FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

In the west of the great continent world of Sounos and deep in the Ballenhill Valley, past the mountains with their ice-tipped peaks and steep summits, there were settlements where small groups of villagers resided-a mainly agricultural people who tended towards the sturdy thatched roof houses and warm central fires in stone-brick cottages. Their main source of food came from the extensive river that ran through their village bringing with it all assortments of fish; big and small, spiked and smooth, in every natural hue. It was able to sustain the village for the long winters that usually occurred during the setting of each year.

This clan was lead by one of the strongest warriors of the village, Lucas Thorsveld; a cunning warrior who was known for making his people's survival his first priority. Sadly, the warrior's wife was barren, but despite this trouble, he continued to keep his settlements' protection at heart. After all, the village faced dangers and threats on a weekly basis from their neighbors who were...not so peaceful. Even though he didn't have any children of his own he had a small mannered nephew who he admired very much and, many times, treated him like his own son.

Jim was a stout lad, though not nearly as big as some of the warriors that had either grown within the village or had joined while traveling here. Many of the warriors though had been broken years before and showed scars of the past war that had crippled many, many men. Jim could only remember the terror of the war when he was a child. The Tundra Conflict, otherwise known as the "Frozen Massacre" had been one of the greatest wars fought in Sounos for the latter half of an age. The entire western half of Sounos was covered in thick, ice encrusted fields with high mountains and steep hills. The Alpine forests would cover miles of tundra through the thick trenches of snow. All in the matter of a year, the major settlements and villages of the Tundra Alps converged on each other like wolves with a deer. Crops were immolated, cattle were slaughtered, and many men lost their lives fighting this war which many considered to be the end of days. With bruised backs, shattered shields, and the will and heart of man, Lucas and the allying village of Oakenzel had stalled the conflict, leaving the region in bitter defeat. Years had passed, crops replanted, and old grudges were always kept hidden and deep through soot covered eyes.

Although Jim's father had died many years into the war, the boy always tried to keep a positive demeanor towards everything he was trying to accomplish which, in his case, wasn't much. Jim was one of the thatched workers who crafted the wood roofs that held fast to the stone-brick cottages. Many a time, he would have to venture out into the deep wood to gather the right type of oak lumber that was required for both its durability and wetness reduction.

Like any other day, Jim was wandering out in the northern wood looking for this specific type of oak, As he wandered, he couldn't help but notice that it was quieter and more conspicuous then his previous journeys-woods were usually teeming with life and noise, but this time, the whole forest seemed to be holding its' breath. A shiver ran down his spine-he'd never seen it like this before, and wondered what it might mean.

He paused, scanning the woodlands around him.

Nothing...

Shrugging it off, he came across a vast pond in the bed of a rock overlooking several water tributaries. Lost in thought, Jim hadn't realized it, but he'd been walking for almost two hours and thus, was thirsty and fatigued from all of his walking. The water was both cool and refreshing against Jim's tongue and face and soothed his aching feet and head as he dabbed them in the pond.

Jim was so preoccupied drinking and washing with the cool water that little did he notice the faint glow of two sapphire eyes peering out of the underbrush only ten stretches1 away. After another minute or two, Jim finished washing and drinking and stood up to stretch his muscles-then froze. Something was very, very wrong. The fish that had been swimming an arm stretch away from him had disappeared, and the water was as still and smooth as ice on a frozen lake. Slowly...Slowly, he became aware of something...something that he didn't hear a moment ago, something that sent shivers down his spine...Faint rhythmic breathing coming from across the small clearing.

Dreading to look, but feeling somehow drawn to looking, Jim turned to face the brush. The back of his neck prickled-something was watching him...

Then, he saw it-jet blue eyes staring at him from under the brush and the almost metronomic movements of the leaves as the creature breathed in and out. Jim needed no second look, he took off running as fast as he'd ever run in his life to the opposite direction. As the boy ran, he heard a crack and a whoosh of air as the creature took to the sky. That was when Jim knew; this had to be a dragon or other flying predator that seemed to want him for lunch.

