A Paradise Lost

This is my first attempt at seriously writing any kind of story, ever. I'm pretty confident in what I've managed to do so far, and I've got big plans for it in the future, but ultimately we'll just have to wait and see if I can keep this up. So, please bear with me as I learn the ropes of this whole writing thing. I've got this idea stuck in my head and I don't plan on letting it go for a while. Feedback and artistic advice is appreciated! Any characters that are not my own are used with permission.
Anyways, enough babbling out of me, you guys came here for a story, right?


Chapter 1

Avalon City - 114 ADI

This world was dead.

Raith had always felt this way. His eyes gazed dispassionately at the surrounding area as he made his way through the city. All of it was cold, unfeeling, and artificial. A place without crime or poverty, where nobody was ever sick or hungry. A place where everyone lived their carefree lives unburdened by the problems faced by those less fortunate. This was a meticulously engineered paradise. Raith lived by a philosophy that everything was defined by its opposite. One could not understand life without death. One could not realize true happiness without experiencing sadness or fear. The masses he passed on these streets knew none of that. They claimed to be happy, while remaining ignorant of its true meaning. He hated it.

This was where Raith lived, but not where he called home. He didn't remember home. He didn't remember a lot of things after the memory wipe. Something he left behind was so horrible that he could no longer bear to remember it, so they had made him forget. Everything. Abandoning whatever family or friends he may have once had, even his own name was now a mystery. He went by a new name now. A new identity, a new world, a new life. If you could call this sanitized existence 'living'.

Right now, he was just another face among a throng of everyday civilians just going about their daily lives. They paid no heed to the Sentinel among them. His outward appearance was no more noticeable than any of the others gathered here. He was of average height, about 5 foot 6, with tanned skin from his many excursions, as was the norm on this tropical island. His light brown hair was short and a bit unruly, he never bothered to comb it. Nor did he much give a damn about shaving, evidenced by his persistent stubble. His eyes were the most noticeable thing about him, a unique cobalt blue, streaked with bits of violet that seemed to shift with his mood.

He walked slowly, not particularly concerned with the time. He was already behind schedule and hurrying at this point wouldn't help. He casually thrust his hands in the pockets of his camoflage cargo pants. His outfit was covered in pockets, most of them containing basic necessities, just in case he found himself spending a night or two in another world. Heavy combat boots, worn and faded from years of use, thumped rhythmically against the smooth sidewalk as Raith pushed through the river of humanity in the center of Avalon City.

As Raith drew closer to his destination, he sighed listlessly at the unchanging buildings of chrome and glass. It was too neat. Too clean. Too perfect. It just didn't feel right. He always went out of his way to accept more missions than any other Sentinel, to escape this emotionless place, and to escape a long forgotten past. Today was no different, another day, another mission. Again, he didn't bother reading the report. The header identified it as a simple scouting mission. Another unidentified world, the only goal to establish contact with any local civilization. It was standard procedure, no different than most of the missions he was sent on. It would be boring and uneventful, but anywhere was better than wasting away here.

The automatic doors opened to Avalon's headquarters. You didn't even have to make any effort around here. Machines and computers did even the most mundane tasks for you. Raith flashed his ID to the electronic sensor at the first checkpoint and continued deeper into the building. At least Avalon didn't take any risks, the hub of their operation was the most secure complex ever built. It would be impossible for anything less than an army to break through these security systems. Without clearance as a Sentinel, the sentry turrets here would take you down in an instant.

The elevator door opened as he approached, revealing yet another sterilized silver space. The doors closed, and the descent began. There was no need to press a button, this elevator only went to one place. The slight acceleration of the elevator was the only indication of movement, the frictionless rails didn't make the slightest vibration. It was unnaturally silent inside the small room, the only sound to be heard was the single occupant's breathing. The car begin to slow as it reached the end of the trip, then the doors opened soundlessly, signaling its arrival at the lowest level of the facility.

Another featureless hallway led deeper still. The air down here was different. Not open to the atmosphere, Raith breathed a precisely calculated mixture of gasses, specifically designed to be entirely devoid of any impurities. Even the air was dead in this place. At the end of the short passage was yet another metal door, but this one did not open automatically. Raith stopped for a moment, as a brief light flashed in his eyes. The biometric scanner confirmed his retinal identity, and the the door slid open.

Beyond was a deep, dark chasm, that curved around in all directions. This was a small part of the spherical external wall of the Core, the heart of Avalon itself. Located over a mile underground, the Core was isolated from the surface in every possible way. A guard stood on a platform on the other side of a thirty-foot gap that dropped away into darkness, he was the first sign of actual human involvement in the security process. Not even Avalon would leave admission to the Core in the hands of a machine. The guard checked Raith's information at his terminal, verifying that he was scheduled for a mission, and pressed a button which extended a walkway to the other side of the bottomless pit.

"Good afternoon, sir. Welcome to the Core."

Raith walked past, unconcerned with the man's greeting. It was just a formality anyways. The guard was a Sentinel himself, probably fresh out of training, as nobody else was allowed down here without specific permission from the council, and even then only with a Sentinel escort. He continued past the next set of automatic doors, and was greeted by a familiar face. A woman stood, arms crossed, leaning against the wall, and clearly annoyed, probably because her partner had arrived almost an hour late. Raith had been with her on several missions before, and knew that she valued precision and punctuality above all else. She had a mind like a machine, cold and calculating, and she got the job done whatever the cost.

She was of average height and build, with vibrant red hair and mismatched eyes, one icy blue and the other silver. The silver eye wasn't naturally like that, it was somehow related to the chemical burn scars on the left side of her face and neck. She never talked about how she got them. Raith suspected these scars continued down, as she always kept her left arm concealed. She wore all black, rugged denim jeans, thick boots, and a sleeveless vest over a low-cut shirt that exposed her belly. There was a single, long sleeve which covered her left arm and ended in a black leather glove. This sleeve was attached to straps that were fastened around her chest to hold it in place, so it could be quickly unfastened and removed. There were rumors about her eye and arm, most speculating that she had some power held within them that was kept sealed by that thick sleeve. Raith had never seen it removed himself, as she claimed only to do so when absolutely necessary.

"About time you got here, Raith." She spat out, eyes glaring.

"Good day to you, too, Jen."

"Got a good reason to keep me waiting? You were supposed to be here an hour ago."

"I had some other business to attend to."

"More important than Sentinel business? The council isn't going to put up with your indifference much longer."

"It's wonder they even put up with me at all." he chuckled to himself.

"Because, despite all your faults, you remain a valuable member of the Sentinels. People with abilities on your level are hard to come by. You could gain a lot more respect around here if you weren't so careless."

"Heh, that's just the way I am. I wouldn't have it any different. Anyways, I assume this means you're my partner again?"

Jen was a bit upset that he had brushed off her scolding with such disinterest. "Of course! It was mentioned in the report, if you ever bothered to read it!"

"There's no point in reading it. It's a routine meet-and-greet. I've done it a thousand times, it's not like this one will be any different."

"Not this time, this one's unique. I guess I have no choice but to fill you in on the way to the DRG. Let's go."

Jen huffed and walked away, adopting a profession manner as she began to give an overview the situation. Raith followed without another word. Hopefully she was right, it would be a nice change of pace at least.

"I'll keep this short. Four days ago, Avalon detected a small, unstable dimensional pocket. At first they thought it was just another anomaly, but further investigation showed it to be linking with other universes on its own. Whether this was the result of intelligent action, or a natural occurrence is currently unknown. That's one of the things we'll be trying to find out. We sent a survey probe to examine the local environment, and it looks to be a single, dimensionally isolated landmass. There are some signs of possible human civilization, and we'll be dropping in nearby to make contact. The target area is covered by a thick forest with a high canopy, so the probe wasn't able to get a good reading on ground conditions. As such, we're proceeding with caution, which is why two high-level individuals have been selected for this."

As she finished her explanation, they entered the control room, and were immediately greeted by an excessively cheerful young platinum blond.

"Oh! You're finally here! Now we can get started!"

Jen and Raith both let out a sigh at her obviously boundless enthusiasm. This energetic girl was Sill, the lead technician in charge of the Core Dimensional Rift Generator. Her rambunctious nature concealed her outstanding intelligence. She knew everything about this machine, and had even personally designed several modifications to improve its operation. Her though process was an enigma to everyone, but her logical thinking surpassed most supercomputers in both speed and accuracy when she wanted it to. Sill practically lived down here, and was rarely seen anywhere else. The DRG was her life, and she certainly gave it her all. Raith couldn't see how her co-workers could stand to work with her every single day.

"Here ya go!"

She exclaimed as she tossed Raith a shiny metal object about the size and shape of a small throwing discus. He was very familiar with this particular piece of equipment. It was issued to every Sentinel every time he or she went on a mission. It was the most critical part of their inventory, as it allowed Avalon to locate them with pinpoint precision regardless of where they were. Jen already had hers attached to her belt, and Raith quickly did the same.

"That's your Personal Recall Device! Don't lose it! It's important!"

"I already know this, Sill." Raith was already massaging his temples as he prepared for her to launch into a wild explanation anyways.

"Once you're out there, just use this to establish a line of communication back to me! It'll let me know EXACTLY where you are! I'll be happy to open a portal for you to return if you need it!"

Sighing for what felt like the hundredth time today, he tried to cut the conversation short. "Thank you, Sill. I'll keep that in mind. Can we just get on with it?"

"Alrighty! Don't you guys worry about a thing, I've got everything planned for a smooth trip! Now, let's get this show on the road!" And with that she sprinted to her control panel, despite the fact that it was only a few steps away.

She began rapidly pressing buttons and barking out orders to her subordinates. Her demeanor changed completely when she got to work. She was no longer a child, she was in command. The hum of machinery filled the room from all directions as the massive machine began warming up. Sill and her fellow engineers were constantly shouting various bits of technical jargon to one another. Raith couldn't understand a word of it.

Ignoring the proceedings, the two-man departure team proceeded into the rift chamber, as they we were no longer needed in the control room. They entered an immense dome nearly 300 feet across, with a ceiling 200 feet high. This space was big enough to accommodate a small army, complete with air support, and had in fact done exactly that on several occasions. Every surface of the otherwise featureless room was covered in complex geometric markings. Raith recognized them as control spells, just as important to making the DRG work as the mechanical systems hidden behind the walls. Most Avalon technology was like this, a seamless fusion of magic and technology. Even the PRDs now hanging on the Sentinels' belts were no exception, their insides would be covered with similar mystical designs.

The duo arrived at the very center of the room, at the place where the spells converged. A loudspeaker boomed across the empty space, announcing the condition of the activation process with an artificial electronic voice. The network of spells began to glow, the illumination spreading down the lines like a colossal spiderweb unfolding above. The circle at Raith's feet shone brightly, and seemed to lift off the ground, becoming a 3-dimensional form in the process. The inner containment spell wove its way around the soon-to-be travelers, its components shifting and rotating as they isolated the space in the middle.

"Glyph activation complete. System charge at 100%. Beginning rift generation sequence."

The entire room began to distort as space itself folded around the center. The effect was almost unnoticeable at first, but quickly escalated until everything appeared to be swirling in impossible directions. The sight always gave Raith a headache, go he shut his eyes to shake the discomfort. Of course, the room wasn't really moving like that, it was just the light that got bent in weird ways as it passed through the unstable space.

"Dimensional link established."

Then the floor began to vibrate.

This has never happened before.

Raith immediately knew something wasn't right. This process was always so smooth that if you closed your eyes you wouldn't even know anything was happening. But it was different this time. The vibrations grew in intensity until he was forced to open his eyes to see what was happening.

Standing back to back with Jen, they were surrounded by swirling rifts, tears in the very fabric of space that seemed to suck the light right out of their surroundings. The containment spell around them flickered ominously, threatening to collapse at any moment. The floor shook violently, almost stealing Raith's sense of balance, but he somehow managed to remain on his feet. Something was very wrong. The loudspeaker had stopped giving status reports, and the spells lining the chamber were sputtering on and off. Jen was concerned as well, but kept silent, assessing the situation with her signature inhuman calm. Trapped in the center of the storm, neither one of them could do anything to stop it. If either moved outside the containment zone, they would be instantly torn apart by the maelstrom of unstable rifts.

Why haven't they shut it down?

