! Her only choice would be to head for that cave where fishy was and wait.
Kelsey took off as fast as she could to the other side of the lake, the thrashing in her mouth slowly weakening as it filled up with saliva. She saw the stone fangs up ahead and poured on the speed, zooming through the kelp so quickly that she ripped several stalks. She bolted through the tunnel and up into the cave, bursting out of the water with a huge splash. Holding up her hands she immediately opened her mouth, the girl spilling out into her hands with a splat. She cringed a little as her drool oozed all over her hands, but her main concern was the safely of the boy. She gently placed the girl down on the smooth stone and washed her hands off in the water.
It was strange; the person she had thought to be a boy seemed to be a pale grey and didn’t seem human at all. Were the mushrooms causing some kind of illusion? Or was the poison of the beetle causing her eyes to cheat her?
She leaned down, “Are you ok?”
Kelsey splashed some water on the boy to wash him off and wake him up, which it immediately did. The boy lifted his right arm and Kelsey spotted something moving out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head and saw nothing, and when she looked back the boy looked just like he had before; though he was trying to crawl away from the giant predator.
She put her hand in front of the crawling human, “Hey! Don’t go anywhere.”
“Leave me alone you monster!” the girl yelled. She changed direction and continued crawling.
Kelsey blocked her again; “Wait little boy, I like you!”
This comment caused the girl to stop in her tracks. She stood up and turned to face the mermaid, her face beet red.
“Excuse me” she said angrily, “But do I look like a boy to you? My life has been filled with enough torment as of late, but now I have giant monsters mistaking me for a boy?”
Kelsey was genuinely shocked by this development, which didn’t help the fact that she was feeling very groggy for some reason. “But you look so much like someone!” she replied, “I think you do anyway, you have the blue eyes and brown hair and all.”
“So you’re going to save me for later because I remind you of someone” the girl replied angrily, “Why can you just eat me now and get it over with?”
Kelsey was very dizzy now, and she was having trouble forming sentences. “But I don-don’t gunna eat youz… I wuz gunna… Gunna…”
The girl jumped to the side just in time as Kelsey’s massive form toppled over onto the stone. The mermaid lay there on the cold slab completely unconscious, breathing in and out in a deep sleep.


Kelsey slowly opened her eyes, a sharp pain making it difficult to remember things clearly. She looked around the cave though unfocused eyes, trying her best to recall previous events.
“I had such a strange dream” she said softly, “I had gone to get some lunch when I found someone that reminded me of this boy. I can’t remember anything about this boy, but it turned out it was a girl I found.”
Her eyes finally focused and she was able to see her surroundings clearly. She propped herself up on her elbows and noticed a human girl sitting up against a stone pillar nearby. The girl was hugging her knees and was staring at Kelsey with a blank expression in her blue eyes, her short brown hair mottled and matted.
“So it wasn’t a dream” Kelsey said happily, “You really are real!”
The girl continued to stare in the same direction, her gaze now aimed at Kelsey’s bare stomach. Her voice was hallowed and emotionless, her eyes strangely reddened as if from crying.
“You slept for hours” she said solemnly, “Did you know that?”
Kelsey sensed something wrong but couldn’t figure it out. “Of course I didn’t know that silly, I was asleep!”
“It takes six hours for digestion to take place” the girl replied, “It’s been at least that.” She looked up into Kelsey’s eyes, the haunting look on her face sending a shiver down her spine. “I listened to your stomach doing its work” she continued, “A sound I’ve heard many times in my life.” Her gaze shifted back to Kelsey’s stomach, “But this time there were people in that stomach. I listened to the gurgles and growls as human beings were digested in the same acids found in their own stomachs.”
Kelsey was getting a bit uneasy, “But isn’t that was stomachs are supposed to do to food?”
“You think they were food then” the girl asked as her haunting gaze moved back to Kelsey’s face, “Is that how it is? You devour living breathing people and let them be broken down inside your body and think of them as nothing other then food?”
“Uh yes” Kelsey offered, “Aren’t they?”
The girl was still eerily calm when she replied, “No they are not. Every sentient being no matter what size or what strength is entitled to their right to exist as intelligent entities and be treated as such.”
Kelsey cocked her head, “So you’re saying eating nekos and elves is bad too?”
“Nekos and elves?” the girl asked, her voice gaining a little surprise. “Those are fantasy beings, they’re not real.”
Kelsey was happy to get a positive response from the girl, “They are so real! If you want I can take you to see some.”
The deathly calm came back over the girl and she turned away. “I would normally jump at the offer but I recently saw several people eating alive before my eyes, not to mention being dragged off to an underground cave by a giant man eating mermaid.” She let out a huge sigh, “For all I know the people that I left behind on the surface have been killed already as well. The last remaining people I know killed by giant insects in an unknown dimension.”
“This dimension is called Felarya” Kelsey said feeling very proud of remembering, “I’ve lived here my entire life and it’s quite nice.”
The girl grunted, “Not if everyone you know dies within a week of living here.”
Kelsey was very worried to see the girl so upset, the person she reminded her of was always happy. “I have an idea” she said trying to sound happy, “If you’re so worried about those humans on the beach I’ll go take you to see them!”
“Do you really think they survived that?” the girl asked, “You should just leave me here to die so that my suffering can end.”
Kelsey scooped up the girl in her hands and brought her up to her face. “Don’t talk like that! I bet they are doing just fine up there, probably waiting for you too! Why don’t you let me put you in my mouth so I can take you up to them?”
“I don’t care” the girl responded; “You might as well swallow me while your at it, feed yourself and end my pain in one fell swoop.”
Kelsey pushed off the rocks and into the water. “Don’t be silly, all I want to do is make you happy!”
She gently slid the girl into her mouth and closed it slowly, making sure that none of the girl’s limbs were near her teeth. There was no struggling this time so she waited until the girl was comfortable on her tongue. When she felt they were settled she dove underwater and swam into the tunnel, turning back to wave at the glowing fish as she left.

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Kelsey’s Lake: Chapter 3
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Kelsey swam towards the surface of the lake, the sun shining in her eyes from high above and creating glittering lines of light in the water. She held the girl carefully in her mouth, making sure to only swallow her saliva so that her mouth remained comfortable. Seeing this girl upset was very distressing to Kelsey, she reminded her so much of that one boy she knew but couldn’t seem to remember. She silently hoped that all of the humans on the beach would be alright so that the girl would cheer up. She had never seen the bugs that had attacked them though and it worried her. She turned to the shore and increased speed, slicing through the water at incredible speed. Approaching the shore she slid up onto the sandbank and emerged slowly from the water, sliding her head and torso onto the beach.
Besides a few toppled tents the camp was the same as when she had left: a dozen or so tents with a fire pit here and there. Several humans of both genders were walking about doing whatever it was humans did. Her sudden appearance however sent them into a panic.
“Look!” one of the women said, “She’s back!”
Kelsey quickly lowered her head to the ground and opened her mouth, the girl sliding down her tongue and onto the sandy beach. She then stood up and held up her hands in a attempt to calm the humans.
“Hey hold on guys I’m not going to eat you!”
This caused everyone to stop and turn, all eyes falling upon the mermaid and girl. One of the women threw out her arms and ran towards where Kelsey was laying in complete disregard to the predator’s presence. The girl’s face lit up at the sight of her.
“Gywnn!” She cried, reaching the girl and smothering her in affection, “You’re alive!”
Gywnn couldn’t hold back tears, “Mom! I thought you were dead! When the bugs attacked and I was-”
The woman swiped away her tears. “Shh dear, it would take more then a few giant bugs to keep your father and I from you.” She looked Gywnn over. “Oh your clothes are dry dear; you’re not supposed to do that.”
Gywnn looked down and then back at her mother. “I’m sorry, I was just so happy to see you again. This morning was the worst of my entire life.”
All of the staring eyes were making Kelsey nervous so she decided to interject. She lowered her head a few feet away from where the two were standing and spoke up.
“Hey I’m so sorry to interrupt, but everyone is staring at me and it’s weird.”
The sudden voice startled the woman, finally becoming aware of the world around her daughter. Looking up she was reminded of the giant mermaid and quickly pulled Gywnn away.
“Stay back monster” she said, “I don’t want you to do anything else to my daughter or any of these people! Go, begone!”
There was no mistaking the pain in Kelsey’s eyes, a single tear forming in the corner of her eye. She looked to Gywnn with the eyes of a wounded puppy. “You don’t really want me to go do you? I promise I won’t do anything bad…” She looked around at the campsite and the light of an idea entered her sad eyes. “I could help fix your houses or even bring you some food!”
Gywnn’s mother was still backing away, holding her tightly. Several of the people were gathering behind them with makeshift weapons ranging from tent poles to sharpened sticks, no doubt preparing to use force should Kelsey do anything dangerous.
Kelsey reached out, “Don’t go!”
The crowd flinched and Gywnn’s mother gripped her closer.
Gywnn couldn’t help feeling sorry for the oversized mermaid, and being a very logical thinking she knew that having someone of her size as an ally in this strange place would be extremely useful as well. After a few moments of thought she decided to take action. Breaking free of her mother’s grasp she took a few steps towards Kelsey, producing gasps of shock and fear from the gathered group.
“Gywnn” her mother said, “What are you doing?”
“Please don’t worry” Gywnn replied, “I know what I’m doing.”
Her mother knew that she would have to trust her daughter, with her talents and intelligence she understood that even she didn’t know what Gywnn was fully capable of. She stood and watched with baited breath as the young adult walked towards the giant woman that had already eaten two people.
“It’s ok” Gywnn said walking up to Kelsey’s hand, “I’m not going to leave you.”
Kelsey let out a huge sigh, and grasping Gywnn gently in her hand brought her close to her face. “I’m so glad! I don’t want to lose you like that boy.”
Gywnn’s mother relaxed a bit when it became clear that the giantess meant no ill will to the girl in her hand. The small group of people standing behind her let out a collective sigh of relief for their own safety as they saw that all of Kelsey’s focus was centered solely on Gywnn.
Gywnn put her hands on Kelsey’s thumb. “Now if you want to stay with me you’ll have to be a good mermaid. No picking up anyone besides me or coming onto the shore, can you do that?”
Kelsey nodded; the girl’s power over her surprising not only the people gathered but Gywnn herself.
“Now you see that woman?” Gywnn asked, “That’s my mother. I need to go help her and the other people.”
“But can’t I help?” Kelsey asked hopefully.
“I don’t know” Gywnn replied, “I’ll have to ask. Can you release me now?”
Kelsey let go and watched as Gywnn ran back over to her mother and the crowd. Everyone gathered around the girl and her mother and the air was filled with questions.
“How did you survive so long?” a man asked.
“Why is she listening to you?” another asked.
A woman in the back spoke up. “What did you say over there?”
“Please” her mother shouted, “Let the girl speak!”
Gywnn waited until it was quiet and addressed the group. “I’ve convinced her to keep her hands away from all of us but she wants to help. But before we go any further I have to know what happened to dad after the bugs attacked.”
“Well” her mother replied, “After you disappeared the bugs continued chasing everyone around. They managed to sting several people that didn’t make it inside the tents. Then without any reason they simply flew away into the forest. The people that were stung suffered no symptoms worse then falling asleep, though they haven’t woken up yet. Your father is one of the people that got stung and he’s asleep with the others in one of the big tents.”
One of the women in the back spoke up. “Though there have been large red bumps appearing on the victim’s stomachs, nothing much has come of it though.”
A man that was standing next to them gestured to Kelsey. “Maybe you outta ask your friend over there what she knows about these weird bugs. She might be able to help us.”
Gywnn nodded, “Precisely the reason we should keep her around. Though if she’s going to be our friend in this weird place you should probably know her name is Kelsey. I remind her of some boy she once knew around my age so she shouldn’t cause any trouble with me around. She wants to keep me happy which is the reason she brought me back here from who knows where.”
“And I’m so glad she did” her mother said, “I don’t think I could have stood living if you had died. Ever since we first adopted you my world has revolved around you.”
Gywnn took her mother’s hand. “I know mom. Now please wait here with the others while I go ask Kelsey what she knows about the bugs.”
Her mother nodded, “Be safe dear.”
Gywnn walked back over to Kelsey, “I will.”
Kelsey was still lying on the beach with her head on the shore. She put her hand around Gywnn and pulled her close to her face. “So what did they say?” she whispered, “Am I allowed to stay?”
“Yes you are” Gywnn replied, “But under the condition of absolutely no funny business. You have to do anything asked of you including no picking up anyone unless given permission.”
“Alright!” Kelsey’s voice became stern, “I mean: yes captain…”
Gwynn gave her a confused look.
“That’s what I used to say to that boy” Kelsey said blushing.
“I suppose that’s ok then” Gywnn replied, “But for now I have a very important question to ask you.” She couldn’t help but find amusement in the expression of complete focus and intent concentration that came over Kelsey’s face in preparation of the question. She really must be lonely in this lake. “Ok” she continued, “You remember those bugs that attacked us this morning? Do you know anything about them?”
Kelsey thought for several moments before answering. “Nope! I never seen them before!” Upon seeing the disappointment on Gywnn’s face she stammered. “But I’m sure a dryad would know about them! There has to be one around here somewhere you could ask!”
“A dryad?” Gywnn asked in disbelief, “I supposed in a world with giant mermaids and elves there might as well be dryads.” She looked into the forest. “Do you know how to find one?”
Kelsey’s expression became one of confusion. “Well I don’t really know how to find one; they have a habit of finding you first… Ooh I know!”
She reached around to her tail and pulled on one of her scales, her face grimacing as it ripped out of her flesh. She handed it to Gywnn. It was like a bright green shield easily larger then her head, but despite its size was extremely light.
“Don’t worry” Kelsey said, “It will grow back.”
Gywnn looked at the scale in confusion. “Why did you give me this again?”
Kelsey had a very self satisfied look on her face. “It’s to protect you against any magic in case the dryad tries anything.”
“You think she would?” Gywnn asked, “From what I know of dryads they’re pretty helpless.”
Kelsey shook her head, “They may not be able to move but they are far from helpless! You need to be careful of their roots especially. I want you to be very careful when you talk to her ok?”
“I will Kelsey” Gywnn replied, “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be off then; you stay here and be good.”
Kelsey nodded vigorously as Gywnn walked back over to the group of people.
“What did she say?” her mother asked, “And why did she give you one of her scales?”
Gywnn held out the bright green scale. “She said to find a dryad to ask about the bugs as she’s never seen them before. The scale is to protect from magic.”
“If dryads to exist in this world” one of the men asked, “Did she say how to find one?”
Gywnn tucked the scale under her arm. “She said they have a habit of finding you first and to be very careful.”
Her mother put her hand on her shoulder. “Well if you want to go find a dryad to help us I will let you. You’ll have to take a couple of these strong gentlemen with you though. I won’t let you run around in a strange forest unprotected regardless if you have a magical mermaid scale.”
Two men stepped forward. One of them had black hair and was armed with a long wooden pike and as wearing genes and a dress shirt. The other was blonde and was wearing a running outfit and had a flare gun in his right hand.
The blonde spoke. “You may not have met me yet but my name is Franklin.” He gestured to the black haired man. “This here is my friend Grant.” He looked at Gywnn’s mother, “If it’s alright with you ma’am we would be happy to escort your daughter.”
“I thank you for volunteering” she replied, “But it’s up to Gywnn. This was her idea after all.”
Gywnn walked over to the two men. “Thank you both, I would be happy to have you along. This seems to be the only way we’re going to get any help in this matter and I understand how scary it’s going to be going out in those woods. If you’re ready we should leave immediately. Who knows what will happen to the people that got stung, including my father.”
An elderly woman walked over and shakily handed Grant a parcel. “If you’re going out there you’ll need some supplies. There are some medical supplies and plenty of food in there. You two keep this girl safe now you hear?”
“Don’t worry ma’am” Grant said, “No harm will come to the girl with us on the case right Frank?”
Frank nodded, “You bet!”
The group parted to allow the three to pass through to the edge of the forest. Several calls of encouragement followed them as they left.
“Go get em Frank!”
“Be safe out there you three!”
Gywnn’s mother waved as her daughter walked into the dangerous and mysterious woods with her escort, failing to notice the giant mermaid looking intently as her from behind.
“You being her back in one piece!” she called.

The three small humans walked through the strange forest, the massive trees towering high above their heads. Their twisted roots and trunks winded around each other as their branches jutted out in every direction, some so think one could walk on them. The forest floor was covered in all manner of strange plant life, from odd ferns to giant flowers of every conceivable color. Every once in a while they even saw large lumpish plants sticking to the sides of trees with odd vines hanging from them. The wildlife was few and far between though, with bizarre insects of various sizes buzzing here and there. Gywnn thoughts she had seen a deer creature off in the distance once but she couldn’t be sure.
“Crazy place isn’t it?” Frank asked aloud.
Grant nodded, “Reminds me of a movie I saw once.”
Gywnn was walking between the two men, holding the scale under her arm. She was examining her surroundings with great interest, taking note of various plants that could be useful in the future.
“So how are we going to find a dryad little lady” Frank asked, “Just keep walking until one pops out of a tree and says hello?”
Gywnn looked out into the trees. “Well according to the legends and myths I’ve read dryads are very shy creatures, it usually takes music or festivities to bring them from hiding. I suppose Kelsey is right in saying they would find us first.”
“What’s with that mermaid anyway” Grant said. “She eats two people, rest their souls, and then disappears with you only to show up again acting like a lost puppy. Whatever she sees in you it’s got her completely under your control. I’m glad that we have such a beautiful ally in this strange place.”
“Just be sure to keep your mind out of the gutter” Frank said jabbing his friend with his elbow.
Gywnn rolled her eyes as they both laughed out loud. When they finished she berated them. “Don’t you think we should be a bit quieter? This is an unexplored and dangerous forest after all. It’s not like the sound of laugher will bring the dryad out of hiding.”
“She’s right you know” Grant said, “We should be less noisy.” He turned to Gywnn, “Thanks little lady.”
Frank was about to open his mouth when a strangely loud buzzing sound filled the air. They all froze in their tracks and ducked down into the brush.
“Now you’ve done it!” Grant whispered.
The buzzing got louder as it got closer, coming to an abrupt stop with the rustle of ferns. They had their heads tucked under the brush so they couldn’t see what it was until a feminine voice caused them to look up.
“You’re not hiding very well” the voice said.
All three of them poked their heads out of hiding and gasped at the sight of the voice’s owner. Standing before them was a nine foot tall half bee woman. Her body was roughly human shaped with extreme insect features complete with abdomen, antenna, and wings. Her body was completely covered in tough chitin and thick fuzz. She had four legs as well, each one very thin with claws where her feet should be. Her wings glinted in the sun and her face was dominated by black compound eyes like a real insect.
“Golly” Frank said in amazement, “It’s a bee woman! Now I’ve seen everything!”
The bee woman responded in a annoyed tone. “The correct term is miaxi thank you very much. But yes, I technically resemble a ‘bee.’ A creature I hear is very strange indeed.” She put her arms on her thorax. “Now will you tell me what you three are doing out here shouting for? Do you want to die today or something?”
“I’m sorry” Gywnn said, “We understand the dangers of making noise in a strange forest and appreciate you warning us. We were just looking for a dryad and didn’t want any trouble.”
The miaxi looked shocked, “You were looking for a dryad? On purpose? Whatever would cause humans to do that?”
Frank spoke up, “Our camp was recently attacked by weird beetles that stung some people and made them fall asleep. This giant mermaid said a dryad would know more about them so we came looking for one.”
The miaxi crossed her arms. “If those beetles were black and about two feet long those people are in serious trouble. You’re right to look for a dryad as her knowledge of plants would be the only hope for a cure. There happens to be a dryad up ahead if you want me to take you to her if you want to risk it. She’s probably already aware of your presence and is waiting for you to get close enough.”
“We would appreciate that very much ma’am” Grant said, “Though I have to ask what you mean by ‘risk it.’”
The miaxi gave him a confused look, “Risk being eaten of course.”
The three looked at each other.
“Giant mermaid giant dryad” Gywnn said. “Lead the way miaxi!”
“Alright then” the miaxi said, “Follow me.”
She started walking off into the woods and the three humans followed, their minds performing cartwheels trying to imagine what the dryad would look like. Having never seen a regular dryad before a giant one was almost beyond their comprehension. They followed the miaxi in silence as they confined themselves to their own thoughts. After a few minutes of walking the miaxi came to a stop.
“We’re here.”
They looked around. There were several tall trees that looked akin to fir in a small group around them. One of them was shorter then the others and stood only seventy feet tall.
“Well” Gywnn asked, “Where is she?”
Suddenly the short tree began moving, turning around to reveal the torso of an absolutely massive woman, bigger even the Kelsey. Her long green hair of needles mixed between the many branches that stuck out of her body and arms, her chest budging outward and covered only by the drooping needles of her many branches.
“Woaaaah” Frank said in awe, “Hello there!”
Frank was not the only one in awe at the sight of her, as the other two were gaping up as well; although Gywnn was gaping at her size in general as opposed to the size of two specific aspects of her body.
“Well what have we here” the dryad asked in a sweet tone. “Oh, a miaxi! It’s always nice to see your kind.” She looked at the trio in shock, “And three tasty little humans as well! Did you bring them for me miaxi dear?”
The miaxi shook her head, “I’m afraid not. These three actually came here to ask about a cure for some of their friends. They’ve been stung by the black beetles and fallen asleep.”
“Hmmm” the dryad said thoughtfully, “You can leave them here with me dear. I’ll be able to help them out.”
The miaxi nodded and turned to the three. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you, crazy humans.” With a shake of her head she took off and flew into the forest, leaving the three humans alone with the towering dryad.
“So dears” she said in a seductive tone, “You’ve come looking for me for a cure for your poisoned friends?”
Gywnn stepped forward, being the fastest to recover from the sight of the dryad. “Yes, if you know of one we would appreciate your help.”
“Very well” the dryad said, “The only way to remove the poison is to consume a special fruit. They are small round fruits as black at the beetles themselves, the juice will neutralize the poison and kill any eggs inside the body.”
Frank stammered, “E-eggs?”
“Yes” the dryad said, “They will be absorbed into the body after being killed. You don’t want them to hatch and break free do you?”
Grant turned to the forest behind them. “I think I saw some of these fruits on the way here, we can get some on the way back.”
“Thank you for your help” Gywnn said to the dryad bowing, “We should hurry back with some of that fruit.”
The dryad held up her hand, “Where do you think you’re going little ones? The next destination for you three is inside my stomach.”
Gywnn watched in panic as tendrils of green energy emerged from the ground around their feet, entangling both Grant and Frank. The ones around her feet strangles withered away.
“Now be good humans and come over here” the dryad continued.
The two men were struggling in vain against the vines. “Run” Grant yelled, “Save yourself!”
“I’m not leaving you” Gywnn yelled. She looked around trying to figure out what to do when it hit her like a thunderbolt. The scale! That’s why she was not entangled by the vines. She held Kelsey’s scale out, “Grab hold you two!”
Grant and Frank managed to get one of their arms untangled and grabbed hold of the scale, the vines immediately withering away and falling from their bodies.
“What’s this?” the dryad asked in anger, “You must a very powerful mage little girl. But even magic can’t protect you from the real thing!”
The ground shook as the dryad flexed her arms. Several dozen huge roots tore from the ground sending showers of earth and rocks into the air. They wove to and fro in the air as if they had a mind of their own.
Grant grabbed hold of the others, “Everybody run!”
The trio took off into the forest as the dryad screamed in fury, the massive roots tearing the foliage and ground as they grabbed for the fleeing humans. They kept running until the sound of the carnage had faded well into the distance, collapsing to the ground and gasping heavily.
“Well” Grant gasped, “We certainly learned something new today…”
“Yeah” Frank replied, “Never trust dryads…”
Gywnn was the first to recover being younger, and sitting up she brought the scale to her lap; “Yeah, and that mermaid scales actually work.”
The other two sat up. “We would be dead if it weren’t for that scale” Grant said, “Maybe that mermaid isn’t all bad.”
“She certainly doesn’t look bad if you know what I mean” Frank said winking. “Opmph!”
Grant removed his elbow from his friend’s side. “There’s no time to sit around and fantasize about what could have happened, we have to get some of that fruit back to camp for those people.”
“How do we know she was telling the truth?” Gywnn asked.
Grant shrugged, “We have to trust what she said. I don’t see what she had to gain from lying to us, and taking into account what we’ve seen today I don’t see why black fruit couldn’t cure beetle stings.” He stood up and helped the others to their feet. “Come on then, thanks to your quick thinking Gywnn we can save dozens of people. Let’s get that fruit!”

