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Cursed Cravings, Chapter 18: Kill the Beast

In which Danny leads the mob to the home of a giant. Contains: 3.4k words | Chapter 1 | Read this story on A03!

For a man as loathsome and disgusting as Cyrus—at least, in Danny's eyes—it was surprisingly easy for him to get people on his side.

Cyrus left Nathan, Danny, and all the preparations for the trip ahead in the hands of the cronies he’d brought with him. Meanwhile, he left with only a couple of them and came back less than an hour later with what seemed to be most of the town's capable men and a few audacious women besides, armed with anything and everything from torches to axes to fireplace pokers, all shouting along behind Cyrus. There had to have been at least a hundred—maybe more.

“We can't have a monster threaten the village!”

“No one is safe!”

“Not until it's dead!”

Cyrus looked so incredibly pleased with himself as he walked on ahead of the crowd towards Danny, who had her hands tied behind her back as she sat in front of Max on the horse that she'd borrowed from Christopher. Maria whinnied nervously as the man approached, kicking up her hooves—though it seemed that she had submitted to complacency since Danny had gotten astride her. 

“It's such a comfort to know that I have the support of our village in this endeavor,” he sneered. “Who knew years of public relations would pay off like this?” 

Danny glared back at him. “We had a donkey that was just as loud as you, and still, somehow, less of an ass.” 

Cyrus shook his head as if he truly felt pity for Danny. “Such a shame what that monster did to your mind. Making you resent your savior like this.” 

It wasn't even a good act. Cyrus didn't believe a word he said about mind control. 

“What's this really about, Cyrus?” Danny snapped. “I know you. You're not some fucking hero. What exactly do you hope to gain from killing Christopher?” 

He couldn't, right? There's no way. Sam can stop them. Christopher could literally crush Cyrus under his foot. He doesn't stand a chance.

Cyrus's smile twitched, and his beady eyes darkened. “A world with one less man-eating giant in it.” 

Danny wanted to scream. “Even if there was a giant, you wouldn’t stand a fucking chance. How the hell did you convince these people they could take down a giant?” 

Cyrus leaned in close enough for her to smell the putrid scent of cigars on his breath. “I didn’t,” he sneered. “Turns out the threat of a magical, mind-controlling monster is enough to rile everyone up.” 

He only laughed loudly as he turned to walk away. Danny screamed in frustration, which prompted Max to throw one of his elbows into her side. “Shut up, bitch. You'd better cooperate, unless you want your friend to die in the cold.” 

There were times that anger could be useful, or at least, felt useful. When she'd had nothing to do but pace around a gilded cage, alone, anger had felt good. Even if it had been pointless, it made her feel like she was still fighting back, like she was doing something instead of just rolling over and giving up.

Her anger wouldn't do anything here—not when Nathan's life was on the line. Any risk she took would be a risk for Nathan, and any detour or distraction would only prolong the bitter cold he'd have to endure. And she had no doubt at all that Cyrus wouldn't hesitate to hurt him further, if she didn't comply.

It tasted like bile to swallow her anger now, but she did. She took a deep breath, stared straight ahead, and imagined herself strangling Max. She played over and over in her head the many different ways she could hurt him, and Cyrus, and every one of the people he'd brought with him. 

“Lead the way, Danny,” came Cyrus's arrogant voice from behind her. She tried to look to the side to see if she could get a glimpse of Nathan, but Max gave her a subtle, but still painful shove.

“Get moving,” he hissed.

First, I'll put my hands around his neck and squeeze until his face turns blue. She gestured towards the woods with her head, since her hands were still tied. “That way. Down the path.” Then I'll punch him right in the gut, right where it hurts. After that—

* * * * * * * * * *

Danny hoped that they would get as lost as Christopher seemed to think they would without the mirror—which she had managed to keep with her during all the commotion, though she kept it hidden beneath her dress. Maybe there was some sort of illusion Sam could pull off to hide the mansion from view, or turn them all around in the woods.

She had little choice but to lead Cyrus and his now much larger mob of people down the path she'd taken to Christopher's residence. To her dismay, the huge mansion came into view, with its dark spires rising up into the gray sky above.

“This is the place,” she snarled as they approached the iron gate that led to the mansion’s grounds. 

Max pulled the reins on Maria to stop her in her tracks, and the rest of the mob behind followed suit. Cyrus hopped off his own horse and sauntered up to the huge, wrought iron gate—shut and locked tight, with no lock or handle in sight. It was the only way in—the stone walls would have been too high to climb over easily.

She seemed to be the only one to notice one of the iron bars bending just slightly at the bottom, before it swiped under the feet of one of the people standing too close to the gate. 

“W-what the fuck?” The man’s head snapped side to side, trying to find the source of whatever had tripped him up. “What the fuck was that?” 

“Get the gate open!” Cyrus shouted, ignoring the man’s distress. After a few men threw their shoulders into the metal to try and make the gate give way, a group eventually used a large log nearby as a battering ram to try and force it open. A thunderous CLANG echoed with each attempt. 

Max dismounted and yanked Danny off the horse after. She fought against his hold on her, trying to at least find Nathan in all the commotion, and though she couldn’t see him, she heard him coughing further back. Fuck. He needs to get indoors. 

The screeching, horrible sound of metal giving way accompanied the sound of one of the attempts to break down the gate, and Danny saw the gates regretfully swing open, enough for the mob to begin pouring through. She was herded along with them all, pushed unceremoniously by Max, who still held her bound hands behind her. 

“LOOK OUT!” 

Something large whizzed over her head, and as it clattered against the walkway, she realized it was a paving stone that had been lobbed through the air. She tried to crane her neck to see ahead, and just as she did another paving stone came loose from the walkway, seemingly of its own accord, and aimed squarely at Cyrus’s head. 

The bastard dodged, but the brick managed to catch someone else on the side of their head before it dropped to the ground. A shocked clamor rose up from the people, with shouts of an invisible enemy beginning to emerge from the crowd.

“Is the place haunted?” one man cried out. 

A dark, familiar chuckle echoed from all around, as though the voice passed through every stone in the pavement beneath. “You bet your fucking ass it is.” 

More paving stones removed themselves from the ground, one at a time, flying towards the crowd with a vengeance. Some were able to find their mark, sending the odd person falling to their knees in pain. Others were able to be swatted away by the clubs and axes. The whole commotion was enough to send at least a few people running back towards the gates. 

“LeEeAaVE~” Sam wailed, as menacing as they could. Danny’s grin quirked up a bit. 

“Don’t be fooled by these tricks!” Cyrus bellows above the crowd. “Keep moving forward!” 

And so the crowd did, for the most part undeterred by the seemingly haunted grounds of the mansion as they pressed forward in a huge and increasingly furious wave towards the mansion’s front door. 

Before they could storm the door, Cyrus held up his hand. “Stay back!” The mob halted as Cyrus began to march up to the front door alone, though he made another gesture behind him. “Max. Bring her here.” 

Max shoved Danny forward through the crowd. The sea of people gave her mostly distrustful and disgusted glances as she passed, but she didn’t even bother acknowledging them. Max pushed her forward until she stood at the base of the stairs that led up to the elaborate front door.

As Cyrus stepped up to it, ready to knock, the door swung violently open and nearly hit Cyrus square on. 

And there, standing calmly on the threshold, was Christopher—looking by all accounts nothing more than a normal man.

Almost. Danny’s eyes couldn’t help but search for the dark horns atop his head, for any trace of his appearance that could give his true nature away. His horns were dark and short enough now to almost be unnoticeable, hidden by his hair. He looked nothing but refined and distinguished—whatever sadness had lingered about him before, Danny saw no traces of it now. It was effectively covered up—if she had seen it correctly to begin with. 

The giant’s eyes immediately went over Cyrus’s shoulder to Danny, but he looked away just as quickly, smoothing out his expression. 

“I’m afraid I’m not entertaining guests today,” he said curtly, as though he had simply misjudged the nature of the raucous crowd of angry villagers standing on his front lawn. “I’ll have to ask you all to leave.” 

There was a chorus of hushed whispers and gasps traveling through the crowd now. Danny thought she could hear fragments of what several of them were saying.

“That’s him.”

“I’ve…I’ve been here before. He—”

“Oh my god, he ate—”

“It’s the giant. How—”

A cold chill seeped into her bones as she realized that the mere sight of the giant was enough to bring back memory to those he’d taken it away from. How…how many of these people had Christopher…?

“You and I have some unfinished business, Penn,” Cyrus snarled, quiet enough for Danny and Max to be the only ones to hear. 

“I’m sorry…who are you?” Christopher asked blithely, his voice carrying an almost genuine ignorance. There was enough condescension, though, to make Cyrus growl back at him through gritted teeth.

Danny snorted. Max retaliated by driving his foot into the back of her heel, prompting her to wince sharply. 

She noticed that Christopher’s lips tightened slightly, but the giant did not otherwise react.

“You know damn well who I am,” Cyrus hissed in Christopher’s face. “You got your nose into business you shouldn’t have.” 

“I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean,” Christopher replied. His eyes kept darting back to Danny, his lips still set in a fine line. “Though I would ask that you refrain from hurting my friend there. She doesn’t seem very comfortable.” 

Cyrus chuckled darkly. “Friend?” He turned slightly so that his voice now projected out toward the crowd. “The way I hear it, you kidnapped this innocent young woman. Messed with her mind to the point she’d defend you, even now.” 

Danny strained against Max’s grip on her. “He’s lying!” she cried out, trying desperately to squirm from his hold. “I wasn’t kidnapped!” 

Max growled in frustration as he tried to keep her restrained. 

“Christopher’s not a monster!” Danny yelled. “Can’t you idiots see?” 

Cyrus whipped around and gave Danny a poisonous glare. “Max, shut her up.” 

Max sent a sharp elbow into Danny’s back, causing her to stumble on her feet. A sharp cry was forced out from her lungs. “You forget we have your OTHER friend here, too?” 

Her eyes on the ground, Danny almost didn’t see it—the instinctive step Christopher took forward, with his hand slightly outstretched, before he met with the invisible barrier of the doorframe, and hastily pulled back.

A sense of dread fell over her. Did Cyrus notice? The giant attempted to cover up his mistake and stand straight up again, as if nothing had happened. 

“I’m not sure I appreciate the way you’re treating my friend, Mr. Livingston.” Each word Christopher spoke was as sharp as ice. “You seem to have a problem with me, not her. Let her go.” 

“Oh?” Cyrus took a bold step closer to the doorframe, smirking maliciously. “And just what are you going to do about it, pretty boy? You’re not going to rush to her aid?” 

Christopher’s lip twitched, the beginning of a snarl that he repressed. “Perhaps you’d like to come inside to discuss this business you have with me?” Each word was pointed and clipped, propriety being stretched as thin as possible. 

Cyrus looked unfazed, studying Christopher for just a moment before his smile widened. He scratched his chin idly. “Max. Come here. Have someone else keep a hold on her.” 

Danny thought that she could hear Max’s heartbeat increase tenfold. “O-of course.” The man ushered another of Cyrus’s brutish thugs forward, who grabbed Danny’s arms and held her back with much more force than the weasely man had been able to. 

Max crept forward timidly until he stood by Cyrus’s side. Danny could see the way the man trembled like a leaf before Christopher, who only glared down at the man coldly. 

“Do you remember him?” Cyrus asked scornfully as he grasped Max’s arm, something like amusement dancing in his expression.

“No.” Christopher was, by Danny’s estimations, a remarkable liar. If she didn’t know better, she thought he could almost be telling the truth.

Cyrus sneered unkindly. “Well, he certainly remembers you.” 