There were thousands of failsafes in place to instantly abort DRG activation is something unexpected happened like this. But they didn't seem to be working. All that he could do, in the middle of this howling whirlwind of destruction, was hope the containment spell would hold.

---

Anthony didn't know what was happening. Everything had proceeded exactly as expected until the link made contact with the target universe. Then everything went to hell. The entire facility seemed to shake, the windows rattled and lights flashed on and off. The inside of the control room was in pandemonium. He concentrated on the sensor readouts in from of him, but the data was frightening.

Energy levels were unstable, and erratically spiking far beyond safe limits. This power wasn't coming from the Core's generators, but from the rift itself. As if it were becoming alive. Becoming self-sufficient. Such a thing had to be avoided at any cost, it could destroy the city, maybe the whole island. Anthony stole a glance at Sill, the unquestioned leader in this situation. She was in her element, frantically working her controls like a lunatic, a joyful smile still plastered on her face despite the chaos around her. The girl was weird, crazy even, but at this moment she was the only person capable of wresting the runaway machine into her control.

Without warning, Sill's control panel exploded in a shower of sparks. The small girl screamed, shielding her face from the flames. The room lurched again, and the lights went dark. It felt like the entire facility was being shaken from its foundation. Anthony watched through the unbreakable glass overlooking the rift chamber as a terrible swirling cloud of unnatural energy pressed in around the rapidly dying containment spell, the last barrier between the departure team and instant annihilation.

The floor shuddered once more, and several components of the containment spell faded.

Dark fingers of death wasted no time in reaching through the gaps to ensnare their helpless victims.

The remainder of the spell wavered and extinguished, yielding to the blackness beyond.

The lethal vortex imploded into the previously guarded space.

Reality seemed to break, and two Sentinels were erased from existence.

---

Chapter 2

The day was just beginning over a vast, rocky plain, but the night still lingered, held there by the dark clouds boiling overhead which the morning sun could not hope to pierce. No rain fell, but lightning crashed around the horizon, peals of thunder barely fading before the next booming rumble began. Powerful winds swept the land, the storm showed no signs of letting up, rather, it was just getting started.

Abruptly, a woman materialized several feet above the ground. Appearing out of thin air as if by magic. The redhead crashed to the ground, struggling to draw a breath as the air was forced out of her lungs by the impact. She groaned slightly as she sat up, already evaluating the situation with cool efficiency.

Raith wasn't here. Probably got separated on the way. It was best to assume he was already dead. There was no communication from Avalon, their equipment was most likely inoperable for the time being. Finding shelter was an immediate priority, this storm would only be getting worse, and she didn't take too well to being struck by lightning.

Jen stood, shaking off the disorientation from the bumpy trip. A rocky plateau in the distance offered promise of refuge from the elements. Casually walking in that direction, she felt no need to rush, as the strange birds she saw above, the only sign of life, were not a significant threat.

---

When Raith awoke, everything was dark. The ground was wet under his back, and rain was falling on his face. As his vision adjusted to the darkness, he realized he was in a huge forest. Some of these trees were the largest he had ever seen. This wasn't the forest on Avalon Island, that's for sure. Had he been sent to the target destination? Probably not. Maybe the same planet, but undoubtedly far off course. He recalled the collapsing containment spell, and being sucked into the void, along with his partner.

Jen!

He hurriedly sat up, shaking his head to clear his mind, and looked around for her. She wasn't anywhere nearby. She wouldn't have left while he was still unconscious, and that meant she didn't end up in the same place as Raith to begin with. For all he knew, she could be a thousand miles away, if she even made it though at all. Raith pressed two fingers to the center of the PRD on his belt. After a moment, the mechanism sprang to life, several small panels near the edge shifted to reveal the internal photoemitters, and an interactive holographic display appeared to float before him.

Attempting to contact Avalon did not receive a response. A short diagnostic showed the PRD was in perfect condition. Either Avalon simply couldn't receive the message, or they couldn't send one back. Given the chaos of the DRG's catastrophic failure, it was probably both. It picked up Jen's signal, but there was too much interference to track her location. Probably due to the dimensional instability inherent to this world. After enabling the PRD's distress beacon, he waved his hand through the display, which promptly shut off, the panels moved back into position to protect the fragile inner mechanisms once again.

At least she made it here, but there was no telling how far away she was, or if she was actually alive. Raith couldn't rely on her now, for the time being he had to assume the worst case scenario.

He was alone. There would be no backup, no support, and no rescue. He was trapped in an unknown world.

Raith checked his possessions. The PRD was in working order, but something else was preventing it from being useful. A small supply of food, perhaps two days worth if rationed properly. He had a canteen, though it didn't look like water was going to be an issue on this planet. His pack of cigarettes was still intact, sealed in a watertight tin with the lighter, but there were more important things right now than smoking. Lastly was a basic survival set; a knife, flashlight, compass, first aid supplies, and a few other items that didn't have much use at the moment. The compass spun erratically, giving absolutely no indication of direction.

At any rate, he couldn't stay here, he had to find shelter from the rain for now. Raith set off through the dense foliage, trying to remain as silent as possible. Without knowing what the wildlife on this planet was like, it was better to simply avoid encountering anything at all. He didn't use a flashlight so as not to draw attention to himself, his sight was just fine anyways, now that his eyes were well adjusted to the dark, and a little light was beginning to creep down from the above the trees. It seemed to be daytime, probably just after dawn, but the sun's presence was masked by the heavy clouds. After a short hike a small space revealed itself beneath the roots of a particularly large tree. It wasn't much, but he could stay dry until the rain stopped at least. Raith crawled inside and dried himself the best he could while waiting for the rain to abate.

It was a few hours before the rain finally died down and the sun began to shine through the canopy. The ground was still overshadowed by the massive trees, but it was now far from the dank darkness it had been earlier. Raith emerged from his temporary hideout into a world filled with green. He set out across the forest floor, still soaked with the earlier rain, hoping to encounter some semblance of humanity. If this world had advanced civilization, he would find it eventually. If not... well, he would worry about that later.

For now, there seemed to be no signs of life aside from the persistent vegetation and the drone of insects. Raith marched on, retaining a constant awareness of his surroundings, alert for any possible danger. It wasn't long before that danger showed itself.

Raith spotted the animal before it saw him. It was a strange bird-like creature, somewhat like an oddly proportioned chicken. He might have paid it no heed if not for its impressive size. The beast stood nearly 30 feet tall, a creature this size could be a threat. It might see Raith as a potential meal. The truth of this became apparent as the bird suddenly spotted him. It immediately rushed in his direction, opening its gaping maw close to the ground, intending to swallow him whole. Raith sidestepped the charging beast as it neared, and, unexpectedly, the creature did not slow down, nor make any attempt to alter course. Rather, it opted to crash headfirst into a nearby tree. The animal was obviously quite stupid.

Undeterred by the sudden impact, the odd creature shook its head in a daze before turning around and charging at its prey once more. Raith merely sidestepped again, and as before, it did not try to stop or change direction. Not much of a memory either, it would seem. The creature cocked its head and looked around, seemingly confused as to the disappearance of its prey. It spotted him once more, and began yet another headlong rush. It was certainly persistent.

Raith decided he would have to kill this thing before he could move on. He began gathering enough force to slam the creature into a nearby tree. The animal drew closer, running at breakneck speed to devour its prey. Force gathered, Raith turned to cast out the gathered energy at his unsuspecting target.

The bird was slammed by a massive force, not from the front, but from the side. An immense blue-green blur impacted the side of the creature, sending it tumbling and squawking into the distance. The animal stood, shaking itself off, and wandered away as if nothing had happened, or perhaps it had already forgotten. Raith turned his attention to his savior, letting the unreleased energy dissipate in his body. In front of him stood a wall of glistening teal scales.

"Hi there!"

The sudden feminine voice was surprising, as it came from directly behind him. Raith spun around, prepared for anything.

Well, almost anything.

The body of an enormous snake lay coiled around him. Its reptilian body, wet with the recent rain, sparkled majestically against the dull greenery.

"Up here, silly!" The voice called from above.

His gaze traveled up the snake's body, where the scales suddenly gave way to soft human skin. The unmistakable body of a woman, from the waist up anyways, captured his attention. She was entirely naked, save for the small pouch at her hip. She watched him with teal eyes, the same color as the scales of her snake half. Long blond hair, almost glowing in the sunlight, framed a beautiful face with a radiant smile that, were she human, he might have fallen in love with. If not for her tail, Raith might have thought he was in the presence of an angel.

He knew this race; half-human, half-snake, they went by many names, but the most common was 'naga'. He had encountered them on many worlds, some could be rather large, but nothing near the scale of the one now before him. But, Raith had a job to do. She had used human speech, and was clearly intelligent. He decided to start with the basics. Raith took a deep breath, repeating in his mind the first rule of being a Sentinel: Expect the unexpected. After calming his nerves, he spoke.

"Greetings, my name is Raith. It is an honor to make your acquaintance."

The naga seemed momentarily puzzled by this. Then she giggled, a rather pleasant sound.

"Teehee, you're awfully polite! Most people just scream and run away when they see me." She smiled. "My name's Crisis."

She held out her hand, which was bigger than a human's entire body, as if asking for a handshake. Raith cautiously reached out, only able to grasp her finger, but this seemed to be an acceptable compromise.

"So, what brings you to this part of Felarya?" Crisis seemed curious. They were off to a good start, at least she was friendly.

"I'm here on business. My world was recently able to open a portal here, so I was sent to make contact with the local inhabitants. Thanks to you, I have succeeded."

"Neat! So that means your job is done now?"

"Well, not quite. I was separated from my partner when we arrived. I have to track her down first. Also, we detected a large city nearby, is that where you are from?"

"Hmmm... There's human city over that way," She pointed, "but I stay away from there, the humans don't like me. The shoot at me and stuff. It's awfully mean of them if you ask me." She remained cheerful, despite the prospect of being shot at.

"Well, thank you for the assistance, Crisis. I'll head to the city, it sounds like a good enough place to start my search."

Raith started in the direction Crisis had indicated, but was quickly stopped as she coiled her tail around the area, cutting off his escape.

"Sorry, but I can't let you go. I haven't had breakfast yet!"

"Breakfast?" His danger sense flared anew. She couldn't mean...?

As if in response to his query, Crisis's stomach let out a loud grumble as she licked her lips. Raith barely had time to process the implications of this, as he was suddenly hoisted into the air by the giant naga's hand. Her face loomed before him, its mouth forming a dazzling smile that belied its true intentions.

"There's only one of you, but I'm sure you'll be very tasty!"

The could no longer be any doubt. She was going to eat him. Raith was regretting letting his guard down after being rescued from the far less formidable creature earlier. He had to fight her, but he would need to build up his energy again. He concentrated as best he could, but the sudden appearance of a wide, pink cavern was very distracting. He knew his physical struggles were useless against a monster of this magnitude, instead he focused on gathering telekinetic power. But before he could put up an effective defense, he found himself falling face first onto Crisis's warm, wet tongue.

She quickly drew him inside, sealing off any hope of escaping her mouth by conventional means, and began softly rolling him around with her tongue. Jostled about by the strong muscle, Raith was helpless. Crisis's throat vibrated with a pleasurable moan, savoring the flavor of her latest catch. But it could not last, the pangs of hunger demanded to be appeased, and Crisis swallowed with an audible gulp.

She giggled softly as she relished the feeling of her meal struggling down her throat, powerful esophageal muscles drawing him down an inexorable trip to her waiting stomach. Crisis felt the morsel plop delightfully in her previously empty tummy. She let out a small burp and rubbed her abdomen, enjoying the movement within.

"Sorry, I know it's a bit lonely in there right now, but I'll find you some friends real soon!"

With that, Crisis slithered off through the jungle, toward an unsuspecting band of adventurers that her keen predatory senses had detected.

---

Raith struggled against the smooth, muscular walls of the naga's throat as they gripped him tightly, pulling him deeper into Crisis's body. He had been eaten. Swallowed alive. But, he knew, panicking would do no good. He needed a plan if he wanted to escape this predicament. Still, he fought, knowing it was futile. He heard he the beating of a massive heart, the rush of air into immense lungs, as he was steadily pushed toward his ultimate destination.

The tight, slippery tube suddenly opened into a small cavern. The air was stale and hot, the fleshy walls in constant motion. He fell with a splash into a small puddle of gastric juices. Her stomach. He was actually inside something's stomach. Terror gripped him at the thought of being digested alive, but he quickly pushed away the fear. Worrying would not help him, he needed to think. Sentinels did not give up, no matter how dire the situation.