It was getting dark by the time they had made it back to the camp. Grant and Frank were helping distribute the fruit to those that needed it. As the dryad had said the fruit did cure the poison of the beetles, with those affected waking up minutes after ingesting the juice. Gywnn had a tearful reunion with her father who was one of the worst cases. After waking up to his daughter’s face he had nothing but praise for her quick thinking and bravery. After explaining what had taken place during her stay with Kelsey and the adventure in the woods Gywnn left her father and mother to thank Kelsey for her assistance.
She walked onto the beach where a man and woman were sitting by a large fire. They were sitting and looking up at the stars, holding each other tightly.
“Excuse me” Gywnn said, “Sorry to interrupt but have you two seen the mermaid?”
The man pointed to the water just off shore. “She’s been sitting there just beneath the surface all day. No one has gone close to the water in fear of her.”
“Thank you” Gywnn said, “I’ll go talk to her.”
She walked down the beach a ways and went up to the water. The fading sunlight left her skin with a very pale appearance, something not noticeable to the casual observer. Stepping into the small waves coming from the lake she called out.
“Kelsey! Are you out there?”
The huge form of Kelsey’s head appeared off shore and moved towards her, the mermaid pulling herself onto the sandbank and lowering her head near Gywnn. Her eyes were half closed and she spoke in a very tired voice.
“You’re ok! I’m so glad.” She let out a huge yawn which blew back Gywnn’s hair, the hot blast of air causing her to wince. “I was so worried about you, did you find a dryad?”
Gywnn nodded, “Now I understand why you said to be careful. It wasn’t for the scale you gave me I might be dead. Thanks to your help we were able to get a cure for everyone stung by the beetles.” She jumped back as Kelsey’s head fell with a thud onto the sandy beach, her eyes almost closed completely. “Hey are you ok Kelsey?”
“Oh I’m fine” Kelsey said sleepily, “There’s just this bump on my neck that’s itching.”
She moved her long brown hair out of the way to reveal a large red pimple on the side of her neck. It was the exact same size and shape of those on the people affected by the beetle’s poison.
“You’ve been stung!” Gywnn said in concern, “But how have you been unaffected for so long?” She slapped her forehead, “Of course! Being so much bigger then the others the poison took longer to produce symptoms.” She put her hands out, “You stay right here Kelsey and I’ll be right back.”
Kelsey was barely awake now and she slumped onto the beach with a sigh. “Ok…”
Gywnn ran back to the camp past the couple by the fire.
“Where are you going in such a hurry?” the man asked.
She didn’t answer of course, keeping her pace as she ran to the nearest tent. She threw open the flap and ran inside. The elderly woman from before was sitting next to several baskets of the black fruit.
“What do you need this night dreary? You’ve already done so much!”
Gywnn recovered her breath, “I need some of those fruits ma’am! Kelsey has been stung pretty bad.”
“The mermaid?” the woman asked, “Then you better take several.”
The woman loaded Gywnn’s arms up with seven of the apple sized fruits and she immediately started running back to where Kelsey lay. She came skidding to a halt and threw the fruit down on the sand.
“Kelsey? Are you awake?”
The mermaid opened her eyes slightly, “Hmmm?”
“Kelsey” Gywnn said, “You need to eat these fruits!” There was no answer, “Open your mouth Kelsey!”
Kelsey closed her eyes and opened her mouth slowly, her hot breath blasting Gywnn in the face. Gywnn looked inside her huge mouth and sighed, “You have got to be kidding me.”
She bent over and picked up the fruits, tossing them into Kelsey’s maw one by one. They landed on her tongue with a splat and began rolling around her mouth.
“Come on Kelsey” she cried, “Swallow!”
Loud snoring emanated from the back of Kelsey’s throat, so loud that Gywnn had to cover her ears. Kelsey had fallen asleep, and if she didn’t swallow those fruits might never wake up.
“Haven’t I been through enough today?” Gywnn asked the sky. “Looks like I have no choice.”
Pushing up her sleeves Gywnn leaned carefully into Kelsey’s open mouth, silently praying she didn’t close it. She had to grope about on her slimly tongue until she found one of the fruits. When she finally had one she brought it out.
“Geez is that nasty…”
She bit the fruit and held it out into Kelsey’s mouth, squeezing it with all her might. The juice sprayed inside and splattered all over the mermaid’s tongue.
Kelsey let out a sigh, “Mmmmmmm…”
Her huge mouth closed and a loud squelching sound signaled her swallowing the contents of her mouth. Gywnn sighed and wiped her brow,
“Phew! Hopefully this works.”
Gywnn was exhausted herself from her long and eventful day, and she found herself unable to keep her own eyes open. She leaned against Kelsey’s shoulder and yawned. She slowly sank down into the long brown hair of her friend and drifted off to sleep, the remains of the black fruit rolling away onto the sand. The pale moonlight covered the odd pair in its milky light, the fire of the couple slowly dying as they drifted off to sleep wrapped in blankets as Gywnn was in silky hair.

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Kelsey’s Lake: Chapter 4
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Gywnn awoke to the sound of her mother’s voice. She opened her eyes and was immediately assaulted by the bright morning sun. Her mother was standing over her, trying to untangle her from Kelsey’s long brown hair. The mermaid was still fast asleep and would hopefully wake up, if the fruit she had eaten had been enough. Gywnn looked down and saw she was wearing her citrus pajamas, a fact her mother immediately pointed out.
“Good morning honey, I see you changed into your pajamas.” She put her hand on Gywnn’s shoulder; “I know its muscle memory dear, you can change into something else as soon as we get back to the tent and you’re alone.”
Gywnn rubbed her eyes and sat up yawning, “Ok mom…”
A loud gurgling sound caught both of their attentions. Her mother looked down at her daughter, “Was that you?”
“I think it was her” Gywnn said looking at Kelsey.
It was indeed Kelsey, as a second rumble was evidence of the mermaid’s almost voracious appetite. Her head was turned towards the two people standing next to her shoulder, her eyes half open with the pupils heavily dilated.
“Kelsey?” Gywnn asked, “Are you awake?”
Her mother looked into the giantess’s eyes, “No dear I don’t think she is.”
Kelsey’s mouth opened wide and her hot breath blasted the two women in the face. Her right hand was slowly being moved closer to them, dragging through the sand and collecting quite a pile. Gywnn and her mother tried to step out of the way but it was clear what was going on.
“I think we’re in trouble dear” her mother said, “Come on lets go.”
It was too late however; Kelsey’s hand bumped into them and started pushing them towards her open mouth, a small tendril of drool coming out and rolling down her cheek.
“Kelsey!” Gywnn shouted, “Kelsey knock it off!”
The hand stopped moving and the spark entered Kelsey’s eyes. Her pupils shrank as her eyes focused on the two humans, a smile crossing her face as she came to full alertness.
“Good morning Gywnn!” she said happily.
She pushed herself up into a sitting position, her long hair causing the two women to tumble head over heels as it was pulled out from under them. Letting out a huge yawn Kelsey stretched upwards into the morning sky. When she had finished she looked down at the two humans by her waist. Her stomach growled again.
“Hey are you guys ready for breakfast? There’s a group of humans over there in those tents just walking around in broad daylight!”
Gywnn and her mother looked at each other.
“No Kelsey” Gywnn said, “Remember? Those people are our friends; you’re not supposed to eat any. Why don’t you go catch some fish or something?”
Kelsey made a pouting face, “But fish are so boring! They aren’t nearly as fun to eat!”
The two women shuddered.
“You should do what my daughter says” Gywnn’s mother said, her voice shaking. “Go on now, scamper off or whatever you mermaids do.”
Kelsey lowered her head to look the woman directly in the face, her expression changing as she studied her carefully. The poor woman was a bundle of nerves; she never imagined she would ever be standing up to a mermaid over ninety feet long. It was all she could do to look back at Kelsey, and despite shaking she didn’t back down.
After a few moments Kelsey sat up again, a disgruntled look on her face. “Fiiiiiiine… I’ll go find some fish. They are sooo boring though.”
With that the giant mermaid turned around and scooted back into the water, pushing off shore and disappearing under the sparkling surface of the lake. Gywnn and her mother stood there and watched as the ripples spread out and dissipated.
“I’m glad that’s over” Gywnn said letting out a sigh of relief.
Her mother was holding her daughter tightly; “Never did I imagine I would stand up to someone that big, ever since your parents I thought I was done with strange people.” She looked down at Gywnn. “Why do you suppose she listened to me? I thought for sure she was going to eat me then and there!”
“I think she respects you” Gywnn said thoughtfully, “Everyone remembers their mother in some way. She seems to like me a bunch so she might be accepting your authority like mine.”
Her mother smiled, “You always were a perceptive girl Gywnn. I think that is exactly what happened, the poor girl must not have had very loving parents.” She turned to the tents, “But enough of that for now. Why don’t we go get some breakfast?”
Gywnn heard her own stomach growl and she took her mother’s hand. “That sounds amazing; I’m so hungry I could out eat Kelsey right now.”
The two women shared a small chuckle as they started up to the tents and alone the way they speculated about Kelsey’s past and what her parents could possibly have been like. Their tent was close to the beach so it didn’t take long to get there, a smallish tent with a fire pit next to it. There was a small side tent on the left as well; their family was one of the lucky ones to have their camping equipment travel with them to this strange land. They went though the flap and were greeted by a Gywnn’s father sitting next to a pot with a strange bubbling stew inside. He stood up when he saw them enter and ran over to give them a big hug.
“Oh its so good to see you two back safely!” he said happily; “I get so nervous whenever you’re around that giant mermaid, you never know when she’ll just gobble you up!’
Gywnn gave her father a hug back; “Don’t worry about me dad, I promise to be careful.”
Her mother put her hand on her shoulder; “Why don’t you go change dear while I help dad finish breakfast. It will be ready in a few minutes.”
After she had gone Gywnn’s parents embraced.
“Poor darling” her mother said, “Her muscle memory took over last night. Thankfully no one besides the mermaid and me saw her change clothing.”
“I hadn’t even noticed Lucinda” he replied, “Must be because I’m so used to it.”
Lucinda walked over to the pot and began stirring its contents. “This whole thing has been especially hard on her; she was kidnapped and took on so much responsibility with the beetle attack. We have to be strong for her so she doesn’t accidentally change when people are watching.”
Gywnn’s father walked over and put his arm around his wife. “Don’t worry; we’ll always be there for her. She is a strong girl.”
They looked up as Gywnn reappeared in the doorway. She had her short red hair in a ponytail and was wearing a pair of shorts and a tee-shirt.
She stopped, “Am I interrupting something?”
“Oh no dear” Lucinda said, “Your father and I were just discussing things. Come and get some stew.”
Her father smiled weakly as she walked over. “You’ll have to forgive the odd look and taste; the plants around here while edible are very odd. The food issue is actually one of the prime subjects at the meeting this morning. I’m heading over there now.”
Gywnn took the bowl of odd stew from her mother and sat down on a foldable chair. “Meeting? Can I come?”
“I suppose so” her father replied, “We will be discussing the mermaid and you are the closest one to her. Sure! You can come.”
“Go ahead and take your breakfast with your dear” her mother said, “It is important that you go to this meeting.”
Gywnn stood and followed her father, “Thanks mom! I promise not to be trouble!”
“You never are” her mother replied.
Her father led her out of the tent and into the camp. It wasn’t much of course: it was little more then a group of a dozen or so tents with a campfire here and there. Less then thirty people had been transported through time and space that day and they had managed to pull together into a small community quite well, everyone using their skills for the good of the group even though there were disagreements here and there. Gywnn and her father headed towards the largest of the tents and entered in the large flaps on the side. There were several men gathered around a folding table inside, each sitting on a beach chair. There were two empty seats on the side nearest the door. A strong looking middle-aged man greeted the pair as they came inside.
“Doran, glad you could make it!” He turned to Gywnn, “And this must be your daughter, she’s quite the hero.”
Gywnn blushed, a bite of stew still hanging from her mouth.
“Come now don’t be strangers” the man continued, “Sit down! Frank will sadly not be making it today; he had an accident with a strange flower and has to get his rest.”
Gywnn looked around the table as they sat down. She recognized the man who had greeted them as one of the couple who had camped a few tents away from them the night it happened. Besides him and Grant she didn’t recognize any of the other five men.
“I hope he’ll be alright” her father was saying, “Frank has a way of getting himself into trouble.”
The man waved his hand; “Oh it’s simply a rash, seems to be akin to poison ivy back home. But now that you’re here its time to start this meeting: as you all know we recently recovered from an attack by giant beetles, thanks in great part to this brave young lady here.”
He gestured to Gywnn who blushed again.
“In light of the dangers such creatures represent” the man continued; “And in light of the dryad and bee person Grant and Frank met in the forest, and without forgetting the absolutely gigantic mermaid Kelsey, we are going to need a much more stable way of defending ourselves as right now we are essentially defenseless.”
One of the other men Gywnn didn’t recognize spoke up, “That’s why this mermaid obeying Gywnn is such a blessing. If we could manage to convince her she could protect us from other dangers.”
“That is if you can convince her to not eat everyone!” another of the men interrupted, “According to what we’ve seen so far everything in this twisted place is man hungry!”
“That’s not true!” Gywnn said, “That miaxi person didn’t seem dangerous!”
“That would be the bee-woman” Grant said.
There was some murmuring. The man in charge raised his hands to quell it. “Now that may be true, but if her kin act in any way like the bees we know they could still be dangerous. There could be a whole hive of them out there and who knows what could set them off. That’s why having the mermaid on our side is so important.” He turned to Gywnn, “Do you think you could discuss this with her?”
“I could” Gywnn said, “But she’s very scatterbrained and it might take a while to convince her to protect us. She still views humans as food.”
Everyone shuddered. “Well hopefully you can convince her otherwise” the man replied, “Which leads into the next important subject: food. Doran the floor is yours.”
Gywnn’s father stood up, “Thank you.” He addressed the group: “We’ve been able to survive off foraging in the forest for now, but the immense dangers involved in leaving the beach have kept us from utilizing it completely. Besides the fact that all of the plants here and very strange and we aren’t completely sure which ones are ok to eat.” He paused a moment before continuing. “Fishing in the lake has been an idea for a while now but the fear of Kelsey has kept it from going anywhere.” He looked at his daughter, “In light of recent developments it might even possible to have the mermaid help us collect fish. Do you think that’s possible Gywnn?”
“I suppose so” Gywnn said.
Grant interjected. “Now nobody’s trying to put too much on your shoulders Gywnn, you’ve already done so much and it not any of our intentions to pressure you.”
“That’s right” her father said, putting his hand on her shoulder, “If you’re not comfortable with all of this all you have to do is say so. We can find other ways.”
Gywnn shook her head, “No it’s alright. I’m the only one that Kelsey listens to and that alone is a miracle in itself. It would be irresponsible for me to not ask her to help us.”
Her father could see that she was getting nervous, this meeting was too much for someone her age and he silently berated himself for allowing her to come.
“And we are all impressed by your level of responsibility” he said, “If you’d like you can go home and think about what you might say to Kelsey. We’ve already covered all of the big stuff and the rest of the meeting is mostly trivial.”
Gywnn nodded and stood, “Thank you for letting me come today everyone. I’ll go think of some way to word it right now. Thank you for understanding as well, this whole thing is kinda stressful.”
“It’s no problem at all” Grant said smiling, “You’re a very capable girl and I’m sure you’ll think up something great.”
Gywnn bowed and left the tent. She didn’t want to make any of the adults worry, their situation was hard enough as it was. Getting Kelsey to help with food wasn’t a problem in Gywnn’s mind; it was getting her to stop feeding on humans that concerned her. She figured that going and talking to her as soon as possible would be best, this sort of thing would be better conveyed the less she thought about it. She hurried home to tell her mother where she was going and then went to the beach to borrow one of the rowboats. With a sigh to relive tension she started out onto the crystal water, the weight of her mind miraculously not enough to sink the boat.

Gywnn rowed the small boat far out onto the lake, the splashing water sparkling in the morning sunlight. Kelsey really could change things for the better; her size alone gave her limitless potential for assisting construction or the gathering of food. Gywnn was sure that she would be happy to help anyway, what with her complete obedience to nearly anything she said. Now if she could only find the crazy mermaid, the lake was huge and who knows how deep. She stopped rowing and let the boat drift across the sparkling surface, probing the depths with her eyes for any sign of a Kelsey’s giant figure.
“Kelsey!” she called, “Where are you?”
The sound of rippling water got Gywnn’s attention. It was coming from the other side of the boat and was getting closer. She turned around quickly and peered over.
“Kelsey?”
There was nothing there, not even ripples on the water’s surface. She turned around in confusion and scratched her head.
“Huh, that was weird.”
Gywnn yelped at the boat was suddenly from below by a strong force, making it rock wildly and almost tipping her into the water. She franticly looked all around her, her heart skipping a beat.
“Very funny Kelsey” she called out, “If you don’t stop this game I’ll be very angry!”
There was no answer. This worried Gywnn as by this point the sound of Kelsey’s giggling would at least be audible. She heard ripples again and turned immediately to find the source. Off the side of the boat she just barely caught a glimpse of a huge spiny fin disappearing under the water. She moved to the center of the boat, a horrified expression on her face.
“Oh no….”
The boat was struck again, this time slightly softer then last time. There was something big in the water with her, and whatever it was she knew it wouldn’t be friendly. At any moment it could knock the boat over and then she would be easy pickings.
“Don’t panic” Gywnn told herself, “Remember those shark attack specials you saw on TV. The first thing is not to panic.”
The fin surfaced again, this time a distance away from the boat. It was aimed directly at her and was moving quickly. Whatever the fin belonged to was preparing to ram her small rowboat full on. She watched in horror as it sped closer, the huge form of the creature just visible under the surface. It had to be at least twenty feet long or bigger, its large head pointed in a sharp triangle. Gywnn braced herself for impact, closing her eyes and gripping herself tightly.
“Goodbye world…”
A huge splash filled the air, large amounts of water flying into the boat and soaking Gywnn. She opened her eyes and held onto the boat as a large wave sent it up into the air. The large fish was nowhere to be seen, the surface of the water covered in small waves. She looked over the side and spotted something huge coming right at her. She fell over backwards as Kelsey’s head broke the surface, a huge wave assaulting the rowboat and nearly capsizing it. The giant fish was halfway in Kelsey’s mouth, thrashing about wildly as the mermaid sucked on its hideous scaly body. Its razor filled mouth gaped as it slowly began sliding the rest of the inside, a large bump appearing in Kelsey’s throat as it began going down. Kelsey tilted back her head and swallowed, the huge fish disappearing into her mouth with a slurp. Gywnn watched in disbelief as the huge lump slowly went down the mermaid’s neck and disappeared into her body. Kelsey let out a huge sigh and sank down into the water, stopping at Gywnn’s level and smiling at her.
Gywnn was in shock, “My god… You swallowed it…”
“Of course I did silly” Kelsey replied, a mischievous tone entering her voice. “But I am still hungry!”
Before Gywnn could reply Kelsey lifted her chin above the far end of the boat and brought it down with a thunk. With the added weight the boat tipped high into the air sending Gywnn flying into Kelsey’s open mouth. She landed with a splat on the mermaid’s tongue, her slimly maw reeking of raw fish. The light faded as Kelsey closed her mouth, her teeth and lips sealing Gywnn away from the outside world. Panicking Gywnn kicked back against Kelsey’s teeth and yelled.
“What in the world are you doing? Let me out!”
Loud giggling echoed inside Kelsey’s mouth, the volume hurting Gywnn’s ears. She had no idea what was going on but none of the possibilities were good. The massive tongue beneath her lifted up near the front, sending her sliding to the back of Kelsey’s mouth. She grasped about in vain looking for something to hold on to, but the slippery surfaces gave nothing. Before she knew it she had fallen into Kelsey’s throat, landing with a squelching sound right behind her tongue. For whatever reason Kelsey hadn’t swallowed yet so she was stuck in a tangled mess in the nook where the tongue attached to the neck.
“Kelsey what the hell are you doing!?” she screamed
Her arm was sliding through the sphincter and into the mermaid’s esophagus. In enough time her weight alone would cause the rest of her body to slide in as well, and after that Kelsey’s throat would take over and she would end up down in her stomach with that giant fish. The sound of water snapped her back to the moment and she looked in what she assumed was up. A huge amount of water rushed down from Kelsey’s mouth and flowed all around her, lifting her up and away from her certain doom. A wall of flesh pushed Gywnn up and back into Kelsey’s mouth, causing her to hit her head on the hard bone plate on the roof. As quickly as it came the water went down again, flowing out a sliver of light between the mermaid’s teeth and leaving Gywnn to settle back down on her massive tongue. With a lurch the muscle beneath her pressed her forwards and between the massive teeth, the bright light of day filling her eyes as her head was pushed out of the soft lips.
Gywnn slowly slid into the palm of Kelsey’s hand as her body was squished between the mermaid’s giant lips. Her body was completely limp due to the complete terror and panic she was experiencing, slumping soundlessly into the puddle of saliva and water. Her body began to shake with newfound energy however as rage boiled up from her core and into every corner of her body. She pushed herself up and turned to see Kelsey’s happy face complete with a silly grim plastered across it.
“What the HELL was that for?” she yelled with all her might, “You could have swallowed me!”
Kelsey beamed down at her, “I know! You’re just soo cute!”
This response caught Gywnn completely off guard, she was stunned. “What?” she asked. Then her anger returned, “WHAT?!”
Kelsey’s expression became one of confusion and concern. “You’re ok right? You didn’t get hurt did you?”
“Of course I’m ok NOW” Gywnn yelled, “I wasn’t so ok when I was about to fall into a giant mermaid’s esophagus!” She was still shaking with anger and nervous energy. “Just put me back into the boat. NOW!”
Kelsey silently obeyed, gently lifting Gywnn off her palm and setting her carefully into the boat beneath her. She then slowly sank into the water up to her chin, a pained look in her eyes.
The expression in her eyes was like a hurt puppy and Gywnn’s caring personality tugged at her heart strings. She let out a massive sigh and sat down in the boat, her anger slowly fading away.
“Ok ok” she said in an exhausted voice, “You don’t have to feel that bad.”
The pain left Kelsey’s eyes but a trace of concern remained.
Gywnn help up her hands. “I’m fine really. Just shaken up that’s all.”
“I’m sorry” Kelsey said softly, “I didn’t mean to scare you…”
“Well what did you think would happen?” Gywnn asked, leaning against the side of the boat. “That was one of the most horrifying things that’s ever happened to me, nearly being eaten alive.” She looked up at Kelsey, “Haven’t you ever been scared before? Do you know what its like?”
Kelsey thought back to her escape from the underground tunnels. Her heart racing as the rocky walls sped past at frightening speeds, the glow of bizarre fish illuminating sharp teeth as they snapped apart stone next to her tail. The roars of a unseen monster chasing her down a narrow passageway as she was carried off by the powerful current and dozens of small fish.
She shuddered, “I’m so sorry Gywnn! I had no idea it would be scary for you, I wasn’t going to swallow you at all! Never!”
“Well its great that you knew that” Gywnn said, “I had no idea what was going through your head. I thought I was going to be digesting in your stomach with that hideous monster.” She looked to the side, “Thanks for saving me by the way. If you hadn’t come along I would have been finished.”
This brightened Kelsey up considerably. “You’re welcome!” she said smiling, “I couldn’t let you get gobbled up by a nasty fish!”
The lightening of Kelsey’s mood cheered Gywnn up a bit as well. She sat up in the boat and gave a weak smile. “Yeah, that would have been a terrible way to go. You turned the food chain around on that guy didn’t you?”
Seeing her friend in a better mood got Kelsey back to her useful self. She beamed down at Gywnn, “Yup! I sure did! Wait, what’s a food chain?”
“I’ll explain later” Gywnn replied, “But for now I have to talk to you about something important. It’s the reason I came out here to talk to you in the first place.”
Kelsey sank into the water and blew bubbles, sending a small spray of water into Gywnn’s face. “Important stuff is so boring! I want to have fun! Do you have any slurpee?”
Gywnn looked at her in confusion. “Slurpee? No I don’t have any. How do you even know what that is?”
“I don’t know” Kelsey replied, “I just know it’s tasty.”
Gywnn crossed her arms, “Well I don’t have any and there isn’t a place around here to get any. Let’s get back on topic: I have to ask you a couple things.”
Kelsey sank down up to the bridge of her nose and circled around to the other side of the boat.
“Fine fine” Gywnn said holding her hands up, “Tell you what: since you lost my oars during that whole incident if you take me back to shore we can talk on the warm beach.”
Kelsey shot from the water and landed with a massive splash some distance away. “Hurray!”
Gywnn had to hold on tight as the huge wave nearly tipped the boat ever again. Kelsey’s stomach surfaced beneath her and lifted the boat into the air, the mermaid’s plump stomach letting off loud gurgling noises that made Gywnn shudder.
“To shore!” Kelsey said happily, pointing with her hands.
Gywnn stammered as they started off with a jolt. “J-J-Just be c-careful!”