Without a warning, Cyrus shoved Max over the doorframe towards Christopher—in such a way that it should have meant that Max would collide squarely with Christopher, and yet, from everyone’s perspective, it appeared that Max had suddenly disappeared into thin air.

Cyrus pulled his own hand back from the doorframe immediately, Max no longer held within it. 

The cries from the crowd became louder all of a sudden as they witnessed a man vanish before their eyes. 

Christopher snarled as he glanced down, like he’d noticed a bug near his feet, and bent down swiftly before returning to his standing height, something tiny held between his fingers. Only those standing close to the door—Cyrus, Danny, and the man who held her back—would be able to see that it was Max Christopher held between his fingers. 

“If you’d like him returned safely,” Christopher hissed, “I suggest you let my friend Danny go, and take your business elsewhere.”

Cyrus eyed Christopher up for a moment, his eyes landing on Max only briefly. “Well, why don’t you come and get her then, giant?” he taunted, his voice just barely above a whisper as he grinned devilishly. 

The fury in Christopher’s eyes was unmistakable—and his silence was damning. 

“Do what you like with him,” Cyrus laughed. “I’ve learned all I need to.” 

It sounded like Max yelled something undistinguishable to Danny’s ears—just the high-pitched squeak of a mouse—before Cyrus turned to address the crowd gathered before him. 

“Don’t be fooled by these illusions!” he shouted. “While he may seem like a normal man, he is little more than a monster in disguise.” 

“Yeah!” shouted a man from the crowd. “He’s a giant! He ate me—I remember!”

“He tricked me into coming here!” another voice cried out. “And then he made me forget!” 

“What’s going to stop him from doing it again!” 

Cyrus had done little more than effectively light the match beneath the coals of the mob’s anger, standing and watching as it quickly caught fire and took off before him. The cries continued on and on—people shouting about how they’d been tricked, put in a cage, eaten. There was hardly any deceit necessary from Cyrus anymore—the people he’d gathered were assured now of the nature of the beast they needed to slay. 

And Christopher—Christopher did nothing but watch. Desperately, Danny tried to meet his eyes—but the giant could only stare out in horror at the sea of people, hearing his own victims shouting out his crimes. Something broke, then, in his countenance. His eyes swam with a desperate, hopeless sort of look to them, like a frightened animal caught in a trap.

Despite everything—despite the fact that her voice ought to have been among the people gathered here, and under different circumstances it very well might have—sympathy pierced her heart painfully. He has to face all these people that he ate. They’re all calling him a monster, but they don’t know—

Eventually, Cyrus seemed satisfied with the level of vitriol that had been stirred up in the crowd. He gestured behind him with an arrogant flick of his wrist. “Luckily, the monster is imprisoned in his own home. He can’t step over the threshold.” 

A rush of whispers, confused and shocked, flew through the crowd. Danny tried not to let anything show on her face to suggest that what Cyrus said was true, but panic clenched her heart. 

“Even if that was true, that means he wouldn’t be able to get out. He’s not a danger to anyone. Why are you all—”

She received a harsher jab in the back, enough to knock the wind out of her.

“How many of you have seen this monster’s true colors?” Cyrus’s voice boomed out, to a chorus of thundering assent. “How many has he already fooled? Bewitched? Consumed?” 

Cyrus turned around slowly to face Christopher again. “And by all means, if I do not speak the truth…” He waved his hand before him, as if to invite Christopher outside with him. “Feel free to prove me wrong, Penn. Join us out here, and prove your innocence. Save your friend.” 

Danny looked to Christopher, hoping for a miracle. Please, she begged silently. Say something. Do something. Please. 

Christopher didn’t move. He didn’t speak. His eyes hardly met with Cyrus at all, or any of the people standing in his front yard. 

The longer he remained still, the louder the cries of anger from the crowd became. It wasn’t hard to tell that they were all now eager for blood. Their shouts and cries became a distant buzz in Danny’s ears—all she could focus on was Christopher.

What could she do? 

What could he do?

Finally, the giant’s lips parted, and Danny had to strain to hear the words he muttered.

“Please, you can do whatever you want with me…” Christopher’s dark eyes finally went back to Danny, flowing over with emotion. “But don’t hurt her. She has nothing to do with this. Let her go.” 

“I don’t believe you’re in a position to bargain, monster,” Cyrus sneered. 

He faced the crowd once more—and the tension in the air felt on the verge of snapping then. “Against all of us, even a giant is powerless!” His voice boomed triumphantly, as though he meant to lead an army into battle. “It’s time to put an end to this madness once and for all!” 

A horrible, stomach-churning cheer erupted from the mob, and before Cyrus could even direct them to, they rushed forward towards the house in a mad dash to cross the threshold. Cyrus’s eyes widened as he realized they would not stop for him, and in the madness of it all he was pushed into the house by the swarm of people screaming bloody murder, wielding all the weapons they’d soon find to be rather inadequate. 

Danny, too, couldn’t resist as she was rather forcefully shoved along in the chaos, until she was faced with the only somewhat familiar feeling of vertigo as her feet stepped over the doorframe and onto the giant tile of the inside of Christopher’s mansion.

The giant himself only took a single step backward, caught in the horror and confusion of the moment as hundreds of people tried to force their way into his home, and became nothing but a small, confused assortment of tiny creatures scurrying at his feet. 

The change in perspective had certainly thrown more than a couple of people for a loop, and Danny could see that many were trying to force their way back, to get to the safety of the outside again, but the crowd just kept pushing forward as the mob streamed into the mansion. 

There was a loud THUD as the doors forced themselves shut, keeping what remained of the mob out—and locking the ones here in. 

“There! Fuck,” Danny heard Sam exclaim from the doors themselves, causing several people to jump and flip around, as though they expected another giant to appear. 

A voice cried out then, one of the many people who’d been unfortunate and delusional enough to force themselves in, who now saw that their enemy was not one that could be taken down by a simple fireplace poker, who was slightly more intimidating in stature than Cyrus’s rallying cries had suggested they were in any way capable of defeating. 

“RUN!”

* * * * * * * * * *

What kind of danger could a bunch of humans really pose to a giant?

It's certainly been a while, hasn't it? The good news is that I do believe I've gotten over the writing block snag of what comes next in this story! Will I be able to publish a new chapter every week? Eh, less likely, but I'd like to wrap this story up within the next few months at least!

Thank you for continuing along with this story with me, and I hope you enjoy the ending as much as I have enjoyed thinking about it for the past...oh gosh. Year?

Thanks for bearing with me, and as always, for reading. Until the next chapter!

[seaship27]

Sagebrush - Part 8

So the art is from 2023 when I originally outlined this chapter, so it’s old and kind of funky, but I don’t feel like redrawing it. But yes, hello, hi- this story is not dead, I just knew this part was going to be twice as long as usual and have been avoiding it. And then I got inspired and wrote and edited it in the span of three days, so. Y’know. It is what it is

CW: Two People Killed in Self Defense (one of them is Pregnant), Blood, Injury, this whole part is told from the perspective of someone In Shock (just saying in case), Fear of Losing Someone/Being Alone, what is essentially an Emergency C-Section, ummm yeah, just kind of high stress overall

also this’s the final outcome of this

__________________________________________ I jerked, hot and cold rushing over my back as my vision flashed white for a long, agonizing few moments, and I might’ve straightened in a blurred haze to stare around blindly, but honestly, I can’t remember. Only that the sound of gunfire was crashing through my skull on repeat until the world seeped back into focus, swimming and brighter than it should be, but it was better than nothing. At some point, I must have stood, and was staring across at the rifle laying benignly in the dirt several feet away. My hands were dark red and dripping and it took a beat to register that the blood only belonged to the deer. But Dallas- 

Stumbling as my ears rung faintly, I scooped the gun and bag of powder from the ground before pressing my shoulder to the side of the rock in order to steady myself. My hands shook as I fumbled to load the gun. Flip open the pan, pour powder in, and close it before turning the rifle upside down so I could siphon more down its barrel, and slam the ramrod in after it, palms sticky with sweat. He could be dying. He could be dead already. He- 

My lips felt dry with shallow, sporadic breaths and it took valuable seconds to convince my body to move, one step, another, edging out from behind the boulder. I didn’t allow myself to take in the limp pile of scaled coils or the way he was sprawled there, more vulnerable than he had any right being, and only kept them as a dark blur in my periphery, instead focusing on the two thin frames sticking up from the edge of the valley no more than twenty meters off. Fleetingly, my gaze spasmed to Dally’s prone form, catching on the way the orange dirt beneath him was growing dark, and then back to the people in the distance. There was no more hesitation after that, and in a matter of moments, I’d leveled the rifle at the one who was still holding a gun of their own, body having relaxed into familiarity. I pulled back the safety. A breath. And I squeezed the trigger.

My upper body was thrown slightly by the recoil, and yet again, my head rang, but I was expecting it this time and just stood in an inexplicable calm as the shot echoed around me. 

The person on the ridge swayed and crumbled beneath themself. 

Their friend seemed to falter before dropping beside them. I felt numb. My forearms prickled oddly and the backs of my eyes felt hollow. I was walking toward Dally, circling around him with steps I could barely feel. My gaze trailed along the shadow of his tail as I approached, vision pale around the edges. I’d been too late. He was already dead, I was sure. He was gone, I was alone. 

Dust skittered out from beneath my scuffing boots where I’d stopped at the edge of the growing black stain pressing outwards into the hardened, dry earth which readily soaked it up like a long awaited rain. My stomach turned. I took a shallow breath and finally allowed myself to focus on the slack, greyish stillness of Dallas’s face before my lungs seized in something that I wished didn’t resemble a sob quite so closely. And he exhaled.

Heart stalling, air pressed itself out of my own chest and my eyes burned. Oh. A freezing tremor ran through me. Oh-

I went to reach for his face, shifting the weight of the rifle to my left hand as the bedraggled remnants of something very like hope straightened between my ribs- before the brush and crackle of footsteps through dry foliage streamed through the cracks of my narrowed focus which had shut over Dally and previously barricaded everything else out. Even as the chill sunk deeper into me and the thing like hope pulled itself up with bared teeth, I scrambled away from Dally’s breathing body to face the person who I already knew was the gunman’s friend. And they- she- had already closed more than half the distance between where the fallen human and the fallen snake creature lay, gun at her shoulder and trained on my chest. 

Reflexively, I brought my own firearm up to face her, sidestepping away from the sprawled form of the man behind me as my features set into quiet determination. Externally at least.

The gunpowder was behind a boulder which was now a dozen yards away. There was no logical reason that I should have let down my guard and left us both completely open to a threat I’d known was there. What the hell was wrong with me? This woman was going to shoot me for killing what was presumably her husband and mine and Dally’s corpses would be left out here for the buzzards to pick apart and leave nothing for my mother to mourn. 

Subconscious steps carried me forward, in front of the snake man; and planting myself there, I flicked open the safety again, replacing my finger over the trigger of my empty rifle. Although in the moment it took to size her up and glance her over, the roundness of pregnancy in its late stage was hard to overlook, which meant- even if the gun in my hands was loaded, I didn’t think I’d ever be able to shoot to kill. I could’ve aimed for her knee, or perhaps her dominant arm, but. . . I swallowed, reminding myself to breathe. “Stay back- Don’t come any closer.” The words stabbed up through the undertone of crickets, sharp and just hoping that maybe by some chance she’d lose her nerve. 