Breathing hard, the creature's pretty reached one of the outlying forest areas where the brush was sparse, the trees thinning. Instincts told him that he couldn't outrun this beast for much longer; he was heading in the absolute wrong direction- into lighter forests and open fields. Out here, the beast would surely take to the sky where it would spot its' prey from above, dive and-

No. Don't think about that.

Jim snapped out of his thoughts as he heard the crash to the right before almost running into a large rock in front of him. He tripped as he tried to decrease his speed and was on the floor a second later.

Before he could snap up and continue his escape, a large red claw pinned him down on his chest and knocked the air out of him as he tried to struggle, only to have the dragon drive harder down. This was the first time he got a good look at the beast that had chased him, a 25 foot dragon that was crimson red and had lighter shades of pink and crimson around its other parts. On its head it had many horns and a long slick tail that came out from the dragons back to rest next to Jim as he lay there with the intense pressure of the claw on his chest.

Even as the boy struggled, the dragon simply adjusted its claw to compensate always keeping its sapphire eyes and toothy smile trained on Jim. Thick saliva dripped from the dragon's maw as it drew closer and closer to the boy...

It was straight out of a nightmare-the thing was going to eat him. "No! Please! No!" Jim pleaded, but the dragon simply brought those big teeth even closer, and he fell silent in awe. A moment later, the beast's head lunged, and the boy closed his eyes tight, waiting for those jaws to close on his head; his neck-

Nothing...No pain, only...

Jim felt his feet and his legs become wet and warm all of a sudden. He opened one eye, and was shocked to see that the dragon's tongue was wrapped around his legs easing up his body inch by inch. The dragon released its grip on his feet and started licking his face and all around his head covering it in the saliva and making the boy shiver all the way down to his toes.

After a few more seconds of getting tongued by the dragon, Jim felt himself being picked up by the dragon's claws and raised to the sky before being drawn closer and closer to the dragon's maw, so close it would have look like it was about to kiss him but, the dragon gave a quick smirk before opening its mouth revealing a huge maw of pink flesh and dripping saliva with its stretching throat muscles and its dark red tongue that seemed to start beckoning Jim to it.

All Jim's hopes went straight out the window. The thing had been teasing him all along! He started kicking and screaming, but to no avail. The tongue wrapped around him just as the claws let go, allowing the new meal to slide easily into the maw.

Jim wasn't about to go down easily, though. Even as the dragon's mouth closed and the tongue started caressing and drenching him in more saliva, Jim fought back with every instinct, trying to kick, scratch, and punch anything in the mouth without success. The great beast gave close to a deep chuckle as it felt its prey struggle against the soft, strong tongue. Jim felt himself being dragged deeper and deeper so that he was near the entrance to the throat before the dragon gave a few more licks from the tongue, driving the victim into the throat with the powerful muscles that lined its maw. Muscles and saliva worked together to massage and push its' latest meal deeper and deeper into the dragon. From the outside a large figure could be seen disappearing into the body of the dragon as more salvia dripped from the maw of the smiling dragon beast, as it savored the feeling of a full stomach.

Jim thought that he was doomed to travel forever in a dark, saliva filled tube just as he dropped out into a large area made of soft but strong flesh that seemed to absorb and sink with the boy's every protest and movement. He realized he must be in the stomach of the thing, and that all of these juices must be already starting to eat his clothes and coat, soon to start on his body. It seemed every attempt at moving or fighting back was thwarted by the draining power of the heat and wetness of the stomach as the boy tried to stay awake.

He didn't want to be forced into sleeping because he knew that would be death, but even as the idea came and gone, Jim fell into a deep sleep as the dragon's steady heart continued louder than ever through the stomach walls.

Outside, the dragon felt the human drift and stop moving. It just smirked and chuckled-that had been one of the better meals it had had in a while. It may have been smallish for a man, but its' pathetic attempts at fighting made its stomach feel really good. Straightening itself out, the creature yawned, and then took off into the sky-bound for one of the mountain peaks.