Ultimately, however, he had only one option. To escape by force. His basic medical knowledge told him it would take some time before the stomach kicked into high gear to begin digesting him. Until then, there was a chance at freedom from this prison. He began building up power once again. Comitting all of his energy to one attack, compacting it into a single, seething ball of kinetic energy. This would be an all-or-nothing shot. He would take no chances. It would take everything he had, but the force of this blast alone would be sufficient to level a city block. Raith fought to remain conscious as he manipulated the roiling sphere, so dense it would have been visible had there been any light in here to see it. He momentarily regretted being forced to kill a creature as lovely and magnificent as Crisis, but his own life took precidence. He reared back, and flung the ball of force at the stomach wall.

Everything happened in an instant.

The strike was comparable to a gigantic cannonball. The entire stomach jerked with the impact, gastric juice splattered Raith's skin, the tingling of acid warned him to shut his eyes to protect them from the burning fluid. The floor was yanked from under his feet, and he fell on his back against the slimy tissue. He felt warm blood splash his face and body as the viciously overpowered attack tore the naga in half. He sighed, exhausted, and opened his eyes to greet daylight once again.

But he saw only darkness. The intact stomach wall rebounded upon its captive and began to secrete a torrent of digestive enzymes to dissolve the unruly snack. What he had thought was blood was merely mucus dislodged from its place on the walls of the organ. His energy expended, Raith could no longer struggle against his fate. Air rushed out of the cavity as Crisis let loose with a massive burp, but nothing more. He hadn't even harmed her. The most powerful weapon in his arsenal was only sufficient to make this monster belch. With his only hope lost, and his skin beginning to slowly burn away, Raith's mind slipped into nothingness.

---

It had taken most of the day for Jen to reach the plateau, and by then the sun was beginning to show through the clouds, its passage across the sky nearly complete. Upon arrival, she was soon greeted by one of the locals. An extraordinarily large naga had invited her to stay the night in her cave, an offer which Jen cautiously accepted. She judged the naga to be a minimal threat. Jen questioned her host about this world, Felarya, and its inhabitants. The naga was happy to engage in conversation, though Jen thought her her habit of occasionally spouting clearly meaningless insults was somewhat odd. She was able to glean quite a bit of information before the creature suddenly expressed its desire to eat her.

She was currently on the run, having effortlessly escaped the naga's lair, and the beast was giving chase. However, Jen seemed to be trapped in a maze of solid rock, with no apparent way out. Moreover, the layout of this labyrinth kept changing, as if being shaped by an unseen hand to lead her back toward her pursuer.

"Heehee, c'mon! You can't get away! Just come back and be my dinner!" The girlish voice chided from behind.

That wasn't going to happen. A sensor told her the location of the giant snake-woman's heartbeat. She was getting closer. If Jen couldn't break free of this trap, she might be forced to kill the naga. But this creature wasn't malicious, she was just hungry. Jen hated such senseless killing. In open combat, when her emotions were locked away, things were different. But that was a necessary evil. For now, escape was the most viable alternative, and Jen had a lot of options in that regard.

She darted down another passage, catching sight of a forest beyond. Finally, a way out. Suddenly, a wall erupted out of the floor, merging with the walls of the ravine as if its presence here was natural. Jen's escape route was abruptly transformed into a dead-end. She spun around, searching for another path, but the naga was already there, casually approaching, the only passage blocked by her reptilian body.

"Ha! Found you! See, I told you that you couldn't get away from me!" She pumped a fist in the air as a gesture of triumph.

Jen remained calm, waiting for the naga to come closer. She watched her enemy, her mind devoid of emotion. As soon as the naga was almost within range to snatch her prey, Jen slapped her gloved palm against the solid rock behind her. There was a sharp, electric crackle, and the wall exploded. A deafening boom resounded through the passageway, the shockwave propelling a cloud of debris in all directions. The surprised naga caught a lungful of dust and coughed violently.

The young naga was somewhat miffed at the sudden disappearance of her quarry. She immediately tried to locate the mysterious woman, who had apparently vanished into thin air.

"Hey, wait! Seriously! That's, like, totally not fair!"

Jen ignored the complaints, the phase shift bubble rendering her silent, invisible and undetectable as she quickly eluded the naga's search.

---

Excellent story so far! It's very well written, interesting, the descriptions are very good and the characters are appealing. Crisis and Garnet's behaviour was well rendered, I think.

Killing off what seemed to be one of the two main characters right from chapter 2 was a surprise, but an effective one. It signalled to the reader that anything can happen - which, of course, should always be true in Felarya. It was also a reminder that even skilled characters can die there. I'm not usually much into magic, but I like the way the different characters used magic against one another - Raith to try and escape Crisis' stomach, Garnet to trap her prey, and Jen to escape Garnet without harming her.

Good work! I'll look forward to the next part.

Chapter 3

Dovan clung to the ledge for dear life. The jump had been just a bit too far, and now he was dangling over a seemingly bottomless pit. A fall here would be fatal, and he no longer had the strength to pull himself up. This may have been one of the simpler courses in the Lataran Temple, but a mistake could still be lethal. Felarya was an unforgiving place, 'easy' was merely a relative term. Dovan's grip was quickly failing as he made one last desperate attempt to lift his body over the edge, but it was no use.

"Hang on, I've got ya!" A hand grabbed his own, a lifeline against the darkness below.

"Thank god, Kev, you got here just in time. I thought I was a goner." Dovan's expression changed from one of worry to relief as his friend dragged him safety.

"I've never let you down before have I? Let's hurry, we're almost at the end of this deathtrap."

"What about Marlissa?" Their third teammate was nowhere in sight.

"Already went ahead, we'd better catch up or she'll claim all the treasure for herself."

Dovan stood wearily. "Alright, we wouldn't want to keep her waiting. Let's go."

It wasn't long before they found her, standing in the middle of a long passage, at the end of which the could see the unmistakable glitter of precious metals and gems. An unwary adventurer might rush straight to the treasure room, but would most likely meet their death in the process. This temple was loaded with a vast array of cunning traps designed to ensnare those who sought its riches. Dovan couldn't see any sign of danger in this passage, but that didn't mean it wasn't there. Whoever built this place was a master at keeping its devious mechanisms very well hidden.

"Any idea what we're up against?" Dovan asked Marlissa as he stopped beside her. She was the leader of this expedition, and the men deferred to her experience on such matters.

"Watch." She picked up a small rock, and casually tossed it down the passage.

The rock never landed. It simply disappeared after flying a short distance, without a sound.

"What the-?" Kev stopped, unable to find proper words to express his confusion. Dovan was equally perplexed.

"An illusion barrier. It's simply making us see a harmless passage, we have no way of knowing what really lies beyond, until we step through."

"How do we get through?" Dovan didn't think he was going to like the answer.

"Easy, we just walk through it. Of course, we might trigger a trap the instant we cross the barrier, so we'll have to be cautious."

Marlissa began to walk slowly forward, holding her sword out in front of her. Soon, the tip of the sword simply faded into thin air, as if becoming invisible. Marlissa stopped, walking back and forth, measuring the location of the illusion. It spanned the entire hall, with no gaps.

"So we just have to walk through this thing and hope that we don't die on the other side?" Kev didn't seem too keen on the idea.

Marlissa smiled. "Simple, we'll just take a look before we pass through."

"How do we do that? I'm not sticking my head through there just to have it lopped off by some maniacal contraption!"

"There's no need to do something stupid like that, Dovan." Marlissa rummaged through her pack, and retrieved a handheld digital video recorder.

Marlissa tied the device to the hilt of her sword and turned it on. Carefully holding the sword by the blade, she sent her makeshift probe beyond the illusion. After sweeping it back and forth a few times, she drew it back.

"Now we can see what we're up against."

The small screen showed the same passage they saw before the, with one major difference. Immediately beyond the illusion, the floor dropped away into a deep pool of water. Hundreds of dark shapes darted to and fro beneath the surface. Carnivorous fish, no doubt. If they fell into the water, their bones would be picked clean in seconds.

"There." Marlissa pointed at the screen. At the edge of the pool was a ledge, barely 6 inches wide, offering safe passage to the other side.

"So we just have to walk across on that ledge?" Kev asked, unsure.

"Hopefully that's all there is to it. I'll go first to check for any additional threats." Marlissa moved close to the wall, and poked her head through the illusion.

It was a disconcerting sight. Marlissa's head vanished from view, and her apparently decapitated body stood still for a moment. After taking a quick look around, she pulled her head back.

"Let's go." She said simply, and stepped through the barrier.

Kev and Dovan followed nervously, but compared to some of the other trials they had passed today, this was not a problem. The trio of adventurers made their way cautiously across the thin ledge to safety. They had made it to the end of this insane obstacle course without any major incident. Few could consider themselves so lucky.

No further traps awaited them, only the sparkling treasure for which they had come. They knew their trials were far from an end, carrying their hoard back to Negav would take them across miles of predator infested territory, but for they could relax in the relative safety of this underground chamber. They would be rich once they got home. The wealth contained here would let them live comfortably for years to come.

"Be sure to take whatever you want now, the temple won't let us enter a second time."

The two men grinned, and began stuffing their packs with as much jewelry and coins as they could carry. Marlissa sifted through the piles of metal, searching for valuable magical artifacts. She knew she would be needing them shortly. Once they had finished plundering their fill, the three adventurers made their way to the temple's exit.

The jungle lay beyond a small opening in the stone wall. Marlissa held her hand up, signaling the others to wait. She would scout ahead for any signs of danger. After taking a quick look around, she waved her companions on. The three adventurers stepped out of the temple, greeting sunlight for the first time in several hours.

"Find anything interesting?" A female voice called nearby.

A giant naga was waiting for them just outside the temple. She pleasantly smiled down at them. Kev was paralyzed with fear. Dovan screamed, and tried to run, but immediately tripped over a tree root. Marlissa remained perfectly calm, a suave expression visible on her face.

The naga quickly collected the treasure hunters, holding them in her palm. As expected, the Dovan began pleading for his life. Kev remained speechless.

"Well," The naga though for a moment, "Do you have anything valuable to trade for your lives?"

"W-W-We have t-treasure! You c-can have it all, j-just please let us go!" Dovan stammered, offering her his bulging pack, hoping to barter with the creature.

The naga examined the pack carefully. "Sorry, but these bits of shiny metal aren't worth much out here. Oh, well. Better luck next time."

She popped Dovan into her mouth, ignoring his screams of protest, which were quickly silenced. She sucked his wriggling body for a moment, soaking up his flavor, before swallowing. She paused for a moment, enjoying the feel of the squirming man traveling down her body, then turned her attention to Kev.

"What about you? Got anything worthwhile for me?"

But Kev was still unable to respond, his mind filled with horror. The naga shrugged. "Oh well." And brought the terrified man to her lips.

"W-Wait! Nooooo!" Kev snapped out of his trepidation far too late.

The soft lips engulfed him to his waist, his legs kicking the air fruitlessly. With a wet slurp, he was pulled relentlessly toward the naga's hungry throat. He fought and clawed against the unyielding tongue, but there was nothing he could do. Kev vanished down the dark gullet with a satisfying gulp, to join Dovan in her stomach.

"Now its your turn..." She looked at Marlissa, who still wore a sly grin. Everything was going according to plan. "You have something for me?"

"Of course, I wouldn't go back on my word. My pack is loaded with the best magical artifacts I could find. As per our arrangement, they are now yours to do with as you please."

The naga peered at Marlissa's pack, examining it for a moment. She seemed satisfied with the inspection, and nodded to the human.

"This will do nicely. You can have these other bags, their contents are useless to me." The naga carefully placed Marlissa back on the ground, before slithering back into the forest, her black and green scales blending perfectly with the dark undergrowth.

Marlissa gathered the men's packs, stuffed with valuable treasure, and loaded them onto the small hovercraft she had prepared nearby. There was no longer any need to split the profits. By tomorrow, she would be living a safe life of luxury in Negav.

---

He woke, once again surrounded by darkness. Raith sat up inside the cramped space, his head already brushing the ceiling. The sides of this room seemed to be made of some kind of tough, yet flexible, material. Canvas? Leather? Animal skin? He wasn't sure. He tried to remember how he got here, but his memories were in a haze. He remembered arriving on a strange jungle world, then he was attacked, but he couldn't remember by what.

