An Uneasy Solution

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Each raindrop that splattered onto the mage's form was like a tiny little cut to his pride. Mundane folk were the sort of orin who were inconvenienced by rain. Not him! He never needed one of those terribly clunky and inelegant tools...those umbrellas! With a scowl akin to an empty-handed kid being dragged away from a candy store plastered on his face, Danathius only fumed quietly to himself as the rain began to pick up, droplets of water thick and heavy. Trees and foliage, once clear and distinct in form, were now mired in a thick haze of rain water. Even the great earth dragon who plodded along ahead of Danathius had adopted a jagged outline while the rain bounced off of the enormous elder's scales. Visible still through the curtain of torrential downpour, were the crimson, glowing irises of the fearsome and mighty dragon, Cain. Convinced that he was being scrutinized by the mightiest dragon in the universe, the human's blood still instinctually chilled in the man's veins while he struggled to catch up to the quiet, motionless elder.


Just as Danathius had anticipated, as soon as he was within close proximity to Cain's muzzle, the brown dragon growled loudly and snapped his jaws demandingly before the mage's body.


"What is this," Cain's heated breath roiled around the human and stifled the chilling effects of cool rain water, "why are you suddenly useless? I've seen snails move faster, boy." Danathius winced greatly at the dragon's words while his eyes still focused on the great, white teeth that flashed before him. His resolve, which he had fortified ahead of approaching Cain, still dwindled rapidly as he weighed how to answer the dragon's demands. Saying nothing wasn't an option because Danathius needed Cain's cooperation, especially now. Lying wasn't an option because of unknown time constraints. Telling the truth wasn't an option because it would get him killed. Danathius picked what he thought was the only logical option.


"I can't cast spells," Danathius admitted with a heavy swallow, "temporarily, of course." He clenched his fists tightly and shook his head with a sigh. Cain's brilliant eyes narrowed and fixated upon Danathius, and Danathius only continued to stare back into the behemoth's eyes; in doing so, Danathius witnessed something incredible and rare: the flickering flame of intelligence. Cain always liked to present himself as a stupid brute, but the elder harbored awareness and perception well above the average of his species.


"What," Cain replied indignantly with a huff, air and rain snorted at Danathius from dilated nostrils. "Explain, now." The flame of intelligence that burned behind Cain's eyes had long since been extinguished under a veil of impatience. No. Not extinguished – only covered.


"W-well, we haven't properly rested in a while – not that I'm blaming you, Elder Earth," Danathius squeaked out as he noticed Cain's grimaced lips through the rain, "but sleep is a major factor in how I regenerate mana, and –"


"The shortened version, half-breed," Cain growled with a roll of his eyes.


"I've been running too long without taking a break to walk," Danathius sighed out in exasperation, "is basically what it is similar to. I've used my magic to aid us in and out of combat, and each time I do, I draw on my connection to Mana. If I overstimulate that connection, I can suffer negative repercussions for pushing myself too hard."


"What such consequences?" Cain queried immediately. The human was caught off guard by the hastiness of the dragon's reply. Was Cain...excited? The great brown certainly didn't look it. And yet...


"Effects range from completely harmless to deadly serious," Danathius offered with an arched eyebrow, "a spell can manifest as a different spell entirely, or target a different individual. The raw mana gathered can explode in one's face, injuring the caster severely. Worse yet, a caster can damage the connection so much that they temporarily sever their connection to magic."


"For how long?" Cain's snout was dangerously close – Danathius saw the fresh sheen of saliva coating those dangerous fangs...


"Variable," Danathius shook his head and swallowed, "could be an hour. Could be a week."


"How do you know when to stop?" Another of Cain's insightful questions buried under simplistic wording.


"Bleeding from the wrists is the most common and well-known symptom of overextension," Danathius freely replied. He knew much about Cain's species because Cain had told him – it was only fair to return the favor.


"That explains why you have reeked of blood since that last battle. I suppose it was too much to ask for you to be mortally wounded beneath that ridiculous garb." Cain grunted, and the red orb of his eye swiveled in its great socket to quickly size up the comparatively small human. Not at all surprised by how keen Cain's senses were, Danathius rolled up his robe sleeves to reveal bandaged wrists. A droplet of crimson oozed out from beneath of the white cotton and slowly dribbled down the length of the human's arm. The mage cursed and reached into his robe pocket to pull out a spare gauze pad. It would be necessary to sop up the blood.