Thirty feet off now, she faltered, stumbling, but pausing to realign her weapon with my head only moments later. I could see the tremor in her arms, but honestly, I didn’t believe it had much to do with fear; more likely it was the same adrenaline runoff that still gripped me, because. . . Because I killed her husband. She was alone now. With the impending promise of another mouth to feed. She had nothing to lose and everything to avenge and-

She tilted her chin up, taking another step closer and my grip on the trigger tightened a little. “I said don’t come any fucking closer- You can’t have hi-m-” 

Her face spasmed with something vaguely like hysterical mirth and I watched and heard as she snapped her own safety back. She closed one eye and bent her head to gaze down her gun and into my eyes across the wide plane of sagebrush. I stared back, not really seeing her, just waiting; quiet and frozen and knowing there was never a world in which I’d have been able to make it home. I thought I’d come to terms with that fact- it shouldn’t hurt so much. But it. . . just felt so unfair to be torn from it all now, when for the first time in two years I wasn’t entirely alone in the world. We really would die out here together. 

The woman took a breath and shifted, presumably to check her aim before readjusting her grip on the trigger and I felt myself tense, hands numb, knowing the shot was coming.

And it did, the valley echoing with its deafening crack once more, but before that, a giant dark shape had shot out from behind me and slammed into the woman. 

The world pulsated dizzyingly back into focus. I was shaking with cold in the warm afternoon air, stood there, arms having fallen so the rifle hung from icy fingers.

Dallas pulled away from the convulsing, writhing frame of the woman on the ground. He hovered there a moment, sides heaving, and then he fell sideways into the heather.

I wavered, mind reeling and desperately trying to catch up, although I’d dropped the gun and was tripping through the brush before it’d had time to even begin doing so. I found myself standing between the two of them, having no memory of the sprint there, and with only my scraped shins to prove it’d happened at all. She- she was dying. Seizing there in the dirt as venom sprawled itself though her veins. My eyes flickered to her belly and blurred color lapped over my vision for a moment. Her baby would-

“. . .are you. . . n’kay. . ?” I jerked to face the small, bleached voice, staring at Dally for a moment. My body gave out beside him without waiting for the order and my hand found his, although I couldn’t feel his skin through the numbness. The sight of his shirt, dark and glistening with his own blood crowded out all other matters however, and for the moment, the dying mother and her dying baby were swept from my mind. 

Not having it in me to formulate an answer, I bent closer to unbutton his shirt with my free hand and peel it open in order to search for the entry wound through the sticky mess of red.

His hand slid up my arm and he curled closer before he was caught up in a wet, rattling fit of coughs.

Blood bubbled from a spot over his lower left ribs.

Fuck. . . “I-i’s- Dally-”

The grip on my arm tightened just a little. “L. . .ook at. . . . m. . .e”

When my attention snapped to his face, urgency was plain in the eye that gazed back, half panicked. “There’s. . . there’s a. . . trees- ‘f you go n’rthwest. . . c’n see’m from th’. . . edge of th’ va. . .lley-”

“I’m not leaving-” His lung was punctured. I’d pressed my palm flat over the wound, not even for the sake of pressure, but with the hope it might keep the air from escaping. But he probably wouldn’t be conscious long enough to do it himself if I were to leave. . . He was going to die. He was going to die and I didn’t even have the wherewithal to challenge how broken the idea of it made me. 

He wheezed cracklingly, and bent closer to lean his forehead against my knee, eyes closed and so very pale, although the soft string of words that followed came more readily than before, even if they still blurred into each other. “. . .Sawyer. . . th’s a man ‘t c’n help there, tell ‘m i’s me. N’don’t worry ‘bout saving strength for th’run back. . . He’ll help, h’ll. . .” Voice dying, he stopped, breath fast and labored and more shallow than I liked. 

I stared quietly at a bush behind him, pulling my left hand from his grip to gently stroke his hair instead. I could stitch the entry wound shut, but he’d drown in his own blood regardless. There was nothing I could actually do. Which meant even if this man was a figment of Dally’s blood deprived imagination, attempting to find him could only help my chances of keeping him alive.

“What’s his name?” 

Glancing down as he essentially nuzzled into my knee, I idly noted that he seemed to have relaxed slightly, for better or worse, I wasn’t sure. “. . .‘s Les.”

“Les. . . I- okay.” I sat back, limbs buzzing oddly, and took a breath before gently sliding my hand beneath Dally’s face to tip it up toward me. “Hey, you’d better be here when I get back. You owe me that, got it?”

Eye peeling open, his gaze slid up to me, blinking slowly. A faint nod and he pressed into my hand. “. . .y’bett’r come back th’n,”

Painful cold splintered through my gut and I was trying very hard to avoid conceding to myself exactly why the world had blurred and my face was wet. It wasn’t important. I grabbed one of his hands and placed it over the hole in his chest. “Keep pressure on that.” Then, pulling both of my own hands away from him, I shoved abruptly to my feet and took an unsteady step back. “Try and stay awake.” 

Anything more than that would be too much and I just forced myself to turn and start walking, glancing up at the sun in order to course correct. Northwest. Don’t look at the other body in the grass. She was still moving, yes, but she wasn’t savable. And neither was her baby. I was still freezing and while my feet had no feeling I managed to force myself into a run, nearly falling numerous times across the valley until finally I made it to the edge, only slowing for a moment to find the trees and continue on. I knew I was running on adrenaline alone. I knew I would crash as soon as I stopped. So stopping was not an option, no matter how badly my body burned or how hard it was becoming to remember to breathe. 

I’d left him. If he was dead when I got back- if I got back- I’d be left to try and recover alone. Again. It was highly unlikely that the man I was trying to find would want anything to do with me after this. Come to think of it, I had no idea who this guy was or if he was something that could or would eat me. . . After the last couple weeks I’d had, I wasn’t convinced much would shock me, but the question was really whether I’d be safe. And really, I had no way of knowing.

Each time one of my feet hit the ground, shockwaves of forking pain seared through the tingling numbness. 

The sky was so blue.

The land was so wide.

I only had a dozen yards left before I’d reach the trees that split the flat skyline.

My sides spasmed with desperate grasps at air.

And the dappled shadows of the needled canopy hit my back. 

“Les-” What were the chances he would even be here? 

Nearly tripping over a root.

I caught myself and kept running. 

“Les-” How likely was it that he’d actually hear? 

Again and again and again, I was screaming the stupid name that probably belonged to no one, voice scraped through.

My arm barked across the jagged edge of an extended branch.

Blank white filled my vision again and I sprinted on blindly. 

“Les! Please, fucking-” There was no one here and Dally was going to die alone.

Something was crashing through the trees and left me no time to speculate on its source before the huge, red and white splotched body of a horse charged out in front of me and slowed to circle my position, the human body where its head ought to be lowered warily. 

I turned to follow it, bloody hands drawing close to my chest as I stared. His skin was patched a warm brown and white like the rest of his body, horse-ish ears pinned on my position, front hoof pawing at the ground once he’d stopped and straightened slightly. “. . .you- smell like a naga.” His eyes shifted to my hands briefly, only to return to my face, taking a step closer.

I had no idea what he was talking about, but it hardly mattered. What the hell he was was of little consequence either. All that I cared about at the moment was determining whether he was actually going to help, because if he wasn’t, I was going to try and get back to the snake man myself before he was gone. “Dallas- is dying-” I leaned over, hands braced against my thighs as I sucked down stinging lungfuls of air. “He’s- someone shot ‘im and he’s- I think they got his lung, a-and-”

The horse- person- thing- stilled, tail flicking. His ears laced down and he backed away. “I’m- gonna get my bag. And ask my wife to gather a party to help carry him. Stay here, alright? I’ll pick you up on my way back.”

Nodding slowly, I hesitated, holding up a near frantic hand. “Do you have a- a- venom antidote or something?” It was a reach, and it was probably too late for her anyway, but. . .

His brow creased in a frown and he shook his long hair from his eyes, seeming to decide against asking for an explanation. “I’ll see what I can find.” And with that, he wheeled and bolted off through the trees.

I stood there, dizzy and so weak, but as much as I’d like to collapse into the dirt, I had to wait. Wait and wonder all the while if there’d even be anything left to save by the time they reached Dally again.

Quiet, I just tried to let my attention pool on my surroundings instead of allowing myself to register how heavy my body felt now that the adrenaline was gone. The trunks of the trees were very orange against the dusty green of their needles. The undergrowth didn’t look much different than that which blanketed the planes outside. The dark shape of a bird flickered at the edge of my periphery. And by the time Les cantered up beside me, I’d lost track of how much time had passed. He was probably already gone. . .

“Here, don’t have time for you to run back yourself.” The man bent one of his front legs, nodding for me to climb on.

Dazed, I sort of just stared for a moment before finally stumbling forward, catching myself against his side, and swinging a trembling leg over his back to try and secure myself in place with no experience of riding bareback.

Les stood gingerly, watching over his shoulder. “Hold onto my mane, try and find your balance, do whatever you need to keep from falling off. I don’t want to risk wasting time,”

Hesitant hands curled in dark red hair and I did my best to ‘find my balance’ whatever that meant. “No, he’s- we don’t have time. If I fall off, leave me. I’ll walk the rest of the way. Please just-” 

He nodded, starting towards the edge of the trees and gradually gaining speed. I pinched his sides with my knees, resigning myself to the bruises that would likely form his shoulder blades rolling sharply beneath me; it was a small price to pay if Dallas came out of this alive. At least that’s what I thought until we reached the tree line and he broke into a full gallop across the prairie. Too panicked to think, I clung to him; arms having come up to wrap around him, head tucked low and just trying to breathe. The way my heels dug into him was likely painful, but all my attention was concentrated into not falling off and there was little room left to consider anything else.

I wished time would stop sliding around quite so much. When Les pulled up short beside the motionless Dallas, it might have been seconds or eons and I wouldn’t have had a clue which was nearer to the truth. I just dragged one leg back over the horse creature's back and slid off, glancing up at him for further instruction and finding him frozen, brow drawn in apparent concentration while his ears twitched intently. After a moment, he began rummaging in his bag, only to produce a large leaf, of all things, which he shoved into my hands. “Put this on the wound and hold it sealed on all sides but one with your hands. I’ll just be a minute.”

“What are you-”

“Just do it- now, alright? Please-” 

I stumbled backwards at the sharpness of his tone, nodding and turning to try and follow the less than clear instructions, kneeling beside Dally and pushing the edge of his coat which had fallen over his chest away. My head buzzed as I pressed the leaf over the wound, listening to his faint wheezing and feeling more than a little hopeless at how much color had left his face since last I saw him. Red stained the edge of his lips. He wouldn’t die alone, but. . .

After a few quiet minutes of sitting this way, I craned my neck back, increasingly frustrated that this man he’d I’d run to get was doing exactly nothing to help. But. . . nothing hardly described what he was occupied with.

He was bent over the woman, having apparently cut through her dress, stays, and shift to expose her middle to the open air and was feeling around the bottom of her stomach now. 

“What the hell are you doing-” If I weren’t currently trying to keep the air in someone’s lungs, I would have gone and shoved him away from her myself. As if it wasn’t bad enough that they both had to die, she didn’t deserve to be stripped of her dignity as well.

Leaning closer over her, his ears flattening back again, he shook his head dismissively. “Worry about Dallas, I’ll be there in a second.” And then he was pressing the edge of his knife into her skin and drawing it deliberately across the base of her belly, before sliding his hands into the incision and feeling around only to cut something else.

I stared, breath having stopped in my chest, pulse in my ears. “Fucking- leave her alone, she’s-”

“She’s breathing- sort of- and the baby has a heartbeat, be quiet-” Hissed words. Careful hands began to pull out, paused to readjust, and withdrew. He set what had to be the- the baby- on his front legs, and fumbled a moment with something out of sight. Scooping the little body up, he shifted to haul himself onto his hooves with a sigh and turned amble back to me. 