Kelsey made no effort to slow down as they approached the shore, powering at full steam directly at the beach. Gywnn closed her eyes and held on for dear life as Kelsey ran herself aground, a tornado of sand being thrown into the air and scattered in every direction as the mermaid’s huge bulk impacted the beach. Once the sand has settled Kelsey reached into the boat on her stomach and lifted Gywnn out, bringing her up to her head and holding her over her mouth. She opened wide and stuck her tongue out to make her mouth wider.
Gywnn looked down at her legs hanging between Kelsey’s teeth. “No!” she said firmly, “Kelsey NO!”
Kelsey closed her mouth and groaned, “Awwwww…”
Turning to her right Kelsey let the rowboat fall into the sand with a thud. She then rolled over to her left onto her stomach and placed Gywnn on the sand beneath her protruding chest. Gywnn had to duck and she propped herself up with her elbows, her massive breasts nearly knocking her over as her small bikini hardly kept them still. The mermaid’s long brown hair flowed over her shoulders and created a small cave around Gywnn as she stood under her friend’s head.
“You’re no fun” Kelsey said playfully, “The boy I knew would let me swallow him all the time!”
Gywnn crossed her arms, “Well if you hadn’t noticed I’m not that boy. I’d actually like to avoid being in giant people’s mouths as much as possible.” She sighed, “Now if you don’t mind I wanted to ask you those questions.”
“Fiiiine” Kelsey said. She rolled over onto her side and propped up her head with her elbow. “Well sit down silly!”
Gywnn sat down on the beach. “Okay well I don’t really know how to ask this really so I’ll just make it up I go.” She took a deep breath. “OK: I suppose I should first ask about the food thing. Kelsey do you think you’d be able to catch fish for the people in the tents? It’s hard to find food in the dangerous forest.”
“Hmmm” Kelsey said thoughtfully, “Bring fish up for you and your friends? I guess I could do that.”
Gywnn’s face lit up, “Really?”
“Of course silly!” Kelsey replied, poking Gywnn in the stomach with her free hand, “If it makes you happy!”
This was going better then Gywnn had expected, and she had expected it to go decently. Now with the food issue out of the way if they could get some kind of protection in place they would be relatively well off and finally be able to figure out how to get home.
“It really would” Gywnn replied smiling, “Thank you so much!”
Kelsey beamed back, “It’s no problem! Now what was the other question? If its as easy as catching fish then I’ll be happy to help out!”
“Actually its about protection from the wildlife here” Gywnn said, “It would be much nicer if my family and the other people had a safe place to live where things like the beetles and dryads couldn’t get us.”
“Like that cave?” Kelsey asked.
Gywnn thought back to the underwater cave where she first met Kelsey. “I think that would be too hard to get to, people can’t hold their breath long enough to get there.” She looked up at Kelsey; “And no, I don’t think everyone would be willing to ride in your mouth.”
“Why don’t you live on top of the water?” Kelsey asked, “You have those floating things for two people at a time so why not make them bigger?”
“House boats!” Gywnn said excitedly, “That’s brilliant Kelsey!” Her mind was too busy going over the possibilities to notice the look of satisfaction and happiness on Kelsey’s face. “The only problem would be getting enough wood… The trees around here are massive and we have no tools to speak of.”
Kelsey’s joy was momentarily interrupted by this new conundrum and after thinking a while she had an idea. “Why don’t you ask someone for tools? There has to be a village around here somewhere.”
“I doubt it” Gywnn said disgruntled, “The only things that could survive out there would be those miaxi creatures.” She jolted upright causing Kelsey to jump herself. “Of course! Those bee people must have a hive, and they build those themselves. The size must be massive; they must have tools for building!”
Kelsey smiled again, “See there silly? You can answer your own questions!” She let out a small sigh, “I was worried for a second you would ask me to keep nagas away or something.”
“Nagas?” Gywnn asked in confusion, “What are those?”
Kelsey pointed to the edge of the forest, “Mostly like that.”
Gywnn turned to look and was horrified to see a half snake woman slithering between the trees. She was at least sixty feet tall and who knew how long, her long serpentine body covered with bright purple scales. Her human half was completely naked and had long purple hair with dangerous looking yellow eyes. The way she was slithering along make it look like she was sneaking; and she was headed in the direction of the tents.
“Kelsey” Gywnn said nervously, “What is she doing?”
Kelsey was drawing a circle in the sand with her finger, “Oh probably hunting. I’ve seen a few around my lake; they don’t like to talk to me though.”
The naga was just at the edge of the tents, hiding quite well for someone her size. She was licking her lips and looking at the nearest tent where two men were standing next to a fire pit.
“Hunting?” Gywnn said in panic, “Hunting people! Kelsey you have to do something!”
Kelsey looked up with an unhappy look on her face, “But I don’t want to fight a naga! They coil up around you and make it hard to breathe!”
“You’re bigger then her” Gywnn said hurriedly, “Just intimidate her! But you have to go NOW!”
It was too late: the naga had sprung from hiding and was grabbing for one of the two men by the fire. Everyone else was running helter shelter like when Kelsey had first attacked. The grunts of the naga trying to catch her prey as well as the screams of the panicked people could be heard clearly on the beach.
Kelsey looked at the expression on Gywnn’s face and was finally forced into action. She moved with unexpected speed: pushing herself up to her knee and scooting off towards the tents using her arms and sort of dragging her tail after her. The naga had finally caught someone and was about to eat him when she saw Kelsey approach. The sight of a larger predator clearly made her a bit nervous, a fact Kelsey didn’t pick up on.
“Hey!” Kelsey said as she closed the distance, “Those are mine!”
The naga backed up a bit as Kelsey stopped a few paces away. “What do you mean these are yours? There are plenty to go around.”
Kelsey lunged forward at the naga, her tail causing her to fall flat on her face in front of the naga. She reached upwards and snatched the man form the naga’s hand and quickly tossed him in her mouth.
She stood up to her full height, standing head and shoulders above the smaller predator. The loud squelch of a swallow signaled the man’s decent into Kelsey’s body.
“I said” Kelsey repeated, “These are mine.”
The naga continued backing up, “Ok ok I get it! This is your territory. I’ll just be on my way, is that what you want?”
“Uh huh” Kelsey said a little too nicely.
The naga turned around and slithered off into the forest, “Geez what a greedy mermaid. You’re even worse then that dridder.”
After the naga had disappeared into the forest everyone came out of the tents cheering. They gathered around Kelsey who was still kneeling in the middle of the camp and celebrated. Gywnn had finally made it back from the beach and ran up to where everyone had gathered. The cheering died down.
Kelsey turned around and beamed down at her. “Everyone seems so happy! Are you happy too Gywnn?”
“Yes I am!” Gywnn replied, “You saved that man and who knows how many others! If you hadn’t of chased that thing off…” She paused, “Wait… You didn’t actually swallow that man did you?”
Kelsey nodded and put her hand on her belly, “I can feel him squirming!”
A hush came over the crowd. Gywnn’s face turned red, “WHAT?”
“He was going to be eaten anyway” Kelsey said shrugging.
“That’s not ok Kelsey!” Gywnn replied angrily, “Spit him out right now!”
Everyone watched the exchange in silence. Sure the mermaid had driven off the snake woman but she had also eaten the person she had saved. The outcome of this situation would determine everything.
Kelsey made a pouting face. It only lasted a moment though; as once she caught a glimpse of Gywnn’s face she immediately changed her tone.
“Ok ok! Hang on a second.”
Kelsey opened her mouth wide and stuck her finger back deep into her throat, strong convulsions immediately wracking her body. After she began vomiting she removed her finger and leaned over, the loud choking sounds becoming very off-putting. In a few moments though something came out her mouth and laded on the ground with a splat. The crowd’s reaction was understandable.
“Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwww!”
It was a large glob of mucus and bile with a curled up human inside. Upon seeing his new location the man immediately tried standing up, the sticky goop causing him to slip several times.
Kelsey sat back up wiping her mouth, “See he’s ok.”
“If you can call that ok” Gywnn said cringing.
The reaction of the crowd depended on the reaction of the man, and this reaction would determine the future of Kelsey and the campers and Gywnn knew it. The man was finally able to stand with help from Grant who then immediately began wiping himself off.
“Did you see that?” the man said excitedly, “The mermaid just saved my life!” He tried shaking some of the mucus off, “Granted I could have done just as well being placed on the ground.”
Kelsey shrugged, “Well she wouldn’t have left if I hadn’t made my point.”
Gywnn’s father stepped forward out of the crowd, “I suppose that makes sense. Though I’m sure everyone here would like to know exactly what she was.”
“A naga” Kelsey replied immediately, “Though she was kinda small…”
A surprised voice called out from the back, “SMALL?”
“Yeah” Kelsey said blushing, “I’m small for a mermaid.”
There was murmuring in the crowd. Gywnn and her father looked at each other.
“Are there any other giant half human creatures we should be aware of?” Gywnn’s father asked, “We’d love to know.”
Kelsey became thoughtful and began counting on her fingers, “Lets see… There’s nagas, dridders, centaurs, harpies, and chilotaurs; though I’ve never seen any of the last ones in person.”
Gywnn’s father crossed his arms, “With dryads and your own species mermaids that makes quite the list of dangerous man eating giants.” He turned to his daughter, “Did you get a chance to ask her yet?”
Gywnn nodded, “She said yes.”
“Is that true?” he asked looking up to the towering mermaid’s face, “Would you be willing to protect us until we can protect ourselves?”
Kelsey rubbed her shoulders her mind rushing a mile a minute. If she said yes then she would have to fight other predators and if she said no she as sure it would make Gywnn sad. She might have to give up eating humans if she said yes too, something she wouldn’t have to do if she said no. But then again Gywnn would probably hate her and never talk to her again if she said no. The crowd waited with baited breath for her answer.
“Uhhhh” Kelsey finally stammered, “I guess I could help you guys for now.”
The crowd erupted into celebration, people cheering wildly at their newfound protector. Gywnn and her father seemed to be the only ones not cheering, as they were concerned with what Kelsey had said.
Gywnn whispered to her father, “You notice how she didn’t anything about not eating us.”
“One step at a time” her father whispered back. “But until then you’ll have to keep a close eye on her when she’s around anyone else. Can you do that?”
Gywnn nodded.
“Ok” he continued,”I think its best if you took her back to the lake for today. Now that she’s on our side we can make some official plans and discuss these new threats. Whatever a dridder or chilotuar are I have no idea.”
“I’ll ask her sometime” Gywnn replied.
Her father nodded back. “You better take her back then, and good job handling that situation. She really respects you.”
Gywnn started off towards where the crowd had gathered around Kelsey, “Thank you!”
Kelsey sat on the shore surrounded by the small crowd, her face absolutely aglow with all the positive attention she was receiving. If the people hadn’t been so tiny she would have scooped them all up in her arms and given them a big hug. When she spotted Gywnn pushing through people she immediately reached over and plucked her off the ground, placing her in her open palm.
“Do you see how happy everyone is?” she asked excitedly.
“I sure do” Gywnn replied, “And it’s all because of you!” She crawled carefully to the edge of Kelsey’s hand and peered over to the group below. “Ok everyone Kelsey has to go back to the lake now, thanks for showing your support!”
Kelsey stuck her lower lip out, “I have to go already?”
“I’m afraid so” Gywnn replied; “There’s a lot to do. Maybe you could even get some fish for everyone; that would make them happy. Besides, don’t you dry out?”
Kelsey felt her skin with her free hand, “I guess I am getting kind of dry.” The crowd was slowly dissipating and she looked down with a sad look on her face. “Aww, I liked the cheering.”
“I’m sure there will be plenty more of that in the future” Gywnn said optimistically, “Especially if the way you handled that naga is any judge of the future.” She hunkered down in Kelsey’s palm, “But for now let’s get back to the lake.”
Kelsey cupped her hand to her chest and tipped Gywnn into her cleavage and leaving the surprised girl hanging from the strap. Without another moments hesitation Kelsey scooted herself back to the beach and into the water, throwing herself out as far as she could and quickly floating to stomach height. She reached into her cleavage and pulled out a very furious and soggy Gywnn.
“What was THAT for?!” she asked angrily, “You couldn’t just put me on your shoulder or something?”
Kelsey became thoughtful for a moment. “That boy didn’t like it much when I did that either, must be a human thing.”
“That’s interesting” Gywnn said, “You would think boy would like that sort of thing.” She shook her head, “But you’re dodging the point: why your cleavage of ALL places?”
Kelsey shrugged, “It’s the easiest.”
“Awkward too” Gywnn grunted; “Speaking of which: every other giant person I’ve met has been completely naked, why are you wearing a bikini and how on Earth did you find one your size?”
Kelsey looked down at her banana yellow bikini. “Oh it was a gift from that boy, he didn’t like seeing me without clothing on. I guess that’s a big thing with humans.”
“This sounds like an interesting guy” Gywnn said thoughtfully, “Too bad he’s not around anymore. If he managed to survive you long enough to get to know you I couldn’t imagine what could have happened.”
“Me either” Kelsey said sadly, “But now that you’re here everything is ok again!”
Gywnn smiled up at Kelsey, “And I’ll be here for quite a while so don’t worry.” She turned back to shore, “But for right now I should be back on shore with my father. Can you drop me off there?”
“Yeah” Kelsey said nodding, “But then I have to go check on someone. Maybe even catch some fish for you!”
Kelsey paddled forward and placed Gywnn gently on the sandy beach before swimming back out.
“Goodbye for now!” she called.
Gywnn waved, “See you later!”
After the mermaid’s head has disappeared under the surface of the lake Gywnn started back up to the campsite. This dangerous forest was filled with more perils then ever, but with Kelsey officially on their side she felt they would be ok.