"I shouldn't have altered that last spell's parameters so much... Ugh," Danathius grumbled and fussed, flustered by having to manually clean himself, "I haven't had a backfire like this in centuries." A deep chuckle rattled the human's bones, and dread began to wash over the poor, exposed human.


"You really are helpless," Cain reaffirmed with a toothy smirk, one that caused Danathius to bite his lower lip in fear. "So what do you propose, whelp?"


"Obviously I would feel safest if we found some place to rest," The human started, and waited for Cain to finish his growl of annoyance before he continued, "but I suspect you would be opposed."


"Idiot," Cain snarled, "the longer you intrude, the worse everything gets. I don't want you here any longer than necessary." Cain turned and glared at the mage, but he was momentarily stopped by the sight of Danathius with a genuinely hurt expression on his face. The dragon blinked, and it was gone, replaced with an expression of offended indignation.


"Yes, well, rushing me and burning me out, especially while I'm already drained, isn't going to get me out of your scales any faster, Elder Earth," Danathius threw his hands up into the air in resignation. The human only glanced up to Cain for a moment, tapping his booted foot quietly in silence for a minute. He waited patiently before he tried to provoke a response from Cain with the stride of a single step toward Cain. Only, Danathius couldn't take a step closer. His foot didn't budge. Confused, he glanced back and spotted the thin, brown tip of Cain's long tail coiled around his foot and ankle. With another quick shift, the tail coiled and slid further up Danathius's length, widening its grip to encompass his waist and arms before he could so much as scream.


"I'm aware. But you needn't worry your dim monkey brain, I have the solution," Cain spoke up, his tone sinister, accompanied by a growing, toothy smirk. Had he his magic, Danathius could have simply slipped out of the dragon's grasp, but Cain's pre-emptive attack had put the dragon ahead – so far ahead, that Danathius was trapped. He knew he was no warrior: perhaps his old love Kherrox would have been able to struggle against the elder dragon's tail, but not him. Danathius only groaned and winced. As a sensation of weightlessness overcame him, he let out a grunt. Without wasting an ounce of effort, Cain quickly hoisted the ensnared human up off of the ground, and let him dangle before his snout upside-down for a moment.


"Wh-what are you doing? Can't you just put me down," Danathius pleaded, sputtering as he pushed his cloak out of his nose and mouth.


"Conducting an experiment. You of all people should appreciate this," Cain replied, before he smirked and gave a half-hearted flick of his tail. The resulting force was still more than enough to fling Danathius screaming skyward while he defied gravity, shot straight up into the air from the dragon's toss. Danathius's draconic inheritance only manifested in his magic – he had no other dragon-like qualities to him, unfortunately, so he only continued to rise unimpeded. The mage flailed uselessly while he did so; he had no sense of direction, no sense of weight, and his stomach felt as though it had wound itself into a tightened wad in the center of his chest. Rain drops still forcefully peppered the human's face on his ascent, and Danathius's cheeks stung violently before his velocity slowed, and gravity began to take hold over the man once more.


"Oh, gods, no," Danathius whimpered and glanced downward as he started his descent. His trajectory had been affected by the powerful storm winds, and though he hadn't been blown far, he would continue to be blown off course, even as he fell. With no magic to aid him, and no way to save himself, Danathius began to plummet toward the earth, screaming loudly as he did.


"Tch, unable to cast. Unmotivated, perhaps," Cain muttered to himself, while the craggy brown dragon sat perfectly still. His eyes narrowed, but he had not lost track of his prey: the mage was easy to spot, especially with eyesight as sharp as his. Cain continued to watch before he uttered "use your buffoonery, whelp." to himself. The dragon had been so sure of himself, but the further the mammal fell, the less convinced Cain became.


Danathius continued to plummet toward the earth. Faster and faster, and further away from the dragon than his reach would allow. Cain realized it all too late.