And then a very small, sticky body was being placed in my arms and I was forced to let go of the leaf to prevent it from falling. Grunting, it curled its tiny legs and arms close, pressing into me, purple as it was, with its knotted birth cord laying over my arm.

“It’s still not likely it’ll make it. Just keep it warm and don’t get attached.” He nudged me lightly with a faintly bloody hand and knelt beside me, replacing my hold on the leaf with his own. “And move over so I can see what I’m dealing with.”

__________________________________________

<- Part 7

~~~~~

[seaship27]

Like A Good Neighbor (sfw safe vore)

[M/nb vore with fearplay. safe soft oral non-sexual]

A tale of the Mystic Woods! Featuring Yonah HaEsh and Myran the Dwarf Witch and many other fun characters!

A story of bad first impressions and making new friends! Lots of GT, and a cute little adventure at a magical farmer’s market!

Warning: Careful there are references to Fa.tal! An example would be “ogres are far more likely to eat smallfolk than giants!” (implying that said actions are deadly). That is the extent of such references!

Other warning: mild harm during the immediate post-vore scene. Yonah just goes a little too far in scaring Myran.

——/——////——

“Did you hear?”

“Have you been told?”

“A new resident!”

“I haven’t checked it out myself! But Ms Zukkar told me-”

“A wizard!”

“Didn’t there used to be an old sorcerer there?”

“-new guy’s a witch!”

“So, hear about that new giant!”

“A giant wouldn’t fit in that tower! And wizards is all human!”

“A criminal, on the run they say”

“Maybe a magician? They like towers sometimes!”

“His Majesty wouldn’t hire a criminal!”

“-supposed to be evil?”

There were so many rumors being flung around that the dwarf witch Myran Gamadin decided to see for themselves and set out to investigate. Undoubtedly there was a new resident. The story was that he was a Mage, and a criminal, but also just expelled from The Academy of Wizardry. And a giant? That was strange, the old tower was much too small for a giant! Even if it was magic it was only 10ft taller than your average giant in the first place. However… they did hear about the trial of a giant recently… stuff that happened in the civilized court didn’t really concern those in the Woods.

“Why would you go to see a villain? You’re not evil!”

The World’s Largest™ Maine Coon cat trotted alongside the handsome young dwarf, looking more like an oddly fluffy pony than a cat.

“It’s important to know your neighbors! Even the evil ones!”

Siv flicked his tail up into his witch’s face.

“And he’s got to be just a young man! So young and the expectations on evil mages is so high! He will appreciate a friendly face!” Myran had done the math. If this Mage hadn’t even graduated from The Academy, he was at most 23. Unless he started his education late. But they doubted this.

“Why are we walking! You have your broom!” the cat complained.

“That’s for the tower, Siv. It’s one of those designed by assholes who think it’s clever to have the only entrance be the window at the top.”

“Hrfff,” said Siv.

“Do you think he will appreciate the house-warming gift? I didn’t really spend much time on it…”

“Fresh fish would be better.”

“Maybe if he were a cat. This is for a Mage.”

“Clippings of magical plants? Maybe for another witch. This is someone who was studying Wizardry.”

“Wizards use magical plants too!”

“Yeah, they buy them from witches!”

As the pair stepped out of the trees, they froze.

“I think he’ll like the gift,” Siv admitted as he And Myran stood in awe at the largest magical garden either of them had ever seen.

It wasn’t even finished yet! Plots of earth were freshly turned, and piles of wood, half built into beds that lay in patterns across the clearing. And massively spread apart. At least 3 meters between plots. And the finished ones. Well. They already had some amazing specimens. Even if they were just sprouting. Myran noticed the Twisted WyrmFern and harpy’s breath; delicate, but common magical plants that were being used to test out the soil. It was working great.

The garden did make Myran worry a bit.

Maybe this wasn’t a wizard at all! It could be a witch. And he could be very evil indeed. Even evil witches treated their gardens with the utmost care and attention.

But they had come this far. And the tower that looked over the garden was calling to them. Well. Not really. The green-black thorny vines screamed “STAY AWAY!” But when one had a flying broomstick, one didn’t need to heed such warnings.

Flipping their broom around like a baton, they sat side saddle and Siv hopped on the end, somehow managing to balance his prodigious fluff. They took off. And flew into the window.

“WOAAAHHH!”

It was like hitting an unexpected and large wave on a boogie board, but a magical one that flowed through the body! And Myran had never been to the ocean, so it made their brain swim.

The room, which from the outside looked normal, was anything but. The rumors of this being a giant were not just rumors.

This place was HUGE!

And yet, it was much too small.

Growing up, Myran had visited some giant villages with their family. They hadn’t been THAT much smaller then, but the houses and items in the village were definitely much larger. While giant mages certainly existed, they had their own traditions and made their own supplies.

This looked exactly like the workshop for a young wizard, with additions for the wizard being a giant. It was wild to see some of the common arcane tools at such an immense scale.

Flying over, Myran saw that the resident Mage had an ancient book under a magnifying glass, and had been translating it, with notes and commentary. Spell equations and diagrams were additionally copied in a dedicated smaller notebook.

While it was surely a fascinating read, they could tell at a glance the notes were somewhere in the middle of an involved spell, and they didn’t want to be the reason the Mage lost his place. The workbench had plenty of other diverting materials.

Siv had no interest in such things and curled up against the base of the magnifying glass. The sun hit the metal through the window, making it quite warm.

Myran put their broom down and explored the desk. There were several magical tombs! Rare ones! They flipped through and saw fresh handwritten notes tucked inside. Smart, this mage did not want to tarnish the original pages. There was also an open notebook and a few spell components laid out.

They stepped carefully back onto the notebook to get a better idea of what this wizard was up to. The notebook was written in giant, which Myran wasn’t fluent in but got the gist of. So this was indeed a giant wizard. Fascinating.

That’s what they were thinking until...

FEE FI FO FUM!

Myran nearly jumped out of their boots.

No longer fascinating. Very bad. Very dangerous! They’d heard stories that quoted these lines, classic, even amusing. However, hearing them bellowed by an actual giant nearly stopped their heart. These words were so loud and so immediately panic-inducing, especially when accompanied by thundering footsteps.

I SMELL THE BLOOD OF THE-

There was a pause and maybe a stutter

DWARVEN KIND!

The trap door off center in the room burst open and a giant with a mane of black hair, a trimmed goatee, and a wizard’s hat, climbed out. He was smiling, snarling, showing off impressive fangs.

USELESS TO FLEE, USELESS TO FIGHT, FOR YOU WILL BE MY MEAL TONIGHT!

Eat them!? Oh No. Myran scrambled to their feet as the giant advanced.

Siv had gone catatonic, or nearly, and fled behind the mirror. But Myran just stood there. The next thing they knew, they were in the giant's fist… AND THEN IN ITS MOUTH! There was a brief moment where they thought the giant was going to bite them in half… but no. Worse than that, the giant fulfilled his promise to make a meal of Myran by swallowing them whole.

Never had Myran imagined themselves in this predicament. Witches, as far as they knew, were not prone to being eaten by giants! Giants ate thieves, slayers, adventurers! Though... giants were known to occasionally eat random people that happened to be rude to them as they went about their business.

Myran had not been rude! They just hadn’t had a chance to be polite! This giant had no business eating them.

Not that any of this was actually going through Myran’s mind. Oh no. Myran’s thoughts were preoccupied with panicking about their impending doom!

First, they tried to stop the giant from swallowing. But the teeth threatened to crunch their limbs if they dared to try and find purchase! So, failing that, they tried to slow their progress down his esophagus.

The problem was the walls were too damn slippery! They knew that their slow progress was merely due to the tight fit, as they couldn’t stretch out. The flesh was too tough.

Right before they started to worry about suffocating, they were deposited into a large chamber, sliding into a puddle of nasty smelling fluid. They took a regretful breath of the rancid air.

Yonah sighed as the dwarf left his throat and settled into his stomach. Small yet still filling.

He patted his stomach lightly. “A bit disappointing. Dwarves don’t taste nearly as good as most other smallfolk, but I’m not complaining.” His prey thrashed and yelled but didn’t seem to be coherent.

YEOWCH!

Something bit his hand and he waved it violently. Whatever it was released and smacked into the wall that the desk was up against, crumpled into a motionless pile. Curious and momentarily forgetting his snack, Yonah investigated.

A cat!? And still alive but unconscious. Why had a cat attacked him? Then he saw the abandoned broom next to his notebook. And his stomach twisted.

“You’re— not a thief!” Technically, he could eat anyone he wanted, he wasn’t restricted to adventurers. He was still figuring out what kind of villain he wanted to be. Such self exploration would take time, time the person he ate didn’t have.

“I’m a witch!” He heard them squeak.

“A witch? Invading the lair of a wizard? Are you stupid!” He poked at them. They didn’t like that.

“Let me out!!”

So Yonah spat them up, sooner than he would have liked to, and leaned over them with a frown and glowing eyes.

The moment the witch hit the desk, the cat woke up and was between him and the witch as it hissed.

The witch was shaking and coughing, glancing at him with wide fearful eyes.

“If you’re a witch then what the fuck were you doing in my tower?” Yonah demanded.

The witch was still in shock but recovered enough to speak. “I’m… Myran! I wanted to introduce myself!”

“A likely story! Why would anyone want to introduce themselves to me?” Yonah wasn’t really in the mood for conversation, but figured he could use the practice at evil banter.

“You’re… new to the forest” they coughed.

“What’s it to you?”

“I’m your neighbor!” they said,

Yonah narrowed his eyes, “The forest is constantly moving, no such thing as neighbors.”

“I figured I’d try to be friendly!” they continued as if he hadn’t replied. “Everyone was talking about the new mage in the tower, but no one had any definitive stories.”

Another mistake. The giant snarled.

“You are a fool then! I don’t want any friends!” He hesitated briefly as he said it, not sure of the truth, but recovered fast. “But I don’t want you spreading rumors about my mercy either…” he picked them back up. Gripping them hard and getting their right arm between his teeth. He didn’t bite their arm off, but broke the skin with a fang and pinched their hand. They yelled.

“Stop! Stop! I won’t tell! I won’t tell!”

He dropped them and they sat, crying, holding their bleeding arm and hand which was turning a plum purple.

“Good,” he hissed steam in their face, scalding the skin red as his eyes glowed bright orange. “Now get the fuck out before I eat you for real!” He flicked the broom at them. “And if you ever show your face around here again, I will.”

Finally, they listened to him. They got onto the broom along with their cat and with a burst of magic kicked into the air and fled out the window. Yonah watched until they disappeared, then sat down. His hair hadn’t been smoking before but it was now. Additionally, his eyes still glowed.

His first visitor in months wasn't an adventurer and he’d eaten them without a second thought! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

Maybe this was his destiny. For years he’d trained himself to be restrained. Keep his anger in check, Keep his half giant identity a secret and become a wizard. But that had all gone to shit when he’d been discovered not as just a half giant, but as a half fire witch. Chased out of the academy but captured by the authorities of Orr.

Forced to sign a contract with King Ben to become his new pet monster! So why not be a monster!?

But he still wanted friends… his friends from the academy weren’t allowed to visit him. His tower of magic and wonder was so empty. He put his elbows on his desk and buried his face in his hands.

~chink~ his elbow brushed against something.

He looked down and saw a broken clay pot, the soup spilling out and a seedling now helpless and exposed on the desk.

Quickly yonah dipped his fingers into a pouch at his side and licked it, saying a spell. With a puff of smoke he stood on his desk, a mere 8ft tall, and he knelt down.