A crackling sound caught his attention, accompanied by a flickering light from a hole at the far end of the room. He crawled toward it and peeked outside through the gap.

The the fog surrounding his recent memories suddenly lifted, blown away by the shock of what he saw. Raith was currently occupying a small pouch hung from the waist of a frighteningly familiar giant woman. Crisis. His mind reeled, recalling being swallowed, eaten alive, by the horrible creature. He breathed a momentary sigh of relief, she was currently sound asleep. He didn't know what had happened. He remembered his failed attempt to escape her stomach, before he fell unconscious. Night had already fallen, he should have been long digested by now.

The crackling sound caught his attention once more, and he looked up. There stood another giant snake-woman. She was a big as Crisis, with pink hair, bluish-purple scales, and wore dark goggles. It looked like she was welding something on an enormous workbench. Luckily, she didn't seem aware of her human observer.

I have to get out of here!

There wasn't any time to ponder how he could possibly have survived. He needed to escape before he was noticed, or Crisis woke up, or he would surely be eaten again. A watery gurgle from Crisis's belly reminded him of this potential fate. Raith quickly climbed down from his perch, landing lightly on the ground. He wasted no time in sprinting away into the forest, his footsteps concealed by a fresh burst of flames from the naga's welding tool.

---

The sun was setting over the edge of the forest. Looking back over the empty land behind her, Jen paused before continuing. She had manage to escape the persistent naga, but it had not been easy. She had been forced to use some powerful combat abilities, something that couldn't be done in her usual state. It always took a heavy toll to surrender part of her mind, but it had been her last resort. She barely managed to keep enough control to prevent the emotionless parasite from slaughtering the creature outright.

This thing had saved her life, and it granted her great power. But it came at a high price, perhaps too high. To sacrifice her mind. Her body. Her humanity. It always sought a way in to her head. Permeating her subconscious, and waiting for her to drop her guard. She let it in when she had need of its power, but it always left her drained. Every time she fought a battle on the outside, she also fought a battle within herself. Fighting to wrest control from the relentless, invasive being. Only she knew the dire consequences if she lost the war with her inner demon. It would take over. It would destroy her, and use her body for its own means. It was always there, waiting for its chance to strike.

She could still feel it, even now.

The thoughts emanating from the unnatural entity within her arm, feeding on her nervous system and constantly threatening to take over. She was used to its whispers in her mind, and had learned to shut them out. But after allowing it in to make her escape, it had secured a temporary foothold, making its strong presence known until she could manage to lock it away again. For now, she would rest, leaning against a tree while she focused her thoughts to banish the monster's cold tendrils from her consciousness.

---

Raith ran. He had no destination in mind, only running to place more distance between him and the ravenous monsters behind him. His legs burned from exertion. His lungs ached for a full breath of air. But he could not stop. Not yet. The fear of being devoured again spurred him along. He had drained most of his power into his last attack, and he would be helpless to defend himself against another creature of that size for several days. For now, he could only run, hoping to avoid recapture.

Exhausted and out of breath, Raith collapsed. The forest was eerily silent around him. He fought to catch his breath, to continue running, but his legs refused to comply with the unreasonable request. His breathing steadied, he sat against a tree root, collecting his thoughts as he rested. How had he escaped? How was he not dead? Questions swirled in his mind, but answers were few. He had been unconscious for most of the day, unaware of whatever had happened.

He had expected to destroy his captor from the inside out, but her flesh proved incredibly resilient, merely bouncing back from what should have been a fatal blow. A though struck him, perhaps he had managed to hit her hard enough to cause her pain, but not deal physical damage. If her stomach had deemed its occupant to be hazardous to her body, she might have been forced to cough him up. Perhaps she was simply wary of trying to swallow him again, and placed him in her pouch to save for later. He shuddered at the though. He had been placed in storage, a leftover. But before he could worry about this any longer, another sensation suddenly occupied his mind.

He was being watched.

The feeling of unseen eyes staring from the darkness was unmistakable. He panicked, looking back the way he had come. Had Crisis woken up and, finding her midnight snack missing, come searching for him? He peered closely into the dark forest but saw no signs of movement. She would undoubtedly come eventually. He had to keep moving. Raith turned around, ready to move farther still from Crisis's home.

And someone was waiting for him.

A young woman stood directly in front of him. How she had managed to get this close without being seen or heard, he did not know. She smiled at his obvious bewilderment at her sudden appearance. She was quite pretty, her long black hair hung down to her waist, tied back by a light golden chain. Deep green eyes stared into his as though trying to determine the nature of his soul. She wore an loose, dark green top that seemed to be made of some kind of smooth plant-like material, and a short skirt that looked like black snake skin. Her strange attire looked almost primitive, but she exuded an air of great intelligence.

"You seem lost." Her voice was soft and friendly. "This is a dangerous place to wander around at night. What were you doing?"

Raith was temporarily at a loss for words, but the girl waited patiently for him to respond.

"I'm..." Raith took a breath while trying to decide what to say. "I was attacked, by... some kind of giant snake-woman. She may be coming this way, we have to run."

The girl didn't seem worried by this in the least. "Don't worry, we have nothing to fear right now. There are many giant naga in this forest, do you know which one attacked you?"

Raith had calmed down, she might be able to help him. "Blond hair, she said her name was Crisis."

The girl lifted an eyebrow. "You were attacked by Crisis, and got away? That doesn't sound very likely."

"I didn't get away. Not really. She... ate me. I think. I don't know how I'm still alive."

"That's not possible." The girl was incredulous. "Nothing survives Crisis's stomach."

She leaned closer, her piercing eyes locked on his. "Yet you don't seem to be lying. This merits further investigation."

She held her chin, lost in thought for a moment, then smiled again. "Why don't you come with me, we'll get to the bottom of this."

"Where are we going?" Maybe she came from a nearby human settlement, he felt a little hope at this prospect.

"You'll see. By the way, I didn't get your name."

"Call me Raith. How about you?"

The girl leaned closer, putting her arm around his shoulders. She smiled, giggling softly at his surprise.

Then the world went crazy.

For a moment, Raith could not tell up from down as his vision spun wildly. He stumbled and fell, the ground was surprisingly soft. He felt himself jerked in all directions as dizziness and nausea crept up on him. He shut his eyes to block out the forest which had twisted to a blur, and waited for everything to stop. Soon the the environment stabilized, he could tell he was no longer moving. He cautiously opened his eyes, and eyes of a familiar shade of green looked back. The girl's face stood above him, smiling.

He was sitting in the palm of her hand. In only an instant, she had grown enormous. He was held at least fifty feet off the ground, her head reached another thirty or forty above that. Looking down, he saw that her legs had transformed into a long tail, with scales the same as the skirt she had been wearing, that meandered away into the forest. Raith was shocked at her sudden transformation. She was another naga. Just like Crisis. And she had tricked him into becoming her next meal. He began to panic, not knowing whether to scream or jump. He was surely about to be eaten again, and he no longer had means to defend himself. But she just smiled down at him, her beautiful face absent any such malicious intent.

"My name's Thera. You'll be safe with me."

---


Sorry if I disappointed you about Raith. I never planned for him to die, at least not yet. You were however, supposed to believe he was dead, so I suppose I succeeded in that regard. He played his trump card to get out of there, so he's pretty much helpless for now.

Interestinger and interestinger. I take it he's close to the temple, then, and he may meet Marlissa at some point. Given her "ethics", I can't say I'd mind if something unpleasant happened to her eventually.

In any case, this does raise some intriguing questions. I'm very curious about Thera's intentions and personality.

Edit: I also particularly like the clever trap in the temple.

this is starting really nicely ^_^
I liked your descriptions here and the story flow very well. It's really pleaseant to read.
I'm curious to see what will happens next

Nice one! I like how you actually made it seem like Raith was dead! And the characters are so compelling. I can't wait for the next chapter.

Chapter 4

The forest was quiet. The wind was still, as if nature itself was holding its breath in anticipation of what was to come. Moonlight streamed into a small clearing in the dense jungle, shrouded by long shadows of the lofty trees. In the center of this otherwise empty glade, the only sign of movement, a single bright blue butterfly, fluttered in the warm night air, its wings seeming to glow as they danced in the silvery starlight.

But closer examination would reveal not an insect, but one of Felarya's deadliest predators. A fairy. But by the time an observer was close enough to recognize the danger, it would already be too late. This was how Lyriss preferred to hunt, shrinking herself as far as her magic would allow, disguised as a beautiful yet harmless insect. Her unsuspecting prey never took notice of her presence until they were already captured.

Tonight, she was waiting. Waiting for her last meal of the day. She knew it would be here soon. The cunning human had managed to elude capture several times before, but this time Lyriss was prepared. She had a plan. The human would pass through this clearing before long, and then become just another midnight snack. Lyriss would make sure of that.

---

The forest was quiet. Not even the slightest breeze was present, the leaves of the great trees hung unmoving, as if frozen. It was as if time had stopped.

This peaceful tranquility was suddenly shattered as a steel-gray vehicle shot by at high velocity. Hovering just a few feet off the ground, Marlissa's custom designed escape craft was built specifically for the purpose of evading predators. Rocketing through the dense forest at over ninety miles per hour would be suicidal for most people, but then, Marlissa wasn't like most people. Years of experience navigating this land had granted her the split-second reflexes and knowledge of the terrain to safely guide her craft through the jungle at such high speed. This vehicle could simply outrun most predators, and outmaneuver those it couldn't.

The craft had no external lights, Marlissa was guided solely by the soft green glow of a night-vision display. Trees blurred past at dizzying speeds as she made slight adjustments to the vehicle's course. A single mistake now would be fatal, a single tree would reduce the hovercraft to scrap metal. But Marlissa didn't make mistakes, that was the only way to survive on your own in Felarya, and Marlissa was a professional at surviving.

She was nearing the halfway point of her trip, loaded with the gold and jewels those two fools had so conveniently helped her obtain. They had been eaten, of course. She had seen to that. They had served her purpose, and now they served another. That was nearly two hours ago, meaning she had another two hours to go before reaching the safe walls of Negav City.

The hovercraft shot into a clearing, making use of the sparse vegetation to shave a little time off the trip. Marlissa's experienced eyes spotted the threat instantly. You couldn't even trust butterflies in Felarya. She veered he hovercraft back toward a gap in the trees, making a quick escape from the tiny, voracious creature.

The world shrank.

Finding her vessel abruptly too large to fit between the trees, Marlissa was forced to reverse thrust to avoid a fatal impact. Now ten times bigger than its previous size, the vehicle was trapped in the clearing. The mass of steel collided violently with the unyielding treeline, Marlissa had managed to turn it sideways just before the crash, saving her life, but she was still stuck in a prison of trees.

"Shit!" She pounded the dashboard with her fist. "Damn fairies!"

She had never heard of a fairy increasing the size of her prey, but in this case it had worked to great effect. Marlissa wasted no time, if she wanted to survive, she would need to kill the fairy. Her chances were slim, but she had risked her life many times before, once more would be no different. She grabbed an assault rifle from the weapons rack and climbed out into the night. She could tell, by the relative size of the surrounding trees, that the fairy's magic had grown her, along with the hovercraft, to nearly the size of most predators. Her assault rifle, normally all but useless against the giants, would be very effective at this scale. She smiled, scanning the clearing for any sign of fluttering wings. This was one fairy that would come to regret its mistake.

The fairy seemed to have vanished, but Marlissa knew better. Predators simply didn't abandon their prey so easily. This one was just hiding, waiting for a chance to attack. Marlissa watched everything, the sky, the trees, the ground, waiting for the slightest movement.

"Over here!" A girlish giggle came from her right.

Marlissa spun, but saw nothing. The fairy was toying with her.

"No, no, this way!" From the left this time.

The damn thing was just trying to confuse her. Marlissa remained alert, regardless of where the voice came from, her real target could be in any direction.

"Show yourself!" Marissa shouted to the empty forest.

"Hehe, not yet! You have to find me first!" The voice called out in her ear.

In my ear!

Marlissa quickly jammed her little finger into her left ear, which was now easily large enough to house the minuscule fairy. Just as she did so, a soft blue light enveloped her body.

"No! No, no, no!" Marlissa screamed as the ground expanded and rushed up with frightening speed.