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Kelsey’s Lake: Chapter 5
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Kelsey swam just below the surface of the lake, evening sun sending rays of light into the deep depths. She was headed to the other side of the lake where she had left her small friend Fishy. Hopefully the odd fish had stayed where she had told him to and not swam off into the lake. Her mind was filled with worry for her poor pet as the entrance to the cave he was in came into sight. It was a small entrance, just big enough for her to swim through comfortably. She was still nervous as she approached the cave; the large spiking rocks still looked like large teeth to her. Her friend was inside though, so she closed her eyes and swam into the small opening.
“I hope he’s alright” she said to herself.
Down the passageway she swam, the strange glowing lumps on the wall still as creepy as ever before. She followed the passage up and into the small cave, the glowing mushrooms visible from even underwater. Even with all the lumps and mushrooms glowing in the cave there was one light source missing; and Kelsey began searching franticly for it.
“Fishy!” she cried, “Where are you Fishy?”
The glowing fish was nowhere to be found however; the worrying possibilities rushing through Kelsey’s head. She immediately turned around and left the cave, swimming down the narrow tunnel as fast as she could. Once outside the cave she began scanning the water for any sign of her friend, hoping to catch even the slightest glow somewhere in the lake’s depths.
“Fishy!” she yelled, “Come back Fishy!”
As if in response to her panicked shouts a faint glow appeared far below her. It slowly came closer, the odd light not seeming to glow any brighter as it ascended. What a strange glow it was, and as it got closer it almost seemed to take on the shape of a fish.
Kelsey immediately swam towards it, “FISHY!”
She swooped down on the fish and wrapped it up in her arms. Fishy stared at its captor with its pale unblinking bulbous eyes, its frilly fins slowly waving in the water in a calm manner. Being huggable size was also one of Fishy’s features, as he was only twice the size of Kelsey’s head.
Kelsey smiled down at her pet, “I’m so happy you’re safe Fishy!” She gave him a stern look, “I don’t want you to ever run off like that again ok?”
Fishy just stared back at her with his unblinking eyes, his toothless mouth slowly opening and closing.
“Come on inside” Kelsey said tucking the fish under her arm, “There’s so much to tell you about!”
She swam back up into the cave through the tunnel; her would be pet calmly squashed against her side. When they had reached the cave Kelsey sat down on the floor of the pool and put Fishy on a large rock in front of her. The fish rose off the rock and bobbed to the left. Kelsey frowned and moved him back onto the rock and Fishy bobbed into the water again.
“You just wont sit still will you?” Kelsey said scolding, “But I suppose I can’t make you sit if you don’t want to.”
Fishy stared back with his bulging eyes and saying nothing.
Settling down Kelsey folded her hands in her lap. “Well if you’re settling Fishy I can start telling you about all the stuff that’s happened to me when I was gone. I’ll have to begin with Gywnn though…”
She was met with a blank stare which was taken as encouragement to continue.
“So you remember Gywnn right Fishy? She’s the brown haired girl with the blue eyes. I asked her if she was the same age as that boy I told you about before and she says she is twenty, I think that’s close. Anyway when we got up to the shore there were a bunch of people there still. They didn’t like me much but this woman came over who is Gywnn’s mother.”
She paused and was greeted with a silent stare.
“She has the most beautiful red hair and green eyes” Kelsey continued dreamily, “Just looking at her made me wonder what my mother was like.”
Fishy floated over to Kelsey’s side. She put her arm around him and smiled.
“Don’t worry Fishy, I’m not sad. My mother and I were separated a long time ago… I should really continue my story though; I don’t want to bore you with the past.”
The pale light of her friend slowly intensified, somehow making Kelsey feel comfortable. She sighed and kept telling her story.
“So after we found out these bugs had stung everyone Gywnn went off into the forest to find a dryad. The dryad would have a cure of course. Anyway she came back and everyone was better, but I feel asleep because I was stung too.” She lowered her head, “When I woke up I had to fight a naga…” Her sadness didn’t last long and she brightened up again, “But when she left and everyone cheered for me! It was the best feeling ever Fishy!”
A stream of bubbles escaped from Fishy’s mouth and tickled her nose.
“Oh stop it Fishy!” she giggled. “There’s more!”
She placed the fish on the rock again and he surprisingly floated off into the water.
“So I agreed to help out Gywnn by bringing them food and stuff. I don’t know what humans eat but I think I can find some plants or stuff in this lake somewhere right?” She grabbed Fishy again. “You should come with me, I can’t see in the dark and there might be some tasty human food stuff near the bottom.”
A small stream of bubbles escaped the fish’s mouth as Kelsey tucked him under her arm again.
“Oh come on now” she said smiling, “This will be fun!”
With her friend in two Kelsey once again swam down the tunnel, this fourth time with actual plans to not come back. The glow of Fishy seemed to put her in a better mood then usual and she was looking forward to helping her human friend and her family, even if she couldn’t eat them.
Outside the cave once again Kelsey scanned the surrounding water, this time without the cold grip of fear on her heart. She was looking for human food this time; Gywnn said she would find some in the lake but she didn’t know exactly what it would look like. Kelsey remembered fish being mentioned but with Fishy along she didn’t want to make him feel bad.
“Come on Fishy” she said, “Lets check around here first.”
The cave entrance was on a wall that dropped straight down to the lakebed just within sight, from there going down into darkness. Above the rock face where the cave was the ground slowly curved up to the beach. There were plenty of plants growing up in the sand but none of them seemed very eatable. Kelsey let Fishy go and turned to face him.
“You might know what food humans eat; will you take me to some?”
Wither her friend understood her or not Fishy immediately started swimming. He went up to the rock wall and followed it and Kelsey swam after him. They traveled until the rock ended and gave way to a steep sandy slope, leading down to a level area of lakebed near the next drop off. Fishy then swam downwards.
“Oh is there something down there?” Kelsey asked.
There were lots of colorful rocks all over the place on the bed, the various shapes and sizes a beautiful sight to behold. There were plenty of plants too: from tall kelp to small waving tree-things with bumps on the ends of their leaves. A fish could be seen here and there darting between the rocks. They were long colorful fish, large teeth protruding from their long mouths.
“I don’t think any of these are edible” Kelsey said looking around, “Well maybe that is.”
She swam over to a large grouping of the colorful rock where several large lumps were attached. Reaching out she touched one of the lumps with her finger and found it to be quite hard. It didn’t seem to move after she touched it so she grabbed it. The lump was slightly larger then her hand was the perfect size for holding. She pulled on it and it came off fairly easily. Holding it up to her face she turned it over and was surprised to see it full of an odd meaty substance.
“Look at this Fishy” she said holding it for her friend to see, “This looks pretty edible.”
Fishy’s blank stare seemed to affirm Kelsey’s observation so she gathered a few more off the rock. She placed all the red lumps on the sand next to her and then scratched her head.
“How am I going to carry all these up to Gywnn?”
She thought hard, putting her fingers to her temples and concentrating. Fishy floated nearby and watched as the mermaid put her brain to work on her current situation. A strand of kelp floated past.
“I’ve got it!” Kelsey said jumping, “Kelp!”
Fishy watched with unblinking eyes as Kelsey swam over to a large kelp plant and ripped off several long pieces. She then swam back over and began wrapping each of the lumps with a piece of kelp. Then after they were each wrapped she took a final piece and strung it through all the wrappings so that it was a long chain of pink lumps. She then swung it around her waist and tied it off into a neat belt.
“Look what I made Fishy!” Kelsey said happily, “Gywnn would be so proud! Let’s go take these to her now!”
Securing the makeshift belt around her waist Kelsey started swimming in the direction of the camp. Hopefully these odd meaty lumps would be considered human food, they weren’t something she would enjoy but humans were very strange creatures. She turned to make sure Fishy was following behind her, he wasn’t.
Kelsey stopped, “You should go back to the cave Fishy. I’ll be back!”
She watched as Fishy swam back towards the cave before continuing on. Everything was going so well and she hummed to herself as she swam. A small school of rainbow fish was up ahead and Kelsey decided to swim through it for fun.
“Come here little fishes!”
She giggled as the colorful fish scattered in every direction, fleeing from the massive creature that so rudely swam into their midst. Several of them bumped up against Kelsey’s new belt, resulting in one of the red lumps coming off and starting to sink into the depths of the lake.
“Oh no!” Kelsey cried, “One of the lumps!”
She immediately dove down after the lump, reaching out but having it stay just out of her grasp. They kept going deeper and deeper and the light was starting to fade. Kelsey was forced to stop when a loud ringing sound filled her ears, a piercing ring that seemed to rattle around her head.
“Ow ow ow…” she said holding her head, “What is that?” She watched as the lump sank into the darkness below, “Ow the lump!”
The ringing wasn’t going away and she was forced to swim upwards and after a short distance the ringing left her ears. She lowered her head again the ringing returned and when she floated back up the ringing once again left her ears.
“That’s weird” she said to herself, “I wonder what could be making that noise? I don’t like it all… I guess that’s one less lump for Gywnn.”
With one lump gone forever and a slight headache from the ringing Kelsey was forced to continue on with a look of disappointment on her face. She was careful to swim gently from then on to avoid losing any more, adding several minutes onto her journey to the camp where the humans lived. When she arrived at shore she poked her head out of the water to take a look around. A man in a fisherman hat sitting on a nearby log jumped in surprise when her head broke the surface, falling over onto his back.
“Sorry” Kelsey said when she noticed him fall over, “I was just looking for Gywnn.”
The man pulled himself back into a sitting position, “Uh er well… I think she went down the beach to the right. Erm…”
Completely missing the man’s nervousness Kelsey removed the kelp belt of lumps and sat it down on the sand next to the man, forcing him to dodge out of the way to avoid being crushed. The lumps were bigger then he was and rolled dangerously close to him.
“Ok thanks” Kelsey said with her attention elsewhere, “Here are some food things I found for you guys. I hope they’re ok.”
“Uh thanks” the man replied examining the large lumps, “These look like some sort of clam or shellfish. Why did you bring these here again?”
His question was lost to the wind as Kelsey was already swimming down the beach in the direction the man had indicated, her mind now completely focused on Gywnn.
“Thanks uh- Kelsey!” the man called after her.
It took mere moments for Kelsey to swim far enough down to beach to catch sight of Gywnn. She was standing near the edge of the forest in a combat stance, her right arm at her side and the other raised in front of her. Several paces away there were three small sticks stuck standing upwards in a rotted log. Gywnn was in a state of extreme focus and Kelsey came to a stop to watch, not wanting to interrupt her friend. Gywnn stood motionless for several moments and it almost seemed like she was frozen in place. Suddenly her right hand began slowly moving around in a circle, going around and around as it began speeding up. Kelsey watched in amazement as a circular shadow began forming below her arm, growing darker with each passing second. Gywnn raised her left hand up in front of her and pointed at one of the sticks with her three middle fingers. She opened her eyes and sliced through the air with a short shout. There was a small flash of light and the stick fell to the sand in two pieces, the ends of each part completely charred.
“That was amazing!” Kelsey said in excitement.
Gywnn leapt as if someone had put ice down her back, spinning around with her eyes wide in alarm. “Who’s there?”
“It’s me silly” Kelsey said happily, “I came to see you!”
Gywnn relaxed slightly as she pulled herself onto the beach and settled into a kneeling position, pulling her tail up behind her. Gywnn then whirled around and with two swift kicks both stick pieces were buried in the sand.
“I know what you think you saw” Gywnn said nervously, “But you didn’t see anything ok?”
Kelsey gave her a confused look, “What do you mean?”
“There is nothing out of the ordinary going on here” Gywnn replied quickly, “I was just relaxing in the sun.”
Kelsey smiled and poked her friend gently, “What are you talking about silly? I saw what you did with that stick! You never told me you could do magic!”
“Uh magic?” Gywnn said questioningly.
“Yes” Kelsey replied excitedly, “I’ve never seen it up close before.”
Gywnn fidgeted, “You mean magic is normal around here?”
“Well lots of people can do it” Kelsey replied looking away, “But none of my friends can.” She turned back to Gywnn, “That’s why it’s so exciting that you can!”
Gywnn put her hand behind her head, “Well now that the cats out of the bag I guess there’s no point hiding it from you. You just can’t anyone else ok?”
“Why would you want to hide it?” Kelsey asked, “Isn’t doing magic a good thing?”
“Its complicated” Gywnn replied, “Where I come from nobody can use magic. What I do isn’t really magic either but I guess you could call it magic. I’ve been hiding it ever since I was adopted by my parents to avoid trouble.”
Kelsey gently pet her small friend and gave her a warm smile. “You shouldn’t have to hide a gift, if I could do magic I would use it all the time!” She got excited again, “Can you show me something cool?”
“I guess so” Gywnn replied, “I’ve been practicing using my, magic- in a more offensive manner due to the dangers around this forest. I’ve only got a couple techniques worked out but they seem pretty useful.”
Kelsey folded her hands in her lap, “Well let’s see them!”
“Ok” Gywnn replied, “I’ll try the one you saw earlier. I call it ‘the slicer.;”
She turned around and walked a few paces towards where the sticks were set up, once again closing her eyes and getting into her stance. She lowered her right arm and slowly began circling it around, the dark shadow appearing beneath it again. Her left arm came up and she pointed with her fingers, opening her eyes and slicing the air with her hand. There was a light and a fizzle as a second stick was cut in two, its ends smoldering in the sand.
“That was amazing!” Kelsey said clapping, “What kind of magic element was that? Fire? Air? Darkness?”
Gywnn shook her hands. “Like I said it’s not really magic, its kind of like… Well it’s hard to explain. I suppose its kinda like, light magic maybe? Does that even exist?”
“I’ve never heard of it” Kelsey replied shrugging, “But it was really cool! Can you do anything else?”
“Well there is this once thing” Gywnn said mischievously. She motioned Kelsey closer, “Lean down here for a sec.”
Kelsey lowered her head down close to her friend, her eyes wide as Gywnn hid her hands behind her back. “Ooo what is it?”
Gywnn brought her hands out in front of her body, both closed in tight fists. She brought them up in Kelsey’s face, an innocent look covering her features. “Oh I just got something… Do you want to know?”
“Yes!” Kelsey said excitedly, her eyes glued to Gywnn’s hands.
“Ok” Gywnn replied.
She snapped her arms up and her fists popped open, a brilliant flash of white light filling Kelsey’s eyes and blinding her utterly. Kelsey squealed and threw her hands over her face, large white spots covering her field of vision even with her eyes closed.
“I’m sorry” Gywnn said putting her hands on her friend’s knee, “I didn’t mean to do it so bright!”
It was quite a while before Kelsey’s eyes cleared enough to open them again, and when she could the sunlight seemed dim in comparison. “What was that?” she asked in awe, “It really hurt!”
“I’m so sorry” Gywnn said again, “I didn’t want it to hurt you. It’s a self defense mechanism I developed after seeing flash bang grenades in action. It’s supposed to blind and disorient the attacker.”
Kelsey rubbed her eyes, small tears forming in their corners. “Well it worked, I was blinded and disoriented.” She propped herself up with her right hand, “My head is out of luck today; first that ringing and now blinding lights.”
“Ringing?” Gywnn asked, “Where did you hear ringing?”
“Oh it was in the lake” Kelsey replied, “Way down deep in a dark area. I was just swimming over here to drop off some red lumps when I heard it. The ringing was weird too, more in my head then in my ears.”
Gywnn crossed her arms, “Interesting… I wonder what could do that.”
“I don’t know” Kelsey said, “But I do want to find out. Maybe you could come with me sometime and find out. I want it out of the lake if possible.”
“What about these lumps” Gywnn asked, “Did you bring them to shore for us?”
Kelsey nodded, “They seemed like human food to me. I don’t really know what humans eat so I thought they were as good as anything else.”
“Thank you for doing your best” Gywnn said smiling, “I’m sure they’re edible enough. Where did you put them?”
Kelsey pointed up the shore; “I gave them to this man sitting on a log, you wanna go see?”
“I guess I should” Gywnn replied, “There might be some explaining needed.”
Quick as a wink Kelsey reached down and scooped Gywnn up in her left hand, catching her completely off guard and resulting in a objecting shout.
“What did I tell you about doing that!?” Gywnn said angrily.
“I’m sorry” Kelsey said holding her up to her face, “I was just going to carry you so you didn’t have to walk.”
Gywnn sighed, “Thanks. I was afraid you were going to stuff me in your mouth again or something. It’s nice of you to do something like this but please just give some warning before you snatch me up ok?”
“Ok…” Kelsey said looking down, “I will.”
“I’m glad that’s settled” Gywnn continued, “Now lets go see these red lumps!”
Kelsey smiled again, “Yay!”
Turing around she pushed her massive body into the water with her free hand, scooting backwards with her tail until she was floating. She slid Gywnn between her breasts and sank up to right below her bra, not wanting to get Gywnn wet. There was struggling at first but as she began slipping she became still. Kelsey’s tail could still touch bottom even though she was a ways out so she used it with her arms to swim over to where she had left the lumps. It took less then a minute to travel the distance and she could see three men gathered around the half dozen or so lumps on the beach: the man with the hat along with a brown haired man and Grant, who Kelsey recognized from before. She swam over and scooted up into the shallow water, the three men turning and greeting her.
“Hey there mermaid” the black haired man said, “You brought these here right?”
“One sec” Kelsey replied. She stuck her hand into her cleavage and pulled Gywnn out, the flustered girl’s face turning beet red when she saw the trio starting at her.
“Put me down!” she commanded, squirming in Kelsey’s grip, “Put me down right now!”
Kelsey gently put her friend down on the beach, “Ok ok! Don’t be mad.”
Gywnn took a moment to regain her composure, brushing herself off before addressing the men. “I’m so sorry about that, incident. Kelsey has been working on asking before she does things.” She turned and glared, “That was not supposed to happen.”
“Oh it’s alright” Grant said. He changed the subject to distract from the awkwardness of the situation. “Did you come to inspect these odd shellfish?”
Gywnn turned back to the men, her angry face slowly changing back to normal. “Yes, Kelsey had just told me about some red lumps and I came to see what was going on.”
“I accidentally lost one on the way over” Kelsey said sadly, “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry Kelsey” Grant said reassuringly, “These five will be plenty of meat for a long time. I’m more concerned with how we’re going to store them until their needed!”
“So they are edible?” Gywnn asked.
The black haired man nodded, “Very much so. They seem to be giant versions of mussels from back home, they may be bland but they are nutritious.”
“So I did a good job?” Kelsey asked with a worried voice.
Grant nodded, “You solved a very large problem for quite a while!” Kelsey beamed as he continued, “The only thing now is I have no idea where to put these to keep them fresh.”
Kelsey’s face became serious as she concentrated, “Maybe you could put them in the water again. They don’t seem to move much.”
“Seems workable” the man in the hat said, “Though it would take some work for us to move them. Kelsey, could you put them in the water somewhere shallow for us?”
Kelsey nodded, “Ok!”
She leaned over and picked up the belt of lumps. She turned around and scooted down the beach a ways where there was a small area of deeper water. They all watched as the mermaid hummed to herself while sticking the animals in the water.
“She’s certainly been a help so far” Grant said, “Hopefully it stays that way.”
Gywnn crossed her arms, “I think it will as long as I’m around. She still has a problem understanding personal space, but she always seems to have good intentions at heart.”
Kelsey continued sticking the animals on rocks underwater, splashing around a bit as she continued humming. She was so relaxed and seemed to be enjoying herself.
“Yes indeed” the man in the fisherman hat said, “That girl really is quite the catch.”

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Kelsey’s Lake: Chapter 6
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A massive shadow passed over the noonday sun, as large as a cloud but looking anything but. High in the sky too far to make out floated something tube shaped, several small black lines coming from its end. Luckily for the denizens of the forest below this shape did not descend any lower, as if it did there would be great danger to all living things in the forest. Those that knew what it was knew that it was in fact a creature, a creature so massive that it struck fear into the heart of the largest titans. Far below in the trees near a lake stood a girl of twenty, observing the creature high above as nothing more then a speck as it did her in return. She was a brown haired young woman that wore a t-shirt and shorts, hardly the outfit seen in this forest on a regular basis. Turning away the girl went back to her business, walking over to the lake and calling out over the water.
Kelsey’s head emerged from the water, a bright smile on her face, “Hey Gywnn! What are you up to? Are you going to practice some more magic?”
“Not right now” Gywnn replied, “I was actually wondering what you knew about the bee people around here. A couple of the men were going to go ask one if they could help us get some tools for building with. These tents aren’t a very safe home in this jungle.”
Kelsey slid up onto the shore and propped herself up in front of Gywnn, easily towering over her friend, “I don’t see what’s so bad about the tents. Not many visitors come to this lake, and hopefully that naga will be the only one in a long time.”
“That’s the point” Gywnn said crossing her arms, “In the future any giant humanoid that decides to wander through our camp will pose a much greater threat than that naga. You aren’t going to be around twenty-four seven to protect us, even if you could fight off every attacker to come along.” She looked Kelsey over, “Which I doubt you even could.”
“The less fighting the better” Kelsey said happily, “It’s scary!”
Gywnn waved her hands in front of her; “Hold it, you got off topic again!” She frowned at Kelsey, making the titanic mermaid nervous. “You sure have a talent of that don’t you? Are you always this scatterbrained?”
Kelsey looked down, “My brain isn’t scattered.”
“Nevermind” Gywnn continued, “Let’s get back to those bee people. Do you know anything about them? The one we met called itself a miaxi.”
“Let me think” Kelsey said rubbing her temples. She closed her eyes and focused for several moments and a grin crossed her lips. Gywnn cleared her throat and she opened her eyes. “Sorry! I got distracted…”
“I could tell” Gywnn replied grumpily. “Well?”
Kelsey smiled weakly, “Nothing… Sorry…” Her face became worried when she saw the frustration on her friend’s face. “But you could ask a dryad! They know all kinds of stuff about everything!”
“Thanks but no thanks” Gywnn replied recalling her last encounter with a dryad, “I’d rather just find a miaxi and ask it personally.”
“If you think that’s the best” Kelsey said meekly, “Maybe humans have a different relationship with them.”
Gywnn puffed at her bangs which had blown into her face, “The same relationship that humans have with pretty much everything in this twisted forest: food. What’s with that anyway? Is it some kind of sick thrill?”
“I don’t know” Kelsey said; “I’ve always eaten whatever came along, and humans are so easy to catch.” She licked her lips, “And they taste so good! Not as good as nekos, but they’re harder to catch.”
Gywnn crossed her arms again, “Neko… Now that’s a word I’ve heard before. What exactly are nekos? If the interoperation of nekos is anything like what this place calls dryads their probably two hundred foot tall titans with a taste for humans.”
“Oh they aren’t big at all” Kelsey said, “They must be only this big.” She held up her hand, making a size indication with her fingers. It was about the size of her thumb, so roughly six feet tall. “They have these little fuzzy ears and tails that are like a furry animal.”
Gywnn put her hand to her chin. “Odd, that seems strangely normal for this place. Next thing you know they’ll be nymphs and jackalopes running around.”
“Jackalopes?” Kelsey asked in confusion.
“Don’t worry about it” Gywnn said, “If I see one I’ll let you know.” She turned away from the lake. “Anyways I better get back, we still have to go find a miaxi and see about getting some tools.”
Kelsey put her hand in front of her, blocking her path like a wall of flesh. “Wait! Before you go will you show me some more magic?”
Gywnn looked around nervously, “You’re not supposed to talk about that remember?”
“Sorry” Kelsey whispered. “But can you?”
Gywnn sighed, “Fine I guess.” She rubbed her hands together and took a breath. “I’ve been working on the ‘slice and dice’ and I think its coming along pretty well.”
A large log was sitting on the beach nearby and Gywnn directed her attention towards it. Bringing up her left hand she made a fist, her other hand swirling around by her hip. A large shadow appeared beneath her feet, widening and becoming darker by the moment. Closing her eyes Gywnn let out a grunt of focus. Kelsey looking on in amazement as a short blade of pure white light appeared out of her friend’s fist, almost like she was holding a knife. With a sudden shout Gywnn sliced out with the blade, sending it flying through the air and at the log. The light hit with a flurry or sparks, cutting a deep groove in the wood and lighting the inside of the cut on fire.
“That was amazing!” Kelsey praised.
Gywnn frowned, “It’s not good enough. If I plan to defend anyone against the dangers around here it needs to cut through the log, not just act like a tinderbox.”
“Oh don’t worry” Kelsey said, gently patting her on the head with her finger, “You’ll get it soon. Just remind me not to make you mad!”
An irritated look came over Gywnn’s face. “Believe me when I say you’ll be the first to know. Now if you don’t mind I need to get going.”
“Ok” Kelsey said happily, “Go have fun and be safe! Bring back a neko for me!”
Gywnn walked up the beach to the camp, waving her hand over her shoulder. “I will be, but don’t get your hopes up.”

Gywnn walked into the group of tents with a concerned look on her face, her mind heavy with questions and concerns a woman of her young age shouldn’t be worried with. This forest, wherever it was it was filled with creatures she never dreamed possible. Then again with her own unique physiology half human hybrids shouldn’t be a surprise, though having multiple fantasy creatures from more then one culture suddenly real was a lot to accept. How long had they been here? Five days? It seemed like so much longer. Getting these tools would be the first step in surviving this place; with them they could build a town on the lake. Kelsey would always be closely and any land based predator would have to contend with water and she guessed not many could swim.
Grant exited a tent and walked up to her. “Hey Gywnn! Are you ready for today’s adventure?”
“I suppose” she replied flatly.
Grant could sense something was wrong. He put a hand on her shoulder, “What’s on your mind? Were you just off talking to your friend?”
She nodded, “Yeah. I thought she would have information on the bee people but she didn’t. All I found out was there’s a race of cat people, thankfully human sized, living around here too.”
“So then what’s troubling you?” Grant asked kindly, “That’s useful info! The more we learn about this forest and its inhabitants the better.”
Gywnn sighed, “I suppose so. I just wish I could get info we could use right away.”
“Don’t worry” Grant said reassuringly, “Kelse has good intentions at heart but she doesn’t seem to be very educated. Probably been cooped up in this lake her entire life.”
The tent flap opened again and Gywnn’s father emerged into the daylight. He was carrying a small pistol and a large bag, his outfit being little more then his street clothes. Upon noticing his daughter his face lit up.
“Gywnn! How are you sweetheart?”
Gywnn ran over and gave him a hug, “Dad!”
“You’ll never believe what you’re daughter’s learned from her friend Doran” Grant said, “There’s apparently a race of cat people living in this forest as well.”
Gywnn stepped back, “Kelsey called them nekos and they line up with the traditional Japanese iteration. This place is just full of fantasy creatures.”
“And regular creatures” her father replied, “Just larger then normal. Just the other day I saw a spider the size of a car!” He held up the pistol, “I know this isn’t much but I figured a weapon is better then nothing.”
“So how are we going to find a miaxi” Gywnn asked, “Its going to be dangerous in the forest.”
Grant nodded, “We don’t plan to stay long; just a quick hike to where we found that bee woman last time and then right back.”
“If you’re ready we were about to leave” Doran said.
Gywnn looked between the two men, “Just us three?”
“We thought it best to keep a low profile” her father replied, “The fewer people the better.”
“Seems logical” Gywnn replied.
Grant put a hand of their shoulders, “If the family meeting is done we should head off. Daylights burning you know!”
With that they were off, walking out of the camp and into the forest beyond.

