Chapter 20: Shush, Also Mine

There was a moment, as that maw hovered over her, that she tried to unravel how she got to this moment. Maybe it was because she had never really stood up for anything she wanted until faced with Ereza and Tomyra. Maybe it was because when she "stood up" for what mattered to her, it had been to steal a woman and her little sister and run. Maybe running away was no way to stand up to anything. That mouth is so big, she thought desperately as she tried to press her arms out to push away the big dragon claw wrapped around her arms. 

On the other hand, she might have argued that bashing the dragon in the face with the only potion she had on hand was a pretty strong stance, but maybe that had been the trouble. The great-scaled monster had seemed infuriated at her. The teeth seem like they are thicker than my wrists. She's drooling on me...

She'd forced herself to stay calm and not jostle the two little bunnies she'd tucked against her body when the earth first grabbed her, but then she had stayed. Maybe that should have been her hint to try to retreat to balance her stance. After all, they had come only to find the man's sisters. "Stop!" she squealed out as the heated breath rushed through her fluff, a wild heartbeat before the huge mouth closed around halfway down her body. 

For a moment, heat and sweet smell overwhelmed her senses as the tongue smooshed to her face. There was a wet slurping sound that dragged her clothes up over her head, smothering her for a moment until the lips and clothes with them slid off the top of her body. She was startled by the sensation, almost offended by it, but complaints she might have had were delayed as the dragon drooled her clothing out, and the jaws descended over her all over again. This time, with the heat and magic-sweet smell came the drenching sensation of saliva soaking into her fur as the tongue dragged along her body and pushed her back against the slick roof of the dragon's maw. 

She didn't feel the teeth touching her, but she was keenly aware of the way the dragon's lips pressed over her waist near her hips, and the paw that gripped her legs stopped her from even kicking. Her tail flailed wildly since it was not squished beneath the claws. Everything shifted upward as the dragon sat on her back legs to free up both her paws—one of which was put to work removing Lukka's boots. "Stop!" She tried to kick, but then her heavy winter skirt followed right after. 

Her heart raced; she couldn't really see in the dim mouth, and she couldn't hear much either. Her own voice sounded muffled against that tongue, but there was one clear sound, the wet flexing of a tongue on her body. It felt almost as big as she was, and with some senses dulled, every twitching movement of the large organ sent jolts of sensation through her. Then, the dragon slurped her backward. Her ankles were pinched in the lips, the tongue pinning her against the roof of her mouth as her nose shoved against something soft that shifted responsively to her being there. She's gonna... "Don't eat me!"

But the dragon completely ignored this request as she just gulped. Lukka was shoved nose forward into a tight, constrictive tunnel of flesh that restricted her squirms and movements even further.

Goren covered his sisters with both his paws to shelter them from what Kashira was doing because, based on the gnoll's muffled noises and his own experiences, it would look like a really frightening thing. He felt both of them huddling against his chest as his heart rate picked up.

He watched as Kashira roughly stripped the gnoll and then easily gobbled her down. He couldn't quite take his eyes away as he heard the swallows, and he saw her flailing tail and legs slip inside the dragon's mouth. For a moment, she was just kicking feet before Kashira swallowed again. The gnoll turned into a bulge, very visible even in the moonlight, sliding down through the dragon's long and slender neck. A bulge that squirmed. 

He felt a wave of heat over his cheeks. Do I look like that? Even as he wondered it, tracing the progress of that bulge before it disappeared, he felt a tightness in his chest, an uncomfortable pang of jealousy. Which sent more heat to his cheeks. There was absolutely no way he should be feeling envious of Lukka's position right now, and he certainly shouldn't be feeling unsettled, let alone jealous of it happening to someone else. 

But there was what he logically told himself about the situation, but it didn't change what he felt about it no matter how much he reasoned with himself.

He eased his hold on his sisters, letting them settle more into his palm. "What happened?" Ereza said. "Where's Lukka?"

Goren's heart pounded. "Kashira's... just holding her." 

Kashira felt pretty smug. She had managed to hold the gnoll's legs well enough that Lukka hadn't been able to struggle. She was a bigger meal than Goren, but she still handled it so easily. 

As the gnoll passed through her throat with a nice tight squeeze, she pushed her gently into the hoard gullet, feeling the poor thing squirm. She focused on clenching with all the muscles in her core. "Shush, you're fine; stop kicking like that. You already have a cut on your foot. Yes, I noticed." 

