The Price of Victory
Hundaro carefully made his way through the swamp. He wasn't fooled by the attractive vegetation that flourished all around him, or by the quiet, peaceful sounds of nature that pervaded the area. He knew a dangerous beast lived here, a massive dragon, and it was his mission to defeat it.
Caws crowed loudly in the trees above, their shrieks piercing his skull and sending shivers down his spine. A rushing stream of what at first appeared to be water ran right alongside him. But when he looked inside, he saw a green, flowing substance. It was poison. He grimaced.
He approached a dark cavern that loomed above him, almost as tall as the trees themselves. He knew this was where the dragon made its lair. He put a paw on the hilt of his sword and drew it. The bag at his side hung from his belt. His footsteps became silent and the sound of life around him seemed to magnify. He approached the entrance.
He was not afraid. He knew that he could take on the monster who lived here. It was a challenge, but there was nothing to fear.
Inside it was pitch-black, as dark as a moonless night. Hundaro's eyes adjusted until he saw that every so often there was a faint source of light, perhaps coming from the rocks themselves. He shrugged off the feeling that he was being watched. He couldn't hear the dragon, but that was okay. Maybe he could get the element of surprise.
The path seemed to last forever, never changing. There was a slight slope in his steps and Hundaro knew that he must be descending into the cavern's depths. Maybe it ran underground, for miles on end. Maybe that was how the dragon came to appear and suddenly disappear when it pleased. He knew that those who had spotted it said that it disappeared like smoke. Maybe he wasn't heading toward the dragon's den after all, but instead into a trap.
Quite suddenly, the tunnel opened into a large, open room. It was empty, and his footsteps echoed off the wall. Hundaro walked to the center and looked around. Something slammed into his backside and knocked him heavily to the floor. He grunted and twisted his head. He saw a large, black tail with purple spikes jutting along the ridge flying away from him. He felt a large claw plant itself on his back and pin him to the ground.
"What are you doing here?" the creature demanded in a low rumble that came from the depths of its throat. "Not many come to visit me. And those that do usually do not leave."
It was over twice as tall as he was, with a purple underbelly, horns, claws and eyes. It was large and threatening, and looked as though it could rip him to shreds if it wanted to. Hundaro chose his next words carefully.
"I am here because of the recent interactions between you and my village. I come with a request, Dragon. Livestock have gone missing, and you have been spotted leaving the scene."
"Call me Sini. 'Dragon' sounds so stiff," he chuckled.
"The livestock in our village," Hundaro repeated pointedly. "You have -"
"I know why you're here," Sini said, cutting him off. "And I do not take requests. If you know what is good for you, you will leave now and not bother me again."
Hundaro glared at him. "You have stolen a large amount of our food supply."
"Delicious treats they were, too," Sini said reminiscently. "And it looks like my next meal has hand-delivered itself right to me." He licked Hundaro greedily across the belly and a wave of warm, sickening dragon breath blew into Hundaro's face. He snorted with disgust.
"I wanted to get this over with, but you're not making it easy." Hundaro athletically lifted Sini's claw and rolled out from beneath it. He stood and pointed at the dragon. "I challenge you to a game."
"Oh?" Sini said with mild interest. "And what's stopping me from eating you now?"
"That would not befit a noble dragon such as yourself, now would it?" Hundaro said smoothly.
"I see," Sini said thoughtfully. "And what does this game entail?"
"It is a game of endurance. The victor is the one who outlasts the other. If I win, you must stop terrorizing my village. If you win . . . you can eat me. Do we have a deal?"
Sini grinned. "I love games. And I love full bellies. Sounds like a win-win to me. How does it start?"
"Catch me if you can!" Hundaro shouted, and he ran off, his padding feet sending rolling vibrations along the walls of the cavern.
Sini gave him a minute's head start. And then he took chase.
When Hundaro made it outside, he thought quickly. This wasn't going quite as he'd planned, but with a dragon, that was to be expected. He shook his head. He took his sword and looked at it for a second before tossing it to the side. He wouldn't be needing this now, and it would just get in the way. If he had any hope of outmaneuvering Sini, he'd need to lose the excess weight.
Hundaro noticed the poison trail near where the sword landed. The stream led to here. He looked around and saw that it flowed all throughout the swamp, connected, surrounding the place and flowing through it. He'd have to be careful not to fall in.