It took a couple hours to reach their destination, the thick foliage of the forest as well as the ever present danger forcing them to keep their pace slow. Along the way they saw several bugs of normal size, although they did catch sight of a butterfly the size of a kite. They were forced to hide at one point when Gywnn thought she saw a naga in the distance, costing them several minutes while they waited. Once they had made it to the clearing they were forced to wait again, keeping their eyes to the skies for any sign of the odd bee woman. At least they were in a pretty environment: the bright and colorful flowers of the clearing really lit up in the direct sunlight.
“So how long do we have to wait here?” Gywnn asked stifling a yawn, “All this sun and pollen is making me sleepy.”
Grant, who was crouching next to her in the flowers, yawned himself. “Oh I don’t know, just a while longer. We don’t know when the bee folk would frequent here and we can’t wait forever.”
“If this place wasn’t so dangerous I’d say we should call out for her” Doran said. He inched forward in the flowers; “Hang on, I think I see something.”
Sure enough a familiar buzzing sound could be heard in the air, getting slightly louder with each passing moment. Looking up the trio could see the form of a miaxi coming through the trees. They kept hidden until the woman landed, waiting for her to settle into the flowers before revealing themselves. They wanted to be sure not to scare her away.
The miaxi’s antennae wiggled and she turned in their direction. “Not you again” she said disappointedly, “I can see you still.”
The three humans stood up in the flowers, Grant brushing himself off as if nothing had happened.
“You’re not very good at concealing yourselves are you” the woman said, “I recognized your scent immediately.” She pointed to Doran, “Except you. You’re new.”
This was the first time Doran had seen a miaxi, and the eight foot tall bee woman gave him a very bad feeling. The large stinger on her abdomen looked dangerous and if she acted anything like a real bee she could use it with no warning.
“Hello again” Grant said trying to sound as friendly as possible, “Nice to see you again.”
The woman grunted, “The pleasure’s all yours. Now that you know where my foraging ground is I’ll probably never be rid of you...”
“Sorry to be a bother” Doran said, a cautious tone in his voice, “We were just here to ask you a question.”
“Must be important to risk coming out here” the woman said.
“It is” Doran continued, “We’re trying to build a safer and more permanent home and lack the necessary tools. Does your kind have any building tools we could trade for? I’m sure your people must have some form of dwelling place.”
The miaxi grunted. “Our hive is built using only the materials on hand and our own saliva; we used no human tools in its construction.” She paused for a moment. “Although there is a human settlement not far from our hive that may have human tools, we could get some for you but it depends on what you have to offer.”
Gywnn pulled her father aside and whispered in his ear. “If they really do operate on a hive system like real bees then their queen will be a picky eater. Offer one of the crimson clumps and see what she says.”
Doran stood back up. “There is a special species of mollusk living in the lake near us that are quite tasty. They are at least as big as you are and I’m sure your kind has never tasted them before.”
The miaxi hummed, “Interesting… Bring us two of these ‘mollusks’ and we have a trade. It will take at least two days to bring the tools so return here on that day to complete the trade.”
“Alright” Doran replied, “It’s a deal!”
The woman turned back to the flowers, “Good. Now if you excuse me I must get back to my work, I trust you humans will return to whence you came.”
Doran took the other’s shoulders and turned, “We’re on our way.”
“Well that was easy” Gywnn said as they started walking, “I didn’t think it would go so w-“
She stopped mid sentence as a thundering sound filled the air. The miaxi noticed it too and turned from her work in the direction the sound was coming from, it almost sounded like hooves.
“What could that be?” Grant wondered aloud, “Are there horses in this forest?”
“Whatever a ‘horse’ is I can guarantee they do not live in this forest” the miaxi replied.
Gywnn stepped in front of the others, “Then what is it?”
The collective question was soon answered as the sound grew louder until the origin of the sound came crashing through the brush. Twigs and leaves flew in every direction as a half human and half horse man came galloping into the clearing. At over fifteen hands tall the centaur stood a bit over six feet, his white and brown horse half making up most of his height. His human half had dark brown hair that flowed down to the horse spine and blew in the wind as he ran.
“Coming through!” he yelled.
Everyone jumped out of the way as the centaur galloped through the clearing, his powerful hooves sending dirt and flowers spraying into the air. The miaxi was the first to recover and shook her fist in the retreating man’s direction.
“Come back here you barbarian!” she yelled, “I’ll sting your eyes out!”
Gywnn’s father helped her up, “Shouldn’t we be worried?” she asked.
The miaxi’s anger was immediately forgotten, “What do you mean?”
“Well wasn’t that centaur running from something?” she asked.
The ground shook, throwing the group to the ground again. Looking up Gywnn saw a massive human foot only a few yards away from where they were standing. Following it up it was revealed to belong to a naked woman over a hundred a fifty feet tall, her smallest toe being almost as big as a human. The strange thing about this woman was that she had wings, beautiful transparent wings that glittered in the sunlight.
“Dammit!” the fairy cursed, “He got away!”
She looked down at her feet and saw the two men helping the miaxi to her four feet. Gywnn was kneeling nearby, still stunned from the impact of the fairy’s footfall.
“Well at least it isn’t a complete loss” she said reaching down, “I got three humans!”
With a flick of her wrist the fairy slapped the miaxi aside, sending her spinning to the ground amidst the flowers. Grant and Doran dodged the giantess’s hand and grabbed hold of Gywnn’s arms, no doubt preparing to run.
“Hold still!” the fairy demanded.
The miaxi was still lying in the flowers, her antennae wiggling slowly.
“You idiot!” Gywnn yelled, “Look what you did!”
Both her companions as well as the fairy were surprised at Gywnn’s sudden outrage.
“What?” the fairy asked confused, “It’s just a miaxi. It’s not like I’m going to eat her too.”
Gywnn began backing up, pulling the two men’s arms to get them to follow. “Don’t you know what happens when bees are injured? They release a pheromone that calls others to her area, and when they arrive they’re in a frenzy!”
“Oh” the fairy said, “That’s new.”
The miaxi’s voice rang out, weak as it was. “Just go you idiots; my sisters will take care of me. Return in two days and your trade will be upheld.”
Being much too large to hear the miaxi the fairy turned her attention back to her prey. “Oh well, I’ll just eat you three and be on my way then. It’s not like they’ll get here right away.”
Her massive hand wrapped around the fleeing humans, but as her hand closed a sudden burn caused her to withdraw.
“Ow!”
Taking their chance the three bolted into the forest, and although the two men couldn’t see it to the fairy it the seemed to disappear into thin air. It was almost as if a wall of light had created a fake image of the forest in order to trick her. She wouldn’t get the chance to catch her prey either, as the burn on her hand was deep and searing; not to mention the humans were running full tilt with no intention to stop until they either reached their destination or collapsed.

The trio had made it back to their camp in one third time, nearly passing out of sheer exhaustion upon making it into the tents. Gywnn reassured them that the fairy would not be following them and considering the mysterious burn and incoming miaxi would be more concerned with her own health then chasing them down. This seemed logical enough for the others and they were more concerned with the safety of the others anyway. It came as no surprise to the rest of their little village that fairies would be as massive as the other creatures they had encountered, though as the miaxi’s reaction had confirmed their lake was highly secluded and not that open to attack. The promise of construction tools was the best news heard since coming here though, and everyone was preparing and planning for building their permanent home. The thinking was if they could get enough wood they would be able to create boat houses they could link together and float on the lake. This would be the safest place to live they could think of, and after discussing the plans with the committee Gywnn spent the rest of the day with Kelsey and practicing what they continued to call magic.
Kelsey was lying on her back on the bank, her upper body lying on the sand while the rest trailed off into the water. Gywnn was sprawled out on her stomach, legs crossed with her hands behind her head. They were both watching the sunset, marveling at the beauty as the oranges and reds lit up the lake as if it were made of fire instead of water. Spending so much time underwater Kelsey had never really spent time watching the sunset so this was a special experience for her.
“It’s so beautiful” Kelsey was remarking in awe, “I wish it could be sunset all the time.”
Gywnn looked up to her friends face, unfortunately being unable to see it past the two huge mounds held in place by the banana yellow bikini. With a sigh she turned back to the sunset.
“You don’t really what that” Gywnn said, “If it were sunset all the time we would only be able to see yellow, orange, and red. You wouldn’t like that would you?”
Kelsey put her hand on her stomach, covering her tiny friend like a blanket. “I guess not… We’ll just have to see it every night instead; you’ll do that with me won’t you?
“I suppose so” Gywnn replied, “If its gets you to stop flirting with that guy Frank.”
The world shook violently as Kelsey giggled. “Aww, but he’s so cute!”
“Cute or not you need to cut it out” Gywnn reprimanded, “At your size- well… You just need to stop it.”
Kelsey sighed, “Ok…”
The sun had just finished sinking over the horizon and darkness fell on the forest. The lake became almost black, the only indication it was there coming from the glittering white light of the moon on its surface.
“Good” Gywnn replied, “I’m glad that’s settled.” She tried to push Kelsey’s hand off of her body but as she was barely the size of one of her fingers she made no progress. “I best be getting home to bed. Come on Kelsey let me go.”
Kelsey wrapped her hand around Gywnn and rolled over onto her stomach, holding her captive in front of her face in a gentle fist. “But I don’t wanna! I want you to sleep here with me tonight!”
Completely helpless in the giantess’s grasp Gywnn had no choice but to become stern with her. “Tell you what Kelsey, if you let me go you can come sleep up near the tents tonight. How does that sound?”
Kelsey immediately released Gywnn, “Really? Won’t anyone have a problem with that?”
“Who cares” Gywnn replied flauntingly, “If they wanna complain you can just eat them.” Kelsey’s eyes lit up. “That was a joke! You can’t eat anyone!”
Kelsey groaned, “Awwww…”
Gywnn started up to the tents. “Well come on then, slide up here or whatever you do to get around on land.”
With a grunt Kelsey pushed herself up onto her knee, towering at least a hundred and twenty feet tall. Gywnn was taken aback at the extent of her size, having to hide her mouth as her draw had dropped.
“What’s the matter?” Kelsey asked down to her.
“Oh nothing” Gywnn replied recovering, “Lets just get up to bed.”
Kelsey followed her tiny friend up to the group of tents, a distance little more then a couple scoots to her massive body. A large trench was left in the sand behind her, a slight fray being created by her fin as she wobbled along. Gywnn pointed out a hill right at the edge of the camp Kelsey could lay down behind and use as a pillow and after she was settled in Gywnn headed to her family’s tent. She parted the flaps and went in to find her parents preparing for bed.
“Hello dear” her mother said lovingly, “Finally ready for bed after a day of adventure?”
Gywnn shuffled over to her sleeping bag, the extent of her day finally catching up to her. “I feel like I could sleep forever.”
Her mother walked over and gave her a kiss, “I’m sure you could. Just be sure to change out of your dirty clothes- oh that’s right! Nevermind dear.”
“Get plenty of rest” her father said, “Tomorrow is the day we pick out another tree to cut down.”
Gywnn yawned loudly, “Ok…”
Everyone climbed into their sleeping bags and Doran turned off the lantern that hung in the middle of the tent. Darkness fell in the tent, the perfect environment for sleep.
“Goodnight Gywnn.”
“Goodnight mom and dad.”
“We love you.”
“I love you too.”
A soft breeze blew through the camp, playing with the flaps of the tents like an invisible child. Gywnn’s parents were soon asleep, the weight of the day causing her to follow after. Peace fell over the camp, the only soul awake being the lookout sitting by a small fire at the center of camp.


Several hours passed and the light of the moon began to waver, a dark cloud passing over its glowing face and shrouding the forest below in darkness. The quiet of the camp was interrupted by the snoring of a giant mermaid, but in this deep darkness another sound could be heard. Down the beach to the north the sound of clacking could be heard, mixed with the sound of many skittering feet. A pair of black eyes appeared at the forest edge, moving out onto the sandy beach with a clicking sound. Was that one pair of eyes? No, there were three more sets surrounding the pair, all of them glinting in the weak moonlight. It was hard to see in the darkness but the outline of a many legged creature could be seen moving over the sand, the entire shape being at least four feet tall.
Moments later another form appeared from the forest, this one seven feet tall, also adorned with eight glinting eyes. It scurried up to the first creature, its clicking legs only moving in short spurts. These two demons were not all the forest had to offer, as soon the beach was covered in a dozen or more of the skittering monsters. Suddenly the trees parted and a final shape walked onto the beach, this one more terrifying then all the others put together. It was at least seventy-eight tall, a massive crimson arachnid body standing on thin clawed legs with a bulbous abdomen. Attached to the front where the head should be was instead the body of a woman, bright red skin complimenting the woman’s short red hair. She began walking down the beach, the smaller spiders scuttling between her legs as she went. The cloud slowly began moving out from in front of the moon, revealing the small group of tents to the massive hybrid.
“What’s this?” a sneering voice called out in the darkness, “A little midnight snack?”

Gywnn jolted awake to the sound of screaming. She and her parents ran to the door and flung open the flaps, the sight before them striking terror into their hearts. Huge spiders were scampering all over the camp, the denizens of the tents running and hiding to the best of their abilities. The icing on the cake of fear was the massive half human spider that was lifting a tent into the air with its two residents still inside.
Gywnn ran forward, dodging to the side as a horse sized spider chased a woman past. She ran under the tent that was in the air and shouted up to the woman.
“Stop that!”
The woman stopped. The pandemonium suddenly ceased as the woman held out her hand, the spiders in the camp coming to a standstill and the people freezing in shock.
“Stop it?” the woman asked. She leaned over, towering over the girl at her feet with a sneer on her face. “I’m sorry; did you just tell me to stop it?”
Gywnn gulped, “Um yes.”
“I don’t think I will” the woman replied, “In fact: you’re next.”
The spider woman reached down to grab Gywnn but before she could Gywnn shouted at the top of her lungs.
“KEEEELSEEEEEY!”
Kelsey jolted up, sand falling from her face and hair as she groggily panicked. “Huh? Wha? Whose there?”
Seeing the mermaid clearly surprised the spider woman and she stood back up, the tent still in her left hand. Kelsey finally woke up enough to comprehend her surroundings, immediately gasping in horror.
“A dridder!” she cried, “Oh no a dridder!”
“And who are you supposed to be?” the dridder asked bluntly, “You’d think a sleeping mermaid would tip people off.” She looked down at Gywnn, “Or are you people just stupid?”
Gywnn backed up a few paces, “She’s on our side and if you don’t leave she will be forced to take action against you.”
“Oh no she’s not” the dridder replied, “The last time I had to deal with a guardian of humans I got my face punched in by a giantess. Uh-uh, I aint having none of that!”
She snapped her fingers and a trio of spiders crawled over to Kelsey, quickly climbing the stomach and arms of the sleepy mermaid.
Kelsey looked up and cringed, “Spiiideeerrrrs…”
As quick as lightning the spiders struck, piercing Kelsey’s smooth skin and injecting their venom. The effect was immediate, and the massive mermaid toppled to the sand with her eyes rolling back in her head. “Ewwwww……….”
The dridder smiled, “Well that took care of that; looks like she isn’t going to be stopping me.”
“Then I’ll stop you!”
She looked down again, now what was that girl doing?
“Excuse me?”
Gywnn was standing with her fists clenched. “I said I’ll stop you!”
The dridder laughed aloud, “You must be joking!”
She wasn’t joking. The cloud was gone from the moon and the light of its full face was bathing the camp in milky light. Gywnn brought her hands into position for her slice-n-dice, the look on her face one of grim determination. A large shadow appeared on the ground and Gywnn let lose with a swing of her arm.
“Yaaahhh!”
A slash of white light struck the dridder’s hand and causing her to pull it back in pain.
“Ow!”
Was that it? Gywnn struck again, this time causing a small trickle of blood to appear but otherwise causing no ill effects. She had to strike harder! Gywnn struck out with a flurry of attacks, her cries slicing the night air as the blades of light sliced dridder’s hand. Was that laughter she heard? Anger welled up in her chest and her eyes became black pits, no white or iris visible at all. Her hair rose up behind her and separated into five tendrils, each one with a glowing white orb at its tip. She yelled again, swinging left-right over and over, each attack more fierce than the last. With a final cry she brought her hands together and flung them upwards at the dridder, a brilliant flash of white light filling the camp.
Gywnn fell to her knees, exhausted.
The dridder lowered her hand from her face, and besides a few minor cuts and scratches was completely unaffected by the assault. She laughed, “Is that all? I must say you’re pretty good for your age.” She smirked, “But pretty good isn’t good enough. Without your precious mermaid your defenses are pathetic, as if having a mermaid protect you wasn’t pathetic enough.”
Gywnn lowered her head, she had failed everyone. The villagers behind her watched in silence, the combination of what they had witnessed Gywnn do as well as the knowledge they were going to die proving too much for words.
“But you know what?” the dridder said leaning over, “At least you were entertaining.”
Gywnn looked up in confusion.
“I like your spunk kid” the dridder continued, “So I’ll tell you what: I’ll only feed myself tonight, none of my pets will prey on your village.”
She waved her hand and the spiders backed away from their captives, clicking and hissing in what could only be assumed to be anger. Everyone watched in amazement as the dridder put the tent back on the ground.
“Hmm…” she said surveying the scene, “Who is it? Ah! You look good!”
With one smooth gesture the dridder reached down and picked one of the men from nearby. It was Grant.
“Hey hey” he said nervously, “What’re you doing?”
The dridder brought him up to her face and opened her mouth,
“Lets not do anything hasty now” Grant said panicked.
With a flick of her wrist the dridder popped Grant into her mouth, a quick swallow turning him from a lump in her cheek to a lump in her neck. Everyone watched in newfound horror as the struggling form of Grant slowly slid down the dridder’s throat before disappearing into her chest.
“Tasty…”
The dridder began walking over the camp, her massive legs pulverizing the ground with every step. Gywnn was dumbstruck, frozen on the spot and staring into the black space where the dridder’s throat had once been. Her mind was blank and her eyes didn’t register the movements of the giant spiders as they scurried after their master. The trail of destruction behind her ignored as her mind slowly faded. Her vision slowly faded to black, the last thing she remembered seeing being her father catching her in his arms as she fell…

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Kelsey’s Lake: Chapter 7
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Kelsey’s eyes opened, sunlight piercing her mind as the light blinded her vision. She winced and tried to sit up, finding the ground beneath her feet to be hard. It took a while for her vision to get used to the bright light, but when it did she was taken aback at what she saw. She was sitting on a grassy ledge next to a huge stone building, the walls reaching so high she had to lean back in order to see the top. There were several arched windows along its length, the looming openings filled with darkness. Each window was bordered by long wooden poles, the ends of which were hung a piece of fabric with a strange picture on it. The ledge she was sitting on lined a long trench, her tail hung down over still blue water that flowed a couple feet below her.
“Where am I?” she wondered aloud.
There was something odd about this place and she couldn’t quite nail it. Had she always been here? Just where was “here” anyway? Seeing how she was on land the best course of action would be to jump into the water, maybe she could swim around the building and find an entrance. She pushed herself off the ledge and fell down into the water below, a big splash sending water flying high into the air.
“Ewwww…” Kelsey squealed, “This water has dirt in it!”
She sank beneath the surface despite the condition of the water, it was the only water around and Kelsey didn’t like traveling on land. Whoever had dug this trench needed to keep better care of their water, what if fish were living in it! After swimming a short distance she heard voices so she surfaced to investigate. Poking her head from the water she spotted a stone bridge hanging over the trench where two humans wearing metal stood. The odd thing was these humans were the same size she was! This was quite startling for her and she immediately backed into the dirt wall of the trench.
“The most recent activity was reported coming from the north” the man on the right was saying, “But the lord refuses to send any more garrisons.”
The other man shook his head. “Tis a shame, I doubt they will hold out much longer without reinforcements.”
Kelsey peeked out from under the dirt ledge to get a better look at the humans. “What are they talking about?” she wondered aloud.
Two feet came into view above her head to the left and she shrank back. Suddenly the dirk gave way and a woman fell into the water and disappeared under the surface. The two men looked over.
“What’s going on?” one of them asked gruffly.
The woman surfaced momentarily, thrashing about wildly, before sinking beneath the surface again.
“Someone fell in the moat!” the other cried, “Hurry!”
The two men ran over to where the woman had fell, both of them looking into the water below. They looked at each other.
“What do we do?” the first asked, “It would take to long to remove our armor.”
The second one began removing the metal, a slow process. “Better start now then.”
It was obvious to Kelsey that they would never make it to the woman in time and she was surly running out of air by now. Throwing caution to the wind she pushed off the wall and dove into the water where the woman had gone. Down below the surface she could make out the woman sinking into the depths, bubbles coming from her mouth. Kelsey swam down to her and grabbed her hands. The woman had a panicked look on her face and clutched onto her savior. Kelsey swam down under the woman to push her back up, a familiar ringing sound assailing her head as she dove. What was that sound doing here?
There was no time, the bubbles had stopped coming out of the woman’s mouth. Kelsey gritted her teeth and bolted for the surface, the limp form of the woman suddenly heavier than before. They broke the surface in a splash of dirty water Kelsey holding the woman out of the water as best as she could. The two men reached down and took the woman out of her arms. After she was safely on dry land they turned back to Kelsey.
“Thank you very much woman” the right one said, “It was lucky you were able to save this woman.”
“Oh it was nothing” Kelsey said blushing; “I didn’t think I’d be able to do it, she’s so big.”
The man reached down and took hold of Kelsey’s arms. “You did well enough, now let’s get you out of there.”
Kelsey found herself lifted out of the water by strong arms and in an instant was plopped onto the dirt, her tail hanging over the edge. Upon seeing her tail both men jumped back in fear.
“You’re a mermaid?” the second one said in horror.
“Of course silly!” Kelsey replied, “Why else would I have a tail?”
The two men drew swords and prepared to attack. “How dare you come this close to the castle! Who led you here?”
Fear gripped Kelsey’s heart with icy fingers, it was bad enough these humans were her size but now they were armed! She held up her hands.
“I don’t remember how I got here, I just kinda was here.”
“Lying monster!” the man of the left said, “Prepare to die!”
He lunged forward with the sword and Kelsey jumped into the water. She surfaced and looked up at the man; he was looking down and glaring.
“Get back here!” he yelled, “Archers!”
Several more humans appeared on the bridge, these ones dressed in animal hide with bows. Kelsey knew enough about bows to know what they did, and she also figured out that if the humans were her size she couldn’t just block the arrows with her hand and pick them out of her skin.
“She’s a mermaid!” the man continued, “Kill her!”
Kelsey watched in horror as the archers set their bows and aimed in her direction. She dove underwater as several arrows sped through the water around her. Not wanting to wait for the humans to take another shot she swam back the way she came, the familiar ringing sound fading as she went. Looking back she could see them yelling and chasing after her along the bank. Another slew of arrows zipped through the water near her, their feathered ends leaving trails of bubbles.
Up ahead! Was that the mouth of a river? Kelsey swam towards it for a closer look, the humans still in hot pursuit. It was a river, well a small one anyway. The humans must have used it to create this water filled trench, but she would use it to escape. Pressing against the current Kelsey swam up out of the dirty water and into the clear flow of the river. Looking back she saw the humans stop and fire a last volley of arrows after her, their faces twisted in anger as the arrows fell short.
“Take that freaky giant humans!” Kelsey called over her shoulder, forgetting she was underwater.
Relieved to be safe Kelsey did a few twirls of happiness, still swimming upriver. She had decided to keep swimming in hopes of getting as far away from the archers as possible.