"Damn," the dragon growled, and he quickly rose to a stand. It would take too long for Cain's muscles to gather the necessary power to propel their behemoth owner forward, so the large brown took a moment to tense his legs and dig his hind paws into the earth. With a grip set, the dragon reached deep into his senses and felt deep into the earth. Its structure, its composition, its geothermal energy...all of it was revealed to Cain. With a low growl emitted from the gargantuan male, the earth rumbled and shifted beneath of Cain's mighty paws; plates of minerals fractured and ground against each other, releasing a burst of kinetic energy underneath the dragon's feet. The elder earth used this energy to instantly propel himself forward, faster and further than his own body would have allowed. With outstretched paws, Cain landed on the ground after his initial bound, and his landing sent a minor tremor into the earth; used to such a leap, Cain was able to maintain his momentum and charge forward as fast as he could just as Danathius was approaching the ground.


The mage was too busy flailing and falling to notice Cain had approached. He only closed his eyes and sensed the coming end of this body. He had never expended a body by falling to its death before. Honestly, it sounded like a horrible way to die. Not that any death was particularly pleasant. Though his life essence would be transferred to a new body upon this one's expiration, the Volcaire would be waiting for his arrival, ready for their attempt to finally claim his life once and for all... Cheating death had its costs, and it only became steeper the longer one continued to live.
Accepting of his death, now, Danathius stilled himself and waited for his fall to end – and end it did. Danathius's body landed on the ground with a wet squelch, followed by a loud clack. Everything was black, and wet. Liquids oozed around the human: his own blood, warm and fresh, of course. He opened his eyes and saw pitch black: of course, his eyes didn't function anymore – his body had been too damaged by the fall. The ground undulated beneath of Danathius, which caused him to suspect that he might not be dead. He squeaked and realized that he was perfectly fine as he sat up and immediately hit his head off of a hard, ridged surface. The mage smacked his head so hard he thought he saw a flash of light before he recoiled in pain and fell back down, his back upon the floor of the strange, wet surface.


"Ow! Godsdamnit," the human cursed, which caused a gust of wind to billow past him, scentless, but incredibly warm, which was odd given the cool environment he had just been in.


"Idiot," a familiar voice echoed out loudly around him before loud, rumbling chuckles blasted through his ears and chest, vibrating his insides. The voice belonged to Cain...but why was he so loud?! Another flash of light, and Danathius found his answer: large spires of white enamel formed a cage around him – the dragon's teeth! He was in Cain's mouth! The dragon had managed to catch him in time! Before Danathius even had time to sigh, however, the dragon's tongue curled up on itself and splatted wetly against Danathius's chest and face, causing him to groan as the muscle dribbled saliva over his form. The oral appendage easily maneuvered and manipulated the human and it spun him around so that he was no longer facing the dragon's gullet, but rather, he was now faced with the front of the dragon's jaws.


Feeling as though Cain were preparing to release him, Danathius slid forward along the tongue. His body dug into the budded muscle, and the slick surface idly squelched beneath of him. The inside of Cain's maw went dark again, however, as the dragon snapped his jaws shut before they parted ever so slightly, allowing small rays of light to filter in through the gaps of the dragon's teeth. The tongue shifted forward, throwing Danathius backward. An audible gulp of excess saliva and air caused the human to wriggle in panic – what was the dragon's game? Maybe it was an accident? A second shift and flick of the great tongue confirmed Danathius's suspicions when he was tossed further into the back of Cain's jaws. His feet and legs were already digging into the start of Cain's esophagus, and when he tried to pull them out, he found that the dragon's muscular grip would not give.


"Wai-" Danathius didn't even have time to speak before the tip of Cain's tongue smacked him right in the face, shutting him up by filling the mage's mouth with tongue and saliva. The muscle forced the mouthful of a human into the back of the maw, where Cain's swaying uvula bopped up against Danathius's cheek gently. The fleshy bulb bounced loudly off of the man's head, leaving a string of glistening saliva and mucus on the mage's cheek as it swayed away. Before the mammal could protest, he was sucked down the rippling gullet with an audible squelch of air as Cain swallowed powerfully. The esophageal muscles collapsed in tightly on the morsel the dragon had consumed, and they refused to let go of it no matter how hard it squirmed. Danathius grunted and moaned, before a wheeze was squeezed out of him by powerful muscular action. Peristaltic processes began to push and pull Danathius deeper into the dragon's body, as the tight, fleshy, tube compressed in waves to usher the mage down. Each ring bound the poor mammal painfully tight, passively ensuring that resistance from prey was futile. Outside of Cain, a small lump slowly sank down his thick neck until it disappeared beneath his heavy chest plates, all presence of the mage gone from the world.