With his more appropriately sized hands he gathered the soil and with a wave of his hand and another mutter the pieces of the pot shook and flew back into their original places. The pot was… functionally repaired. The proper repair spell required materials to fuse the pieces properly. So it wouldn’t hold water, but it could hold soil.

As he scooped it back in, a piece of paper fell from the loose soil. Curious he dug it back out of the pot and cleaned it off enough to read:

“Welcome to the Mystical Woodlands new neighbor! This seedling is from my own garden. A special cultivation of Frozen Thyme.”

The moment he read it he was instantly planning where this would go in his garden. But… this gift. Did he deserve it? He’d eaten the one who brought it. He chased them away!

He couldn’t accept this gift but he couldn’t just let the seedling wither and die. It didn’t deserve that. And thus, his brain rationalized a way for him to keep the gift. So now what?

Yonah’s brain was too full of rage to do any proper work, so he decided to take it out on the garden, which was still in a state of construction. He’d already torn up old dead pieces of the overgrown mess left behind by the predecessor. Now he was digging spots for flower beds and what would hopefully be an orchard. There was even a designated spot for herbs.

The reason this was slow going was he refused to use magic. For the most part. Thankfully, being giant made digging and construction easier. Now that he had the thyme, he prioritized the herb beds. It was with a sour pride that he completed one as the sun started to go down.

A large wooden box that curved in a lovely arc close to the tower. The wood was specially imported from his The Blue Sky Mountain Giants Tribe in the Implausible Mountains, the smell of it reminding him of home. The frozen thyme seedling was given enough space to grow. He even gave it some friends that he knew would be compatible.

With his mind a little more at ease, he managed to get himself to sleep.

And awoke the next morning with an ache in his heart and a new plan in his brain.

For the first time since he arrived in this prison of a forest, he ventured beyond the boundaries of his clearing. Yonah knew he was allowed, a certain distance from his tower, to walk the forest. It had just seemed pointless. Not wanting to draw too much attention, he wore his gardening outfit: a pink plaid button up and light blue overalls. He had a straw hat that he recently wove to be a wizard hat, as well as his wizard staff. He couldn’t really leave that behind.

The trees in the forest were shorter than back home, but still very large. Thankfully he didn't have to duck so much to avoid branches. In his mind was a list of ingredients he needed to find. Foraging in the forest might seem like a fruitless endeavor, but when you have the keen nose of a giant, tracking down wildberries was a simple feat.

What a bounty! A huge patch of bramble with perfectly ripe berries. He didn’t need a giant’s amount and they would just get squashed if he tried to pick them at his normal size so once again he shrank down. He retrieved a basket from his hat and started to pick berries.

About ten minutes in, the bush began to shift! A section opened up and out ran a gnome with a garden spade. It smacked into his hand mid berry pick.

“Stop! Thief!”

SMACK SMACK!

Yonah was so startled he backed away and returned to his normal size, the basket of berries spilling over.

The gnome yelped. “Giant!” They dropped the spade. “Don’t eat me! Take berries! Don’t eat me or family!”

There was something satisfying about the gnome’s fear and Yonah grinned, “While you would make for a nice little snack,” he said, “I’m not in the mood for gnome today.”

The gnome shook and took up the spade again, pointing it at him as if that would help. From inside the bushes, Yonah heard rustling, and smelled more gnomes. This must cover their burrow.

“Put that away, or I might change my mind!” Yonah growled, showing his fangs. The gnome complied, tossing it aside.

“But you are also in luck. I am not interested in being a berry thief. I have more honor than that. If you would permit me to buy some of your berries, at a discount for me not making a meal of you and your family, I will leave you in peace”

The gnome gulped and nodded, “Am… sure we can make a deal.”

“Pick up the ones I already picked, will you?” Yonah ordered.

The gnome scrambled. “You will need more?”

Yonah nodded. The gnome whistled. And a troupe of younger gnomes carefully came out of the bramble.

“Kind giant has offered to buy some berries. Exchange for not eating us!”

The kids looked nervous and their fear didn’t spark the same kind of joy as the adults. But Yonah had a reputation to build! And he had to admit, it was still a bit fun.

He watched as the gnomes gathered berries until the basket was full and the adult gnome put it down in front of where Yonah had sat down. He picked it up and took off his hat, dropping it in and noticed the gnome’s eyes get wide. Storage space items were not uncommon, but storage hats were tools of professional mages, not common folk.

“That all?” the gnome asked.

Yonah stroked his beard thoughtfully, “Yes. I think so.” He reached into this hat. While he didn’t have a lot of money, Ben had supplied him with funds should he need them, and he had distributed the rings between his various pocket spaces. He got out a large wooden dowel upon which hung many metal rings. Small ones and large ones. With a pair of tweezers, yonah removed a few silver rings and one gold ring and put them into his palm, placing it up in front of the gnome.

Who did not take it.

“Do not insult me by refusing my payment,” Yonah insisted but the gnome did not move.

“More than we charge normally… You wanted discount: berries, a silver a pound!”

Yonah blinked. He still wasn’t good with smallfolk money. When purchasing as a giant, you purchased such large amounts it always cost at least a gold.

“Oh? Er-” he didn’t want to actually exploit these gnomes. “I'm not taking it back! Take the money Or I’ll eat you!” his voice faltered and the gnomes looked a little confused, and a little more relaxed.

“Leave us alone then, yes?” The gnome reached out a hand. Yonah nodded. The gnome finally took the money, giving each of the kids a silver ring. Any fear the kids had was gone as soon as they studied their rings and looked at Yonah with excitement. It was hard not to let the warmth in his heart at their expressions show on his own face.

“Actually!” Yonah announced as the gnomes started to back away into their burrow.

The adult stopped and looked nervous again. Yonah huffed. “I’m not going to eat you, I never was. I just have a question.”

The gnome ushered the kids away, not trusting Yonah, before turning back to the giant. “And if don’t have a good answer, you won’t eat… right?”

With a sigh Yonah shook his head, “No. I won't.”

“Then ask.”

Yonah took a breath, “I am... looking to get some ingredients. I… lashed out at someone recently and I very much regret it, and want to make some amends. I have giant ones back home but… giant sized ingredients do not taste as strong as small ones. Do you know where, or who, I might be able to look for?”

The gnome smiles, “Yes! Mystical Market. Sell our berries there. Open today, also gnome holiday.” They gave Yonah the instructions on how to find the market.

“Thank you- er…” Yonah put a hand to his chest and bowed.

“Kalle” said Kalle.

“Yonah,” said Yonah. The gnome bowed as well, “Don’t be flaunting riches, mysterious half giant. Marketeers take advantage”

Riches!? He did not have endless funds. He would have to be more careful with his spending.

“I am also looking for… Er... Shit!” he exclaimed and was glad the kids were no longer outside, “I don't know their name. Dwarf witch.”

Kalle considered, “Know them. Likes almond cookies. Sorry. Market easier find than people. That all?”

From their tone of voice, Yonah knew the gnome desperately wanted to get back to their family. It was a holiday after all. Yonah stood up and nodded, leaving without subjecting them to any more conversation.

Almond cookies? That changed things. He had only made almond cookies once! He needed a little more help. However, he did not backtrack to the tower. He knew that if he went back, he would lose motivation. Locating the market was his current task.

Unfortunately, it took some luck. According to the gnome, it was a special place that one happened to come across, just by wanting to be there. The more familiar you were with it, the better chance there was of that happening. Yonah really really wanted to be there. So he gathered his will and set off in a random direction.

After an hour of walking yonah felt a weird tingle all over his arms and legs. Like his hair was standing on end and all pointing in the same direction. Had he entered some magical field? No matter, he was fairly immune to passive magic.

Then he took another step and a jolt of magic electricity surged through his body, causing him to freeze up. Before he could collapse, he felt as if a giant hook had caught around his middle. There was no physical hook, but it still yanked him back, pulling in through the forest.

Eventually it stopped and finally Yonah fell over, breathing shallowly as his heart raced. He rolled onto his back and stared up into the trees.

“What’s the big idea!?” Someone kicked him in the side and he sat up. “You’re blocking the way!”

An elf!

Yonah frowned. “You’re so bold for someone I could crush with a finger!” To tease the elf, he poked them in the chest.

“YEOWCH!”

For the second time that day, Yonah got bitten. This time, it was the elf who sank their fangs into his finger, letting go before Yonah pulled away.

“Don’t get sassy with me! Messing with smallfolk isn’t allowed in the market, you'll be banned!”

Yonah looked around “The market?”

He had assumed it was the Mystical Market because it was in the Mystical Woodlands. But now he realized that the name was rather accurate. An entire marketplace incorporated into the forest itself. Stalls and restaurants built into the trees, with carts parked in between. The trees here were also… there was no other word for it: majestic. Larger and older and, compared to the forest he had been exploring before, more deliberate spacing. He couldn’t even see all of it. The forest stretched on for a while, and thus was obscured by the very trees that made up the shops.

There were even buildings in the branches so that ogres, trolls, and giants did not have to bend down to make transactions. He even spotted a few trolls. Amazing! Trolls (and ogres) were much more likely than giants to eat smallfolk. Giants mostly threatened unless the person in question did something really, really stupid.

And yet, there was a troll, large with brown fur and green spots, purchasing a roll of fabric from the elevated section of a gnome shop.

“Yes you idiot, the market! And my cart won't fit through any other path! Move your giant ass or I’ll get the guard to move it for you!”

His elation at having found the market was in conflict with his pride that was being so insulted by this little creature.

“Apologize for biting me, and I’ll consider it!”

The elf looked indignant. “You threatened to squash me! MAGEN!!” they yelled.

Thunderous footsteps were heard and Yonah turned as a proper, full blooded giant, made her way through the shoppers, somehow avoiding stepping on anyone. She was maybe 17, but full grown and taller than Yonah by at least ten feet. Her skin was a light greyish pink and her eyes were a dark red. She wore a lovely headpiece of woven flowers and vines to look like hair, which full giants do not have.

She knelt “This man bothering you?”

The elf nodded. Yonah threw his hands up, “Hey! I don’t mean any trouble!”

“He threatened to squash me!”

The giant glared at Yonah, who glared back.

“How largefolk deal with smalls outside of the market is their own business,” she said. “But inside the market we do not even threaten to squash, or kick, or stomp, or eat!”

“I did not intend to and I did not know I was in the market! I have never been before!” Yonah stood up so that he was not at such an extreme height disadvantage. Magen was a rather short mountain giant, only 35ft tall.

She nodded, “I can believe that.” She stood up. “I would have remembered you for sure.” She sniffed and said in implausible Giant: “You are from the blue sky tribe?”

“Yes! I am.” he answered, also in Giant. “I just moved to the forest. I was looking for the market but… I must have… hit something magic. I sort of fell into here”.

The elf took the opportunity to weave their cart around the giants’ feet, disappearing into the market.

“Ah, the seller seems to no longer push this issue. My name is Magen.” she introduced, bowing.

“Yonah HaEsh,” Yonah answered in return.

“HaEsh! I know the name. Fire man who helped save the Implausible Mountains from the Society of Wizards!”

“That’s my dad,” Yonah said, a little embarrassed.

“Mom told me the story! How exciting!”

Yonah brushed himself off and glanced around, “So... What are the rules here, then?”

Magen shrugged, “Just don’t start fights, alright? All sales are final, so don't go making a fuss if you haggled wrong or think you got cheated unless you believe your items are defective. There are ways to deal with fraudulent goods, but we cannot risk collateral damage.”