She fell on her back, suddenly no taller than a blade of grass. Her hovercraft now seemed like a mountain of metal. A set of fluttering blue wings appeared above her, and Marlissa immediately opened fire. With an almost comical 'poof' the fairy grew to the size of a human. The machine gun's bullets bounced harmlessly off her skin, no more effective than grains of sand. She giggled as if the spray of tiny impacts merely tickled.

"You found me! Good job!" The fairy seemed pleased with her little game, hopping excitedly, her blue wings flapping along with her equally blue hair.

Marlissa wasn't going to just let it end. Not like this. She switched to the rifle's attached grenade launcher. With a distinctive thunk, the explosive round flew towards its target. But the fairy had anticipated the threat, and effortlessly dodged the unguided projectile.

"Now, now, there's no need for that." The fairy flicked away Marlissa's weapon, and with it, her hope.

Marlissa found herself lifted into the air, held before the predator's face. She had been in this position before, but that time her captor had been willing to be reasonable. This was different. She wasn't going to be able to talk her way out of this. The fairy wasn't interested in any valuables, only food. And Marlissa was on the menu.

"Make sure you wriggle a lot in my tummy, OK?" Were the last words Marlissa heard before she disappeared into the fairy's mouth.

---

Lyriss had enjoyed the little game. Her plan had worked perfectly, and now she was indulging in the spoils. The woman did not fight back anymore, as if resigned to her fate. Of course, this did not diminish the taste in the slightest. Lyriss slowly enjoyed the meal, taking care to suck every bit of flavor out of the delicious human. It was several minutes before she finally swallowed, sending the tasty treat down where it belonged.

She licked her lips, the satisfying feel of food in her stomach had made all the preparations worth the effort. As Lyriss fluttered away into the forest with a small burp, the oversized hovercraft receded to its original form. Perhaps someday, someone might find it, loaded with treasure fit for a king. But for now it sat abandoned, its owner another victim of a fairy's insatiable appetite.

Deep in Lyriss's belly, Marlissa sat, unmoving. She wouldn't squirm or struggle, as she knew that was exactly the fairy wanted her to do. She wasn't going to give this monster the satisfaction. This marked the end of her six-year treasure hunting career. She had braved countless dangers, looted temples and tombs, and gathered riches beyond most people's dreams. She was among the most successful adventurers to set foot on this world, but today her luck had run out. She had met the fate that awaited a vast majority of visitors to Felarya. Her amassed wealth was of no use to her now. She had become fairy food.

---

Thera stretched, coiling around a large branch. This was as good a place as any to rest for the night, few things in this part of the jungle would risk a confrontation with the giant naga. Her recently acquired human sat in the naga equivalent of her lap. Raith still wasn't entirely sure of Thera's intentions, but she could have eaten him long ago if she had intended to. For now, it seemed she was friendly. Raith had briefly entertained the idea of escaping into the forest again, but he knew Crisis wasn't the only giant out there waiting to eat him. Accepting Thera's hospitality offered the best chance of survival.

She had given him a brief explanation of the world, Felarya, and the nature of its inhabitants. The premise was simple enough: The big eat the small. There were no other rules in this place. Unfortunately, humans were counted among the small, usually ending their brief visit inside something's belly. Raith had experienced that first hand, and had cheated death by pure luck. He had no desire to try it again, luck was in short supply in this unforgiving land.

His self-proclaimed protector held different morals than most other predators. She regarded humans as another intelligent race, though they did just happen to make a good meal. Thera preferred to only eat people who were 'asking for it'. Adventurers, explorers, and treasure seekers, who had already considered the possibility of becoming snack food, were fair game. They left the safety of their protected cities of their own volition, and Thera didn't feel the slightest bit of guilt when she swallowed them alive.

Anybody else, who was not foolishly wandering through the jungle asking for trouble, Thera would try to help. If she found them. Most were eaten by less caring predators long before that happened. She also didn't attack villages. Something about crashing into someone's home and eating their family just didn't sit right with her. Raith had tried to question her further on her reasoning for this behavior, but Thera remained strangely tight-lipped about it. She had her reasons, but she clearly didn't feel like talking about them.

Thera herself claimed to be a hybrid sea naga, though was equally at home on land or in water. She had proudly displayed a long, green fin, which unfolded from an almost undetectable ridge running down most of the length of her tail. She fancied herself an adventurer, often roaming and exporing wherever she felt like going. She didn't consider any one place 'home', instead simply sleeping wherever she happened to get tired.

Her lengthy monologue went on for some time, but Raith had an important question on his mind.

"How did you turn into a human when I first saw you?"

"Illusion magic." Her response was immediate, happy that Raith had broached the subject. "I can do basic tricks like that. It's really just fooling your mind into thinking I had legs. I had my tail the whole time, but you couldn't see it. I can't do anything much more complicated than that, though. I could alter the perceptions of maybe four or five humans at once, but no more."

"What about your size? You mentioned fairies could do things like that. Do you have that power, too?" Thera had described fairies as crafty predators that used magic to change the relative size of themselves and their surroundings.

"Yes and no. The power isn't my own, but since fairies store their magic in their wings, I can harness that power by collecting those wings for myself." She reached up and touched a simple necklace, made from intricately carved bone. "The cord of this necklace is woven with fibers from those wings. The power is diminished, but it still allows me to adjust my own size from time to time. Useful in certain situations, but it also makes me bite-sized. There are plenty of predators that love to eat small nagas, and I prefer to keep my 'top of the food chain' status."

"How do you-" Raith began, but was interrupted.

At that very moment, a large, bright blue butterfly flitted between the trees. Thera struck like lightning. Her tail lashed out so fast that Raith's eyes were unable to track its movement. With a whiplike crack, Thera's tail snatched the fluttering creature out of the air. The butterfly shrieked in pain and surprise as its severed wings drifted lazily to the ground below. As Thera pulled it closer, Raith saw not an insect, but a young girl with bright blue hair.

---

Lyriss screamed as she was suddenly seized in a powerful grip. A sharp pain on her back told her that her wings were now useless, probably ripped off altogether. She was shocked that she had allowed something like this to happen. She had been too lax, reveling in her victory over that damned human, and had forgotten to assume a less conveniently edible size. Now, with her magic gone, she was helpless against her captor, who revealed herself to be a giant naga.

"Perfect timing! See, this is a fairy. Don't worry, she's harmless. I've already torn her wings off so she can't use magic anymore." The naga was casually talking to a nearby human.

"Let me go!" Lyriss already realized that wasn't going to work. She had heard many humans say those exact words to her, and she had eaten every one of them.

"Sorry, not gonna happen. Did I mention that fairies are my favorite? Quite a delicacy if I do say so myself, but they're so hard to find at the right size."

"You eat fairies!? You're a monster!" Lyriss couldn't stop her voice. She had heard herself being called a monster by those humans as well.

"Doesn't matter what you are, if you're the right size, I get to eat you. That's how life works in Felarya, or have you forgotten? And please, call me Thera."

Thera rested her head on her hands, dangling the bite-sized fairy over her mouth with just her tail. Something soft and slimy slithered up Lyriss's legs, gripping her with its powerful muscles. The naga's long, flexible tongue had wrapped itself around the the fairy's waist, and was dragging her down into a dark carnivorous pit.

"No, please don't-!"

Lyriss's last words were cut off as Thera closed her mouth. She held the fairy in her mouth a moment, her flavor soaking into the naga's taste buds. Delicious. She finally released her hold on the fairy, and gravity took over, pulling Lyriss to the back of the mouth. Thera swallowed, sending the wriggling wingless fairy to her doom.

Lyriss was pushed out into the empty cavern of the giant predator's stomach. She had never imagined she might be eaten. She was a fairy! One of Felarya's deadliest predators! To be consumed by a mere naga was unthinkable, humiliating. She heard a loud, watery sound from Thera's intestines, working on the liquid remains of the naga's previous meal. As if in response, Lyriss's belly emitted a wet gurgle of its own, reminding her of the miniaturized human who was, at this very moment, undergoing the same digestive process that Lyriss herself was soon to be subjected to. Unable to bear the shame and horror of having been caught and eaten due to a such a simple mistake, Lyriss curled up within her fleshy coffin, and cried.

---

Raith stood in mute shock at what he had just witnessed. Thera had talked about eating people, but actually seeing it happen was quite different. As he watched the squirming lump disappear into Thera's body, he was suddenly reminded of his own ordeal with Crisis. After a moment, he regained his ability to speak.

"You... ate her." Was all he could manage.

"Yes. And she would have done the same to you, without a second thought, if I hadn't gotten her first. If she wanted to live, she would have chosen to be either too small for me to notice, or too big for me to catch. It would have been easy for her, nothing but a thought. But, because she decided to wander up to me at just the right size, she became a viable part of my diet. This is the way of life on Felarya, you will need to get used to it, too, if you plan to survive."

Raith couldn't think of a proper response. She was right. This world was based on the principle of 'eat or be eaten', Thera was just doing what she had to do to survive. She needed food, and he had to accept the fact that beings his size were the most abundant source around here. At least Thera had the decency to only eat the ones that were voluntarily risking their lives anyways.

Thera took his silence as acceptance, however grim. "Good. As long as you understand, you'll be alright. Now, we should get some sleep, it'll be a big day for you tomorrow."

Raith sighed and lay down on his makeshift bed, the webbing between the spines of Thera's fin made for a suitable hammock. Raith quickly fell asleep, exhausted as he was from the long ordeal. He had been sucked into an unstable dimensional rift, fought strange creatures on an exotic planet, been eaten alive, run farther than he had in his entire life, and befriended a giant naga. Everything was going crazy, but it was only the beginning.

Tomorrow was a new day.

---


I hope I conveyed Thera's personality properly. I didn't want to reveal too much in one go, but I needed to at least establish her eating habits and philosophy on life in Felarya. She's generally a serious person, much like the naga equivalent of a seasoned adventurer. Which is exactly what she is.

Nice! I love your story! I can't wait for the next chapter!

A great chapter ! Once again you did a very nice job with the descriptions. I'm beginning to get quite hooked

Chapter 5

Topazial Sea - 25 Years Ago

"Should we really be out this far?"

The young mermaid had never been this far from the safety of home. The open sea was dangerous, especially for someone her size. She had barely begun to grow, still only twenty feet long, and would be easy prey for any big predators that might reside in these waters. She nervously tugged at her short light blue hair, a habit she had had nearly all her life. She was only out here because her best friend, a sea naga named Thera, claimed to have found something that Myrth 'absolutely had to see, no matter what'.

"Relax, Myrth, I've been out here plenty of times. Besides, this is still part of the reef, if anything happens Auntie will know about it."

The naga was the same age as Myrth, but was considerably larger, though most of that was just her tail. After her mother died, she was raised by Myrth's family, and had become like an older sister to the mermaid. Thera was the curious type, constantly out exploring or getting into trouble, and she occasionally took Myrth with her on these escapades. Myrth was always nervous on these little adventures, but she trusted her friend. After all, they had never run in to any real trouble during their little trips, and they never left the relative safety of the reef.

"But you know how I don't like being out in the open, it makes me nervous. Are we almost there?"

"Yep, it's just ahead!" Thera pointed as they rounded a large, rocky outcropping.

The dark opening of a cave appeared among the colorful coral and waves of seaweed. Myrth was relieved to see that it was far too small to be the lair of a large creature. Thera would be able to handle anything that might be living in there. She had seen the naga fight off a large shark before and come away without a scratch, an impressive feat considering her age. As they approached the entrance, a large number of silvery fish were startled by their presence. As the school darted by, making their escape, Myrth managed to suck down a mouthful, giggling as she enjoyed the snack.

"See, I told you there was no need to worry." Thera smiled, proud of her latest find. "Come inside, I'll show you what I was talking about."

Myrth followed cautiously, swimming deeper into the dark cave. Ahead, she could see nothing but black, but she knew Thera's excellent vision could pierce that darkness with ease. Myrth cried out as a rather large eel emerged from its burrow in the cave wall and snapped at her. The animal was smaller than the mermaid, but those sharp teeth could hurt if it got a good bite out of her. Thera was unfazed, seizing the slimy snakelike creature with one hand.

"You want it? They're pretty tasty." Thera was licking her lips at the prospect.

"No thanks, I just had some fish. Besides, he's too big for me to eat. I can't do that thingy where you make your jaw pop out."