After swimming for several minutes Kelsey felt a pain in her stomach. She had forgotten how much energy it took to swim against currents.
“Oohhhh!” she said groaning, “I’m so hungry now!”
She scanned the surrounding water. The river was clear and bright, pretty green plants growing between the rocks on its bed. Something shiny caught her eye, fish! She was in luck; a large group of fish was bunched together up ahead in some kind of net. The last time she had seen one of those was when some boy had used a big yellow one on her. Where was that boy? She remembered him being the right size for a human but not much else about him. Her stomach groaned again.
“Ohh food first!” she moaned.
She swam up to the net and reached inside for a fish. They were quite large, about the size of her hand. As she floated there wondering how she was going to get it in her mouth the net surrounded her and began ascending, she was trapped. She began struggling against the net but only tangled herself more, the swarming fish making the situation worse. The net broke the surface and slid up onto the grassy bank of the river, the fish now flopping all over and around her.
“Help!” Kelsey cried, “Stupid fish stop it!”
She heard a voice call out, “Stop the horse! I think there’s someone in the net!”
The net came to halt and the mass of fish settled to the ground. A young boy around six years of age came into view, the flopping fish making it hard to see. He pointed at her.
“Look there is someone in there! It’s a woman!” He turned and looked at her through the fish, “Don’t worry we’ll get you out!”
A sturdy looking man came into view, most likely the boy’s father. He grabbed hold of the net and began pulling it apart.
“I’m sorry woman; I don’t know how this happened. What were you doing in the river?”
“Looking for some food” Kelsey replied. The net was loosened enough for Kelsey to sit up, the fish falling out onto the grass. “I’m fine though, don’t worry!”
The humans jumped back in shock at the sight of her tail, the man hiding his son behind his back.
“Y-Y-You’re a mermaid?!” he said alarmed.
Kelsey flinched, “Oh no! You’re not going to shoot at me are you?”
Seeing the mermaid frightened confused the man. He looked at her with a odd expression. “You mean you’re not going to curse us?”
“Why would I do that?” Kelsey asked, “I- Ohhhhh!”
Her stomach growled loudly and she bent over clutching it, a pained look on her face. The boy came out from behind his father and approached her.
“Stay back Jeremiah!” he warned, “It’s not safe!”
The boy walked up beside Kelsey, he was about as tall as her sitting down. “Don’t worry father, look! She’s starved!”
“That makes her even more dangerous” the man replied, “What if she decided to make a meal out of you?”
Kelsey looked up grimacing. “Oh you’re much bigger than a regular human to eat” she said reassuringly, “But if you have any elves I’d have those. Hopefully they’re the right size.”
This granted more puzzled looks from the pair.
“What do you mean ‘right size?” the man asked cautiously.
“Well ever since I woke up all I’ve seen is humans the same size as me” Kelsey replied, “They’re supposed to be about this big.” She held up her fingers to show about two inches.
The father and boy looked at each other. What manner of mermaid was this?
“I don’t know where you’d get that idea” the man said, “The only living things around here that size are fairies.” It was becoming clear this mermaid was no threat and was obviously not from this kingdom. The man relaxed.
“Silly!” the boy said, “Are you from a far off kingdom or something? You have such weird ideas.”
Kelsey had fallen into her usual habits and still hungry spotted an opportunity in the boy. She fell over to her side dramatically.
“Oh I’ve come such a long way and am soo hungry” she said with her hand on her forehead, “Be like the humans with arrows and kill me now to end my suffering.”
The boy looked concerned, “Father we should take her home with us and feed her. We can’t leave her here to starve.”
“We also can’t be seen with a mermaid” his father replied, “Regardless if she’s not dangerous.” He crossed his arms, “Or sane.”
The boy leapt to his feet, “I know!”
He ran out of Kelsey’s field of vision and returned with a large burlap sack. He put it over her tail and she sat up with a puzzled look.
“We’ll put your tail in this sack to hide it from everyone! Then no one will know you’re a mermaid!” Kelsey lifted her tail and Jeremiah helped pull it over her scales.
“How fun!” Kelsey said watching the cloth flap over her tail. “You humans are so clever.”
The man rubbed his chin, “The boy is clever. This idea could work as long as no one pries too much.”
“But how will you get home without walking?” Jeremiah asked.
“Bring the horse over” his father instructed, “She can ride him back.”
Kelsey watched the boy run out of sight behind his father again. “He’s so cute! And so big, though probably small for a human.”
“You are such an odd mermaid” the man said, “What name do you go by?”
“I forgot to introduce myself!” Kelsey said grinning, “I’m Kelsey.”
“My name is Tarnu” the man replied, “The boy is my son Jeremiah.”
Jeremiah returned with a thick rope in his hand. The rope was attached to a huge brown animal that stood on four legs. Its body was round and fat and it had a thick neck with an odd shaped head. Long black hair came out of its neck and back and strangest of all its feet had one toe. The boy led it over to Kelsey and she shrank back in fear.
“Keep it away!” she said, “It’s so big! Why hasn’t it eaten you yet?”
Jeremiah laughed. “You’re so strange mermaid! This is a horse and it only eats plants.” He took Kelsey’s hand and put it on the horse’s flank. “Here touch it.”
Kelsey was timid at first, but seeing the boy decided to try it. Her hand flattened against the massive animal’s side, its warm body and short fur ticking her hand. She giggled a little.
“Oooh I can feel it breathing!”
The horse lowered its head and pushed against Kelsey’s chest, almost causing her to fall over.
“Steady now boy” Tarnu said putting his hand on the beast. He turned to Kelsey, “Are you ready to go Kelsey?”
“Yes” she replied, “But how is this ‘horse’ going to help me?”
Jeremiah clapped his hands, “You’re going to ride it!”
“Ride it?” Kelsey asked in alarm, “I can’t do it!”
Tarnu pushed the horse on the rump and it sat down on its knees. “Of course you can Kelsey, we’ll help you out.” He walked around to her and lifted her upright. “Come on boy help me lift her on.”
With both their help Kelsey was lifted onto the horse. She sat there nervously with her tail hanging over the side still inside the sack.
“Are you ready?” Tarnu asked, “It’s going to stand up now.”
Kelsey looked down nervously, “I guess.”
Jeremiah pulled the rope and the horse stood got to its feet, Tarnu helping Kelsey keep her balance as it did. Once it was up Kelsey looked down at the ground and almost fell over.
“It’s so far to the ground!” she said gasping; “Now I know how humans must feel.” Her stomach growled again and she gripped it in pain. “Ooohh fooood…”
Tarnu took the rope and began leading the horse towards a dirt path. “Hold on now mermaid, we’ll get you some food soon.”


As the horse was led along the dirt path Kelsey marveled at the beautiful scenery all around her. The trees were so huge and detailed and she wondered how she hadn’t noticed this before. This horse animal was pretty amazing too, even if it was a bit scary. She vaguely remembered seeing animals larger than her somewhere but couldn’t quite place it, but regardless it wasn’t the norm. After the forest path they came into a small village of stone and wood houses. Everything was simple but efficient, with tall stone chimneys spewing smoke into the air. Here there were many more humans dressed in their thick clothing going about. Tarnu was hoping no one would bother them about Kelsey and although some did stare at the woman in the bag nobody questioned it. They finally arrived at their destination, a small house on the edge of the village, and the three came to a halt.
Jeremiah shook Kelsey’s tail to get her attention. “We’re here!”
Kelsey was staring at another horse tied to a post but hearing her name brought her back to the boy. “Oh? Where are we?”
She looked up at the house. It was a pleasant looking stone building with some kind of dried grass for roofing. There were barrels here and there around it with racks filled with odd tools. A simple wooden door stood on its front while two small holes served as windows. Around back one could make out a small shed that served as a stable, something Kelsey knew nothing about.
“At our house of course!” the boy replied happily.
“Alright” Tarnu said coming around to Kelsey’s side of the horse, “Let’s get you inside. Don’t want to raise any suspicion.”
He reached up to lift Kelsey down and seizing the moment she slid off the animal and onto his back, wrapping her arms around his neck and hanging like a sack of potatoes. Tarnu was forced to hold her up by gripping her waist, completely unprepared for the piggyback ride assault.
“Whoa there” he said, “You didn’t have to dive on me like that.”
Kelsey grinned, “Aww… But it looked like fun!”
Tarnu, now struggling with the mermaid, directed his son towards the stable.
“Jeremiah take the horse back to his stall and meet us inside.” He looked around carefully, “I want to get our guest inside right away.”
“Yes sir” the boy replied.
As the horse was led away Tarnu staggered inside with Kelsey on his back. The house was made up of one large square room somewhat well lit by lanterns and sunlight. A stone oven stood against the far wall with a wooden table in the middle of the room. Several barrels and boxes lined the walls and one large bed stood to the left with a stack of thick blankets on it. A pretty woman sat at the table working a mass of dough. Also on the table was a small basket of berries and a slab used for slipping in the oven to bake.
Upon seeing her husband enter with a strange woman on his back she stood up in alarm. “What is the meaning of this?”
“Calm down woman” Tarnu replied calmly, “Help me get her to the chair and I’ll explain.”
With the extra hands Kelsey soon found herself sitting on the chair at the table, now occupied with surveying the room with wide eyes. The woman turned to Tarnu after she was seated.
“Now will you explain just why you brought a strange woman to our house?”
Tarnu cleared his throat. “This here is Kelsey, she got tangled in our net and we brought her home to get her some food to fill her empty belly.” Kelsey looked back to them. “This is my wife Eleora.”
“Hi!” Kelsey said energetically, “You got a big house!”
Seeing his wife struggling for a reply he pulled her to the side, “Kelsey why don’t you wait here for a moment while I talk to my wife.”
Kelsey went back to examining the room while they stepped into the back door.
“You pulled her out of the river in your net?” Eleora asked in low tones.
Tarnu also lowered his voice. “Yes, she was dragged up with the fish and we had to cut her out.” He put his hands on his wife’s shoulders and spoke even softer. “Now I want you to stay calm while I tell you this: she is a mermaid.”
Eleora looked over to Kelsey in horror. She sat at the table squishing the wad of dough with her hands, tearing it in half and shaping them into loafs.
“Is this true?” Eleora asked in a shaking voice, “She seems so kind.”
Tarnu nodded, “Aye she is a mermaid. But don’t panic, she isn’t dangerous.” He looked over to Kelsey. “She’s the odd one, and I think she might not be right in the head. We brought her here on account of Jeremiah not wanting her to starve, thought we might have something to feed her.”
“If she really is safe to be around” his wife replied, “Then I guess we could feed her. I have the bread but it needs to rise so she’ll have to wait until then.”
Jeremiah walked in next to them, “Hello mother.”
“Hello dear” Eleora replied, “I hear it was your idea to bring our guest home.”
The boy nodded. “She was so hungry I thought we should do something about it. Though she is a bit silly it’s perfectly safe. I’m going to see her now.”
The three humans walked over to the table where Kelsey sat. She had finished dividing the dough into two lumps and shaping them into loafs on the oven platter. Jeremiah looked at her in surprise.
“You can make bread?”
Kelsey blushed, “Well I guess so.” She wrapped some of her long brown hair around her finger. “There was this boy one time who showed me, though we had yellow fruit in them. The long tube kind.”
“Bananas?” Eleora asked, “Where did you meet this boy? Those are a rare and exotic fruit.”
Kelsey shook her head. “I don’t remember really, my brains been hurting.”
Seeing her mood drop Jeremiah lifted up the basket of berries. “We don’t have bananas around here but we do have huckleberries. See here!”
“Huckles?” Kelsey asked in curiosity, cheering up again. “Let me see!”
She took a berry out of the basket and licked it. “Mmm! That’s so good!”
Reaching into the basket she took out a large handful of the berries. Holding them in both hands she brought them over one of the loafs of bread and with one quick motion smashed them all into the dough in a juicy mess. Eleora gasped in shock as the mermaid began kneading the berries into the dough.
“What have you done?” the startled woman asked, “Those were good berries!”
Kelsey looked up in surprise. “I’m sorry, was I not supposed to do that?”
“Well its just we’ve never seen someone make bread in such a way” Tarnu said, “Why did you smash the berries into the dough?”
The now colorful loaf was held up by the smiling mermaid. “Too add taste to the bread!” she exclaimed proudly, “Now the bread will taste like berry!”
“Gracious” Eleora gasped, “It’s like a tart but inside a loaf of bread! What a novel idea!”
Kelsey put the loaf back down. “You mean you’ve never done this before? And people call me sil-” A spasm of pain forced her to hunker over, her arms wrapped around her sides.
“Are you alright Kelsey?” Jeremiah asked worriedly, “Is it your belly?”
“Oh no” Kelsey said grimacing, “I just am feeling very weak for some reason. My whole body is aching and there’s a burning in my chest.”
Eleora put her hand on Kelsey’s forehead. “You have a fever dear, why don’t you lay down and we’ll get you some milk to drink. Here help her over to the bed.”
Tarnu and Jeremiah huddled around and were just about to lift Kelsey out of the chair when a hissing voice came from behind them.
“I found you at lasst…”
Everyone whirled around to see a shadowy figure dressed in a dark robe standing in their door. The man’s face was in shadow but they did see a faint red glow coming from under the hood.
Tarnu stood up and faced the intruder. “And just who are you and what are you doing in my home?”
The visitor smiled, the glint of two fangs belaying a sinister smile. “All I’ve come for is the mermaid” the man said coolly, “Hand her over and all will be well.”
“Why do you want Kelsey?” Jeremiah asked angrily, “What did she do to you?”
“Silence whelp!” the man snarled, “It is of no concern of yours!”
Tarnu postured himself in a threatening manner. “That is no way to speak to my son. Turn around and leave my home, you will be taking no one.”
“I SHALL!” the man shouted.
He threw back the hood and received cries of horror from all but Kelsey, as she was still bent over in pain. It was better for her not to see the stranger’s face, for it was the stuff of nightmares. His head was human in shape but covered in short black fur. He had no nose and his mouth was empty save for two large lumps of flesh that protruded out and ended in sharp fangs. His eyes were glowing red, and he had three smaller pairs arranged about his face in a V shape.
He laughed in a horrible hissing voice, “The mermaid is mine fools! Stand back or be destroyed!”
A huge black hand burst through his chest, its bony fingers grasping the air in a frenzy. The family jumped back as it flailed about, tearing the front of the house apart in its search. Jeremiah tried to shield the still oblivious Kelsey but the hand sent him flying out of the way. The fingers wrapped around Kelsey and pulled her back out of the house, the stranger now floating in the air and the hand following after. The family ran out after them but couldn’t catch up. Everyone outside had ran into their houses when the hand had appeared. Where had it come from? The thick black arm it was attached to stretched out over the trees and out of sight. The burlap sack had fallen from Kelsey’s tail, now revealing her true form to all that saw her.
“Woe to you oh castle in the forest!” the stranger attacked to the hand called out. “Your time is coming when you too shall suffer this mermaid’s fate!”
The arm began withdrawing, pulling the stranger and Kelsey over the trees and into the distance. They traveled fast, passing over the river and towards the castle. Kelsey was half awake as they came into view of the stone walls, the humans below trying their best to fight off many more of the shadowy hands currently sprouting from the moat. They began descending into the moat and Kelsey closed her eyes as they broke the surface of the water. They went deep, the ringing sound filling her head again, painful and loud.

Suddenly it was dark. Kelsey floated on her back, but not it water, it was almost as if she floated in the darkness itself. Her body was aching, fiery pain arcing up her arms and across her chest.
“Where am I?” she asked weakly.
Suddenly a form appeared out of the darkness, scuttling on eight legs towards her. Several more soon followed, the monsters converging on her from all sides. Kelsey tried to move but found her arms and tail held down by some unseen force.
“Help!” she cried out, “Someone!”
The spiders climbed onto her and began biting her arms and tail, sharp pain spiking up her limbs whenever they struck. Kelsey turned to her left, the pain forgotten. A massive dridder was approaching from the darkness, her red body glinting in some unseen light. Her eyes were glowing red and she was smiling wickedly. Another form appeared before her, this one a human smaller than her thumb. It was a girl with brown hair. She stood in the path of the dridder, her hands and face glowing with brilliant white light. Behind the dridder tents could be seen overrun with spiders and running humans.
“Gywnn!” Kelsey cried out, “Gywnn!”
The figured faded into the darkness again, the spiders on her body morphing into tendrils of blackness.
The memories came flooding back: the lake, the humans, and the dridder. Kelsey lived on a lake in the forest where she watched over a group of humans. The girl Gywnn was her friend and reminded her of that boy she could never remember. When she had spent the night on shore a dridder had attacked, Kelsey remembered being bitten. But where was she? Where was Gywnn? Had she really battled the dridder by herself?
A small circle of light appeared in front of Kelsey in the distance, a human figure standing in the middle.
“Kelsey” a voice called, “You must fight the darkness. Fight it!”
Kelsey struggled against the bonds that held her, “Who are you?” she called, “Help me!”
“I cannot help you now” the voice replied, “Focus and fight!”
Gathering her strength Kelsey braced herself against the tendrils. With a yell she jerked upward with all her might, her pain wracked body reaching its limits. Loud snaps signaled her freedom, her worn body falling back in fatigue.
“You have freed yourself from your fear” the voice said.
Kelsey looked up to see the light much larger now and there was a young man standing in the light. He had short brown hair and caring blue eyes.
“Y-Your that boy!” Kelsey exclaimed, “I can’t believe its you!”
The boy looked down sadly, “It is and it isn’t. You are unconscious and for all you know I am merely your memories of me and only do what you would remember and expect me to do.”
“What do you mean?” Kelsey asked, “Does that mean I’m asleep?”
The boy nodded. “As you now remember you were bitten by several spiders during the attack on the camp. You have been fatally poisoned and will die within forty-eight hours.”
“What?!” Kelsey asked in horror, “I’m going to die?! What about Gywnn and her humans?”
“They are safe for now” the boy replied, “As a matter of fact they are trying to revive you right now. Gywnn is very worried that you are already dead.”
Kelsey sat up as best she could in her weakness. “But I’m not dead! I’m sitting right here talking to you!” She looked around the darkness, “How do I get back home and tell them I’m alive?”
“That’s why I’m here” the boy replied, “To give you this.”
He pulled a crisp scroll from behind his back and held it out. Kelsey watched as it floated over to her and stopped in front of her head.
“Eat this” the boy said.
“Eat it?” Kelsey asked in confusion.
The boy nodded.
She shrugged, “Well alright then.”
The scroll floated to her mouth and she took a big bite out of it. It tasted amazing, so sweet and flavorful. She ravenously devoured the rest of the scroll, savoring it as the chunks slid down her throat and came to rest in her stomach. A fiery power seemed to rise from the pit of her belly, filling her limbs with a bit of strength.
“I feel stronger!” Kelsey said lifting her limbs.
“They do say knowledge is power” the boy replied, “Share it with your friend.”
The white light began growing, filling more of Kelsey’s vision. The boy began fading away. Kelsey reached out to him.
“Where are you going? Come back!”
“I cannot” he replied, “I’ve already done too much.”
As he faded he called out her name, the volume getting louder as he went.
“Kelsey...”
“Kelsey!”
“KELSEY!”

Kelsey opened her eyes, bright sunlight blinding her. She was lying on her back in sand, her body still aching all over. Something was on her face so she lifted her hand up and felt something moving.
“I’m here Kelsey” a voice called, “I was so worried about you!”
Kelsey’s vision focused as her eyes became adjusted to the light. Gywnn was sitting on her cheek to the left of her mouth. She was holding onto her finger and had tears in her eyes.
“Gywnn?” Kelsey whispered.
Gywnn crawled over to her nose and put her arm around it. “I’m so happy you’re awake! We thought you were dead!”
Kelsey turned her head to the side, forcing Gywnn to hold on for dear life. Most of the humans were gathered along the ground next to her body doing something she couldn’t figure out. The camp was in ruins and salvaging operations were in full swing. She turned her head back upright.
“Warn me before you do that next time” Gywnn said happily, “I almost fell off!”
“Gywnn” Kelsey said weakly, “I’m dying…”
The look of fear covered Gywnn’s face again. “What do you mean dying? You can’t die!”
“The spiders” was the soft reply, “Forty-eight hours left…”
Gywnn punched the giant nose she was leaning against, “Oh you’re being silly! You can’t have two days left, how would you even know that?”
“Too much poison” Kelsey replied, “No cure…”
She coughed forcing Gywnn to hold on again.
Gywnn’s expression turned grave again. “You’re serious? How are we going to help you if there’s no cure?”
“One way…” Kelsey rasped, “To save me…” She looked to the side and then directly into the girl’s eyes. “Devine Intervention…”
Her eyes began rolling back into her head as she fell back asleep, Gywnn crawling up to her left and panicking again.
“What do you mean divine intervention?” she asked loudly. “Come on Kelsey, stay awake! Kelsey!”
The cries of her friend faded as Kelsey faded back into unconsciousness, her vision fading to black as her friend’s lips continued moving.
“Keelllseey……”

-------------------------------
Kelsey’s Lake: Chapter 8
-------------------------------

She awoke with bright light stinging her eyes and an eerie silence hanging in her ears. The surface she was laying on was firm but soft, her entire body laying out flat. She looked down to take stock: four legs, abdomen, stinger, arms. Something was wrong with her abdomen though, and two of her legs were bent oddly.
Footsteps caused her to look up. Another of her kind had entered the small circular yellow room. She was tall, about nine feet, and her black and yellow carapace was covered in some places by armor. A spear was grasped in her pale arms, seemingly unneeded as her arms had blades of carapace. She stood on four thin legs and had two transparent wings coming out of her back. Her black compound eyes were aimed in her direction.
“Forager you have awoken.”
The mixai on the table sat up, grimacing a bit when she moved two of her legs. “I am guard. What happened to me in the field?”
“Our sisters arrived and drove away the fairy” the guard replied, “You were then carried back here to this sleeping chamber where you have lay for quite some time.” She pointed to the other miaxi’s legs. “Your legs were damaged in the fight.”
The forager looked down at her two hurt legs. The thick fuzz present on the other two was gone, torn away in the struggle no doubt. There were also cracks in the carapace, a sure sign the legs were broken. She stood up with a pained grunt, putting her weight on her good legs.
“Because of your injuries” the guard continued, “You have been reassigned to the nursery. From now on you shall be known as a nurse.”
The newly assigned miaxi’s antenna stood up straight in shock. “Nurse?”
Anything but that! She would rather have died under the foot of that fairy then be a nurse for the rest of her life. All day long feeding the complaining larvae and noisy grubs, and not to mention being stuck inside the hive without being able to see the sky or sun. But she was damaged and the queen could have reassigned her to worse positions than nurse.
“Before I go to my duties” the nurse asked, “I have a request from some humans by the lake.”
The guard crossed her arms. “Humans, what do they want now?”
“They wish to trade for tools” the nurse replied, “They promise rare meats from the depths of the lake for the queen in exchange. I remembered the humans living near the hive and made the bargain.”
“The queen enjoys rare meat” the guard said nodding, “I will go to her on this matter.”
While she was stuck in the nursery? Not if she could help it.
“May I request to go on this mission?” the nurse asked, “I set the trade for two days and the humans are frightened of our kind. It would be best if I went.”
The guard looked her over. “Seeing your condition I see no reason why not. You’ll have to fly with the two drones with human names though; they’re the experts at human interactions.”
Not those two! They had spent so much time around humans they acted just like them, annoying and absent minded. They even took on names given to them by humans! She shook her head; it was worth it to be outside the hive.
“Very well” the nurse replied.
“I shall send the request to the queen immediately” the guard said, “In the mean time attend to your duties.”
The nurse looked down to her feet as the guard turned about, “As the queen wills.”
She looked up as the guard left through the arching doorway. Why did she get to be so close to the queen and stand about all day? She sighed and walked out of the door herself. Some of her sisters were bred for guard duty; someone had to fight to defend the nest after all. Her limp due to the encounter with the fairy was enough to make her happy she wasn’t a guard. At least she was safe when attending to her duties.
Outside the room was a long hallway lined with large honeycombs. By the markings on the walls she knew this to be the upper sleeping quarters. Only the nurses and guards slept here. She started down the hallways towards the nurseries, trying her best to hide her limp as she went. If the ceiling wasn’t so low here she would just fly there, but flying was forbidden inside the sleeping chambers anyway. Another guard stepped out from a room and stopped her.
“What duties do you perform sister” she asked roughly, “I do not recognize you.”
“I’m a-” she was about to say forager but stopped herself just in time. “I’m a nurse” she said looking down.
The guard nodded. “Carry on then, I shall remember you from now on sister.”
With the guard satisfied Nurse continued on her way down the tunnel until she came to a large arch leading into the inner shell of the hive. Through the arch was a massive chamber reaching from the base to the top of the entire hive. Towers of wax shot up around walkway rings with many archways leading to other sections of the hive. Miaxi of all sizes flew here and there while they went about their duties. Nurse was only concerned with the middle section of the hive, the place where the nurseries were. She walked to the edge of the platform and looked down.
“I hope my wings still work.”
Spreading her delicate wings she pushed off from the ledge, the rapid beating of her wings filling her ears with a loud buzzing sound. Happy to see that she could fly fine she descended to the entrance of the nurseries. A pair of guards stopped her approach.
“What is your rank sister” the right one asked, “Only nurses are allowed in these chambers.”
“I am a nurse” Nurse replied.
The two guards stepped aside, “Very well sister you may enter.”
Nurse ducked into the chamber and landed, her wings folding behind her back. It was very spacious in the nursery, the domed walls filled with miaxi sized honeycomb panels. Behind each of these panels was a growth cell where the limitless swarm was birthed. Every miaxi grew from a egg laid by the queen, placed into one of these chambers and taken care of until it emerged fully grown. Dozens of nurses scampered here and there, carrying eggs or food from cell to cell and taking care of inhabited cells. A stack of eggs across the room was being replenished now and then through a large chute and food deliveries happened near the far exit. Nurse hadn’t seen this place besides when she brought food here through that very tunnel.
Another nurse scurried up to her, “Sister I’m so glad you’re here!”
“What is it?” Nurse asked.
The nurse pointed to one of the growth cells, the panel covering it clearly damaged. “The larva inside that cell is so rambunctious that it broke the protective covering when it was fed.” She wiggled nervously. “It won’t listen to any of us, perhaps you can calm it?”
The first few hours of being a nurse and she already had to deal with larvae. They were only half mature miaxi and were notorious for being hardheaded and complaining. Humans would call them teenagers.
“Fine let’s have a look” Nurse replied sighing, “It can’t be that bad.”
The nurse waved her antenna and bowed. “Thank you, thank you! It’s just this way.”
Nurse followed her over to the damaged cell and stood in front of its panel. Through the wax she could make out the dark shape of the larvae rolling around inside. She took a deep breath and opened it. The larva looked very young and was still wrapped in her protective cocoon. When the panel was opened it looked and glared.
“Go away!” it said in a huff, “I wanna be left alone!”
Nurse hated larvae. She took another deep breath.
“I can tell from the pheromones and noise you’re producing” she said, “But right now you can’t be left alone with this damaged panel.”
“Not my fault its broken” the larvae replied, “I wanted to come outside but the nurses didn’t let me.”
Nurse hoped she had never been like this as a larva. “You can’t come out here because you’re not fully developed.” She tried to sound calm. “In a few cycles when you have your wings no one will stop you from coming to join the hive in service of the queen.” She frowned, “But until then you must stay inside your cell and rest. Stop wriggling around and damaging things!”
The larvae turned up her nose. “And whatya gunna do if I don’t?”
“Nothing” Nurse replied.
“Nothing?” the larvae asked in shock, “You aren’t gunna try and stop me?”
Nurse shook her head, “No.” She looked the larvae in the eye. “But when you come out of there without fully developed wings or legs I’d hate to be in your shoes. If you can’t fly you don’t even get to be a lowly harvester.”
The larvae gulped. “Th-Then what do you get assigned as?”
“A nurse” came the flat reply.
With that Nurse closed the cell and turned around, the silence from behind her showing the larvae’s newfound obedience. The other nurse approached her with a surprised expression.
“You handled that so well” she said in awe, “How did you do it?”
Nurse shrugged, “Larvae are a lot like humans. Just treat them like the dummies they are and you’ll get along fine.”
“Oohhh” the nurse said turning to the cell, “And I’ve heard humans are especially stupid.”
The next few hours were filled with more of the same, for once the other nurses found out how well Nurse handled larvae she was run ragged with calls for assistance. Many of them needed feeding too; something Nurse never liked that much either. It was messy scooping honey into the cells for the larvae and grubs, plus she didn’t get to eat it. Imagine her surprise when one of the nurses revealed that nurses got to eat some honey here and there, all of a sudden the job got a lot less painful. The grubs were ok too, being a lot younger than the larvae they were easier to deal with. They did have much more energy though, a fact one had to keep in mind when talking to them.