“Does that happen often?” Yonah asked, “I only mean to buy food, I can tell if that’s fresh”

“Oh, you have a giant’s nose then. Good. It does not happen often. Makes my job easier. And I usually manage to break up confrontations before they get out of hand.”

Knowing he could likely sniff out the stalls he needed, Yonah asked if Magen could show him around and help him find all the items on his list. She happily agreed. He had to walk behind her as there wasn’t room for two giants to be side by side.

As she carefully led him, she took glances back and down Yonah who was getting a little nervous. It had been a while since he encountered other giants. He was watching his feet to make sure he didn’t hurt anyone, and he was stopping constantly to look into the shops and stalls and carts.

“What is it like, being half giant?” Magen asked, who somehow managed to walk without looking at her feet very often at all. Maybe Yonah was being too careful and people here knew to stay out of the way of largefolk's feet… Still, he didn't want to take chances.

“Er… I have hair, I guess?” he said.

“I was wondering if that was natural or a wig.” Magen brushed the vines spilling from her head.

“But mostly, things were just a bit inconveniently large for me. I still managed.” Then he countered. “What’s it like being a guard in the market?”

“The shopkeepers pool money to have me stand around, mostly. Smallfolk behave when an angry giant is within earshot.” She grinned with all her fangs.

“I thought you said giants couldnt mess with smallfolk here?” Yonah inquired.

“You can’t. It’s my job to interfere,” Magen retorted. “I haven't hurt anyone… badly. I’ve only worked here for a year. But I know everyone and everyone knows me!”

They stopped at a stand selling nuts and Yonah purchased the almonds he needed. The seller seemed a bit disappointed that he bought so few.

“Shopping for someone small?” Magen asked.

“Er- yeah.” Yonah said. They both had to back between trees to let a trio of trolls go by. One was only 10 feet tall and barely came up to Yonah’s waist, but another was nearly 20 feet! They carried baskets and bags on their furry backs, and even had some tied to their tusks!

Before they continued, two elves leapt from the tree nearby and onto Yonah’s shoulders! He was about to brush them off when Magen stopped him.

“Don’t! They are just hitching rides!” At that, he spotted more elves on her head. “You need honey, yes? I know the best shop!”

He followed Magen around the market, which was much larger than he had realized. The elves had no qualms about leaping on and off him and other largefolk shoppers and eventually he ignored them. Magen even helped him avoid making a bad deal for oat flour, saying she couldn’t believe the nerve of the shopkeeper trying to take advantage of a new resident.

Before Yonah left, he wanted to properly thank Magen. “If there is anything I can do to show thanks. Perhaps er-” he looked around.

“You know, the juice stand behind that tree has new flavors I’ve wanted to try. How about you buy me a drink? You should get one too. It’s very refreshing!”

“They make them giant sized?” Yonah asked.

“Oh, they are made by ogres!” Magen replied, rounding the indicated tree.

Ogres, kin of trolls and even more dangerous due to their magical powers. Typically smaller than trolls, but that was not the way to tell them apart.

An entire family of ogres were operating a massive open storefront. Jugs hung from branches or were strapped to the trunks of trees and fruit swung in baskets. Behind the counter was an elaborate prep station operated by two large ogres. Around the entire display were platforms sticking out from the nearby trees. Smallfolk sat on stools enjoying drinks and food at an elevation that made it easy to be served by the ogres. Magen walked up to the counter, which was not at an ideal height for her but was easily manageable. She spoke to an ogre with straw colored fur, blue spots, and large horns.

“Edna! I’d like two passion fruit smoothies please! One giant sized and one…” She glanced back at Yonah. “Full Troll sized!” She stepped aside and pointed at Yonah. “He’s paying”

Edna nodded and passed on the order.

Yonah stepped forward. Bowing “Yonah HaEsh”. She bowed back, “Edna Baneclaw. That will be a gold bracelet for the giant and half for the full troll”

Yonah’s heart nearly stopped. A gold bracelet and a half !? He looked at Magen who flashed her fangs mischievously then back at Enda.

Edna smiled as well. “We don’t have enlarged passion fruit, not in high demand by largefolk.”

With another glare at Magen, Yonah fished into his hat. He didn’t have gold bracelets but he had rings. 10 silver to a gold. Rings to Rings. Bracelets to Bracelets… 10 gold rings to a silver bracelet… 10 silver bracelets to a gold ring. That’s 100 gold rings to a gold bracelet (he had really overpaid the gnomes for the berries... A holiday gift he supposed), but this was not money to spend on frivolous fruit drinks!

Too late, however. The drinks were ready, and he carefully removed golden rings from silver bracelets. 50 gold rings and 10 silver bracelets exchanged for two smoothies. They came in wooden cups with bamboo straws.

This better be fucking worth it. Yonah took a sip.

His eyes widened as the cool icy tart concoction hit his taste buds and he took a long drink. Finally, he looked at Magen and then Edna. “This is incredible!” he exclaimed. Magen grinned and sipped hers as well. “Yeah. Too bad we’re the last two to have some for at least a month!”

“What do you mean?”

“That took all the passion fruit we had,” Edna informed. “Won't get more for a while”

“Worth it! Suck it smallfolk!” Magen teased the people on the platforms, a few looked a bit annoyed, but most didn't seem to care. She didn't seem to care either.

“Well it was nice meeting you, Yonah. I hope to see you again. Oh, and by the way, you can return your mug to the ogres for a silver bracelet, even if you take it home today!”

Yonah glanced at his drink. “Oh! Thanks for letting me know. But where are you going?”

Magen sipped at her smoothie loudly before answering. “This was my break, silly, I need to go back on proper duty now, and you have all your things.” Magen held out her free hand and Yonah shook it, bidding her goodbye. It was getting late in the day now and he wanted to get to work on the almond cookies.

Wait… which way was back to the tower? How could he be so stupid wandering off like this!? His mom taught him better than that. Forest ranger rule number 1: DON’T GET LOST. ...okay, so that wasn’t really a rule. It was supposed to imply that you paid attention to where you were going so you could get back. This was not so easy in the Mystic Woods.

The moment he had walked far enough away from the market, he turned forward and then back, and it was already gone. He had nowhere to go but forward.

It was to his great surprise that only a minute later, he exited the dense trees and found himself in the clearing. The tower was on the opposite side. While he was elated to have made it back safely before dark, there was a distinct absence of any gladness to be home. This was not his home, after all. It was his prison.

Yonah HaEsh climbed up the tower and back into his prison. He took off his hat and sat down at his desk in the workshop, staring into the reflection on the large, ornate mirror that rested upon it.

To do this right, he needed help. Professional help. So he activated his mirror. Or at least… tried. He stared at his own reflection, then spoke. “Mirror Mirror on the desk,” he faltered, “Could you please connect me to Shoshana at the academy?”

The mirror snorted. “You think politeness will work after all this time? I don’t make exceptions. This is why your friends think you’ve forgotten about them! Put in the effort! Ask me properly or don't at all.”

“They’ve called me!!” Yonah insisted, but the mirror said nothing in response. Just like he would do when he got calls from his friends. Yonah growled and snorted back at the mirror, fogging it up. “Mirror Mirror, oh magical vanity, I wish to call Shoshana, at the wizard academy”

There was a whistle from the mirror. “Now that’s how you do it!” it praised. The fog cleared and for a brief moment, he saw his own face again before the reflective surface turned grey. Another moment and the face of his friend Shoshana emerged.

“Yonah!!!” she exclaimed. “You called! I cannot believe it!”

Yonah’s face turned a bit red. “I’ve… been distracted.”

Shoshana waved her hand, stopping any further excuses. “You’ve been through so much! I was worried! Since we graduated, you haven't called at all!”

/I never called before either... / Yonah thought. /It was always you.../ When Grand Master Sean reinstated him as a wizardling student, his friends would call regularly to work on homework and their theses, as he wasn’t allowed to actually attend the school in person. And while he attended the graduation…

That wasn’t a happy memory at all and he didn’t want to think about how he sat behind all the students in the amphitheater in magic chains looking more like a beast one of the adventuring tract students had wrangled for their final than a student.

“I need a recipe!” he said.

Shoshana raised her brows “That’s it!? First call in over a month, and it’s to get a recipe! You don’t want to catch up at all?!” Yonah’s eyes flickered and Shoshana backed off. “Alright, I can see you’re not in the mood. But please, we’re all missing you so much. We’d assumed you embraced the evil hermit wizard life.”

“I… haven’t meant to. But it’s surprisingly easy,” he admitted, grinning awkwardly. “I’d rather not go full hermit, of course.”

“Well, then dont go a month without calling your friends!” Shoshana chided. “Or make some new friends! The forest is full of interesting people, right?”

Yonah looked away, but his eyes were probably glowing orange now.

“This… is for that.”

“Oh!” Shoshana exclaimed, “I should have figured! Of course, I will give you whatever recipe you’d like.”

Yonah got out his ingredients to show Shoshana and explained what he wanted to bake. She nodded and made some suggestions for ingredients and spices to really make these cookies great. He did not have all the supplies she suggested, which led to some back-and-forth as Shoshana pointed out some substitutions for what Yonah bought or already had in his tower.

“Got that all down?” she asked, as she watched Yonah scribble out the final lines to the recipe.

“Yes!” Yonah exhaled in relief. “Thank you so much, Shosh!”

“Next time, we will catch up properly, but I had fun designing this recipe!” Shoshana chirped. “What a challenge. I wish you had called first, before just buying random ingredients.”

“I was already in the forest, Shosh.”

“I know, I know.” Shoshana blew Yonah a kiss and the mirror flickered back to his reflection.

It was time to bake! Which he did after shrinking down.

By the time he was done baking his jam print almond cookies, it was past midnight. He needed sleep and didn't think finding the witch at night was a particularly wise idea, especially since he was getting tired. That meant he was extra likely to be grumpy and irritable. So he placed the cookies in a special cooling rack to keep them magically fresh, then went to bed.

It was right after breakfast that Yonah HaEsh left the tower and, for the second time, entered the forest.

Once again, he had no direction, not that one could in the Mystic Woods. It wasn't even possible to have a map unless it was incredibly magical. Still, he was determined and willing to wander the forest for days if he must! But he’d do so at his full size, which would allow him to cover more ground.

That’s… That’s a witch’s hut! He hoped it was the correct one. It was more of a mound than a hut, with one side covered in rocks and moss and the other a more sheer side with windows, plus a flatter side with a door.

As he approached, a garden came into view and he heard a yelp before watching a small figure dart into the hut and close the curtains. The door opened briefly and a hand hung a sign that read “NO SOLICITORS”

That was the evil giant! Why was he here!? Why did the forest let him find the hut!? Was he here to eat them?! To finish the job!? Could they take on a giant fire witch?! Myran was a damn skilled witch, and at least 15 years the giant’s senior by their estimate, but they were quaking in their boots.

A knock sounded at their door. It didn’t sound forceful enough to be a giant. Siv was in front of them, hissing at the door. Thinking it better to be safe, they peeked out the window, then ran to open the door. Just a crack.

Red faced and holding a basket was… the giant. Only he wasn’t giant. Not exactly. He now stood at about twice Myran’s height. A little less actually. Right. Wizard. Giant wizard.

“May I come in?”

“Depends… what’s in the basket?” They narrowed their eyes. “I don’t want any nasty surprises.”

The wizard’s face got redder as he removed the cover. They opened the door and stood aside. They took the basket with their right hand… Yonah hesitated. Their arm had a massive scar from shoulder to elbow, but the hand was unbroken. The Dwarf noticed and gave him a hard look as he crouched low to get through the dwarf sized door, Siv still hissing at him in warning.