"You mean this?" Thera casually unhinged her jaw, opening her mouth wide enough to admit the large eel.

Myrth watch with rapt attention as Thera swallowed the entire eel. It was somehow fascinating how her body was able to stretch to engulf such a large meal in a single bite. It was something Myrth couldn't imagine herself doing, but seemed to come naturally to Thera. Finished with her meal, she snapped her jaw back in place and patted her swollen belly, which shifted slightly from the struggling eel inside, and continued deeper into the cave, beckoning Myrth to follow.

The cave came to an end at a small, featureless room. It was dark, but Myrth was able to barely make out the coral formations around them. Thera's eyes, she knew, would see this place as bright as day, but she still couldn't tell what had her friend so interested in it.

"So what was it you wanted to show me?"

"Just wait, be still, you'll see."

They settled on a large rock at the bottom of the cave and waited, neither speaking a word. After a few minutes, Myrth saw quite clearly what Thera was talking about. She gasped in amazement as the seemingly empty walls around them sprang to life. The cave was suddenly aglow with a forest of luminescent anemones, the tips of their tentacles shining with light from within. Various reds and blues and greens blended together, shifting with the slight currents, like a flowing ocean of brilliant color. Myrth was mesmerized by the sight, her mouth agape with wonder.

"Beautiful, aren't they?" Thera giggled softly at Myrth's expression.

"I've never seen anything like it. How did you find this place?"

Thera gave her a mysterious grin. "Oh, I have my ways..."

The friends watched the soothing display for some time, until Myrth's stomach let out a hungry rumble.

Thera laughed. "Guess those fish weren't quite enough. Why don't we see if we can find some more?"

Myrth smiled. "Sounds great, Thera. We can come back here, right?"

"Anytime you want, it'll always be here. I'm the only one who knows about this place anyways. Well, I guess you know about it now, too."

"So it'll be a secret between the two of us?"

"I like that. A secret between the two of us."

---

Thera stretched as she woke from the calm dreams of her childhood. She smiled at the memory, wondering if that secret grotto had remained undisturbed after all these years, or if it had been found by another adventurous soul. Of course, Thera herself was far too big to fit in the small cave now, she would never be able to see its wonders again.

"Oh, you finally woke up. And I thought I liked to sleep in." Raith was sitting on a branch next to her. He must have been awake for some time.

"I have no reason to get up early. I sleep whenever I get tired and eat whenever I get hungry. That's really all there is to life out here. Speaking of being hungry, it's about time for breakfast. Ready to go?" Now fully awake, Thera lifted Raith up to her shoulder and lowered herself to the ground.

"What did you have in mind? Most of my supplies are missing. Probably lost them in all the chaos yesterday. At least my cigarettes made it. Do you mind if I smoke?"

"I don't really care, but don't do that if I'm not around. Predators will be able to smell it for miles, but they won't bother you if you're with me. I wouldn't make a habit of it though." Thera suddenly fell silent, her sensitive hearing picking up distant voices. "I think I hear breakfast. We'd better hurry or someone else will get to it first."

Following the sounds, Thera quickly came upon a small group of travelers. They were armed and obviously familiar with Felarya's dangers. Probably more foolish treasure hunters out to plunder what wasn't theirs. The five humans and one neko had already detected Thera's approach, she was far from a stealthy hunter in this forest. Water was her natural environment. Luckily, Thera had other skills to compensate for this.

"NAGA!" One of the humans yelled as Thera entered his line of sight.

The group started to ready their weapons, but Thera was too fast. Her tail snaked into their midst as if it had a mind of its own, quickly disarming them and pulling them into a tight embrace. In less than a second, the entire party was captured.

Thera smiled down at her captives. "Good morning! Off on another treasure hunt are we?"

"Let us go, you bitch!" The only intelligible response came from one of the humans, a woman. The rest were either screaming or silently struggling.

"Now, that's not a very nice thing for a lady to say. Normally, I'm willing to negotiate, but you just pissed me off." Thera plucked the woman from the bundle and popped her into her mouth, quickly swallowing to satiate her gnawing hunger.

Raith was silent on her shoulder. It seemed he was a fast learner, her lesson last night had stuck. She picked up one of the backpacks on the ground and handed it to him. "They've probably got some food in there. Help yourself, they won't be needing it."

One of the humans finally noticed Raith. "You would befriend a predator? She eats people!"

"You came into this wilderness already aware of the potential consequences. Do not expect pity from me."

Thera was pleasantly surprised to hear the words taken right out of her mouth, and spoken by Raith instead. She would make a Felaryan out of him yet. She took this as a cue to continue with her breakfast in spite of the protests of her prey. Now that her hunger was lessened by having food in her stomach, she could take the time to savor the rest.

Raith sat comfortably on her shoulder, eating something he had found among the travelers' belongings. He didn't seem to be the least bit put off by her eating people in front of him. Thera swallowed her hapless victims one at a time, thoroughly tasting each one, until only two remained. The human woman and the catgirl clung to each other, sobbing.

"Awww, you got to them first..." The disappointed sounding voice came from a certain blond-haired naga who had just arrived on the scene.

Thera laughed, "Morning, Crisis. You want these two? I've already had four, and I'm quite full."

"Oh, may I? Nekos are my favorite, you know!" Crisis was positively ecstatic.

"Help yourself, I was just about to let them go anyways." Thera released her grip on the prisoners, letting them fall to the ground.

Crisis instantly grabbed them up, tossing the human into her mouth without pause. She rolled the woman around her mouth for a few seconds before swallowing. She giggled as the squirming lump passed down her throat and vanished behind her collarbone.

"She wriggled a lot. It kinda tickles!"

Thera couldn't help but steal a glance at Crisis's ample bust. Thera's own assets were rather small by comparison, and it annoyed her to no end. What did she eat to get this big? Life was just unfair. Luckily, Crisis didn't notice the envious stare, as she was concentrating on her neko.

Crisis dangled the wailing catgirl over her open mouth, and slowly lowered her in, slurping up the flavor with obvious delight. The wailing was cut off when Crisis closed her mouth, but she didn't swallow. Instead, she turned her attention to the remaining human, Raith. Thera noticed he was on his guard, but did not show any apparent signs of fear.

"Ah! Fore thga ekauh esphadei!" Crisis's words, spoken around the thrashing neko, were incomprehensible.

"Erm... What?" Raith's reply was expected, given the gibberish Crisis had just spouted.

Looking slightly annoyed that she would have to finish her snack before she could speak properly, Crisis swallowed the neko, and the flailing catgirl joined her companion in the naga's stomach. She let out a small burp, and tried again.

"I said 'You're the guy I caught yesterday!'"

"Yes, that is correct. You also ate me!" Raith reminded her with scorn.

"Yep! You were tasty, too! But then you did something in my tummy, and it really hurt! So I spat you out."

"So he really did escape. It's rare for you to let someone go, Crisis." Thera crossed her arms and looked at Crisis as if asking her to emphasize. "He must have hit you pretty hard to make you cough him up."

"He did! It was like that time you hit me with your tail for trying to eat those humans!" Crisis winced and rubbed her belly as she was reminded of the pain.

Thera smirked at Crisis's reaction. "Well, you want him? I was saving him for you."

"WHAT?!" Raith almost fell off of her shoulder in shock.

But Thera couldn't keep a straight face, and burst out laughing. "Sorry, I couldn't help it! Even I have a sense of humor."

"It's not funny!" Raith scowled. "What if she had really eaten me? Again?"

"Don't worry about that," Crisis joined in, "I don't want you giving me another tummyache. Once was enough!"

"Well, it's good to know I'm safe from your appetite for the time being."

"Yep! You're Thera's now, so you two go have fun! I'm gonna go hunt, just two aren't enough for me. I'm sill hungry!" Crisis waved and slithered away without a sound.

Thera finally suppressed her laughter enough to form speech once again. "Well, we had a good breakfast, so now it's time to get to business."

Raith sighed, still annoyed at Thera's 'joke'. "What's the plan now?"

"We'll go see one of my friends. I'll have to all in a favor, but she'll help us."

"You would call in a favor on my behalf? I get the feeling you don't do that for any normal human." Raith voiced his suspicion.

Thera though for a moment. "There's something different about you, I can't quite figure it out. I just get this feeling that you're more important than I thought."

"So who is this friend we're going to see?" Raith was apprehensive about meeting more giants that might want to eat him.

"Her name's Anna. Don't worry, she doesn't eat humans, though she is a bit grumpy sometimes. She's an engineer, so she's good with that human technology stuff. Apparently she used to be a human herself, but she's a naga now. No idea how that happens, but I suppose I've seen stranger things in Felarya."

"So you think she might be able to help me establish contact with Avalon?"

"Maybe. Oh, and one more thing." Thera pointed at the cigarette Raith had just started smoking. "Make sure you put that out before we get there."

---

Zero visibility.

Even Jen's sensors couldn't pick up much through the dense mist covering the valley. She was near her limit, simply navigating this fog required her to activate several powers that were slowly draining her consciousness. She had to find a way out before she lost control. There was one thing that gave her hope.

She had located Raith's beacon.

Communication was still impossible, and it would take her several days to reach his location, so she could only hope he wouldn't move away during that time. Right now, her concern was getting to the other side of this impenetrable mist. A fluttering sound echoed around her, mixed with what might have been laughter. The thick atmosphere distorted the sound, making it seem to flow from everywhere at once.

Jen steeled herself, ready to battle an unseen enemy. Her opponent showed herself soon enough, a giant hand swooped out of the mist, grabbing Jen before she could move. The ground rapidly fell away, replaced by swirling white. The hand lifted Jen above the top of the mist, offering her a clear view of her rival. It was a fairy, her skin and hair pure white like the mist below. She giggled and tosses Jen into her mouth. But Jen was prepared for this.

She allowed herself to be thrown to the back of the fairy's mouth, then struck with inhuman speed and precision. A blade flashed from seemingly nowhere as she kicked off of the back of the fairy's teeth. She spun through the creature's throat, her blade cutting a lethal arc through its throat from the inside. The severed carotid artery gushed blood as the fairy let out a gurgling scream... and evaporated.

Jen was momentarily confused. The target had disintegrated into nothing. As she fell, another fairy swooped up from the mist below, identical to the one she had just killed.

Duplication magic.

These were not mere illusions, but tangible clones created from the mist itself. Each one was as deadly as the fairy that spawned them. The one below her opened its mouth to swallow her in midair. Jen twisted her body, altering her trajectory, and managed to miss the mouth by inches. Instead, she bounced over the cheek and fell behind the fairy's back.

She spun in the air, taking careful aim, and fire a grapple into the soft flesh at the predator's shoulder. The hook pierced the fairy's skin and hooked into the underlying muscle, eliciting a cry of pain. The cable stopped Jen's descent inches from the ground and snapped taut, ripping through the fairy's wings in the process. The wingless duplicate vanished just like that last one.

Jen knew she wouldn't be able to escape this time. The magical fog had rendered her more delicate abilities useless. There was no other course of action but to eliminate her assailant by any means necessary.

Her eyes burned with resolve as she unfastened the belts holding her sleeve in place, but that emotion vanished when she pulled the protective cloth away. Now exposed to the charged mist in the air, the power in her arm increased by a full order of magnitude. The power surged through her body, and she lost control. The whispers in her mind exploded into painful screams and maniacal laughter. The dark entity forced its way to the forefront of her mind, and a sinister laugh came unbidden to her lips. A laugh that was not her own.

"Ehehehe... Ahahaa... AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!!"

Jen's vision blurred to red. The battle had begun.

---

Chapter 6

"So why the sudden change of heart?" Thera's sudden question caught Raith off guard.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, last night you didn't seem too taken with the though of me eating humans, but this morning you weren't concerned at all. You even told them off for me!"

"I adapted, that's all. I'm a member of an organization that travels to thousands of other worlds regularly. I have to be prepared to encounter and deal with situations like that. To be honest, I'm pretty slow about it, it took me almost a whole day to get over the shock and adjust." Raith left unsaid that he had personally witnessed the atrocities of interdimensional warfare, and that he had seen people die deaths that made 'digested alive' seem mild or even pleasant by comparison. Many of those deaths were on his own hands.

"It only took you a day to get used to the Felaryan lifestyle, and that's considered slow? This 'organization' of yours must be full of some very..." Thera thought for a moment to come up with the right word "...unique people."