“Sister this row of grubs needs their meal!”
Nurse had just finished scooping some honey into a larvae’s cell. She turned around and called back. “Alright I’m almost done here!”
“See you” the larvae said, “You’re pretty cool for a nurse.”
Nurse began closing the panel. “Thanks, you behave now.”
She started walking to get more honey when she noticed a guard at the entrance. One of the nurses was being asked questions and Nurse was curious what they were talking about. The nurse suddenly pointed at her and her heart skipped a beat. The guard motioned her over.
“Yes guard?” Nurse asked when she arrived. “What do you need?”
“I’m looking for a nurse recently transferred from foraging duty” the guard said, “She has two injured legs. Is that you?”
Nurse showed her two legs and nodded, “I am.”
“Good” the guard replied, “I have come to assign you a mission from the queen. She has authorized you to travel to the human nest and gather tools to bargain with the lake humans for rare food.” The guard stepped out of the nursery. “You are to meet the two drones with human names outside the south entrance immediately to begin.”
Nurse bowed her head, “Thank you.”
She spread her wings and took off; boy was she glad to be headed outside the hive again! Leaving the nursery behind her she headed to the south entrance to the hive, a massive hole guarded on all angles by elite members of the swarm. They stood on large wax platforms jutting out of the thick wax wall of the hive. She flew up to the closest one and landed, the night sky visible through the massive opening.
“Excuse me guard” she asked, “I’m looking for someone.”
The guard turned to her and looked her over. “And you are?”
“I’m a nurse” she replied, “Sent on a mission from the queen herself.”
“And what mission would that be nurse” the guard asked stiffly.
“I am to meet with the two named drones that visit the humans” Nurse explained, “I’m supposed to leave with them.”
The guard let out a sigh of exasperation, “Oh those two. They were just about to head out when they got the message.” She pointed to a nearby platform where two average sized miaxi stood poking each other. “They’re over there. Good luck with them nurse.”
“Thank you guard” Nurse replied.
She gulped; this was going to be painful. Mentally bracing herself she flew over to the platform the two were standing on. They looked identical to most of their sisters save for their body type. One of them was much thinner then the other as well as a bit shorter. The shorter one for some reason couldn’t control her legs, as they were always in motion. When Nurse landed they both turned their attention to her.
“Sister!” the tall one said happily, “Are you the one sent to travel with us?”
Nurse was getting uneasy as the two began crowding her. “Yes I am.”
“Excellent!” the short one said, “So glad to have you along!”
The taller one pointed to herself, “I’m Suzie and our short sister here is Spaz.” She cupped her mouth with her hand, “Don’t mind her though as you get used to it.”
The one identified as Spaz wiggled her antenna wildly. “What’s she whispering to you? It’s all lies I tell you!”
“Nothing you need worry about” Suzie replied, “Not dear sister what are you known as?”
Nurse looked down, “I was a forager but I was attacked by a fairy.” She showed her legs, “Now I’ve been reassigned to being a nurse.”
“So you don’t have a name then?” Suzie asked, “That’s ok we can call you Nurse if it makes you comfortable.”
“That’s fine thank you” Nurse replied.
Spaz piped in, “How’d you get in a fight with a fairy? Most people stay away from those things on account of their size!”
“I had nothing to do with it” Nurse said indignantly, “If I hadn’t been talking to those humans than I-”
It was Suzie who interrupted this time, “Right the humans by the lake! I heard a mermaid lives there now. Not to mention that dridder that passed through a while ago, don’t see why humans would want to live there!”
“That’s probably why they want tools” Spaz said, “To build themselves some kind of shelter.”
Suzie shook her head, “Poor things. Let’s hope they survive until they get the tools, like it will matter much around here.”
All this chatter was already giving Nurse a headache, and she held her hands to her ears to steady herself. Noticing this the two came to either side of her and propped her up.
“I’m sorry Nurse” Suzie said comfortingly, “You’re probably used to a lot of silence and being by yourself. We’ll try to help you out around the humans.”
Spaz clenched her fists together, “Eeeeeeeeeeeeee!”
Suzie reached over and knocked her on the head, “Spaz that’s not helping!”
“Sorry…” Spaz said lowering her head, “Was excited.”
Being so close to these two was starting to annoy Nurse already. “How about we get started?” she suggested.
“Good idea” Suzie said smiling, “It’s a beautiful night and there’s plenty to do.” She turned to the wide opening of the hive. “Come on then you two lets go!”
“Eeeeee!” Spaz squealed. She caught a glare from Suzie and stopped. “Sorry again!”
With a sigh from Suzie and a groan from Nurse the three spread their wings and jumped into the air. They flew up and out of the hive and into the cool night air, the sparkling stars and glowing moon bathing them in pale light. Nurse stretched in the crisp air, it had been too long since she had been outside.
“Enjoying yourself Nurse?” Suzie asked.
“Oh I’ve been inside the hive too long” Nurse replied, “I rarely spend more than a few hours for rest.”
They flew south from the hive towards the forest. The give itself was a massive wax structure hundreds of meters tall, built from wax and stone over years of work. The smooth crème surface glinted in the moonlight, the many ridges and pockets giving it a ragged look as the shadows fell across its surface at odd angles. It was a feat of construction that would make even the humans of other worlds marvel.
“Whatdya think the lake humans will build with the tools?” Spaz asked curiously, “I mean if they survive the mermaid and all that.”
“Who knows and who cares” Nurse said bluntly, “With what they’ve put me through hopefully they will just leave me alone.”
Suzie laughed, “Seems like you’ve had some experience with humans already sister! You excited to meet some again?”
They ducked into the treetops of the forest, the starry sky now mostly blotted out by the thick leaves of the massive trees. There was plenty of room to fly though, what with the branches being so huge and spaced apart.
“Surprisingly not” Nurse said finally, “These humans are pretty stupid even by human standards. They went looking for a dryad.”
“Wowowow” Spaz sputtered, “Who would do that?! Crazy stupid humans that’s who!”
Suzie shook her head, “If they do that I wonder how they survive a single night.”
“Well only a few of them did” Nurse admitted, “And they were looking for a cure for one of their friends so I can’t entirely blame them. The girl they had could use magic as well.”
“Still pretty stupid” Suzie replied.
The three miaxi came into a large open area in the thick forest. The massive roots of the trees here grew over and around many large boulders that stuck up out of the ground at odd angles. Between the stone and wood there were many small crevices covered by wooden planks, light traces of smoke could be seen coming out from between some of the rocks. There seemed to be no one around but them.
“We’re here!” Spaz said excitedly.
Nurse looked around, “Is this it?” she asked disappointedly.
“The humans are pretty good at hiding aren’t they” Spaz said elbowing Nurse, “They live inside these rocks and keep out of sight.” She gestured to a large branch near the ground, “There’s one over there right now see?”
Nurse took a second look at where she was pointing. It was a bit difficult but she could just make out the form of a human in the dim moonlight. It was a male and he was waving to them, he also seemed agitated.
“He seems to want us to go over there” Nurse said.
“Then lets not keep him waiting” Suzie replied, “Humans can get nervous if kept waiting.”
The man continued scanning the trees as the three miaxi descended to where he stood. They landed on the branch next to him, he was a couple feet shorter than them but he seemed perfectly fine being surrounded by the large bee women. What then was spooking him?
“Thank goodness you’ve come” the man said.
“What’s got you so skittish?” Spaz asked loudly, “And where is everybody?”
The man looked around nervously, “Please keep it down. We were attacked by a naga yesterday and she made off with three people before we had a chance to react. Everyone is keeping a low profile.” He looked Nurse over, “Who’s this one? Can she be trusted?”
“Allow me to introduce you” Suzie said, “This is one of our nurses. You can call her Nurse.” She turned to Nurse, “This is one of our good friends Hatem. He’s a guard here.”
Nurse was unimpressed, “We didn’t come here to hear about a naga.”
“Now that’s not very thoughtful Nurse” Suzie said waving her back, “Remember these are humans and they are very emotional.” She turned back to Hatem. “Sorry about that, Nurse isn’t very experienced with humans yet.”
Spaz piped in; “She is right though, we need some tools to trade with some other humans.”
“More humans eh” Hatem asked in a surprised tone, “Well I guess we could spare some tools.” He looked around again, “But before we can give you anything we need to resolve this naga situation. Do you think you could find her and convince her to leave us be? One problem at a time you know.”
The three miaxi turned to each other and stepped aside. Nurse had an exasperated look on her face.
“I’ve had enough of solving people’s problems today” Nurse said disgruntled.
“He does have a point” Suzie said, “Besides humans are more likely to help if you help them.”
“You scratch my back I scratch yours!” Spaz said a little too loudly.
“Fine fine” Nurse said grumpily, “If it gets us the tools. I don’t even know why I’m doing this; maybe I’m starting to feel for humans now too.”
The three miaxi turned back to the man, Suzie was the first to speak.
“We’ll find this naga and talk to her for you” she said, “We would appreciate it if you had some of those tools ready when we get back. Enough for a group of say a dozen humans I’d guess from the reports.”
Hatem nodded, “Oh course Suzie. It is good of you and your sisters to help us in this, it will not go unappreciated.”
“Oh you silly humans you” Spaz said patting him on the head, “We know you appreciate us.”
Suzie hit her sister’s hand away. “Yes well if that is all would you mind telling us which direction the naga was last seen in?”
Hatem pointed to the west, “The monster slithered in that direction and shouldn’t be that far off. Naga’s like to sleep after eating and she probably plans to come back again.”
“Thank you” Suzie replied, “Now if you excuse us my sisters and I will be off.”
With that the three bees turned to the west and took off into the forest, the buzzing of their wings the only sound to pierce the still night air.

Murasaki silently stalked her prey. She was a giant naga with purple scales and dark purple hair, her human half pink with deep blue eyes. Although she was a giant predator she was only sixty-five feet tall, a minuscule size compared to others of her species. This didn’t stop her from eating her favorite food though, a pair of which she was about to pounce on at the very moment. Just around a large tree two humans were walking carefully through the dark forest, completely unaware of her presence. She usually had bad luck with prey as she didn’t like to encroach larger predator’s territory, something that nearly happened a few days before with a mermaid. Luckily she had found a small undefended village and gotten a free meal out of it before being driven off. Now she had lucked out again with these two.
“Just a little further” Murasaki whispered.
The two humans passed into her field of vision and she sprung, reaching out and snatching them both up. They reacted with terror and screaming, the female louder then the male. She grasped them tightly, each of them being about the size of her fists.
“I got you two!” the giantess said happily, “Boy are you stupid.” She looked down at them and licked her lips, “And tasty looking too.”
The male had begun begging for his life, the part of hunting that amused her the most. It was the usual offer of anything she wanted if she let them live blah blah blah. It got tiring after while.
“Alright” she said, “You get eaten first.”
The woman cried out as her companion was lifted up to the naga’s mouth. “Please don’t eat him! Let us go!”
Murasaki ignored her and opened her mouth wide. She dangled him feet first into her maw, her slimy tongue coming out and wrapping around him. After licking him a bit she let go, her hapless prey falling into her mouth. He didn’t quite fit inside, his feet reached the back of her throat but his head was still between her teeth. She closed her lips around his head and pushed him from side to side with her tongue, getting much amusement out of his muffled cries. The woman was watching this in terror, her cries getting desperate.
“Please I beg you! Don’t eat him!”
A smile crossed Murasaki’s lips as she turned the man over on his back with her tongue; it was time to send him to her belly. She swallowed and felt the man slide into her throat, a large lump appearing on her neck where his legs were. He was holding onto her tongue pretty well though so she swallowed again, this time pulling him deeper into her esophagus. To make sure he went down without much more of a fight she slammed her tongue against the roof of her mouth, the head of the man knocking against her bony palate. With her prey significantly dazed she gulped one last time, opening her mouth to give the man one last look at the outside world as her flesh closed in around him.
“Nooooo!” the woman screamed.
Murasaki put her hand on her neck to feel the man sliding down, swallowing several more times to speed his decent.
“Oh keep quiet you” she said down to the woman in her fist, “I’ll be with you in a minute.” She felt something land in her stomach and begin moving around. “Ahhh” she sighed, “That feels good...”
The woman knew it was her turn next. She began struggling harder then before to escape the naga’s grip to no avail. Soon she was in front of the giantess’s smiling lips and as they opened she could see deep into her mouth where her comrade had disappeared into the predator’s body. The massive tongue, almost twice her size, slid out of the drooling mouth and under her body.
“Please” she begged once again, “Let me go!”
The naga ignored her and lifted her tongue up until she was resting on its slippery surface. Suddenly the naga tilted her head back and let her go, sending her sliding deep into her mouth. She was sure her head would slam into the back of the naga’s mouth but to her surprise the naga closed her lips around her legs and stopped her fall. A faint glimmer of hope springing up inside her the woman began trying to push herself up out of the naga’s mouth, sadly her vertical hanging position didn’t give much grip.
“Let me out!” she yelled, knocking on the roof of the giantess’s mouth.
A loud humming came up from the back of the throat and assaulted her ears. She reached to cover them but the tongue pressed her up against the roof of the mouth and pinned her arms. The slippery floor squeezed her up until her legs were out in the cool night air before withdrawing and letting her slide back to the opening of the throat. The tongue pressed up and pushed her up again, relaxing to allow her to fall down again with the lips stopping her before entering the esophagus. The humming continued as the naga continued sucking on the panicked woman who was now laying face down on the tongue and sputtering in the buildup of saliva.
“Mercy” she cried, “Have mercy!”
As if to answer her request the naga ceased sucking on her. Moonlight flooded into the moist cave as the naga opened her mouth facing towards the sky and looking over her shoulders the woman could see the stars. The tongue relaxed again and the woman slid into the throat. She put her hands down to brace herself but sliding down vertically gravity was too much and soon her upper torso was inside the esophagus. She continued sliding through the fleshy sphincter despite the naga’s refusal to swallow. The wall of flesh pushed inward and she felt something pressing against her, was it the naga’s finger? Before she had a chance to ponder this the naga finally swallowed, the powerful throat muscles pulling the woman deep into the esophagus. The dripping walls squeezed around her as she descended, a powerful force pressing against the wall as the naga stroked her neck with her hand. It wasn’t long before she felt open air beneath her and fell with a splash into the stomach.
“I love humans” Murasaki said to herself sighing, “They’re so fun to eat.”
She put her hand to her stomach and felt the two kicking against the wall of flesh that contained them. All their activity had built up a bubble of gas that she felt budging up her neck. She let out a loud belch as it escaped her mouth.
“Goodness they sure are active down there.”
Maybe a bit too active, their constant attacks against her stomach walls were beginning to hurt. She shook her belly to attempt to silence them.
“Cut that out!” she commanded, “That hurts!”
The beatings continued and Murasaki hunched over and gripped her belly. Humans didn’t usually fight this much, why couldn’t her stomach digest faster? She needed a cure for this stomach ache fast.
“Oooh the pain” the naga wailed.
She looked around the forest for anything that could solve her plight and was about to give up when she spotted a colorful centipede about the size of her index finger and twice as long. She picked it up by the tail and grimaced.
“This better work” she said grimly.
She tilted her head back and lifted the furious insect above her open mouth. Quickly as possible she lowered it inside and gulped it down in two quick swallows. She stuck out her tongue and spat as she felt the thing skittering down her throat.
“Gross” she said, “This better be worth it.”
As she felt the centipede fall into her stomach all activity immediately stopped, and a moment later started up again twice as frantic. Murasaki clutched her stomach and moaned; sure her stomach was doing backflips. Thankfully the action was over as quickly as it started, the walls of her stomach feeling nothing but the delicate touch of many thin legs as they moved around in circles before stopping themselves.
“Phew!” Murasaki sighed, “I hope I never have to do that again! I hate it when food fights back.”
She slithered over to a large alcove created by the roots of a massive tree and lay down. It would be best to get some rest so her stomach could digest her prey. She covered her mouth as she yawned. Her eyes slowly closed as she gathered up some moss and rested her head. Time for some sleep…

“Yeah that’s the one.”
“Are you sure?”
“Well I don’t see any other small nagas around do you?”
Voices woke Murasaki from her slumber and she opened her eyes to see three miaxi buzzing around in front of her face. She lifted a hand sleepily and swung at them.
“Go away…”
The miaxi dodged easily and flew back to her face.
“Sorry to bother you” Suzie said, “But we tracked you down to talk about the group of humans nearby. The ones you fed off of recently.”
Murasaki opened her eyes and sat up, “And what about them? They’re mine as much as anyone else’s!”
“No need to get snippy” Spaz said crossing her arms, “It’s not like we’re telling you there’re off limits entirely.”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?” the naga asked angrily.
“We just don’t want you to eat any while they’re in their village” Suzie replied; “If they wander outside it you can have them, you just can’t go in after them.”
Murasaki was getting very annoyed now. “And who’s to stop me from slithering in there and helping myself?”
“The hive for starters” Nurse said. She was getting tired of this naga’s attitude and had decided to butt in. “Those humans supply the hive with cooked meat and we happen to like its taste. Therefore anyone directly threatening them is threatening our food.” She gave the naga a stern look, “And do want my sisters to feel threatened?”
Murasaki knew better then to anger a hive of miaxi, but the human village was too good to lose. She thought of something devious that just might work. Rearing up to her full height she smiled down at the miaxi now hovering between her breasts.
“I may not be able to take on a swarm of you pathetic bugs but I can take three of you easy.” She lifted her arms up; “You won’t be able to warn your hive if you’re dead, and then I can eat all the humans I want.”
The miaxi dodged nimbly to the side as the naga swung at them. She swung again and again and despite hitting nothing but air didn’t give up her assault.
“Hold still bugs” she cried, “And let me squash you!”
Seizing the opportunity Nurse flew up into the naga’s face and wiggled her abdomen. “If you want me so badly come and get me!”
The naga roared in anger and lunged for the miaxi, but she was too quick and darted into the trees. Nurse flew between the branches with the naga in hot pursuit, each swipe of the giantess’s hand barely missing her. Dodging one final tree Nurse came to a stop, the naga charging full speed for her.
Murasaki smiled evilly, “I’ve got you now you little- Wooaah!”
Nurse sprinted upwards as the naga tumbled head first over a small cliff, her momentum much too great to hope of stopping in time. Suzie and Spaz flew up beside Nurse as the naga fell screaming into the treetops below, the crashing of foliage signaling her impact.
“How did you do that?” Spaz asked excitedly, “How did you get her to follow you over a cliff?”
Nurse flipped her hair over her shoulder. “Have you two been with humans so much you’ve forgotten basic hive protocol? If the hive is threatened you get the predator’s attention and lead them away from the hive.” She looked down to the trees below, “In this case it was simply a human hive instead of our own.”
“Good thinking sister” Suzie said patting Nurse on the back, “You have our congratulations for that feat.”
“Yeah yeah!” Spaz said patting Nurse on the head, “Congratulations!”
Nurse slapped their hands away. “Thanks and all but can we get back to the mission?”
“Oh course” Suzie said, “Lets get back to the humans and tell them the news.”
It took them no more then a couple minutes to make it back to the human village where the guard Hatem and several others were waiting in the center of the clearing with a large thick sack. The three miaxi flew over and landed next to them.
“Well what news on the naga?” Hatem asked.
Suzie nodded; “You’ll be happy to know she won’t bother this village again, though you still need to be careful when leaving your grounds.”
“If it keeps her away from the village I’ll be happy” one of the others said.
Nurse approached the large sack; it was almost the size of her abdomen. “Are these the tools?”
“They are” Hatem replied, “And they are now yours to do as you see fit.”
Nurse lifted the sack onto her thorax and tied it with the rope around its mouth.
“So when was this trade supposed to be anyway?” Spaz asked.
Nurse had to think for a bit. “Well I said two days to the humans and that was at least a night ago, so tomorrow must be it.”
“Goodness!” Suzie said, “You better head there right away if you want to keep it on time.”
“But I can’t” Nurse replied.
Suzie patted her on the back below the wings. “Of course you can sister! We’ll take care of everything at the hive and be there to help you carry back the spoils by midday.”
“You sure about this?” Nurse asked.
“Of course we are” Suzie said, “Now get going!”
The two miaxi and gathered humans watched as Nurse flew off into the night sky, the light of day was barely visible in the distance and it was promising to be a beautiful sunny day.
“She certainly behaves oddly” Hatem remarked as she disappeared from sight.
“Don’t worry” Spaz said, “Our sisters take some getting used to but they’re all right.”