Myran put the basket on the kitchen table and motioned to the couch. “Please, sit.” Yonah did. The couch was small for him but it took his weight. “I’m going to be honest.” Myran leaned against the kitchen table and crossed their arms. “This is quite the unexpected visit.”

“Oh?” Yonah said. Of course, it made sense. He chased them out. Why would he then try to find them again?

“You bit me!” Myran reminded him harshly. “You broke my hand, and you said if you saw me again, you would eat me. Again. And kill me.”

/Ohhhh/

Yonah’s breath caught before managing to say. “I did… didn’t I?” He looked down at his feet.

Myran. sighed. “Yep. Though eating me at your current size would be an impressive feat. So... What the fuck are you doing here? Besides bringing me cookies to fatten me up.”

“I’m not-!” He looked back up to defend himself and saw their cheeky grin. “I didn’t come here to eat you…” They raised an eyebrow in sarcastic disbelief. “I want to apologize. For what I said… What I did. After I ate you. I was so angry. I still am, though mostly at myself. I shouldn't have hurt you. It wasn’t right.” He was almost crying. Dammit, he’d gone nearly a month without crying!

“And for eating me?”

“Huh?” Yonah was thoroughly confused.

“You’re sorry for what happened after you ate me, but what about eating me?”

Yonah bit his lip, “I’m… I’m not sorry about that.”

The witch raised both eyebrows now, genuinely curious as to the workings of this monster’s thoughts.

“I’m supposed to eat people! Especially those who enter my tower unannounced. It’s part of my job! And… And I like it!” He startled himself with that statement. He liked his job? He didn’t even want this job!! He was forcefully employed by the King under threat of death! Being evil had never been his plan and he didn’t want that. Did he?

The witch didn’t look completely satisfied with this answer. But they didn’t get to inquire further as Yonah’s curiosity got the better of him.

“Er- your hand…”

Myran smiled “It was rather mangled by your jaws yesterday. Luckily, I am a very good healer, and well-known in this forest. If you had killed me, you would have had a lot of angry forest residents after your head.” Myran began preparing a pot of tea as Yonah Processed that statement. “You’re a lucky giant aren’t you?”

“What?” Yonah voiced. “For not killing you and putting a target on my back?”

“Yes, exactly. And that was curious. It is rare that evil giants are merciful.”

Yonah looked away, “I’ve only been evil for a few months. I… you’re the third person I’ve eaten at all. And I dont… I haven’t yet… killed anyone.”

That surprised Myran. “I guess I do not know the frequency that giants normally encounter adventurers… but what I meant was you’re lucky that you even get to eat people. Most giants like the taste of smallfolk but they don't actually eat them. It’s rather rare.”

“You said it yourself. Evil Giants eat people,” Yonah pointed out. “Which I am one. I guess it’s… nice that I get to eat folks. But it comes with a cost… It’s only a matter of time before slayers come after me.”

“Most evil giants kill their victims, right?” Myran asked.

Yonah shrugged “I met another one once. Said it depended on his mood.”

“Fascinating… though if you keep up your more merciful streak, perhaps you are less likely to attract slayers?”

“Perhaps…” Yonah had not considered that. He just felt he wasn’t ready to kill anyone yet, but maybe there were other perks than just a clear conscience in continuing to let his snacks go.

“Cracked some sort of code then?” Myran inquired. “Getting to eat people without attracting too much attention? Not that this would stop all slayers,” they added. “I expect you would kill a slayer?”

Yonah nodded, sniffed, and wiped his nose. In that case… Guess he was lucky. Indeed, he’d gotten to taste plenty of smallfolk. Plenty of giants did. It was unique that he’d had his human dad while growing up. But all of the smallfolk in the village knew that when giants kissed their hands, the giants were getting little tastes. Sometimes giants would lick a friend playfully or freak someone out. He’d had a few elvish and human friends growing up, and they sometimes let him and the other giant kids lick them during games of Jacks and Giants. And his academy friends were quite amused by his affections. He very much missed them. It had not taken long for him to get used to living amongst human friends, not just because he got to taste them. And so quickly, that was taken away from him. Friends…

As tears welled in his eyes he couldn’t look at Myran any longer. He closed his eyes and turned his face away. Should he keep talking? Shit, how much of that had he said out loud!? The words continued to come out regardless.

“I know I said I didn’t want any friends. But I do! I need them. And I know I can’t be your friend. You came to me and I fucked it up. But I beseech you to not tell everyone else in the forest to avoid me. I already went to the mystical market and-“

“You… how did you find out that I liked almonds!”

Yonah looked up. They weren’t looking at him but reaching into the basket for another cookie. They munched on it thoughtfully, not a crumb falling into their beard. The tea was ready and Myran poured it with magic, leaving their hands free to hold more cookies. They walked over to Yonah, the tea cups floating with. He took the larger one out of mid air. It was very hot! And he drank. It was… It tasted like tea he’d had at home. His village had alway gotten various teas from the dwarves. New tears came to his eyes.

“You alright?” Myran asked, offering a handkerchief. “You’re a very emotional evil giant.”

Yonah took it and dried his eyes. “The tea is… really good.” That wasn’t the real reason but right now he couldn’t process all of his emotions.

“It’s my grandma’s blend,” Myran said. “I’ve tried to replicate it using my garden, but you just can’t replicate those tunnel grown fungi.”

They dipped one of the cookies into the tea. From their expression, it wasn’t really a mistake but likely didn’t improve the experience. Still they munched thoughtfully.

“I’ll be your friend.”

Yonah’s jaw nearly hit the floor and he almost dropped his tea. It was a few seconds before he managed to pick his jaw back up. Were they serious? They walked over to him, placing their much smaller hand over one of his. Then they smiled most disarmingly.

“Just don’t eat me again.”

Yonah smiled.

“I think I can manage that”

[FIN]

——

(You can imagine that Yonah got to hug Myran before he left, probably a little too tight but dwarves are tough!)

[THANKS FOR READING!! PLEASE REBLOG/GIVE FEEDBACK I CRAVE IT!!]

big thanks to my amazing editors @j0hnnymouse and @vixen525

[seaship27]

Warning this contains vore, if you don’t like don’t read.

Rain poured down and lighting crashed loudly outside, the small child shuddered and curled tighter under his blanket. He didn’t like lightning, it was scary.

He wondered where exactly his friend had gone as the demon had been there when he’d fallen asleep originally.

He frowned, “hello? Mr.? where’d you go?”

He carefully stood up and turned on the light before climbing down off the bed, he crouched to check underneath the bed. The demon was not under it however. He paused feeling something blow across his neck.

He turned around slowly and looked up.

“There you are!”

He smiled cheerily at the demon who stared down at him, blood red eyes studying him intently.

“where were you Mr.?!”

The demon didn’t answer, just stared at him a couple more seconds before offering him an apple. He carefully took it

“uh thanks...?”

“You, uh didn’t answer my question though” he said setting the apple on his desk.

“I was outside”.

He blinked “ outside? But it’s raining”.

“Saw a bird” he said continuing to stare down intently.

“ that.... doesn’t really answer my question but okay....?”

“why are you up?”

“Oh I uh couldn’t sleep the thunder woke me up”

“And then I couldn’t-

He was cut off by lightning crackling loudly. He jumped

“-Go back to sleep” he finished mumbling softly.

The demon crouched, reaching to pick the small child up before pausing

“ do you think you could do me a favor mr.?”

“Depends on the favor” he stared suspiciously down at the child

“Do you think you could.... I don’t know... maybe..”

“Spit it out kid”

“Staywithmeuntilifallasleep”

The demon cocked his head to the side and flicked an ear

“You want me to what”

He sighed “can you stay with me until I fall asleep?”

“I already do that?” He stared at the child confused

“No could you lay in bed with me, instead of sitting in the chair”

“.......Absolutely not, I am NOT snuggling you all night ”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t want to!?”

“Please” he gave the demon his best puppy eyes knowing that he couldn’t ever resist them

He growled baring his teeth at the kid “NO”

“Pleeeeeease”

“NO”

“Pleeeeeeeeeeeease” he smiled sweetly at the demon beginning to whine knowing the demon hated it when people whined

“One word kid,NO!”

“please?” He whimpered softly as his eyes began to fill with tears

“.... fine”

He grinned cheerily all signs of sadness gone, throwing his arms around the demon

“Thankyouthankyouthankyou”

“This is gonna be so much fun” he kissed the demon on the nose

“Whatever” he grumbled irritated

“ if you tell anyone about this I’ll eat you” he scowled, begrudgingly scooping up the child and setting him in the bed, before flopping down next to him and clicking off the light. The small child squeezed him tightly and nestled against him burying his face into the demon chest.

“Good night”

The demon made a soft growling noise, rumpling his hair

“Brat”

————————————————

It had been hours and the small child was unable to fall asleep. He sighed and snuggled closer to the demon who clearly had no trouble sleeping. He considered waking him up.

After several seconds of debating with himself on whether or not to, he had finally made up his mind.

He carefully sat up and gently began to shake the demon.

“Mr. wake up”

No response, he shook him again but harder this time.

“Wake up!”

The demon opened one eye and scowled.

“What”

“I can’t-I can’t sleep”

“Why not” he sat up slowly and stretched, yawning widely

“The thunder is really loud and I’m scared” he whimpered softly

Turning to stare at him the demon sighed flatly and grumbled under his breath “what do you want ME to do about it?”

“I don’t know!?”

He arched brow “want me to go ask it nicely to shut up?”

The child glared “your being mean!”

“Am I?” He yawned again

“Yes!”

“Oh well”

He smacked the demon on the leg, who just laughed “doesn’t hurt kid”

He scowled burying face into the demons stomach, which proceeded to growl “are-are you hungry?”

The demons face flushed brightly “NO”

“Okay you don’t gotta get mad”

Thunder boomed loudly. He jumped, squeezed the demon tighter and frowned “wish there was someplace I couldn’t hear the thunder...”

Red eyes stared down at him at him “actually......”

“I have the PERFECT place to help you sleep” he grinned nastily revealing razor sharp fangs

The small child was beginning to regret waking him up.

He fiddled with his blanket nervously “Uh..... where w-would that-where would that be?”

The demon smiled wider “right here”

He lunged at the child and pinned him to bed.

He was giving the small child a funny look, it was very strange and could almost be described as.... hunger?

The child giggled nervously “w-what- what are you d-doin” He stared upward looking scared

The demon didn’t answer and instead leaned down and licked the kids face

“delicious”

He snapped his mouth open, which revealed insanely sharp teeth.

The kid yelped and began to flail wildly “d-don’t e-eat me!”

He was ignored and the demon proceeded to stuff his head into his mouth. He kicked his legs and struggled, thrashing ferociously. It didn’t seem to bother the demon however.

He swallowed shoving the kid deeper into his throat. As the the small child slipped deeper he began to cry. The demon swallowed again leaving just his legs sticking out, the child screeched and struggled even more.

“I-I’M SORRY F-FOR WAKING Y-YOU UP O-OKAY!”

One more swallow had him completely within the demon throat. The terrified child went still “L-LET ME O-OUT”. The demon gulped a final time squishing the child into his stomach.

The demon huffed as if he was out of breath, which considering the fact that he had just swallowed an entire child (albeit a small one) would make sense.

Grinning he poked his belly and snickered before flopping back onto the bed. “What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong? WHATS WRONG, YOU ATE ME!”

He kicked the stomach wall “LET ME OUT”

The demon laughed “calm down your fine”

“NO I’M NOT”

“Yes you are”

“......i’m not”

He was jostled around as the demon shifted and patted his stomach “Pretty sure I what I’m talkin about”.

The child stopped crying and moved attempting to right himself “that-that doesn’t make sense”

“Uh yeah it does”

“No it DOESN’T”

“It does because I said it does”

He sniffled softly and wiped his eyes “that’s n-not how it w-works”.

The demon began to pet his belly “I’m not a human, so I don’t work like one”