"I'm actually rather low in the hierarchy myself. Avalon scours entire universes with the specific intent of finding and recruiting exceptional individuals. Each dimension may only yield two or three persons of interest, but they will always be among the most powerful and skilled beings in that world. I'm just a particularly powerful telekinesis user, the Sentinels that rank above me can put my abilities to shame."

"Like this 'Jen' you mentioned?"

"Jen outclasses me in every way, by far. I've never seen her abilities for myself, but if half of the rumors I've heard are true, she wouldn't have much trouble vaporizing any giant predator that made the mistake of trying to eat her."

"You still need to find her, right? Having any luck with your little communicator gadget?" Thera pointed to Raith's PRD, which was already becoming visibly battered and worn.

"No good, it's not working. I think some of Crisis's stomach acid must have eaten through the seals and damaged some internal components. These things are actually quite fragile on the inside." The outside of the device showed signs of chemical corrosion to support this theory.

"Maybe Anna can fix it. We'll have her take a look when we get to her. But, what do you plan to do if she can't help?"

"Actually, I was thinking I'd just stay with you for a while, if you don't mind. I've never really cared much for these boring routine missions, so a bit of adventure would be quite a nice vacation for me right now." Raith smiled. It would piss Jen off, but that wasn't anything new.

"A sense of adventure? I'm beginning to like you more and more. I don't mind bringing you along, but I do tend to take to the water quite often. If you want to stick around we'll have to work something out for that."

"I can be resourceful when I need to be. I'm sure we can find a way around such a minor obstacle."

"And what about your partner?"

"I'm not concerned, Jen can take care of herself."

---

The world was gone. No sight. No sound. All of Jen's senses were blacked out under the overbearing presence of the entity. It had overwhelmed her, forcing her consciousness into the deepest corners of her mind. She had never felt it this strongly. It was absorbing power from the environment. The base energy of the world itself, amplified by the concentrated magic held in the surrounding mist, had driven it into a frenzy. It had gone beyond simply canceling her emotions. It had reversed them.

Normally, Jen hated fighting. She despised killing. But now, something else was entirely in command. She could feel its elation at the carnage it wrought. It had taken complete control, and she could no longer fight it back. There was no choice but to allow this to run its course. It would destroy anything it perceived as a threat, then it would leave her mind, perhaps out of boredom with nothing left to kill. Jen would have to deal with the aftermath herself.

Held captive by a storm of power within her own mind, Jen could only wait. She knew it would be over soon, though she had no perception of time. She felt only joy, born from actions that were anything but joyous. This emotion was not her own, but forced upon her by the monster she harbored. The monster she hated, yet could not live without.

A sudden burst of pleasure rushed through her, and the beast began to recede, its lust for battle satiated. Its objective had been accomplished. There could be no doubt, something outside had just died a terrible death. Though she had no control, it was still her body that had comitted the deed. She had made the decision that had granted that monster authority, and so the blood would still be on her hands.

The red mask was lifted, and Jen found herself in the middle of a catastrophe. Her clearing vision revealed a destroyed landscape. The mist had been boiled away. The ground was scorched to glass. The thick scent of fresh blood and charred flesh mingled in the air. This was what remained of a battlefield after she had unleashed her full potential.

Her muscles ached, a testament to the battle she had been forced to endure, yet prevented from witnessing. In a way, she was thankful she hadn't been able to see it. Experiencing the end result was hard enough. A partially burnt dragonfly wing caught her eye. The fairy was dead and, judging by the condition of the environment, there probably wasn't even a body left. Just a single smoldering wing, fluttering lightly in the breeze, was all that remained of what once was a life.

Jen had to fight back the tears as her emotions returned in full force. Nobody should have to die like that, yet she had already condemned countless people to that cruel fate. She bit her lip, stifling the pain that such scenes always brought to her heart. She had to continue, mourning the dead would serve no purpose. She pulled her sleeve back into place, sealing the unnatural appendage, and moved to escape the evidence of what she had done.

---

"AAAAAAUUUUGGHH!!!" A thunderous scream of rage echoed through the forest. Frightened birds, as well as a few harpies, took flight for some miles from the giant tree.

Anna Demorah was not happy. It had been a normal morning until Thera had shown up with her new human friend and asked her to take a look at a some interesting piece of technology. The thing seemed to be broken, but fixing such things was Anna's life's work! She had agreed to see if the gadget could be repaired, but the infernal little device had exploded the instant she managed to remove the casing. Her entire workstation was now ablaze, ruining several other projects in the process!

Raith watched the scene unfold with apprehension. He was glad to be occupying a tree branch well out of reach of the irate naga. He hadn't expected the PRD to blow up either. Perhaps it had been built with a self-destruct mechanism in place in case of such tampering, but he had never hear of it. Of course, he never bothered himself with such details to begin with.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT THING, THERA?!" Anna was trembling with barely-restrained fury.

"Hey, I didn't know that would happen either! Gimme a sec and I'll put this out!" Thera was frantically rummaging through a small backpack while Anna's fist threatened violence.

Luckily, Thera managed to find what she was looking for before Anna decided to strangle her. She pulled a translucent gem out of the pack, and held it out to the inferno. Anna's workspace was extinguished, the fire was sucked into the crystal and caused it to glow bright orange and red, as though the flames were trapped inside it.

Anna turned to her table, fearing the worst, and surveyed the damage. Aside from a large burn where the device had detonated, the damage was surprisingly less than expected. Almost everything could be repaired easily, except for the PRD, which had been reduced to slag. Anna sighed with relief before turning back to Thera.

"Next time you bring me something... MAKE SURE IT ISN'T GOING TO BLOW UP!" She huffed and glared to get the point across.

It took Thera some time to get Anna to cool off, during which Raith silently observed the pair. Having two of the giant nagas side by side allowed him to more adequately gauge Thera's size, assuming Anna was average by this world's standards. By comparison, Thera's human portion was about the same, but her tail was radically different. It lay coiled around the small clearing, nearly half again as long as Anna's. This caused Thera to 'stand' a bit higher in the end. Raith supposed it was similar to a human with longer legs.

He estimated her total length at about 350 feet. Her scales were mostly a glossy jet black, interrupted by small streams of dark green. Underwater, these green streaks would be easily mistaken for strands of seaweed, making a very effective camoflage. Thinking about seaweed made Raith realize this was exactly what her shirt was made out of. An ingenious use of material, the right type would be equally useful on land or at sea. There was no sign of the skirt she had worn when he first met her 'human' form. Though she covered her chest, Thera seemed unconcerned with covering her lower body for some reason.

Raith noticed her tail was much thinner than Anna's, though retained the same height. Such a design marked her as an aquatic species, the shape would improve her hydrodynamics as well as grant increased surface area to push forward with. The fin was probably more for stabilization and maneuverability than propulsion. She still had light gray belly scales, a trait normally seen on the land variety, so she was clearly amphibious. Raith realized he was reviewing old biology lessons in his head and forced himself to stop.

He turned back to the book he had been reading, a journal Thera had written detailing the various things she had encountered in her years of traveling. It was quite a fascinating compilation of information about Felarya, complete with descriptions of the world's varied races, assortment flora and fauna, and even intricate maps. The tome was a veritable encyclopedia for anything one might want to know about this place and its inhabitants. As he read, he was dimly aware of Thera and Anna still arguing about something, but he was to absorbed in the book to care. Felarya was indeed an amazing place, and he yearned to know more.

"Learned anything interesting?" Raith jumped, the sudden voice startling him out of his reading.

"Don't sneak up on me like that, Thera. You'll give me heart problems." He took a deep breath to settle his nerves.

Thera leaned her hand on her hip and raised an eyebrow. "I was hardly 'sneaking' as you say." She pointed an accusatory finger. "You're the one who needs to be more alert. At this rate it won't be long before you get picked off by a harpy. Anyways I made a deal with Anna, so to keep up with my end we're off to catch some duikers. It's about time for lunch anyways."

Anna seemed to be working on something, grumbling under her breath the whole time, and Raith couldn't quite make out what she was saying.

"I heard that!" Thera's ears were sharper.

Anna shot back a glare filled with hostile intent more threatening than any mere words.

Thera smiled nervously. "Well, let's get going. You don't want to be here alone when Crisis gets back."

"Good point." Raith climbed aboard her shoulder and the two set off into the jungle in search of prey.

---

The oppressive mist finally cleared, but Jen had more issues than visibility right now. Raith's PRD had broadcast and emergency destruct signal, and gone dead. The destruction system was to prevent tampering in case the device fell into enemy hands, but Raith wasn't likely to know that. He never read the manual.

Jen silently cursed his decadence and hoped that he at least wasn't killed in the detonation. She now had no way to track his position, so she would have to locate him by another means.

But first she would have to find his last known location. She knew the coordinates of the PRD's destruction signal, so that would be the best place to start.

From her new vantage point on the side of a mountain, she surveyed the landscape. Far in the distance stood a colossal tree, probably as big as the mountain she was standing upon. The signal had come from the base of that immense tree.

Her new destination set, Jen dropped into the jungle and resumed her inexorable march. If there was any chance that Raith was still alive, she would find him. Jen didn't leave comrades behind.

---

They hadn't gone far before Thera sensed something. Not by sight or sound or smell, but something strange altogether. It was a very familiar feeling, yet it was oddly out of place, absent the normal event that would have caused it. Thera stopped, confused by the sensation.

"What's wrong?" Raith noticed her uncertainty.

"Something just landed in my stomach."

"IN your stomach? Like you swallowed something?"

"Sort of. Except I didn't swallow anything. It's as if something just... appeared." Thera was poking her belly, perplexed by the unusual occurrence. "Like my stomach was empty, but now, for no apparent reason, it is not. And whatever it is, is moving."

"You sure you didn't yawn and accidentally swallow a bird?" Raith chuckled.

Thera ignored him. Were Crisis in this position, she would simply be happy with her luck and go about her day. Thera was curious. She tensed her abdominal muscles, and felt the foreign object forced out of her stomach. A bulge traveled up her throat and she spat the mysterious thing into her hand.

A soggy, disoriented woman was revealed, her clothes and skin pockmarked with acid burns. Her brown hair was matted with saliva and mucus from her recent occupation of Thera's upper digestive system. Thera gently set the woman on the ground, and Raith hopped down next to her. Both of them were dumbfounded. This was not one of the travelers from this morning. They should be long digested by now. How Thera's stomach could have suddenly spawned this woman was beyond their comprehension.

"Ummm... Are you alright?" Raith wasn't sure how to address the new arrival.

The woman looked up, brushing hair and slime away from her eyes, and looked up. "Thera. How nice to see you again."

A spark of familiarity grew in Thera's mind. She new this woman from somewhere!

The woman turned to Raith. "So it looks like you're one of Thera's friends, huh?"

Raith was still befuddled. "Um... Yeah, I guess... My name's Raith." He hesitantly extended his hand in greeting. She reach out and shook it, her smile showing no small amount of relief.

"Nice to meet you, Raith. I'm Marlissa."

---

And here I thought Marlissa was dead! Ha! I wonder who'll come back from the dead next...

Given the time lapse, I'd assumed Marlissa had been... well, liquified. She's an interesting character, though, so I can't say I'm disappointed to see her again.

In general, overpowered characters set off alarm bells in my mind, but you handled Jen's situation extremely well indeed. Well written, and well conceived!

With her heading for the Giant Tree, I'm more worried for Crisis than I am for her...

Just caught up with this and I enjoyed it very much! I like Thera as a character, especially touches like using fairy-wings for their magic.

Been a long time since my last update, but don't worry, I'm not dead.


Chapter 7

Lyriss's stomach - 12 hours ago

This was the end. Marlissa was dead. She had only to wait for it. It would be a slow end by digestion, unless her air ran out first. Of course, suffocation would be preferable, but it wasn't likely to happen judging from the sounds of the fairy's digestive system kicking into gear.

She hung her head, lost in thoughts of the perils she had survived, and the wonders she had seen. Such wonders would never again grace her sight. No matter how long one lived, it always seemed all too short, especially if it ended ike this.

And who would mourn her death? She had treated all of her companions as expendable. Most of them had ended up eaten in the end, usually as a direct consequence of Marlissa's actions. The tactic had netted her a great deal of treasure, but very few friends.

Friends...

At that though, Marlissa's head snapped up with sudden realization.

Jonas...