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Kelsey’s Lake: Chapter 9
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Gywnn was still kneeling on Kelsey’s face on her cheek, staring in disbelief at the closed eye in front of her. Kelsey was poisoned and had only three days to live, how was this even happening? She carefully turned herself around, holding onto the huge nose to her left to keep her balance on the soft cheek. Peering over Kelsey’s chin she saw the mermaid’s massive chest going up and down in an erratic pattern. Gywnn heard a voice calling her from the ground and leaned over the edge of her friend’s face.
“What is it?” she called.
Her father was standing near Kelsey’s neck and leaning his head back to look up to where Gywnn was sitting. The rest of the camp was gathered a dozen yards away and were looking on with concern and fear. They knew as well as Gywnn the position they would be in without Kelsey protecting them.
“What’s going on up there?” Doran yelled, “What did she say to you?”
There was a long pause as Gywnn thought the situation over. She would have to tell them the truth, her only worry being that it would instill panic. It would be best if she told her father first, he would know how to break it to everyone else tactfully.
“Hang on a second” she called down, “I’m coming down. Catch me!”
Gywnn crawled over to Kelsey’s chin and hung her legs over the edge. After a deep breath she pushed herself over and slid down the giantess’s neck and onto her chest. She started crawling over to the edge of her friend’s shoulder, the rising and lowering of the sleeping mermaid’s chest making it very difficult to balance. After climbing onto the shoulder she carefully slid down to the elbow where the ground was much loser. Her father was already waiting below her.
“Are you ready down there?” she asked.
“Ready Gywnn” Doran called back, “Just be careful!”
Gywnn slid off the giant arm and landed with a grunt in her father’s arms. Her mother and Frank had come over and were standing nearby. After Gywnn was back on her feet her father questioned her again and she hoped he didn’t see the emotion in her face.
“So what’s the situation Gywnn?” he asked, “What did Kelsey say to you?”
Her mother put her hand on her shoulder, “Are you alright dear? You look worried.”
“She’s dying dad” Gywnn said shakily, “The poison is killing her and she said she had two days to live.”
“Heavens!” her mother cried.
Frank put his hand on the frightened woman’s shoulder. “Now take it easy Ms. Gillespie, let your daughter finish.”
“This is terrible” Doran said, “Did she mention a cure? Certainly she knows one.”
Gywnn was beginning to lose composure. Her face was red and she was beginning to tear up a bit. “That’s the worst part” she half choked, “She said there isn’t one! She’s going to die and I can’t to anything to help her!”
She threw herself into her father’s arms, tears now flowing freely down her red face. He held her as she sobbed, his body muffling the sound. Lucinda rushed over and took Gywnn from him while Frank watched.
“Oh Gywnn” her mother said softly, “You care about her.” She looked up to Kelsey’s massive form. “She may be a hundred feet tall but even people as small as us can still help her.”
“You’re certain there is no cure?” Frank asked, “Certainly she knows something we could do to help.”
Gywnn recovered enough to regain her composure. She cleared her eyes and stood up straight, “I’m sorry for that everyone.”
“It’s alright Gywnn” her father said, “Showing emotion is a perfectly human thing to do.”
“Right” Gywnn said sniffing one last time. “Well to answer your question Frank she said the only thing she said that could help her was divine intervention, whatever that’s supposed to mean.”
Doran rubbed his chin thoughtfully, “Devine intervention is what happens when a higher power involves itself in the mortal world’s affairs. What could she mean with that?”
“Are there some gods that the people in this world worship?” Frank asked, “Or is it some other kind of being entirely?”
Gywnn turned to look at her friend. “She’s never mentioned any gods or goddesses, or any religion at all really. The only god I know is my own, but since coming here I didn’t think other worlds possible so I don’t even know if my prayers could be heard.”
“Now Gywnn” her father said, “Our prayers can be heard wherever we are even if it’s in another world.”
Grant crossed his arms, “I don’t believe in a higher power so I can’t say I relate to you. But we need to think of something to tell everyone else, panic is the last thing we need.”
They all looked at the small crowd standing in the tents. It had been several minutes and they were getting restless.
“Alright here’s what we’ll do” Doran said putting his hands together, “We’ll tell them the truth but leave out the no cure thing. Then we send someone into the jungle to try and find a cure, certainly someone else would know one.”
“Perhaps those bee people” Frank said, “We were supposed to meet one of them there today anyway to trade for those tools.”
Gywnn slapped her forehead, “Of course the miaxi! We can’t carry those giant mollusks all the way to that field now! We only have two days to save Kelsey!”
“We at least have to send a couple people to go meet them” Frank said, “I’ll volunteer myself for it.”
“I want to go to!” Gywnn said.
“I can see the determination in your eyes” Doran said, “Its settled. You and Frank go and meet the miaxi and find a cure, your mother and I will stay here and help everyone take care of Kelsey and rebuild the camp.”
Frank turned to the jungle, “If you’re ready we should leave right away. Time is of the essence after all.”
“Oh wait!” Gywnn said quickly, “I’ll go get that scale Kelsey gave me to protect us from magic. It’s in my tent.”
Frank nodded, “Alright I’ll meet you by the edge of the jungle.” He turned and started off.
“I better go address the crowd” Doran said. He put his hands on his daughter’s shoulders. “You take care of yourself out there Gywnn, and keep an eye out for Frank too. Kelsey is relying on us to help her and she trusts you, a trust that is well founded. She believes in you, we all do.”
“Thanks dad” Gywnn said blushing; “Now you better go talk to everyone.”
Her mother approached her after Doran had left to address the rest of the camp. “Be careful dear, I know you will but I still worry.”
“I will mom” Gywnn replied, “I better go and get ready to leave.”
Lucinda nodded, “And don’t forget your heritage. Now that everyone knows of it you shouldn’t be afraid to use it to defend yourself.”
“I wont” Gywnn said starting off towards her tent, “I’ll come back as soon as I can.”
Leaving her mother Gywnn ran as fast as she could to her family’s tent. She ran around the far edge of the group to keep from being a distraction, her father was explaining the situation to the crowd.
“-So until then we will have to take care of the mermaid to the best of our abilities.” He paused a moment. “Now I know rebuilding the camp is a priority for safety so we will split into two groups, one to repair the camp and another to take care of the mermaid.” He walked over to the group of people, “Now if we could get this cloth here-”
Gywnn had ducked into the tent and out of earshot of her father, whatever his plan was she was sure it was a good one. He was a brilliant man and she was lucky to have him as her adopted dad. She pushed her admiration out of her mind; she had a task at hand. The giant scale she had gotten from Kelsey was propped up against the bed where she had left it. It was the size of a shield and Gywnn had fashioned it as such with a length of leather. She picked the large glittering green scale up and slung it over her shoulder. Was there anything else she needed?
Looking around she saw her backpack, a small purple one with a picture of a big eyed horse on the front. She scooped it up and stuffed a few important objects inside. A flashlight, a few fruits for food, a box of flint and tinder; she was all set. She slung the backpack underneath the scale and ran from the tent. Outside her father was nowhere to be seen, most likely organizing people. She noticed her mother and several others at Kelsey’s side with wet blankets. They were probably going to put them on the mermaid’s forehead to lower her fever, smart idea. She had to hurry and find a cure for Kelsey or they would be in deep trouble.
Adjusting her pack she took off to the edge of the jungle in a lively jog. She could see Frank standing on a large rock at the edge of the trees. When he caught sight of her he waved and got down. When she had gotten over to where he was standing she saw he had a small pack of his own slung over his shoulder.
“That was fast Gywnn” he said smiling, “Looks like you came loaded for bear! Is that the scale that reflects magic?”
Gywnn nodded, “Yes it is. I’ve also brought some other important stuff like fire starting equipment.”
“Good idea” Frank said, “I’ve got some survival equipment as well. Looks like we’re ready to head off, time is of the essence after all.”
Gywnn started off into the jungle, “Then let’s get going.”
As the massive trees of the jungle closed in above them Gywnn took one last glance over her shoulder. Kelsey was lying there on the beach completely still, the poison no doubt still working its evil inside her body. It was hard to believe something so huge could be fell by such a simple thing as venom. No matter, it was up to them to help her now. Gywnn’s expression changed to one of grim determination as she turned back around, her footfalls leading her steadily into the wild jungles of this strange place.

The two humans traveled in silence for the first part of their journey, the powerful vibes of determination coming from Gywnn practically reverberating through the air. Frank figured it would be best to leave her to her thoughts as he knew what she had gone though last night. The attack from the giant spider woman had shaken him deeply, not to mention the fact that Gywnn had used magic powers when standing up to the massive giantess. The girl was something else that was for sure, and he wondered if she was even human.
Bird song could be heard coming from far off in the foliage, a familiar sound to ease the strangeness of this bizarre forest. The trees and ferns looked normal enough but when closely examined you could tell they were far different then the ones on Earth. There were also many odd bugs all over. Big fist sized beetles and head sized butterflies flew about and weird ant-like insects crawled all over the trees and ground. None of them seemed interested in the humans though which they found very relieving.
Gywnn broke the silence, “Frank there’s something on your back.”
“What where?!” he asked in panic. He could feel something crawling up his back now and it was poking his skin. With a startled jump he shook himself vigorously until it fell to the ground. “Where is it?” he asked.
Gywnn pointed to the ground behind him and he turned to look. Sitting there in the dirt was a very large yellow and purple spider, almost the size of his head. Its beady eyes glinted in the sun and its thick hairy legs fidgeted.
“Oh man!” Frank said in alarm, “That thing is huge!”
Gywnn kicked a rock at it and it backed away. “I’m not surprised considering what else we’ve seen in this jungle. Lucky for you it didn’t get a chance to bite you, we should be more careful from now on.”
“I agree” Frank said as the spider retreated into the bushes, “Let’s keep going before something else latches onto us.”
The two quickly resumed their hike at an increased pace, giant multicolored spiders now on their list of things that distract from the scenery. The worst part was that it was hard to see things before you ran into them in this jungle, so hearing things was the best way to prepare for an encounter. Bugs don’t make much noise though so it made them especially hard to spot. Even if they did there were plenty of other noises to distract them.
“It’s a good thing we aren’t trying to get any sleep” Gywnn said ducking under a branch, “There’s enough noise in this jungle to wake the dead.”
Frank followed her while glancing about nervously, “Don’t say that. Next thing we know we might be under attack by zombies, I wouldn’t put it past this place.”
“Don’t be ridiculous” Gywnn said, “Its literally impossible for a dead body to-”
A loud droning moan filled the air, the sad note sending shivers down both human’s spines. It sounded close too.
Gywnn looked franticly about, “What was that?”
“Probably nothing important” Frank said grabbing hold of Gywnn’s arm, “But just to be safe let’s go this way.”
They both began backing to the side as the moan came again, now seemingly above their heads. The threat of spiders and other creepy crawlies was forgotten as they slid into the bushes to hide.
“I think it’s moving!” Gywnn said, “Can you see anything out there?”
Frank looked all around, “No. Whatever it is it sounded big though. Maybe we should back up a bit more.”
Gywnn carefully followed Frank as they backed slowly into the thick foliage. The sound had definitely come from both in front of them and above them. Hopefully whatever it was didn’t see them; its low moaning was not something you wanted to hear many times. The moan came again and this time was right behind them! Simultaneously they both lost their footing and found themselves sliding backwards down a dirt incline.
“Yaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!” “Aaaaiiiiieeeeeee!”
They came to a sudden stop with loud grunts as the wind was knocked out of them. Whatever they had hit was fuzzy and warm, and also very big. They scampered away on their hands and knees and turned around. What they saw made their jaws drop.
Frank was first to recover, “What in the blue blazes?”
Lying in front of them on the ground was a massive sloth-like animal. It was nearly the size of a rhinoceros and completely covered in thick matted grey fur. Unlike most sloths however it had six legs coming from its sides, all of them ending in big black claws. The creature’s small face was dominated by a large black nose which almost blocked its small beady eyes. It turned to the small humans and let out another of the bellowing moans. After that it scratched its side and turned away, obviously uninterested.
“What is that thing?” Gywnn asked amazed, “It’s like a sloth but huge! Is this what we’ve been hearing?”
Grant stood up and helped Gywnn to her feet. “Apparently, and thankfully it seems uninterested in us.”
There was another moan, this time coming from above them. They looked up and saw another of the creatures hanging from one of the huge branches of a tree. At least two others were clinging to trees in the area, all of them munching on the various plants that grew out of the bark. It was quite the sight to see such large animals so high up in the air.
“Well they seem to be minding their own business” Frank said, “Why don’t we get back on our way to that flower field? That fall turned us around a bit; do you know which way it was?”
Gywnn looked up to the sky just visible through the trees and after a moment pointed in a direction, “It’s that way. Lucky we can still see the clouds from down here.”
They climbed up a large tree root and continued on towards the large field of flowers. Silence once again was the unspoken agreement between the two as they walked, each of them lost in their own thoughts. Gywnn didn’t mean to be silent; she was just too concerned with the well being of Kelsey. If she died they would be without protection in this jungle as her light bending powers were not powerful enough to fend of these giantesses.
Frank was pondering Gywnn’s light bending abilities as well, as well as the untimely death of his close friend Grant at the hands of the giant spider woman. The sheer size of her body was mind boggling, not to mention the way she effortlessly swallowed Grant whole. He shuddered to think what Grant’s final moments were like; he wouldn’t wish that upon anyone. He looked at Gywnn, this young woman who showed incredible bravery in standing up to the giantess. Her magic powers were hardly a match for the spider woman but she tried anyway, and had it not been for the mercy of the giantess based on this bravery they all might have died that night. What other secrets was she hiding?
Gywnn broke the silence, “Looks like we’re here!”
Sure enough the thick jungle trees soon gave way to the open air of a huge field of flowers. The bright sunlight shone down on the blooms, an almost endless ocean of colors. Small insects of all kinds were flying from blossom to blossom and enjoying their sweet nectar. The wind gently blew down from over the trees and washed across the flowers like a wave, the colorful buds swaying like a billion arms waving to and fro. It was truly a sight to behold.
“Almost makes you forget how dangerous it is around here” Gywnn commented.
Frank took a deep breath of the fresh air, “I think it’s a pleasant distraction. I’d love to spend a whole day just sitting amongst the flowers if I could.” He clapped his hands together, “But let’s not let the beauty of this place distract us.”
“Sounds like a plan” Gywnn replied, “But where is that miaxi woman? I thought we were supposed to meet here today.”
They walked a ways into the field and looked around at the treetops and into the vast blue sky. There was no sign of any half bee women anywhere or anything at all really.
Frank continued searching the trees, “Well we don’t know how long it takes her to get here from her home. She might almost be here so let’s wait a couple minutes.”
Gywnn puffed her cheeks and sat down in the flowers, “Fine! But she better hurry up.” She sat there for a moment before standing back up with a confused look on her face. “Do you hear that?”
“Hear what now?” Frank asked.
“Be quiet a second and listen” Gywnn commanded, “It might come again.”
They both stood quietly in the flowers for several moments, hardly daring to breathe. It seemed nothing but the wind and bugs were making sounds in the warm air and they were just about to give up when they heard it. The sounds was off in the distance but seemed to be coming closer.
“Groink groink!”
Frank scratched his head, “Is that oinking?”
“It sure sounded like it” Gywnn replied, “And it seems to be getting closer.”
Sure enough the oinking sound was getting closer, and quickly too. They scanned the flowers but didn’t see anything at all. Gywnn turned around to look in the other direction.
“Maybe it’s coming from over the-”
She was cut off mid sentence as some invisible force slammed into her and sent her flying to the ground amidst the flowers. The oinking sound continued past her and the flabbergasted Frank. Gywnn jumped to her feet and whirled around.
“What the heck?!”
The oinking was followed by a trail of destroyed flowers which seemed to indicate a creature about the size of a llama. What was even more surprising was that moments after the oinking passed by them a huge metal cage sprang up from the ground. The oinking was immediately replaced with loud squealing as whatever it was bashed around inside the metal cage.
“Could you shut up for a second?” Gywnn yelled at the cage, “We’re trying to figure out what the heck you are!”
The squealing stopped.
“Thank goodness!” Gywnn said in relief.
“I don’t think it stopped because of you” Frank said nervously, “Take at look at that!”
Gywnn turned back around and found another creature approaching them through the flowers. This one was completely visible and Gywnn immediately wished it wasn’t. It was about the size of a goat and looked very wolf-like but with several key differences. First its head was covered with at least fifteen eyes, all of which were devoid of pupils from what she could tell. Second was that there were several long spiked spines coming out of the thick black fur on its back complete with a long bony blade on the end of its tail. There were also two sets of ears on its head, both being very bat-like. It was very ugly and didn’t look very friendly either.
“Wh-wh-what is that?” Gywnn asked nervously.
The beast paused for a moment and looked the two humans over. It was still several yards away but they could see the sharp teeth in its drooling mouth. Another of the creatures appeared from behind the first and began walking towards them, the first one following slowly after.
Frank began backing up, pulling Gywnn along with him. “I have no idea, but I think it would be a good idea if we didn’t stick around to find out.”
The wolves suddenly lunged, their teeth snapping as they let out a low growl. Gywnn and Frank jumped to the side as one of them walked around to their flank. They seemed to be herding them somewhere.
“What do you think they want?” Gywnn asked, her voice shaking.
“They don’t look that friendly” Frank said, “So I doubt it’s a pat on the head. Do you think you can distract them with your magic?”
Gywnn lifted her hands to her chest, “Good idea! Maybe I can-”
The beast in front of them suddenly lunged forward and caused them to jump back. They heard a loud click and another large metal cage sprung up out of the flowers around them. The bars were thick and much too close together for them to squeeze through despite the cage being built to contain something quite large. One problem leads to another, but at least they were out of those frightening creature’s reach.
“Out of the frying pan and into the fire huh?” Frank joked, trying to make light of the situation. “At least those wolf things can’t get us now right?”
One of the wolves was sniffing at the bars, looking up at the humans inside every once in a while to bar its teeth and growl.
Gywnn was highly displeased. “Who would set cages here in the middle of a field of flowers? What are they trying to catch?”
“Not us apparently” Frank replied, “Perhaps our invisible pig friend?”
Further conversation was cut short when one of the wolves howled loud and long, seemingly to nothing. After it had finished it walked over to its partner and sat down.
“I wonder what that was about” Frank asked aloud.
“Maybe their owner is coming” Gywnn suggested, “I just hope they’re the friendly kind.”
Frank took a look around the large metal cage. “For some reason I doubt that, be ready for anything.”
It didn’t take long for the howl to be answered, and soon an entire group of the beasts came running out of the jungle and into the flowers. They were tugging behind them a huge wooden platform large enough for one of the metal cages. It was floating unhindered in the air with half a dozen of the wolf creatures lashed to the front where two men sat. They were dressed in ragged clothes and each had a rifle of some kind and their hip. The one of the left had facial hair and large cowboy hat, or at least something similar. The other was shorter and had a clean cut face and a bandana on his head. The floating cart came to a stop in front of the first cage and the two men jumped down. The hat wearing one looked the scene over and shook his head.
“Well lookie here Jermaz” he said his odd accent, “We gots ourselves some stowaways!”
Jermaz, now identified as the shorter one, walked over to the cage containing the still squealing pig creature. “And they be loud Taxto! Shutdup in there!”
He slid his rifle between the bars and hit the invisible creature with the butt, a loud squeal of pain shot out followed shortly by silence. Whatever the pig creature was it seemed to be knocked out now.
“That’s better” Jermaz said sneering, “Now what ave we got ere?”
The two men walked over to the cage where Gywnn and Frank were standing. Both wolf creatures backed away when they approached, their faces still showing barred teeth. It was clear even this vicious beasts didn’t like these men, which begged to question why they were obeying them.
“Uh hello” Gywnn said nervously, “It seems we’ve gotten stuck in this cage here and would love to out of your hair but-”
“Shuddup!” Taxto said loudly, “We’ll be doing the talkin round here!”
Frank was clearly nervous as well but he interjected here. “Now that’s no way to talk to a young women, clearly there’s been a misunderstanding here. These wolf creatures here startled us and we activated this trap by accident.”
“Yeah ya did” Taxto said sneering, “Not smart on yer part there was it? Reason bein now you belongs to us now.”
“Uh keeping slaves isn’t a good thing you know” Gywnn said.
Taxto laughed, “It sure is! And you jus landed yerselves as our newest! Jermaz open that cage and get em out here.”
Frank had noticed that Gywnn was keeping her fists closed. An odd shaped shadow had appeared on her chest where light should have been, was she using her powers?
Jermaz had opened a large door in the cage and motioned for Gywnn to exit.
“Come on ya little beauty.”
Gywnn took two steps forward and then threw up her hands, a brilliant white light flashing in the man’s face and blinding him. Quick as a wink she leapt forward and kicked him over, landing on both feet outside the cage. She began turning to find the other man but before she could turn her head a powerful blow stuck her. Stars exploded in her vision and hot pain filled her skull as she fell to the ground.
Taxto grinned as he stood over her prone form, “That’ll teach ya girl!”
“She’s some kinda mage” Jarmaz said getting to his feet, “Fetch the binding!”
Taxto dashed over to the wagon and returned with a thick leather strip. At this point Jermaz had lifted the still dazed Gywnn to her feet and was holding her hands behind her back. Frank had walked out of the cage but the two wolves were keeping him pinned up against the wall.
“You gus stay where ya are there” Taxto said to Frank, “It’ll be your turn next.”
It took a couple of seconds for Toxto to bind Gywnn’s hands with the leather, a feat that showed he had clearly done it many times before. She was still highly dazed and was only able to struggle weakly. Once he was done with her he spun Frank around and bound his arms too.
“Listen” Frank said desperately, “One of our friends is terribly sick and we need to-”
Toxto hit him in the back with his rifle butt, “Keep yer gob shut! We don’t care about yer problems! Jermaz block their peepers will ya?”
Jermaz pulled two coarse blindfolds out of his pack and fashioned them around the two prisoner’s faces. Despite not smelling very good they did their job of blocking vision quite well. Jermaz marched the two over to the platform.
“Now climb aboard me unlucky blokes” he said, “Toxto why don’t ya open the other cage and let the dogs have a bite?”
Gywnn and Frank couldn’t see but they could hear as the second metal cage was opened, loud squeals of panic soon filling the air as barking howls mixed in with tearing flesh.