“So your good” he said, rolling onto his side “nice and safe, plus you can’t hear the thunder”

“You promise?” He half-whispered

“What” he snickered “that you can’t hear the thunder?”

“........”

“....uh yeah, kid your safe”

“Really?!”

“Would I lie to you?”

“Yes”

“About something important?”

He frowned “guess not, but I’m only believing you cause your my friend”

The small child shifted again trying to get comfortable, the demons belly wasn’t exactly roomy. He paused and gently pressed his hand into the soft flesh around him, it was very slimy and warm. He blinked “Hey mr.? why can I see?”

“Dunno”

“Your tummy’s purple”

“What color is it supposed to be?”

The child laughed softly “I don’t know, it’s just weird”

He could hear the demons heartbeat much louder here and if he listened closely he could hear the demon breathe. He was also making a strange sound, it sounded like.... purring? He giggled softly “you sound like a kitty”

He snorted “do I”

“Yeah”

yawning the child snuggled against the soft flesh, “it’s really comfy in here” he informed the demon sleepily “and I’m really tired...”

The demon rubbed his belly “go to sleep little human, I’ll keep you safe”

He yawned again “good-goodnight mr......”

“Goodnight kid”

[seaship27]

Vore Prompts!

I’ve been wanting to write more vore stuff, so I decided to make my own prompts! Send me one and I’ll write a little somethin’~

“I just can’t control myself anymore. I have to eat!” 

“So why do you like eating people? I’ll tell you why I like being eaten.”

“Ahah… Why are you smiling at me like that? H-Hey, what are doing?!”

“I can’t believe you ate me and you’re STILL hungry!” 

“I’m not feeling well… Could I maybe…hide in you for a bit?”

“I’m feeling kinda bummed out today. I could use a little pick me up from my favorite comfort food.”

“You know, you look a little bit like a piece of candy in that outfit. You’re giving me some ideas…”

“Sometimes, a monster like me just can’t help themselves. There’s just entire cities full of the unaware, and my belly is empty.” 

“I really never thought someone’s insides could be so beautiful. And calming.” 

“Those bad guys are never going to hurt you ever again, see? I took care of them for good.” 

“It’s really cold out here… Could you keep me warm until we find shelter?”

“I can’t believe we’ve actually been eaten alive! We have to get out of here!” 

“I really don’t want to scare you… But you’ve looked really tasty lately.”

“When did you get so tiny? It’s unfortunate that I was the one find you first, hm?”

“The thing I’ve wanted more than anything is to be completely surrounded by you. I am at peace in a way I’ve never known.”

“I will protect you–please, just trust me.” 

“You have such strange insides… But at least we’ve cracked the code on just how it is that you work! Now hurry up and get me out of here before I digest!”

“I’ve found you! And now you’re not going anywhere but down.”

[seaship27]

I officially have more followers on this account than on my non-vore accoun.....

[seaship27]

Regarding Recent Vore Discourse

I’ve noticed the resurgence of some recent discourse lately, so I figured I might as well take my stand on it. You guys are welcome to disgree with me but I do ask that you do so respectfully.

I’m talking specifically about the recent debate over whether characters who are minors should be accepted into vorish content. My personal stance? If it’s SFW, then that’s fine. I of course understand and agree with the concerns with NSFW content (unless the creator is a minor of similar age), as that’s too easy to pervert. But my qualms lies with censoring content and restricting pred & prey content to certain species, certain age groups, certain dynamics between characters, etc.

Reason being? It takes away from the people who are actually using that as a part of self-exploration. I’m talking about, you know, the actual minors in this community who are being harassed for writing and drawing voracious content which contains characters of their same age. I know that this has been a major source of comfort for me growing up in the community, and I gravitated towards characters closer to my age back then because older characters were a bit too hard to grasp. I still gravitate towards characters in my age range. And it really, really bugs me that this is something that which deems people “creeps” right off the bat, especially with no evidence except people taking one look and assuming the worst.

If it’s depicted sexually? Yeah, see the issue. If it isn’t? Nah.

A common counterargument I see flung around is that “oh well people are going to take it sexually no matter what!” Even if the blogger adds in “NSFW blogs do not interact?” Even if the creator specifies that it’s SFW and not supposed to be taken explicitly? I’m sorry, but I don’t see how someone twisting the intention of specifically-stated or clearly-intended SFW content is somehow the creator’s fault. I’m open to audience interpretations of art, but someone going “fuck you I’m gonna see this in x light” when it clearly isn’t is… Gross. And that goes for the (non)fatal and (N)SFW variations both; just don’t mess with that stuff, people. It’s really not that hard.

Another danger that comes with assuming that any vore ever is sexual or can be taken in such a manner is that people then genuinely forget that this community has minors in it. I cannot COUNT the number of times people have tried to RP kinky stuff with me while I was a minor because I didn’t have my age up publicly. People assumed that I was an adult because I was in the community, when I was very much not. I’ve seen this trend plenty, experienced it plenty, and it’s fucking gross. If you want to worry about people twisting something, then please, please do something about that. That’s an actual issue that needs to be addressed.

I recognize that I’m going to likely get some backlash for this. I respect people’s preferences either way, and I acknowledge I’m taking a risk saying this. I’m okay with that risk. But do know that I’ve been keeping in the loop with people who have been harassed for aforementioned reasons, and I’ve thought long and hard about this debate before making a statement about it.

This white-knighting claiming to be protecting the minors in the community is actively hurting them. It’s time to stop.

[seaship27]

Guys, I don't care if you enjoy g/t, vore, micro macro, monsters, or whatever in a sexual context.

But not everyone sees things as sexual.

Lemme put it this way. Some people like leather in a kink sense. Does that mean that they can come up and tell you that you can't wear a leather jacket because it makes them turned on?

No?

Then don't fucking do it to minors or adults who are only into something nonsexually. Legit there is no reason you need to harass people who are minors into vore or micro macro or adults who just enjoy something in a nonsexual way.

THERE IS NO FUCKING EXCUSE. IF YOU APPROVE OF HARASSING PEOPLE BECAUSE THEY LIKE G/T OR NONSEXUAL VORE, OR THEY LIKE IT IN A DIFFERENT WAY THAN YOU DO, DO ME A FAVOR:

GET THE FUCK OFF MY BLOG.

Respect other people whether you agree or disagree with them. Treating people as human online IS NOT THAT FUCKING HARD.

Fuck.

[seaship27]

Oh god now I’m thinking about protective vore with the man do/lorian and I can’t stop gjsnfkdnsn like... how would that even work if no one is allowed to see him without his helmet?? Like “excuse me please close your eyes for like 30 seconds and don’t open them under any circumstance even if you feel like you’re begging swallowed alive please and thank you”

[seaship27]

You know what the best type of character is?

the grouchy dad character who despises everyone, but then meets this kid and just.... like I would do anything for this kid.

then they just adopt the child, and they are just living their life still hating everyone EXCEPT the child.

It's hilarious

.

.

.

.

Also I would just like to say, it is the best for vore things.

[seaship27]

I don't feel like actually finding and editing the meme, but:

Three hands shaking meme. One hand is labelled "gt", one is labelled "vore", one is labelled "furries"

the handshake is labelled "people assuming the thing you like is inherently sexual and kinky when most of the time it's not"

[seaship27]

Ok but like what if a vegetarian pred eats someone safley, do they still count as vegetarian????

[seaship27]

The siren and the child 

This story contains safe vore if you do not like do not read

Kae was scared. He sat on the bottom of the boat staring at the creature beneath the glass. The thing stared back smiling widely, before darting away.

The ship's captain answered Kae's unspoken question "that was one of the merfolk". " It's why your here in the first place, it's going to eat you " Kae's eyes widened "why?!"

"It's what we brought you for brat" came the snapped reply.

The captain grabbed him by the arm and dragged him up the stairs. The crew stood on the ship deck all looking bored, along with a well dressed man Kae didn't recognize who looked very pleased. Kae was dragged to the edge of the boat and stood there shaking.

He didn't want to die.

"It's nothing personal" the ship's captain said "we just have a very high paying man who enjoys feeding people to the mer".

Kae's eyes filled with tears, he didn't want to die.

The captain shoved him off the edge, and Kae screamed.

The water was freezing and Kae didn't know how to swim.He was almost immediately dragged under the water. Squeezing his eyes shut He attempted to scream again but unfortunately only ended up inhaling water.

He kicked wildly but whatever had grabbed him obviously had no intention of letting him go. Kae opened his eyes.

Oh.

It was the mer that held him.

The creature pulled him closer, and snapped its mouth open. Kae stared into the mers mouth, it was light blue and lined with hundreds of shark-like teeth.

Kae's hands were delicately placed in the mer's mouth, and immediately swallowed. It gently licked him in the face before swallowing his head and shoulders.

It swallowed once more leaving just Kae's legs sticking out. Three more swallows left Kae completely inside of it's belly.

The mer had been extremely careful not to bite Kae, it hadn't even scratched him . Why? Kae was not sure, but at least he wasn't bleeding.

"Please let me out"  Kae begged as he tried hard not to cry.

"No".

"P-please I'll  d-do anything"

"No".

I-if you w-w-won't let me o-out, t-then I-I-I'll get out m-myself".

The mer snorted "have fun".

Kae thrashed wildly, but it didn't seem to bother the mer.

The mer poked him " I think your gonna have to try a little harder than that ".

Kae struggled harder.

"If your trying to make me sick it's not working".

Kae burst in into tears "p-please i-i don't w -want to d-die".

The mer sighed exasperatedly before gently placing its hand on him "calm down I'm not going to hurt you" .

Y-your not? "

"I'm not, your in my first stomach".

"W-what's t-that got to d-do w-with  anything?"

" I can't digest stuff in my first stomach, so I didn't couldn't hurt you even if I wanted to".

"Y-you p-promise".

"Yeah".

Kae slowly relaxed at the mer's words, "d-do you have a name?"

" Yes".

"W-what is it?"

"Azure".

"I'm Kae".

"Why d-did you eat me?"

"You would have drowned or some other mer would have eaten you  which probably would not have turned out well, and I didn't think I would scare you that bad".

"Oh"

"Kae I have a question"

"What is it?"

"Would you like me to take you home with me or somewhere else" .

Kae blinked, Azure was asking if he wanted to go home? He was quiet for a minute, there wasn't anyone or thing back where he used to live, he had no family and no home. "I....i'd like to go with you".

"Alright but you don't get to complain if I eat you again" .

He nodded before realizing Azure couldn't see him, "that's fine".

"I'll let you out when I get home ".

"Ok"

Kae yawned, he was tired and Azures belly was very squishy. It felt like he was being hugged from all angles".

"You tired kid?"

Kae yawned again "yeah".

"You can go to sleep if you want"

" Ok"

Kae snuggled into Azures stomach "I guess it's not so bad in here". No, no it  wasn't bad at all, sure it was sticky, dark and squished, but it was also warm and soft.

"Good night Azure" he mumbled.

" .......sleep tight kid".

But Kae was already asleep.

----------------------------------------------

This was originally posted on my ao3 account

[seaship27]

Doing An Experiment

Reblog this if you’re into any facet of vore and would fight any sick fuck who tried to do it IRL. I wanna see the numbers on this.

Also if you do this, I’m begging you get some serious mental help. That’s not okay.

[seaship27]

This is a note for a day post!

I’m making this post for one of my best friends here on tumblr, @criminal-eater-tozier Each note is another day they won’t kill themselves, or self-harm. Please, please reblog. They’re so important to me. Tagging to spread: @crystal-crazy-witch (or whatever url you use Rei) @yashee-but-jjba @thatspectacularpigeon @smol-lightning-bug @therealbeesechurger @thorneedsahug because I know you guys have plenty of followers to spread this around! And anyone else; please reblog if possible!