After about fifteen minutes of flying, the dragon landed swiftly in a nearby cave at the outcrop of the mountain. It quickly moved inside the cave and, feeling that the human was still unconscious, fell asleep itself to sleep off its' latest meal. Jim awoke with a start because of the dragon's shifting movements, still lightheaded from the encounter. He noticed that he must still be in the stomach but realized with a start that something was out of place here, he was still alive. He had been eaten, drenched, and dropped into the dragon's stomach, but a stomach that didn't kill him?

"This doesn't make sense", Jim murmured to himself, shifting to get into a more comfortable position. What would happen to him now? Would he be trapped in this place forever?

Somewhere up above, someone must have been looking after him- since as soon as he had finished shifting, the stomach started condensing all around him and pressured him up to the collapsed gap that he had come down through. All around him, the boy felt all the muscles seem to contract and tense around him as he was slowly pushed upward through what must be the throat. After a few more seconds, he reentered the mouth and was propped up onto the pink, wet tongue that continued to lick him for a few more moments. Suddenly he was on the cold stone ground and was still semi-soaked in saliva and other juices.

It took Jim a moment to regain his motor functions but when he came to; he turned around slowly and looked up, slightly frightened at the large dragon towering over him.

"This is very weird, and frightening", whispered Jim to himself, the dragon seemed to hear it anyway and cautiously edged its head down to Jim's eye level.

"I know I must have scared you a lot but you just looked lonely there by that pond and I was very hungry at the time", the thing murmured. Jim backed up in surprise- not only was the creature talking to him, its' voice sounded...female and...soothing.

"Why....why did I not die when you ate me?" said Jim quickly, trying not to show any fear.

The dragon perked right up at that.

"Oh, I put you in my secondary stomach you see, hmhm; it doesn't have any digestive systems and only stores food. Like I said I didn't want to hurt you, but you tasted so good!"

"I see, well um so you didn't want to kill me or anything?" asked Jim cautiously, unsure of his newfound ally. The thing had just tried and succeeded at eating him...should he trust it?

"No, as I said I was hungry at the time and you smelled good. I didn't mean to scare you, but I love playing games like chasing prospective prey...uh, just kidding", the dragon added quickly.

"That's g...good to...to know I guess", Jim said still stuttering from anxiousness and fatigue-be felt exhausted from his ordeal.

Jim glanced past the beast, eyeing the sheer drop behind it. The view from the cliff face was spectacular, but it was obvious that the boy wouldn't be able to get off the cliff without a dragon's help...

Jim frowned. He didn't really want to trust something that had just ate him after all, but...

"So then, does this mean we can be friends?"

"Of course we can sweet cheeks..." The dragon leaned in close, six inch incisors brushing the boy's ear "... and I would love to eat ya again sometime."

Jim hurriedly backed away. "Ok...well...um my name is Jim, what's yours?"

"Hmm...that's a nice name. A very nice name...Well, Jim", She paused, savoring the flavor of that one word. "Jiiiiimm...My name is Kara. So I'm guessing you live in that settlement down there in the valley, huh handsome?" she purred.

Jim had to back away again as she tried to nuzzle him. "Uh...Yes, yes I do live there, um...could you maybe take me back there, I...I don't know the way?"

"Yes I can...But I would like to see you again soon of course...heh. I don't want to wait too long to have some more fun." There was definitely some sort of suggestion in those undertones, but Jim couldn't fathom what it was.

"Um...ok", he said at last.

It only took them about fifteen minutes to fly back to the outskirts of Jim's village and, after saying goodbye one last time and receiving an interestingly wet kiss from Kara, one very tired boy headed back to the village pondering his experience of being chased, eaten, thrown up, and flirted with by a dragon all in a matter of hours.

No-one was going to believe this one

THE END

Hope you enjoyed it, I sense a sequel coming but I'm not sure, we'll see how everyone likes, don't know how it is for a first try!

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Notes:

*1: About a foot and a half. *