A Gluttonous Dragon v.1

A Gluttonous Dragon

The tree of the fruit of immortality lay at the base of a large and craggy mountain from which smoke constantly poured. Aranya had spent the past few hours climbing the mountain, for the tree trunk proved far too smooth for climbing. From the ledge she now stoop on, she could very likely knock one of the fruits down with a deft throw of the precious axe her father, also the chieftain of her village, had bestowed upon her. True, the fruit would be smashed to bits when it hit the ground, but nobody said you had to have an intact fruit to eat it. Aranya decided to rest for a while before making any attempts; no use making a throw and missing, thus requiring a climb all the way back down the mountain. Just before she sat down, she took a look at the very large cavern in the side of the mountain from which she could see the smoke spewing. Flames danced dozens of feet into the air inside, but there was no discernable source for the fire, nor did Aranya feel any heat, as she would have expected from such a large fire, even at this distance. Had she continued looking before she dozed off, she would have noticed the dragon shifting position inside the cavern.

Aranya awoke some time later, feeling refreshed enough to make her throw. She got up right away, her gaze immediately locking onto the tree and never looking away; she had even picked a single fruit to be her target. Locking her feet into position, she lifted the axe and took aim. Only then did she feel the massive gust from the dragon rearing up behind her and roaring in anger. She spun around, only to see the beast towering over her, claws bared. Her first thought was to run, but the only places to go were either into the burning cavern, or down the mountain, but she wouldn’t be able to accomplish more than a graceful plummet down the mountainside without more time to prepare. Without any other options, Aranya held the axe in a defensive position, waiting for the dragon to make the first move. Hopefully that first move wouldn’t be to incinerate her.

As a matter of fact, incineration was the farthest thing from the dragon’s mind, as it preferred its food raw and squirming. With one quick lunge, the dragon had Aranya’s waist firmly in the grasp of its claws. Aranya swung the axe wildly at the dragon’s forearm, but its thick, armored hide proved impenetrable for even a bronze axe. There was nothing she could do but watch and wriggle as the dragon lifted her up, opening its great jaw beneath her. The dragon had an exceedingly long tongue, which slithered out of its mouth like a snake. The dragon held her calves tightly with its other hand, preventing her from blocking her involuntary entrance into its mouth by kicking.

Gently, the dragon placed Aranya into its mouth, her feet being rapidly engulfed into its esophagus. With her feet free from the dragon’s claws, Aranya tried kicking at the dragon’s innards to force it to cough her up. This dragon, unfortunately, not only lacked any sort of gag reflex, but also rather enjoyed her pathetic attempts at freeing herself. Aranya suddenly realized that the dragon’s eye was within striking distance of her axe. Surely that had to be a vulnerable spot. Even as she moved her arm to strike, she felt the tough skin of the dragon’s hand wrapping around her forearm, squeezing just enough to cause her to hand to spasm in pain, dropping the axe, and her only hope of salvation. Another hand grasped her other arm, stifling any resistance.

There was absolutely nothing Aranya could do as she felt the pulses of peristalsis sweeping over her legs, drawing her deeper into the dragon’s gullet, its moist tongue also guiding her passage….

Later, with a rather full belly, the dragon examined the tree closely. She had a special symbiotic relationship with this tree. The fruits were not fruits at all, but the dragon’s eggs, for which the tree had developed special fixtures to hold and nourish. The eggs received the nutrients that once went into creating the fruits of immortality. In exchange, the dragon kept the great flame within the mountain lit. Its smoke created rains that were the only form of nourishment that would satiate the tree. As the dragon ensured that all of her eggs remained intact, she felt a kick. Of course, this wasn’t the kick of any offspring, but the foolish human who had tried to harm her unborn offspring. She wasn’t dead quite yet, as the dragon’s digestive system required a constant intake of air to catalyze digestion, but once her digestive juices started pouring in, the failed murderess would be in for a miserable end.