He glanced behind him and kept moving. There was nowhere he could hide for long, but he didn't need to stay hidden. He heard the dragon roar as it came out of its cavern. Hundaro saw a large bush just ahead. He could wait here and gather his thoughts. There was a good view of the surrounding area from here.
"Come out, come out!" Sini called. "I know you're nearby. It wasn't very smart of you to leave your sword out in the open so that I'd know which direction you were headed."
Hundaro was silent.
"You forget that I have wings," Sini said as he started to take off. "You know that you can't avoid me forever!"
The dragon flew high over the trees and Hundaro breathed freely again. He opened the bag at his side and took out a small vial.
It wasn't exactly a secret that Sini lived in a toxic swamp. He'd collected samples of the poison here and had an antidote made. He'd assumed he would use the antidote on himself to make a fantastic turnaround in a fight, but now he had to play the game. Hundaro opened the vial and poured the substance directly into the river. It glowed brightly for a second, and the current took it away. Hundaro put the empty vial back in the bag. With any luck, the river would carry the neutralizing antidote throughout the whole swamp.
He stood tall. Now he had to buy some time. In theory, he could just stay here. Sini didn't found him before. But that wouldn't be any fun. He had to make a show.
Keeping to the bushes, Hundaro moved away from his hiding spot.
"Hey! Over here!" Hundaro threw a rock and caught the dragon square between the eyes. Sini growled with pain and sent a torrent of fire in his direction, but Hundaro was already gone from the spot.
Hundaro had brought the fight out into the open. He was trying to work Sini into such a rage that he wouldn't be able to think straight. After all, this was a game of endurance. And he had to be the one to last longer.
"Too slow!" he panted. "I thought dragons were supposed to be masters of the sky! You can't even catch me!"
"Those rocks hurt, you know," Sini said irritably. He paused. "But no matter. I've been taking my time. I'm full of energy. You, on the other hand, are obviously tiring. Someone is going to get his dinner soon, and it looks like it's going to be me!"
Hundaro cursed. He hadn't thought about this, but Sini was right. He dodged another poorly-aimed jet of flame. Sini wasn't trying to hit him. He was obeying the rules of the game. He just wanted to tire him out.
"Are you afraid to come fight me out on the battlefield?" Hundaro said wildly. "Instead you shoot your balls of fire and play keep-away! You must not think you're strong enough to beat me paw-to-paw!"
Sini laughed and sent another jet of fire. "As you wish," he said, landing nearby. "This should be interesting!"
Hundaro grabbed a branch. His sword was long-forgotten by now, and there wasn't anything else nearby he could use as a weapon. "En guarde, dragon!" he yelled, rushing straight towards him.
With a flutter of his wings, Sini stepped easily out of the way. "Is that the best you can do?" he asked with amusement. "Now it's my turn!" He lowered his head like a battering ram and ran straight at Hundaro.
Hundaro froze. The fearsome predator came straight towards him. He trembled. And Sini ran right into him, tossing him into the air. He landed some yards away. Sini casually walked over and observed the broken tiger. "Are we done?" he asked lightly. "I can eat you now and you'll be able to rest in the warm comfort of my belly. It won't be so bad, you know."
Hundaro didn't respond, and Sini took a step closer. And then he jumped up and pushed the dragon into the river.
Hundaro panted. "You didn't think I would give up that easy, did you? You gotta give me more credit than that!"
But Sini was chortling with laughter. He stepped out of the river and shook himself off. The trees and bushes were splattered with the river's contents. "That was clever. You never used that move before. But you forget the poison just makes me stronger."
"Oh really?" Hundaro asked
Sini took a step. "Yeah. Why did you . . . put . . ." he fell to the ground.
Hundaro took the empty bottle out of his bag and showed it to Sini.
Sini gasped. "You poisoned my own poison," he said, astonished. "You . . . But . . . that doesn't . . . mean . . ." he tried to get up, but fell back to the ground.
Hundaro walked over to him. He put a foot on the dragon's scaly hide.
"One. Two. Three. I win."
Sini looked up at him remorsefully. And then he started laughing. "I guess there's a first time for everything!" He paused. And then he rolled over and groaned. "Do I really have to stay away from the village?"