While the human is escorted toward the pit of the dragon's gut, he is treated to an organic orchestra of noises: the powerful, repetitious thumping of the dragon's great, chambered heart; the rush of air as it was drawn into Cain's lungs, expanding the organs before being expelled once more; and finally, the most ominous noise of all – a distant gurgle. The gurgles were barely audible at first, drowned out by the repetitious drumming of Cain's heart, but soon, the borborygmi from further along Cain's digestive tract overpowered the din of the other organs... It was the call of the stomach, and a hungry one at that. When the mage thought about it, neither he nor Cain had eaten in a week or so now. He'd had his magic items to sustain him, but Cain had no such privilege... Had the dragon really waited until the mage was defenseless before he scarfed him down as a quick snack?


All of Danathius finally slammed up against a tight, muscular ring. A sphincter guarded the entrance to Cain's stomach, and even with another squeeze from the esophagus, the muscle didn't give way. Finally, the esophagus shoved powerfully, so much so that Danathius cried out painfully as he was squeezed through the fleshy valve; with no muscles to hold onto Danathius, the mage unceremoniously plopped down into the empty expanse of Cain's cavernous stomach. With a quick readjustment, Danathius sat himself up and got to his hands and knees. With no light, he feebly crawled around before the sac started to idly churn at his body, bouncing him about. The stomach walls squeezed down powerfully upon him, and he started to feel light-headed as his thin, acrid supply of oxygen was expelled up out of the top of the stomach. A powerful, earth shattering belch, dulled by tonnage of scales, muscles, sinew and flesh still rattled the mage and the gut, before the chamber re-inflated slightly to the size of a three-person tent. It seemed Danathius had slid into the pit of the dragon's stomach before Cain swallowed an empty mouthful of air. Though somewhat stale, it was definitely still breathable for the human, and his dizziness subsided.


"Okay, what in the hells was that," Danathius demanded shakily, panic and anxiety still heavily steeped into his voice.


"You said you were vulnerable without your magic. You are also pathetically slow. You're a liability now," Cain grunted, huge behemoth already moving ahead now that the mage was secured and safe, "which will only slow me further. Without dead weight, I can move faster. Pray we make it to the next town before I get hungry." Cain's gut gurgled loudly, as if on cue.


"Oh," Danathius said with a blink. He pondered for a long time, thrown off by how well-thought-out and how thoughtful Cain's plan was, aside from him being stuck in an apex predator's stomach. An errant borborygmus caused Danathius to speak up after a smile crossed his lips, "I meant the, uh, toss?"


Cain only responded with a grunt, and his guttural response, though slightly muted by the slick, slimy boundaries of the stomach, reached the ears of the dragon's mammalian meal. Danathius was unable to see, he was still able to feel the inside of his organic container. The soft, spongy lining of the stomach yielded to his slightest touch, and the walls constantly churned and undulated against him. Not that Danathius seemed to mind – the constant, warm and wet full-body massage was doing wonders for the mammal's aching, tired body.


After five minutes of silence, the human figured that Cain wasn't going to follow up on his earlier comment. "Unfortunate, but not unexpected," Danathius thought to himself as he reclined into the soft, stomach lining. It cradled his weight perfectly, and conformed to his every contour: the perfect bed in every sense of the word, despite it being the stomach of a dragon that could end his life at any time said dragon so cared...


"Let's not dwell on that," Danathius thought as sleepiness overtook him. "Let the dragon take care of everything else for now."

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This is an absolutely lovely commission I purchased from CartoonSnacks on Twitter -- it was initially a YCH, but I had an idea in mind featuring my mage with  cainhiryu's big grumpy brown~ <3 The comic blew me away, so much so that I had to write a story to go along with it. Thanks again to CartoonSnacks for doing such a lovely job: if you like this comic, please consider supporting them by checking out their page and giving them your love! They deserve it! Another dragon-sized thanks goes to  cainhiryu, who did some great editing on this story to help iron out as many wrinkles as possible before posting it.

As I always take into account font choice and such, you can read the PDF version of the story here if you would prefer: An Uneasy Solution (PDF)

Artwork © CartoonSnacks
Cain ©  cainhiryu
Danathius © Me