"No. I will not give up. I still have a chance."

She rifled through her pockets, quickly finding the item she sought. She flicked the long, slender cylinder against her knee, and the fleshy cavern was suddenly lit by a soft green glow. She unzipped a pouch at her hip, hoping that the object she sought was still present.

Seconds later, she sighed with relief as she pulled out a small metallic sphere. The object of her liberation was small enough to hold in the palm of her hand. The simple orb was divided evenly in half with a small button on its side. Marlissa chuckled to herself as she recalled the crazy hermit's instructions for using the device.

Just push the button, and never, ever point it at yourself!

She took a breath to ready herself for the unknown, but time was short. The glowstick has already begun to melt and its light was fading rapidly. Marlissa had to act now or her fate would be the same. She pointed the sphere's button toward herself, a direct violation of the instructions, and pressed it.

The ball split open, releasing a surge of energy from the tiny cavity inside. The contained spell washed over Marlissa, enveloping her body, and the retreated back into the sphere. Marlissa felt herself yanked forward into an impossibly cramped, yet surprising comfortable space. The ball snapped shut, its task completed in less than a second.

Trapped inside, Marlissa marvelled for a moment at the spell's ability to compress a living thing into less than one cubic inch of space, but have it remain unharmed. Of course it was meant for capturing biological specimens, and wasn't designed to entrap its user. As only Marlissa would be able to open it, and she would need to be outside to do so, she was now stuck until the power supply ran out. That would take nearly twelve hours.

"well, nothing to do now but wait... Might as well take a nap." Marlissa muttered to herself. The spell would keep her alive until the low-power failsafe ejected her, hopefully into a more hospitable environment than a stomach.

Just as she had this though, however, the sphere abruptly snapped open again, and Marlissa found herself violently jettisoned from its confines. She landed on her back with a splat, the warm, moist stomach happily accepting her presence.

"Dammit!" She shouted, slamming her fist into the fleshy wall, "That was supposed to work!"

Marlissa was about to sink into a renewed depression when she made a realization. There was no light. When she had activated the device, the remains of the glow stick had still lit the cavern. There was no trace of that now. How much time had passed? It was possible that the spell altered her perception of time while she was trapped, and that twelve hours had passed in a blink. If that were the case, why was she still here?

Her thoughts were interrupted as the stomach began heaving beneath her. Marlissa felt herself thrown about for a moment, then suddenly forced upwards through an opening. After a short, slimy trip, she was dumped into fresh air and blinding sunlight.

As her eyes adjusted, Marlissa faintly heard someone speaking nearby. She brushed her slimy hair away from her face and looked up at her unwitting savior. She barely suppressed a laugh as a familiar face swam into focus.

"Thera. How nice to see you again."

---

Thera and Raith stood speechless. Marlissa's story was ridiculous. Of course it was hard to imagine that any events resulting in the current situation could be any less improbable, so they decided to go along with it.

"So that means that the fairy I ate last night...?"

"Must have been the one that ate me, yes."

"And so you've been inside me all day and I haven't known?"

"Looks that way. Lucky for you this Jonas seems to design his creations to be quite resistant to being digested. That's probably a necessity in this world." Raith surmised.

Marlissa turned her attention to Raith. "So who are you? A lucky traveller? An unlucky citizen of another world? Or perhaps you're like me and made a deal with a predator? Thera hangs out with so many strange people it's hard to tell."

"I think I would fall into the 'lucky traveller' category. I came here from another world and we just happened to run into each other. What about you? Striking deals with man-eating predators seems like dangerous work."

"Only dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. Speaking of which, I believe Thera and I are still under contract."

"No, we're not. Our deal was that I would cooperate with you for the rest of the day. Our 'contract' ended at midnight."

"Your memory is flawed, then. Our deal was for you to help me for an entire day. Twenty-four hours. It persists until sunset today."

Thera scowled. The infernal woman was telling the truth. Thera's honor demanded that she keep her part of the bargain. She sighed heavily. "Fine then. What do you need me to help you with now?"

"Nothing much. Just a trip to Ur-Sagol. I recognize this area, the city isn't far. Take me there and I'll call us even."

"Ur-Sagol is just a ruin right?" Raith asked "What could you possibly want to go there for?"

"There are many reasons one such as myself would go there, none of which I feel inclined to share with you. You will take me there."

Thera huffed. "Very well, we have a deal after all... I'll take you to Ur-Sagol. It's not far out of our way anyways. Let's get moving." She held out her hand for the two humans to climb up.

Once Raith and Marlissa were comfortably seated, Thera started off through the forest.

"So what sort of agreement do you two have?" Raith inquired.

"She was raiding a temple and I promised my assistance in exchange for any magical artifacts found." Thera answered.

"She also conveniently ate my companions so I got all the loot." Marlissa helpfully chipped in, inciting a menacing glare from Thera.

"They knew what they were getting themselves into. You'll get the same treatment if we meet after today, you know." Thera growled.

"Ha! I'll just have another deal written up. You know you can't resist the call of magical trinkets."

"Don't be so sure. You're starting to get quite annoying and I may just eat you anyways and be done with it."

"You wouldn't. It would upset your new friend."

"You shouldn't put too much faith in that." Raith joined the discussion. "You're the kind of person who already knows you'll meet your end by being eaten."

"I've already been eaten once. Didn't affect me much."

"Your words are brave, but your eyes tell a different story. You have the look of someone who has been forced to face their own mortality. I've been in that position before, I know how it feels."

Marlissa's smile faded at Raith's words. He had made an irrefutable point, and everyone knew it. For a while, the group fell into silence.

"We're here." Thera announced as she slithered out of the forest. Ahead stood the crumbling, yet still imposing ruins of Ur-Sagol.

"Stop here. I'll walk the rest of the way."

"Don't want me to know the location of your secret base, eh?"

"If that's what you want to believe. It's probably best for both of us if we never meet again. Goodbye." After a blunt farewell, Marlissa marched off into the ruins and out of sight.

"Well, she certainly was pleasant." Raith quipped.

"She's surviving on her own out here. Being pleasant isn't really a priority for her. Let's go, we've still got work to do."

---

Not far away, near the outskirts of Ur-Sagol, a small slug girl was going about her day. Her name was Loren. Her long green hair flowed down her back all the way to her bright turquoise tail, gently swaying with her movements as she searched for her midday meal.

As a smaller species, she was in constant danger of becoming someone else's snack, but her exceedingly good luck had allowed her to survive for quite a while. And it was certainly luck that had helped her because, let's face it, Loren wasn't exactly the most observant creature on the planet.

As she sleepily drifted through the forest, taking no particular path as was her custom, she was suddenly stopped by a high pitched squeak beneath her. Perplexed by the sound, she backed up slightly to find a neera stuck to her belly. The poor thing must have stumbled into her path.

"Must be my lucky day!" Loren smiled and quickly gulped down the neera, ignoring its pleading cries. She was oblivious to the fact that this kind of thing seemed to happen to her all the time.

Such was the life of one very strange slug girl. Slow-witted, gullible, and inexplicably very, very lucky. So lucky, in fact that she had just happened to tread directly on top of an entire nest of neera while not paying attention.

She gasped with glee and tore into the nest with reckless abandon. Neera shrieked and scattered everywhere, many straight into Loren's extra-sticky slime trail. A couple of them even blundered directly into Loren, who wasted no time in stuffing herself.

So intent was she on her meal that she failed to notice the immense shadow that fell over her. Her attention completely diverted from the imminent danger, she happily continued with her lunch.

It wasn't until a giant hand closed around her tail and hoisted her into the air that she realized her predicament. Startled, she dropped a handful of neera and began flailing about in a panic.

"AAAAAAH!! NONONO! PLEASEDONTEATMEEEEEE!" She screamed as her arms thrashed uselessly against empty air.

She caught a glimpse of her captor, and of a long scaly tail. A naga! She had heard stories of a horrible naga that preyed on slug girls! She had never believed it, but it surely must be true! If only she had listened to those warnings!

The horrid beast laughed at it's latest catch, a terrifying sound to the helpless slug girl. Its evil lips curled into a wicked smile. Any second now those lips would part, and that would be the last thing she would see in this world.

"Oh, Loren, will you ever learn?"

"Huh?" Loren went still, confused. The naga's face looked somehow familiar. "D-Do I know you?"

The naga laughed again. It was somewhat less terrifying this time. "What, you don't recognize me?"

Loren had a sudden realization. "Thera!? Is that you? Why are you upside down? Wait... I'm upside down! Wa-Wa-Wa-Why am I upside down?!!"

Loren's renewed panic had Thera clutching her sides in laughter. "Calm down, girl! This only the about the twentieth time I've done this to you."

Thera carefully placed the slug girl on her forearm, where Loren quickly adhered herself.

"You're so mean, playing pranks on an innocent girl like that..." Loren pouted.

"It's good for you. I'm trying to teach you to pay attention to your surroundings. That guardian angel of yours will only get you so far."

"Angel? What do you mean? I've never met any angels..."

Thera sighed. "Nevermind... Loren, this is Raith. Raith, Loren. We've known each other for a few years now."

'Have you two always been like this?"

Thera leaned close and whispered so Loren couldn't hear. "Yep. Loren's funny. I do this all the time, but she hasn't wised up to it yet. I keep worrying that her absent-mindedness will get her killed, but I swear she must have a guardian watching over her."

"Hey! Quit whispering about me over there! It's not nice to talk about people behind their back!"

"Ok, ok, sorry. Listen, I was hoping you could help us out with something."

"Help? But what about my lunch?"

Thera poked Loren's already plump belly. "You've had plenty already. You don't need to get fat."

"Ooh... wow..." Loren look at her stomach as if just realizing how full it was. "I guess you're right! I'll help. What are we doing? Is it fun?"

---

Nice to see this going again.

I won't bother to comment on how Marlissa survived the stomach acids - it seems far too familiar... XD

It's great to see your story continue

I didn't expected Marlissa to survive but it made sense ^_^
She's an interesting character. Mean, twisted, but also the survivor type. I loved also that idea of an extra lucky character. Certainly a great asset to have in Felarya XD

Marlissa's survival just shows that it's not necessarily the moral characters who survive in Felarya: it's the smart ones. That was a very clever trick she thought of - and a good idea on your part, of course. I'd never seen anything like that before.

She was lucky, though, that the sphere stayed into Thera's stomach, rather than pass on to her intestine. Being ejected from the sphere into a giant naga's small (or possibly large) intestine would have been... problematic, to say the least.

I like Loren already. A clueless, confused slug girl who survives through blind luck... I hope we see quite a bit more of her.

Wow, nice to see this up and running again. I thought it was hilarious how Loren didn't realize how much she had eaten without Thera bringing it up. Anyways, good job and I hope to see more of this soon.

I love this story! I really would like to see how Jen fairs when she arrives... I predict that Crisis will be there willing to "welcome" this newcomer.

Telekinesis, eh? that's actually rather interesting considering that one of my characters that I have created is a Telepsycho (both telepathic and telekinetic). I haven't written any stories about him in Felarya yet but the ideas are there. (though his powers are more like the Phoenix in x-men in the levitation power than Raith's power blasts)

But yeah I can't wait to read more

Quote :

Seconds later, she sighed with relief as she pulled out a small metallic sphere. The object of her liberation was small enough to hold in the palm of her hand. The simple orb was divided evenly in half with a small button on its side. Marlissa chuckled to herself as she recalled the crazy hermit's instructions for using the device.

Just push the button, and never, ever point it at yourself!

She took a breath to ready herself for the unknown, but time was short. The glowstick has already begun to melt and its light was fading rapidly. Marlissa had to act now or her fate would be the same. She pointed the sphere's button toward herself, a direct violation of the instructions, and pressed it.

The ball split open, releasing a surge of energy from the tiny cavity inside. The contained spell washed over Marlissa, enveloping her body, and the retreated back into the sphere. Marlissa felt herself yanked forward into an impossibly cramped, yet surprising comfortable space. The ball snapped shut, its task completed in less than a second.

Trapped inside, Marlissa marvelled for a moment at the spell's ability to compress a living thing into less than one cubic inch of space, but have it remain unharmed. Of course it was meant for capturing biological specimens, and wasn't designed to entrap its user. As only Marlissa would be able to open it, and she would need to be outside to do so, she was now stuck until the power supply ran out. That would take nearly twelve hours.

Pokeball?!?