Hundaro grinned and walked over to him. "That was just part of the game. You know everyone there loves you. The food thing can be an issue, though. For the elders, at least. Can't you leave our livestock alone?"
"But they're soo tasty," Sini whined. Hundaro laughed and sat beside him. "I don't always have you over for company. I get hungry."
"You have a whole swamp to yourself! There's plenty to eat."
"Yeah," said Sini after a moment's hesitation. "You're right. I just like messing with you." Hundaro hugged the dragon's head. "You've never won one of our little games before. Are you sure you're up for the prize?"
"Oh yeah. I have been waiting for this for a long time."
"I'm twice your size," Sini pointed out.
Hundaro got up and walked around his dragon friend, sizing him up. "Will you help me?"
"Of course I will. I just hope you're really hungry!"
Hundaro's stomach growled, reminding him of just how hungry he was. The prospect of a meal so large made his mouth water. He opened wide and unhinged his jaw.
"You probably want to start at the head," Sini reminded him.
Hundaro hovered for a second and then wrapped his lips around the dragon's snout. Sini closed his eyes and Hundaro used his tongue to guide him in. The flurry of flavor signals that were sent to his brain dazed him. He'd never tasted a dragon before, and now that he was on the receiving end, he planned to enjoy it as much as possible.
He reached out and rubbed at Sini's throat. Sini churred with pleasure and wiggled his neck. Hundaro drew the head in: up the snout, over the eyelids and forehead, his tongue helping out where it could, until he finally had the whole head in his maw. Somehow the spikes on the dragon's head didn't hurt him, and he knew he had Sini to thank for that.
Down the neck he worked, his throat now pulling his friend deeper and deeper inside. If there were any onlookers around, they would probably laugh at how silly they looked right now, his face and neck bloated with a huge dragon's, with said dragon standing on all fours in front of him, waiting to be devoured. It was bizarre. But Hundaro could barely give this a second's thought. He was enjoying himself too much. Sini was enjoying himself, too. He folded his wings in as tightly as he could. He tucked his forelegs in to his chest so that he would be easier to swallow. And he helped to push his way down his captor's throat.
Sini came into contact with a ring of flesh. He prodded it with his snout and it opened for him, revealing a surprisingly massive area. "You really put a lot of work into this, Hundaro!" he said, impressed. "You must've eaten tons to make yourself fat, and then stopped eating altogether!" Hundaro grunted in response.
The wings were easier to get down than Hundaro had expected. Before he knew it he had swallowed the wings, chest, and forelegs. Now he was at the dragon's scaly belly. He licked it and Sini squirmed and chuckled. By now the dragon was more inside him than out, and Hundaro was surprised at how easy the task had gotten. He knew he'd be punished for it later, though.
In no time at all he managed to gulp down Sini's hind legs, and then his rear paws, the claws doing nothing to harm his mouth or throat, and all that was left was the dragon's tail. He sat back and relaxed a little, finally noticing the toll that the effort of swallowing the dragon put on him. He was so tired, and just wanted to lie down somewhere and sleep. He gulped the tail, sending it to his gullet without even taking the time to notice.
Sini had gotten quiet. Hundaro poked at his huge belly and winced with pain. "How are you doing in there?"
". . . I'm great," Sini answered after a brief second. "I'm trying to make myself as small as possible, but it doesn't seem to be working."
Hundaro started to laugh, but stopped quickly.
"Maybe I should do this more often," he said with effort. "That way I can . . . be stronger or something . . ."
"No way am I doing this again," Sini responded immediately. "It was fun, but it's so cramped in here! And how am I ever going to get out?"
Hundaro took a second to think this over. "Well, we'll find something, I'm sure," he answered with fake enthusiasm. ". . . At least, I think so."
"Now you listen here, tiger! If I have to bust you open from the inside, I will! I am not staying here forever!"
Hundaro paused. And then he started laughing. After a moment, Sini began to laugh too. They laughed together, the tiger with the fully-grown dragon inside him. They laughed at the absurdity of the situation and at the mess they'd gotten themselves into. The swamp around them was silent for a moment, and then joined in with its symphony of chirps and croaks, harmonizing with their own voices. They two were caught in a fit of giggles, and it didn't matter how much pain it caused them.