She watched as Goren pretended not to be intensely interested, and she could see from his expression that he heard Lukka had made a noise, but not what she had specifically said. Fortunately for Lukka, Kashira was able to hear the, perhaps predictable, "Let me out!"

Kashira leaned down and softly touched Goren with her nose, watching him huff at her and squinch to the side. "Now now, my friend the cute wolfy gnoll, you are mine; just relax." But because she could see that Goren was feeling self-conscious with the way his shoulders were all tight, and he was giving her a side-eyed look, she kissed his cheek with a small, delicate lick.

"Kashira," he grumbled with a little tremble of his curly whiskers. 

It seemed to take some tension out of his shoulders for a moment, so she considered it to be good enough. "Get Lukka's things bagged up. We're going to walk to Feridan; it's closest to here compared to any other settlements. Or well, I am going to walk, you and your preciously tiny sisters will ride up on my shoulders."

"You will help us?" Tomyra's tiny voice came, the first sound she'd made since Goren had found them. 

"Yes, your brother and I will take care of you, and Lukka too, since she was brave."

Lukka had been squirming, despite the dragon's squeeze on her and insistence that she was to relax. But something about that last statement made her heart flutter. 

Was I brave? I feel like a coward. I ran out on so many things.

She listened to the other part of the conversation, unable to hear the jayune talk to the dragon, only the dragon's answers. "Yes, I will be walking through the night. Lukka's a little hurt, and we need her antidote for you two. Goren, don't hesitate to take anything you see that will help you keep your sisters safe and warm, especially if you fall asleep."

Lukka huffed. She tried to calm herself down enough to think clearly. She pressed with her hands and feet on the slick, soft, organic-velvety surface, and she felt the dragon tighten around her in return. "Calm, gnolly dear, you are safe. I've just decided to keep you." 

Her heart pounded. "Keep me like I was supposed to keep those jayune? Or... for breakfast tomorrow?"

The dragon chuckled, the sound rumbling all around her. "You were running from the gnolls too, weren't you? Someone in particular that Ereza mentioned? Seems to me like you could use someone to hide behind. What better than a dragon?"

The environment was soft. She had been panting raggedly for breath for several moments here, and she could still breathe. The air was thick, but it felt like it would sustain her, maybe indefinitely with that magic taste on it. The wetness was noticeable, pushing through her fluff and down to her skin, but also, nothing about it even faintly tingled. This wasn't a stomach, not really. What better to hide behind than a dragon? She felt... 

Actually, she wasn't sure. Relief, maybe, that no one could make her go back if a dragon was in the way? Or maybe called out? So few clues had been dropped, but it seemed perfectly obvious to everyone here that she needed to get away from Karrok and wasn't fitting in. She called it brave.

Lukka huffed and closed her eyes, looking up as she let the tension leave her. It didn't matter if her eyes were closed, she realized, it felt exactly the same. "I'm not so hurt, I couldn't have walked."

"That's hardly the point. I decided I wanted you."

Lukka snorted. She'd heard rumors about dragons taking what they wanted. Usually, it was treasure. I suppose in some sense, people can count as treasure? The man had been loyal to her, that was for sure, throwing himself down over her like that when she'd been temporarily small. "It's so freaking hot," she complained with a kick, mostly because she wanted to reject something, somehow. 

"Then take a nap." The dragon's tone was all too smug. Lukka grumbled, wanting to protest about being set up, but she wasn't even sure where to start.

Goren felt another pang of jealousy as he finished packing, with one hand, everything that Kashira couldn't pack herself. He was grateful for Kashira's help up onto her shoulders again. 

I shouldn't feel like this. Based on her half of the conversation, it feels like Lukka said a lot of the same things I did. What if...?

He stopped himself from thinking about it and just settled against her shoulders with a soft huff. 

"I'm tired," Tomyra said, half complaint, half statement. 

"Let me try and see if this is comfortable." As Kashira walked, he carefully set both her and Ereza down between his legs, Ereza holding Tomyra and the thick strands of mane around her. 

Now that he had both hands, Goren folded some fabric around a little bit of wood and put it in a cloak pocket, pushing the pocket out and making a bed in the bottom. He helped his sisters into his pocket, with the handkerchief as a cover. "How is that? Can you lay down and rest?"

"Yes," Ereza said. There was a pause. "Thank you for bringing a whole dragon to save us, Goren. I was afraid you would never find out what happened." 

He smiled, and as Kashira thrummed, he felt... pleased with himself, at least! "Yeah," he said.